Abd al-Qadir (1808-1883)

Algerian religious and military leader, founder of the Algerian state, hero of resistance to French rule. Son of the head of a Muslim religious brotherhood, Abd al-Qadir early on gained a reputation for piety and cultural refinement. In 1832 he succeeded his father, who had been conducting a guerrilla war against invading French forces.

The treaty by which France annexed Algeria in 1834 gave him control of the area round Oran; through military and diplomatic triumphs over both the French and local groups, he consolidated and expanded his territory, and soon controlled a true state with an efficient salaried bureaucracy. He ruled austerely and autocratically, commanding fierce loyalty from the Saharan tribes, taxing his subjects uniformly, and using European and non-Muslim officials where appropriate.

After further victories against the French, he began in 1840 a bitter war with the new French governor, General Bugeaud. The French scorched-earth tactics forced him to become a nomad after 1841, and inflicted great hardship on the Algerian people. His erstwhile Moroccan allies were forced by the French to detain him, but he returned to Algeria and led further hit-and-run raids. His last retreat to Morocco in July 1846 ended in complete loss of Moroccan support, and in 1847 he returned to Algeria and surrendered to French authorities.

The French broke promises of safe conduct and imprisoned him for a time in France, but after 1852 he was released and allowed to go to Damascus, where he spent his time in study and writing. Supported by a French pension, he took no further active part in politics, but by his death he had established such a reputation for wisdom that he remains an Algerian national hero to this day.