Abdelkader El Djezairi Abdelkader ibn Muhieddine ( 6 September 1808 – 26 May 1883 ) , ( ' ) , known as the Emir Abdelkader or Abdelkader El Djezairi " ' , was an Algerian religious and military leader who led a struggle against the French colonial invasion in the mid - 19th century . An Islamic scholar and Sufi who unexpectedly found himself leading a military campaign , he built up a collection of Algerian tribesmen that for many years successfully held out against one of the most advanced armies in Europe . His consistent regard for what would now be called human rights , especially as regards his Christian opponents , drew widespread admiration , and a crucial intervention to save the Christian community of Damascus from a massacre in 1860 brought honours and awards from around the world . Within Algeria , his efforts to unite the country against foreign invaders saw him hailed as the " modern Jugurtha , " and his ability to combine religious and political authority has led to his being acclaimed as the " Saint among the Princes , the Prince among the Saints " . Name . The name " Abdelkader " is sometimes transliterated as " ʿAbd al - Qādir " , " Abd al - Kader " , " Abdul Kader " or other variants , and he is often referred to as simply the Emir Abdelkader ( since " El Djezairi " just means " the Algerian " ) . " Ibn Muhieddine " is a patronymic meaning " son of Muhieddine " , and " al - Hasani " is an honorary patronymic indicating his descent from Hasan ibn Ali , the grandson of Muhammad . He is also often given the titles " emir " " prince " , and " shaykh " " sheik " . Early years . Abdelkader was born near the town of Mascara in or around 1808 , to a family of religious aristocracy who were originally from Morocco . His father , Muhieddine ( or " Muhyi al - Din " ) al - Hasani , was a muqaddam in a religious institution affiliated with the Qadiriyya Sufi order of Islam and claimed descendance from Muhammad . Abdelkader was thus a " sharif " , and entitled to add the honorary patronymic " al - Hasani " ( " descendant of al - Hasan " ) to his name . He grew up in his father ' s " zawiya " , which by the early nineteenth century had become the centre of a thriving community on the banks of the Oued al - Hammam river . Like other students , he received a traditional education in theology , jurisprudence and grammar ; it was said that could read and write by the age of five . A gifted student , Abdelkader succeeded in reciting the Qur ' an by heart at the age of 14 , thereby receiving the title of " hafiz " ; a year later , he went to Oran for further education . He was a good orator and could excite his peers with poetry and religious diatribes . In 1825 , he set out on the " Hajj " , the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca , with his father . While there , he encountered Imam Shamil ; the two spoke at length on different topics . He also traveled to Damascus and Baghdad , and visited the graves of noted Muslims , such as Shaykh Ibn Arabi and Sidi Abd - el - Kader El Jilani named also El - Jilali in Algeria . This experience cemented his religious enthusiasm . On his way back to Algeria , he was impressed by the reforms carried out by Muhammad Ali in Egypt . He returned to his homeland a few months before the arrival of the French . French invasion and resistance . Early Success ( 1830 - 1837 ) . In 1830 , Algeria was invaded by France ; French colonial domination over Algeria eventually supplanted domination by the Ottoman Empire and the Koulouglis . There was a lot of pent - up resentment against the Ottomans when the French arrived , and due to numerous rebellions in the early 19th century , the Algerians could not oppose the French at all initially . When the French Africa Army reached Oran in January 1831 , Abdelkader ' s father was asked to lead a harassment campaign against them ; Muhieddine called for a " jihad " and he and his son were among those involved in early attacks below the walls of the city . It was at this point that Abdelkader came to the fore . At a meeting of the western tribes in the autumn of 1832 , he was elected Emir , or Commander of the Faithful ( following his father ' s refusal of the position on the grounds that he was too old ) . The appointment was confirmed five days later at the Great Mosque of Mascara . Within a year , through a combination of punitive raids and careful politics , Abdelkader had succeeded in uniting the tribes in the region and in reestablishing security – his area of influence now covered the entire Province of Oran . The local French commander - in - chief , General Louis Alexis Desmichels , saw Abdelkader as the principal representative of the area during peace negotiations , and in 1834 they signed the Desmichels Treaty , which ceded near - total control of Oran Province to Abdelkader . For the French , this was a way of establishing peace in the region while also confining Abdelkader to the west ; but his status as a co - signatory also did much to elevate him in the eyes of the Arabs and of the French . Using this treaty as a start , he imposed his rule on the tribes of the Chelif , Miliana , and Médéa . The French high command , unhappy with what they now saw as the unfavorable terms of the Desmichels Treaty , recalled General Desmichels and replaced him with General Trezel , which caused a resumption of hostilities . Abdelkader ' s tribal warriors met the French forces in July 1834 at the Battle of Macta , where the French suffered an unexpected defeat . France ' s response was to step up its pacification campaign , and under new commanders the French won several important encounters including the Battle of Sikkak . But political opinion in France was becoming ambivalent towards Algeria , and when French General Thomas Robert Bugeaud was deployed to the region in April 1837 , he was " authorized to use all means to induce Abd el - Kader to make overtures of peace " . The result , after protracted negotiations , was the Treaty of Tafna , signed on 30 May 1837 . This treaty gave even more control of interior portions of Algeria to Abdelkader , but with the recognition of France ' s right to imperial sovereignty . Abdelkader thus won control of all of Oran and extended his reach to the neighbouring province of Titteri and beyond . New State . The period of peace following the Treaty of Tafna benefited both sides , and the Emir Abdelkader took the opportunity to consolidate a new functional state , with a capital in Tagdemt . He played down his political power , however , repeatedly declining the title of sultan and striving to concentrate on his spiritual authority . The state he created was broadly theocratic , and most positions of authority were held by members of the religious aristocracy ; even the main unit of currency was named the " muhammadiyya " , after the Prophet . He first military action was to move south into the Sahara and at - Tijini . Next , he moved east to the valley of the Chelif and Titteri , but was resisted by the Bey of Constantine , Hajj Ahmed . In other actions , he demanded punishment of the Koulouglis of Zouatna for supporting the French . By the end of 1838 , his rule extended east to Kaybylie , and south to Biskra , and to the Moroccan border . He continued to fight at - Tijini and besieged his capital at Aïn Madhi for six months , eventually destroying it . Another aspect of Abdelkader that helped him lead his fledgling nation was his ability to find and use good talent regardless of its nationality . He would employ Jews and Christians on his way to building his nation . One of these was Léon Roches . His approach to the military was to have a standing army of 2 , 000 men supported by volunteers from the local tribes . He placed , in the interior towns , arsenals , warehouses , and workshops , where he stored items to be sold for arms purchases from England . Through his frugal living ( he lived in a tent ) , he taught his people the need for austerity and through education he taught them nationalistic pride . End of the Nation . The peace with the French ended when the French entered the Iron Gates with the Duc d ' Orléans and the Emir took it as a violation of the Treaty of Tafna . On October 15 , 1839 , he attacked the French as they were colonizing the Plains of Mitidja and destroyed the invaders . War was officially declared on 18 November 1839 . The fighting bogged down until General Thomas Robert Bugeaud returned to Algeria , this time as governor - general , in February 1841 . Abdelkader was originally encouraged to hear that Bugeaud , the promoter of the Treaty of Tafna , was returning ; but this time Bugeaud ' s tactics would be radically different . This time , his approach was one of annihilation , with the conquest of Algeria as the endgame : He was effective at using guerrilla warfare and for a decade , up until 1842 , scored many victories . He often signed tactical truces with the French , but these did not last . His power base was in the western part of Algeria , where he was successful in uniting the tribes against the French . He was noted for his chivalry ; on one occasion he released his French captives simply because he had insufficient food to feed them . Throughout this period Abdelkader demonstrated political and military leadership , and acted as a capable administrator and a persuasive orator . His fervent faith in the doctrines of Islam was unquestioned . Until the beginning of 1842 the struggle went in his favor ; however , the resistance was put down by Marshal Bugeaud , due to Bugeaud ' s adaptation to the guerilla tactics employed by Abdelkader . Abdelkader would strike fast and disappear into the terrain with light infantry ; however the French increased their mobility . The French armies brutally suppressed the native population and practiced a " scorched - earth " policy in the countryside to force the residents to starve so as to desert their leader . By 1841 , his fortifications had all but been destroyed and he was forced to wander the interior of the Oran . In 1842 , he had lost control of Tlemcen and his lines of communications with Morocco were not effective . He was able to cross the border into Morocco for a respite , but the French defeated the Moroccans at the Battle of Isly . He left Morocco , and was able to keep up the fight to the French by taking the Sidi Brahim at the Battle of Sidi - Brahim . Surrender . Abdelkader was ultimately forced to surrender . His failure to get support from eastern tribes , apart from the Berbers of western Kabylie , had contributed to the quelling of the rebellion , and a decree from Abd al - Rahman of Morocco following the Treaty of Tangiers had outlawed the Emir from his entire kingdom . On 21 December 1847 , Abdelkader surrendered to General Louis de Lamoricière in exchange for the promise that he would be allowed to go to Alexandria or Acre . He supposedly commented on his own surrender with the words , " And God undoes what my hand has done " ( although this is probably apocryphal ) . His request was granted , and two days later his surrender was made official to the French Governor - General of Algeria , Henri d ' Orléans , duc d ' Aumale , to whom Abdelkader symbolically handed his war - horse . Ultimately , however , the French government refused to honour Lamoricière ' s promise : Abdelkader was shipped to France and , instead of being allowed to carry on to the East , ended up being kept in captivity . Imprisonment and exile . Abdelkader and his family and followers were detained in France , first at Fort Lamalgue in Toulon , then at Pau , and in November 1848 they were transferred to the château of Amboise . Damp conditions in the castle led to deteriorating health as well as morale in the Emir and his followers , and his fate became something a " cause célèbre " in certain circles . Several high - profile figures , including Émile de Girardin and Victor Hugo , called for greater clarification over the Emir ' s situation ; future prime minister Émile Ollivier carried out a public opinion campaign to raise awareness over his fate . There was also international pressure . Lord Londonderry visited Abdelkader in Amboise and subsequently wrote to then - President Louis - Napoléon Bonaparte ( whom he had known during the latter ' s exile in England ) to appeal for the Emir ' s release . Louis - Napoleon Bonaparte ( later the Emperor Napoleon III ) was a relatively new president , having come to power in the Revolution of 1848 while Abdelkader was already imprisoned . He was keen to make a break with several policies of the previous regime , and Abdelkader ' s cause was one of them . Eventually , on 16 October 1852 , Abdelkader was released by the President and given an annual pension of 100 000 francs on taking an oath never again to disturb Algeria . He then took up residence in Bursa , today ' s Turkey , moving in 1855 to Amara District in Damascus . He devoted himself anew to theology and philosophy , and composed a philosophical treatise , of which a French translation was published in 1858 under the title of " Rappel à l ' intelligent . Avis à l ' indifférent " . He also wrote a book on the Arabian horse . While in Damascus he befriended Jane Digby as well as Richard and Isabel Burton . Abdelkader ' s knowledge of Sufism and skill with languages earned Burton ' s respect and friendship ; his wife Isabel described him as follows : Anti - Christian riots of 1860 . In July 1860 , conflict between the Druze and Maronites of Mount Lebanon spread to Damascus , and local Druze attacked the Christian quarter , killing over 3 , 000 people . Abdelkader had previously warned the French consul as well as the Council of Damascus that violence was imminent ; when it finally broke out , he sheltered large numbers of Christians , including the heads of several foreign consulates as well as religious groups such as the Sisters of Mercy , in the safety of his house . His eldest sons were sent into the streets to offer any Christians under threat shelter under his protection , and Abdelkader himself was said by many survivors to have played an instrumental part in saving them . Reports coming out of Syria as the rioting subsided stressed the prominent role of Abdelkader , and considerable international recognition followed . The French government increased his pension to 150 , 000 francs and bestowed on him the Grand Cross of the Légion d ' honneur ; he also received the Grand Cross of the Redeemer from Greece , the Order of the Medjidie , First Class from Turkey , and the Order of Pius IX from the Vatican . Abraham Lincoln sent him a pair of inlaid pistol s ( now on display in the Algiers museum ) and Great Britain a gold - inlaid shotgun . In France , the episode represented the culmination of a remarkable turnaround , from being considered as an enemy of France during the first half of the 19th century , to becoming a " friend of France " after having intervened in favor of persecuted Christians . In June 1864 , Abdelkader became a Freemason . In 1865 he visited Paris on the invitation of Napoléon III and was greeted with both official and popular respect . In 1871 , during an insurrection in Algeria , he disowned one of his sons who was arousing the tribes around Constantine . He wrote " Rappel à l ′ intelligent , avis à l ′ indifférent " ( Call to the Intelligent , Warning to the Indifferent ) . Abdelkader died in Damascus on 26 May 1883 and was buried near the great Sufi Ibn Arabi in Damascus . Image and legacy . From the beginning of his career , Abdelkader inspired admiration not only from within Algeria , but from Europeans as well , even while fighting against the French forces . " The generous concern , the tender sympathy " he showed to his prisoners - of - war was " almost without parallel in the annals of war " , and he was careful to show respect for the private religion of any captives . In 1843 Marshal Soult declared that Abd - el - Kader was one of the three great men then living ; the two others , Imam Shamil and Muhammad Ali of Egypt also being Muslims . Currently he is respected as one of the greatest of his people . In 2013 , the American film director Oliver Stone announced the pending production of a filmed biopic called " The Emir Abd el - Kader " , to be directed by Charles Burnett .