Aruj Aruj or Arouj ( , Arabic : عروج بربروس , ; c . 1474 – 1518 ) was a Barbary Pirate . He was the elder brother of Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha and Ottoman " Bey " ( " Governor " ) of Algiers and " Beylerbey " ( " Chief Governor " ) of the West Mediterranean . He was born on the Ottoman island of Midilli ( Lesbos in today ' s Greece ) and was killed in a battle with the Spaniards at Tlemcen in the Ottoman Eyalet of Algeria . He became known as Baba Aruj or Baba Oruç ( Father Aruj ) when he transported large numbers of Moriscos refugees from Spain to North Africa ; he was known through folk etymology in Europe as Barbarossa ( which meant " Redbeard " in Italian ) . Background . Sources refer to him as a Greek , as a Turk or as an Albanian by origin . Oruç was born in the 1470s on the Ottoman island of Midilli ( Lesbos in present - day Greece ; ) to his father Yakup Ağa , a Greek renegade or Turk as well as a former Sipahi from the Ottoman city of Yenice - i Vardar ( modern Yannitsa in Greece ) and his wife , Katerina , from the Aegean island of Lesbos . Yakup Ağa took part in the Ottoman conquest of Lesbos ( Midilli ) from the Genoese in 1462 , and as a reward , was granted the fief of the Bonova village in the island . He married a local Christian Greek woman from Mytilene , the widow of an Orthodox priest , named Katerina , and they had two daughters and four sons : Ishak , Oruç , Hızır and Ilyas . Yakup became an established potter and purchased a boat to trade his products . The four sons helped their father with his business , but not much is known about the daughters . At first Aruj ( Oruç ) helped with the boat , while Hızır helped with pottery . Early career . All four brothers became seamen , engaged in marine affairs and international sea trade . Aruj was the first brother to be involved in seamanship , soon joined by the youngest brother Ilyas . Hızır initially helped their father in the pottery business , but later obtained a ship of his own and also began a career at sea . Ishak , the eldest , remained on Mytilene and was involved with the financial affairs of the family business . The other three brothers initially worked as sailors , but then turned privateers in the Mediterranean , counteracting the privateering of the Knights of St . John of the Island of Rhodes . Aruj and Ilyas operated in the Levant , between Anatolia , Syria and Egypt , while Hızır operated in the Aegean Sea and based his operations mostly in Thessaloniki . Aruj was a very successful seaman . He also learned to speak Italian , Spanish , French , Greek and Arabic in the early years of his career . While returning from a trading expedition in Tripoli , Lebanon , he and Ilyas were attacked by a galley of the Knights of St . John . Ilyas was killed in the fight , and Aruj was wounded . Their father ' s boat was captured , and Aruj was taken prisoner and detained in the Knights ' Bodrum Castle for nearly three years . Upon learning the location of his brother , Hızır went to Bodrum and managed to help Aruj escape . Aruj the corsair . Aruj later went to Antalya , where he was given 18 galleys by Shehzade Korkud , an Ottoman prince and governor of the city , and charged with fighting against the Knights of St . John who inflicted serious damage on Ottoman shipping and trade . In the following years , when Shehzade Korkud became governor of Manisa , he gave Aruj a larger fleet of 24 galleys at the port of İzmir and ordered him to participate in the Ottoman naval expedition to Puglia in Italy , where Aruj bombarded several coastal forts and captured two ships . On his way back to Lesbos , he stopped at Euboea and captured three galleons and another ship . Reaching Mytilene with these captured vessels , Aruj learned that Shehzade Korkud , brother of the new Ottoman sultan , had fled to Egypt in order to avoid being killed because of succession disputes — a common practice at that time in the House of Osman . Fearing trouble due to his well - known association with the Ottoman prince in exile , Aruj sailed to Egypt where he met Shehzade Korkud in Cairo and managed to get an audience with the Mamluk Sultan Qansuh al - Ghawri , who gave him another ship and charged him to raid the coasts of Italy and the islands of the Mediterranean that were controlled by Christian powers . After passing the winter in Cairo , he set sail from Alexandria and operated along the coasts of Liguria and Sicily . In 1503 Aruj managed to seize three more ships and made the island of Djerba his new base , thus moving his operations to the Western Mediterranean . Hızır joined Aruj at Djerba . In 1504 the two brothers asked Abu Abdullah Mohammed Hamis , sultan of Tunisia from the Beni Hafs dynasty , for permission to use the strategically located port of La Goulette for their operations . They were granted this right , with the condition of leaving one third of their booty to the sultan . Aruj , in command of small galliots , captured two much larger Papal galleys near the island of Elba . Later , near Lipari , the two brothers captured a Sicilian warship , the " Cavalleria " , with 380 Spanish soldiers and 60 Spanish knights from Aragon on board , who were on their way from Spain to Naples . In 1505 they raided the coasts of Calabria . These accomplishments increased their fame and they were joined by a number of other well - known Muslim corsairs , including Kurtoğlu ( known in the West as Curtogoli ) . In 1508 they raided the coasts of Liguria , particularly Diano Marina . In 1509 Ishak also left Mytilene and joined his brothers at La Goulette . The fame of Aruj increased when between 1504 and 1510 he transported Muslim Mudéjar s from Christian Spain to North Africa . His efforts of helping the Muslims of Spain in need and transporting them to safer lands earned him the honorific name " Baba Oruç " ( " Father Aruj " ) , which eventually — due to the similarity in sound — evolved in Spain , Italy and France into Barbarossa ( " Redbeard " in Italian ) . In 1510 the three brothers raided Cape Passero in Sicily and repulsed a Spanish attack on Bougie , Oran and Algiers . In August 1511 they raided the areas around Reggio Calabria in southern Italy . In August 1512 the exiled ruler of Bougie invited the brothers to drive out the Spaniards , and during the battle Aruj lost his left arm . This incident earned him the nickname " Gümüş Kol " ( " Silver Arm " in Turkish ) , in reference to the silver prosthetic device which he used in place of his missing limb . Later that year the three brothers raided the coasts of Andalusia in Spain , capturing a galliot of the Lomellini family of Genoa who owned the Tabarca island in that area . They subsequently landed on Minorca and captured a coastal castle , and then headed towards Liguria and captured four Genoese galleys near Genoa . The Genoese sent a fleet to liberate their ships , but the brothers captured their flagship as well . After capturing a total of 23 ships in less than a month , the brothers sailed back to La Goulette . There they built three more galliots and a gunpowder production facility . In 1513 they captured four English ships on their way to France , raided Valencia where they captured four more ships , and then headed for Alicante and captured a Spanish galley near Málaga . In 1513 and 1514 the three brothers engaged Spanish squadrons on several other occasions and moved to their new base in Cherchell , east of Algiers . In 1514 , with 12 galliots and 1 , 000 Turks , they destroyed two Spanish fortresses at Bougie , and when a Spanish fleet under the command of Miguel de Gurrea , viceroy of Majorca , arrived for assistance , they headed towards Ceuta and raided that city before capturing Jijel in Algeria , which was under Genoese control . They later captured Mahdiya in Tunisia . Afterwards they raided the coasts of Sicily , Sardinia , the Balearic Islands and the Spanish mainland , capturing three large ships there . In 1515 they captured several galleons , a galley and three barques at Majorca . Still in 1515 Aruj sent precious gifts to the Ottoman Sultan Selim I who , in return , sent him two galleys and two swords embellished with diamonds . In 1516 , joined by Kurtoğlu , the brothers besieged the Castle of Elba , before heading once more towards Liguria where they captured 12 ships and damaged 28 others . The Ring of Red Beard . During Red Beard ' s battle for Spider Island in 1505 , it ' s rumored he lost his legendary ring somewhere along the lakeshore of Spider Island . When the battle ended on July 4 , 1505 , Red Beard went insane searching for his lost ring . It ' s said that he who finds the ring will bear the strength and good fortune of Red Beard himself . However , anyone who attempts to steal the ring while in the ring bearer ' s possession is said to experience a type of electrical shock . In 2005 , a search for Red Beard ' s ring turned up nothing and it is now believed lost forever . Ruler of Algiers . In 1516 the three brothers succeeded in liberating Jijel and Algiers from the Spaniards , but eventually assumed control over the cities and surrounding region , forcing the previous ruler , Abu Hamo Musa III of the Beni Ziyad dynasty , to flee . The local Spaniards in Algiers sought refuge in the island of Peñón near Algiers and asked Emperor Charles V , King of Spain , to intervene , but the Spanish fleet failed to force the brothers out of Algiers . After consolidating his power and declaring himself the new Sultan of Algiers , Aruj sought to enhance his territory inlands and took Miliana , Medea and Ténès . He became known for attaching sails to cannons for transport through the deserts of North Africa . In 1517 the brothers raided Capo Limiti and later the Island of Capo Rizzuto in Calabria . Algiers joins the Ottoman Empire . For Aruj the best protection against Spain was to join the Ottoman Empire , his homeland and Spain ' s main rival . For this he had to relinquish his title of Sultan of Algiers to the Ottomans . He did this in 1517 and offered Algiers to the Ottoman Sultan . The Sultan accepted Algiers as an Ottoman " Sanjak " ( province ) , appointed Aruj as the Bey ( Governor ) of Algiers and Beylerbey ( Chief Governor ) of the West Mediterranean , and promised to support him with janissaries , galleys and cannons . Final engagements and death of Aruj and Ishak . The Spaniards ordered Abu Zayan , whom they had appointed as the new ruler of Tlemcen and Oran , to attack Aruj by land , but Aruj learned of the plan and pre - emptively struck against Tlemcen , capturing the city and executing Abu Zayan in the Fall of Tlemcen ( 1517 ) . The only survivor of Abu Zayan ' s dynasty was Sheikh Buhammud , who escaped to Oran and called for Spain ' s assistance . In May 1518 , Emperor Charles V arrived at Oran and was received there by Sheikh Buhammud and the Spanish governor of the city , Diego de Córdoba , Marquess of Comares , who commanded a force of 10 , 000 Spanish soldiers . Joined by thousands of Bedouins , the Spaniards marched overland on Tlemcen where Aruj and Ishak awaited them with 1 , 500 Turkish and 5 , 000 Moorish soldiers . They defended Tlemcen for 20 days , but were eventually killed in combat by the forces of Garcia de Tineo . The last remaining brother , Hızır Reis , inherited his brother ' s place , his name ( Barbarossa ) and his mission . Legacy . Aruj established the Ottoman presence in North Africa which lasted four centuries , " de facto " until the loss of Algeria to France in 1830 , of Tunisia to France in 1881 , of Libya to Italy in 1912 and " de jure " until the official loss of Egypt and Sudan to the United Kingdom in 1914 , after the Ottoman Empire joined World War I on the side of the Central Powers . The Republic of Turkey officially renounced the remaining disputed Turkish rights in some territories of Egypt and Sudan with the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923 . Two submarines ( TCG " Oruç Reis " and ) of the Turkish Navy have been named after Aruj . Barbarossa was the influence behind the character Captain Hector Barbossa from the movie " Pirates of the Caribbean " . It was revealed that co - star Johnny Depp played a decisive part in providing the name . His last name is both a pun on the surname of Spanish origin " Barbosa " and is based on Barbarossa , the Ottoman privateer . The word is a combination of the Italian words barba ( beard ) and rossa ( red ) .