Samson Rowlie(died after 1588) was ChiefEunuchandTreasurerofAlgiersduringOttoman rule.Born inNorfolk,England,the son of aBristolmerchant, Francis Rowlie, he was captured aboard of theSwallow[1]and castrated by the Ottomans in 1577.[2]He converted from Christianity toIslamand took the name Hassan Aga.[3]He served the Beylerbey of Algiers,Uluç Ali Pasha.
Richard Hakluyt's 1589 collection,The Principal Navigations,included a 1586 letter from William Harborne, England's ambassador to the Ottoman court, addressed to Hassan Aga, for the purpose of negotiating prisoner release.[4]A 1588 watercolor portrait depicts Hassan Aga with white skin and rosy cheeks, wearing a large turban. He was reported to have been murdered.[5]
References
edit- ^Maclean, G. (2007-09-05).Looking East: English Writing and the Ottoman Empire Before 1800.Springer.ISBN9780230591844.
- ^"The first Muslims in England - BBC News".BBC News.20 March 2016.Retrieved2016-03-21.
- ^Matar, Nabil (1998-10-13).Islam in Britain, 1558-1685.Cambridge University Press.ISBN9780521622332.
- ^Das, Nandini."Richard Hakluyt and Early English Travel".The Public Domain Review.Retrieved9 May2018.
- ^Bamford, Daniel."The life & death of Samson Rowlie, alias Hassan Agha. London, Nov. 2016".Academia.edu.Retrieved9 May2018.