The Western Algerian Beylik in european eyes: A study in truth and perception (Book Review)

Abstract

This study examines Kamel Ben Sahraoui’s work Baylek of the West in The African Journal (2018), which analyzes the representation of the Western Beylik in the French colonial journal Revue Africaine. The research highlights the importance of historiography in preserving historical memory while critically addressing the colonial production of knowledge about Algeria during the Ottoman and French colonial periods. It focuses on how French scholars collected, edited, and interpreted indigenous manuscripts, often within a framework shaped by colonial ideology and cultural bias.

The book provides a critical edition and analysis of texts related to the Western Beylik, emphasizing the administrative structure of Ottoman Algeria and the strategic importance of the western region. It further explores French colonial representations of cultural, religious, and political realities, including interpretations of historical sites, religious figures, Spanish occupation, and local resistance movements. The study reveals methodological limitations in colonial scholarship, particularly the selective use of sources and the exclusion of indigenous perspectives.

Through six thematic chapters, the author deconstructs colonial historiography by examining cultural narratives, military history, urban development in Oran and Mers El-Kébir, and the broader geopolitical context of North African colonial competition. The analysis also critiques key colonial narratives and highlights the ideological function of historical writing in legitimizing imperial expansion.

The study concludes that Ben Sahraoui’s work contributes significantly to Algerian historiography by offering a critical reassessment of colonial sources, correcting biases, and reconstructing neglected aspects of the Western Beylik’s history. Despite structural limitations in the book, it remains an important academic reference for understanding colonial discourse, historical memory, and the historiography of Ottoman and colonial Algeria.