the Ottoman Empire. By 1512 Aruj, the elder brother, commanded
a squadron of twelve ships. In 1516 the brothers successfully drove
Spanish forces out of the North African state of Algiers. In 1518,
when Aruj died, Hayreddin took charge of operations. He continued
working as a corsair until his death in 1546.
THE
WAKŌ
MENACE
Piracy of this era was not limited to Europe and the Middle East.
In eastern Asia, from the 1200s to the mid-1500s, bands of pirates
known as the wak
ō
menaced the seas around Japan. These pirates
included many former Japanese soldiers and fishers.
From 1543 to 1546, Japan was plagued by droughts. Crops wouldn’t
grow, and many people went hungry. Poor and desperate, many
Japanese farmers joined the ranks of the wak
ō
. Later, thousands of
Chinese and other Asian pirates joined the wak
ō
, expanding their
reach. Some of these pirates snatched grain from Chinese government
barges. Others raided Chinese villages, stealing silks and metal goods,
which they could sell in Japan for high prices. The Chinese authorities
had prohibited overseas trade as a way to cut down on piracy. But this
prohibition only made the wak
ō
more successful, since they were able
to trade their stolen cargo with no competition from legitimate Chinese
merchant ships. According to one commentator, by 1563 the Japanese
wak
ō
had 137 vessels crewed by more than fourteen hundred men.
China finally put an end to the wak
ō
in the late 1560s. Its well-
trained soldiers attacked the pirates at sea. In addition, China
eliminated the ban on overseas trade. As a result, people in other
countries could buy Chinese goods from honest merchants, which cut
into the illegal smuggling business. Divisions in the ranks of wak
ō
leadership further contributed to the demise of these Asian pirates.
17
SCOURGE OF THE SEAS
