Salé Rovers



The Salé Rovers, also known as the Sallee Rovers, were a group of Barbary pirates active during the 17th and 18th centuries in the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. Like other Barbary pirates, they attacked Christian merchant shipping and ransomed or enslaved any crew members and passengers they captured. Numerous Salé Rovers operated out of the Republic of Salé, which was established on the mouth of the Bou Regreg river and existed from 1627 to 1668.

Many of the corsairs of the Salé Rovers were of European descent, a large number were former English and Dutch Protestants, but every Christian ethnicity from Europe, Asia, Africa and the New World was represented among them. One such corsair was the Dutchman Jan Janszoon, who underwent conversion to Islam after being captured by Barbary pirates in 1618 and was renamed Murat Reis. By the 18th century, anti-piracy operations by European navies such as the British Royal Navy led to the eventual decline and disappearance of the Salé Rovers.