Jijel (Igilgili), was first inhabited by Berbers tribes, most known were the Kutama. Originally a Phoenician trading post, the city passed successively to the Romans, the Vandals, the Arabs, the Genoese and, in the 16th century, to the Ottoman Admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa. In July 1664, the French took the city. Resistance was organized under the direction of Shaban Aga and the French were driven out in October of the same year. Jijel remained a Corsair stronghold until captured by the French in 1839. Strong local resistance, finally subdued in 1851, resulted in the construction of three forts along its southern fringe as well as minimal colonization. The original town was devastated by anearthquake in 1856
