Ali Bey al-Abbasi

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Ali Bey al-Abbasi (Domingo Badia y Leblich; 1766 – 1818) was an explorer in the early 19th century. Notably, he actually witnessed the Wahhabi conquest of Mecca in 1807.

Traveling through Morocco, Tripoli, Cyprus, Egypt, Arabia, Syria, and Turkey during the period of 1803-1807, Ali Bey went to Mecca ostensibly to perform the hajj. In conversations with individuals that he met during his travels, he claimed that he was born in Aleppo; but he was later identified as Domingo Badia y Leblich, a Catalan spy for Joseph Bonaparte. Although, he alleged to be a Muslim in order to enter Mecca, when he died in Syria in 1818 he was denied a Muslim burial because of a cross tattoo on his chest. Some scholars believe that Ali Bey’s claims of Islam were a pretense maintained in order to travel to Mecca and Medina.

In 1816, the account of his travels, Travels of Ali Bey : in Morocco, Tripoli, Cyprus, Egypt, Arabia, Syria, and Turkey, between the years 1803 and 1807, was published.