The Ottoman & The Portuguese in The Persian Gulf

THE OTTOMAN TURKS AND THE PORTUGUESE IN THE PERSIAN GULF, 1534 - 1581
Author(s): SALIH ZBARAN and Dom Manuell de Lyma

Source: Journal of Asian History, Vol. 6, No. 1 (1972), pp. 45-87
Published by: Harrassowitz Verlag
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41929749 .
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SALlH ZBARAN
(Universityof Istanbul)
THE
OTTOMAN TURKS
IN THE PERSIAN
AND THE
GULF,
PORTUGUESE
1534-1581.*
There were in the sixteenthcenturytwo great powers which came to

have an interestin the affairsof the Persian Gulf. Of these powers the
firstwas Portugal. The Portuguese reached westernIndia at the end of
the fifteenthcenturyand established themselves at various strategic
points around the Indian Ocean, seeking to dominate the ancient
trade which ran fromIndia throughthe Red Sea and the Persian Gulf
to the Mediterraneanworld. The second power, the Ottoman Turks,
conquered Egypt in 1517 and took control of the Red Sea. Towards
the middle of the sixteenth century,duringthe reign of Sleyman the
Magnificent,they conquered Baghdad and made contact with the
Persian Gulf.
THE COMING OF THE PORTUGUESE

PERSIAN GULF
TO THE
The motives which led the Portuguese to undertake such a great

adventure are various. The economic factor, i.e., the search for the
Guinea gold and forspices, the crusadingzeal inheritedfromtheirpast
history,and the quest forthe legendaryPrester John,are some of the
* This articleis thesummary
ofa thesispresented
forthe degreeofPh.D.
in theUniversity
ofLondonin October1969.The workwas carriedout under
the supervision
of Mr. V.J. Parry.I am greatlyindebtedto Mr. Parrywhose
and untiringguidancewere always of exceptional
unceasingencouragement
C.R. BoxerofYale University
valueto me.I am also verygrateful
to Professor
forhismostenlightening
to thestaffofthe TurkishStateArchives
comments,
and of the Torredo Tomboof Lisbonfortheirkindco-operation.
Lastly,my
sincerethanksaredueto theGulbenkian
Foundationwhichenabledmeto carry
out myresearchin Lisbon.

46
SALIHZBARAN
reasons underlyingPortuguese penetrationinto the lands of the East.1

Pero de Covilho, an Arabic-speakingPortuguese,had visited Hormuz
in about 1488-1489 and collected informationon the trade routes of
Asia. Then, in 1498, after circumventingthe Cape of Good Hope,
Vasco da Gama with the guidance of Ahmad ibn Madjid, an Arab
pilot, reached Calicut in India. The Portuguese obtained fromHormuz
a nominal submissionin the year 1507 during the time of Francisco de
Almeida, the first Portuguese viceroy of India (1505-1509). It was
Afonso de Albuquerque who, well aware of the strategicimportanceof
the island, went now in earnest against Hormuz. He did not findhimself strongenough to take it ; but he plundered a number of towns on
the coast of Oman, e.g., Khorfakkan,Muscat and Karyat. Albuquerque, having become governor of India after Almeida, took Goa in
1510 and made it the main centreof the Portuguese in India. In 1515
he sailed again to Hormuz with twenty-sevenvessels and 1500 Portuguese and also some Indian auxiliary troops fromthe Malabar. The
fortressof Hormuz was surrenderedto him and the Ra'is Hamid, the
vizier, was killed. The Portuguese controlthus established at Hormuz
was to last until 1622. The Shah of Persia, although claiming to be
suzerain over Hormuz, could do nothingbut acquiesce in the presence
of the Portuguese.2
Only a few details are available about the agreementmade by Albuquerque with Turan Shah, the ruler of Hormuz, and Nur al-Din, his
vizier (guazil in Portuguese sources) in whose hands the real power lay.
3
It is known that Turan Shah had to pay a tribute of 15,000 xerafins
each year to meet the expenses of the Portuguese fortressand garrison
at Hormuz.4 The fortresswas entrstet to a Portuguese Governor
).
( governador
In 1521 the influenceof the Portuguese was felt in Bahrayn and
in al-Hasa (Lahsa) in the northeast of Arabia. A certainMukrim,the
1 The literature
on thePortugueseconquestsis large.Two recentauthoritaSeaborneEmpire
tive surveyswill be foundin C. R. Boxer, The Portuguese
,
V conomiede
1415-1825
, (London, 1969); and in V. Magalhes-Godinho,
VEmpirePortugaisaux XVe etXVIe Sicles, (Paris,1969).
* TheCommentaries
, trans.Walterde Gray
oftheGreatAlfonso
Dalbuquerque
Birch,I-IV (London,HakluytSociety,1884),IV, pp. 132ff.
s Xerafinor a?ara/wn-Portuguese
expressionfor a coin called in Arabic
. A xerafin
ofHormuzwas worth300 reis (cf.S. R. Dalgado, I-II, Glosashrafi
srioLuso-Asitico,(Coimbra,1921),II, pp. 424-425).
4 SimoBotelho,"O Tombodo Estadoda India" inSabsdiosparaa Histria
da India Portugueza
, (Lisboa,1868),p. 78.

IN THEPERSIANGULF
TURKSANDPORTUGUESE
47
ruler of al-Hasa, son of Zamel, refusedto pay to Hormuz the tribute

expected of him. He was also molestingships sailing between Basra
and Hormuz. For this purpose he had acquired vessels with oars made
for him by some Turks, "alguns Turcos."5 Diogo Lopes de Sequeira
who had been appointed as governor of India in 1518, was then at
Hormuz and agreed to send his nephew Antonio Correa against
Bahrayn. During the ensuing battle Mukrimwas killed and the Portuguese compelled the people of Bahrayn to give to Hormuz the tribute
due fromthem.6
The King of Portugal, D. Manuel, had decided earlier that Portuguese officialsshould take the place ofthe native officialsat the customs
house in Hormuz. Turan Shah resistedthis change but in vain. He was
assassinated and a young prince,Muhammad Shah, was raised to the
throne.7On 15 July 1523 D. Duarte de Menezes, governor of India,
concluded with the new prince,with his vizierSharaf al-Din and with
other amirsan agreementstipulatingthat the annual tributeshould be
raised to 60,000 xerafins.8 This agreementalso contained a number of
regulationsthroughwhich the Portuguese sought to consolidate their
own position at Hormuz and also controlto their own advantage the
flowof trafficto and fromthe island. The Portuguese assured freedom
of navigation in the Indian Ocean to the ships and merchantsof Hormuz providing they became vassals of the King of Portugal. They
5 "... que Mocrimtinhafeitoalgunsnaviosde remoporindustria
de alguns
Turcos"(Joode Barros,Da Asia, (Lisboa,1778),DecadaIII, LivroVI, p. 27).
Turcos-a,
to discernfromits use in
word,theprecisesenseofwhichis difficult
the Portuguesesources.Sometimesit seemsto meanlittlemorethanMuslims
ormenfromthelandsunderOttomanrule.The Portuguese
also madeuse ofthe
Rumesi.e., menfromthe landofRum, men,in short,fromtheterexpression
ritories
undertheOttomanSultan.
6 Mukrim
had at his disposal12,000men,amongthem300Arab horsemen,
400 Persianarchersand 20 Rumesespingardeiros.
is, in Turkish,
Espingardeiro
, an arquebusier(see V. J. Parry,in EI2, s.v. Harb).The espingardeiros
tfenki
wereengagednot onlyto fight,
but also to teachsomeof the local population
theuse offirearms:"... trezentos
frecheiros
de cavalloArabios,e quatrocentos
comoutrosda terraa que ellestinham
Parseos,e vinteRumesespingardeiros,
ensinadoesteuso" (Barros,Dec. III, Liv. VI, p. 33).
7 Ibid.,Liv. VII, pp. 113ff.
8 As notedabove, it was 15,000xerafins
in the timeofAlbuquerque(15091515),and 25,000in the timeof Lopo Soarez (1515-1518).It was morethan
in the middleof the sixteenthcentury(cf.G. Schurhammer,
100,000xerafins
Die Zeitgenssischen
Asiens und seiner
Quellenzur Geschichte
PortugiesischNachbarlnder
, 1538-1552,(Romae,1962),no. 4693).

48
salh zbaran
placed the reservationthat such vessels and merchantsshould not sail

through the 'estreito de mequa', i.e., into the Red Sea, and not to
Sofala and the adjacent shore of East Africa.There was also a clause
limitingthe use and practice of arms among the Mouros of Hormuz,
the Muslim population residentthere.9
The Portuguese, in the years which followed these events, did not
findit difficultto maintain controlover Hormuz. In 1526 a movement
of resistance against them, embracingKalhat and Hormuz itself,was
suppressed without much trouble. The revolt had arisen from the
exactions of Diogo de Mello, then governorof the Portuguese fortress
at Hormuz. Three years later, in 1529, the Portuguese imprisonedthe
guazil of Hormuz, the Ra'is Sharaf al-Din, who had been manipulating
the young prince of Hormuz, Muhammad Shah, to his own ends and
in a manner hostile to the interestsof Portugal.10
It was in 1529 that the Portuguese intervenedforthe firsttime, in
the affairsof Basra. A certain Rashid ibn Megamis was in control of
Basra under a loose dependence of the Shah of Persia. Against him
stood "el Rey de Gizaira,"11 the Arab chieftainwho dominated the
region of Jezayir. This chieftainhad demanded tribute from Basra.
Rashid rejected this demand and appealed for aid to the Portuguese
at Hormuz. Christavo de Mendoa, the governor of Hormuz, sent
Belchior de Sousa Tavares to Basra with two brigantines(bargantijs)
and a force of fortysoldiers (homens de peleja).12,Belchior de Sousa
broughtto an end the hostilitiesbetween Basra and the Jezayir. The
Arabs fromJezayir surrenderedto Basra two fortswhich had fallen
to them earlier and also undertookto give an annual tributeto Basra.
The Portuguese asked Rashid to hand over to them seven fusta13then
9 Botelho,op.cit.,pp. 79ff.
10R. S. Whiteway,
Powerin India, (London,1967),
TheRiseofthePortuguese
pp. 222-223.
11The termGizairaand also Gizaresderiveperhapsfromthe termJezayir
,
the name appliedhereto the area aroundKurna wherethe riverTigrisand
Euphratesflowtogether.
12". . . chegoude BasoraBelchiorde Sousa Tavarez,que o capitoChristoe querantahomensde
vo de Mendoatinhala mandadocomdous bargantijs,
de Ali MogamexRey daquella cidade,para o ajudar a
peleja a requerimento
defender
d'El Rey de Gizairaseuvizinho. . (Barros,Dec. IV, Liv. III, p. 331).
13Fusta-i.e., a typeofoaredship,smalland light(cf.H. Leitoe J. V. LodeMarinhaAntigae Actual, (Lisboa,1963),p. 217.
pes,Dicionrioda Linguagem
On otherusesofthewordfustasee Kahaneand Tietze,TheLinguaFrancain the
Levant
, (Urbana,1958),p. 235.

IN THE PERSIANGULF
TURKSANDPORTUGUESE
PersianGulfin the SixteenthCentury(Northern

Section)
Scale 1:4.000.000

49
50
salh zbaran
at Basra. These fustawere well armed with guns and had fiftyRumes
on board. When Rashid ibn Megamis declined to do so, Belchior de
Sousa burnt the settlementslocated on the adjoining coast and withdrew to Hormuz.14
Also in the same year, 1529, the Portuguese sent a forceto Bahrayn.
The ruler of that island, the Ra'is "Barbadim" (Baha al-Din or Badr
al-Din?), a nephew of the guazil of Hormuz, Sharaf al-Din, was in
revolt against Hormuz, having refused to pay the tribute due from
him. On 8 September 1529, Nuno da Cunha, the Portuguese governor
of India, despatched his brother,Simo da Cunha, with fiveships and
almost fivehundred men to Bahrayn. At this time Belchior de Sousa,
with six oared vessels,was also patrollingin the waters adjacent to the
island, seeking to prevent the Ra'is Badradim fromrecruitingtroops
in the coastal areas of Persia. The Ra'is, with some eight hundred
Persians under his command, refused to surrenderthe fortressof
Bahrayn. The Portuguese now bombarded the fort, but in vain-a
shortage of powder and an outbreak of sickness15compelled them to
withdrawto Hormuz.16
The years after 1529 saw little of note occuringat Hormuz. But the
patternof relationsprevailingthus farbetween Christiansand Muslims
in the Persian Gulfand in the adjoining territorieswas soon to undergo
a notable change. A new factor would influencestronglythe future
course of events.
THE OTTOMAN TURKS IN THE COASTLANDS OF THE
PERSIAN GULF
In 1534 the Ottomans entered into a new conflictwith Persia. The
campaign of 1534-1535 brought them substantial gains in Eastern
Asia Minor. It also saw the conquest of the two Iraqs, Iraq-i Ajem
(Persian Iraq) and Iraq-i Arab (Arab Iraq). A numberof considerations
14Barros,Dec. IV, Liv. III, pp. 348-350.
15The sourcesstatethattheeast windblowingin September
oftenbrought
withit or causedoutbreaksofsickness-as,forexample,on a lateroccasionin
ofLahsa was engagedin a campaignagainst
1559,whentheOttomanbeylerbey
theBahrayn.
16Barros,Dec. IV, Liv. III, pp. 362ff;Diogo do Couto,Da Asia, (Lisboa,
1778),Dec. IV, Liv. IV, capitulosIII and IV; GasparCorrea,Lendasda India,
I-IV, (Lisboa,1862),III, pp. 325ff;FernoLopes de Castanheda,Histriado
e Conquistada India pelosPortugueses
Descobrimento
, (Lisboa,1833),Liv. VII,
capitulosCII-CIII.

IN THEPERSIANGULF
TURKSANDPORTUGUESE
51
led the Ottomans to begin this war against the Safavids. The desire
to win a more effectivecontrolover the important trade routes-e.g.,
the "silk route" runningfromTabriz to Erzurum, Tokat and Bursa,17
and the "spice route" extendingfromBasra to Baghdad and Aleppo18must be counted no doubt among the reasons for the campaign. On
the political and militarysides the occupation of Iraq can be viewed as
a logical complementto the Ottoman conquest of Syria and Egypt in
1516-1517. There existed in the eastern frontiersin Asia Minor a
continuingfrictionbetween pro-Safavid Shi'i elements and the Ottoman frontier authorities.19The extension of Ottoman control in
Eastern Asia Minorto such areas as Erzurum and Lake Van must have
seemed to Sultan Sleyman and his viziers eminentlynecessary. The
immediate pretext for war was the desertion to the Safavids of the
Kurdish chieftainSharaf Khan of Bitlis and the accession to the Ottomans of an important Safavid frontierbeg, Ulama Khan, who now
entered the Ottoman service. To settle the Turco-Safavid problem,
and also having in mind a campaign against Baghdad, the Ottoman
Grand Vizier, Ibrahim Pasha, firsttook Tabriz in July 1534.20 In
September Sultan Sleyman joined the Grand Vizier. Aftera difficult
march from Tabriz, in December the Ottomans entered Baghdad
whence Tekeli Khan, the Safavid commanderhad fled.This campaign
gave to the Ottomans possession of the region around Erzurum and
also of northernand centralIraq. As yet theirinfluencedid not extend
to the regions of Basra and Lahsa.
During his stay at Baghdad (December 1534-April 1535) the
Sultan received the submission of Rashid ibn Megamis. He sent his
son Man'i to the Sultan with the keys of Basra and with a fulsome
assurance of his loyalty.21The local chieftains of Jezayir, of Garraf,
17Cf.H. nalcik,in EI2, s.v. Bursa; also hispaper"The OttomanEconomic
Mindand AspectsoftheOttomanEconomy,"in M.A. Cook(ed.),Studiesin the
EconomicHistoryoftheMiddleEast, (London,1970),pp. 209if.
18A. H. Lybyer,"The OttomanTurksand the Routesof OrientalTrade,"
in EnglishHistoricalReview
, LXX, (London,1915),pp. 577-588.
19 . H. Uzunarili,
OsmanliTarihi, I-IV, (Ankara,1949),II, pp. 336ff;J.
vonHammer,HistoiredeVEmpireOttoman
, trans.J.J. Heilert,V, (Paris,1826),
pp. 202ff.
20On thecampaignof IbrahimPasha see T. Gkbilgin,
"Arzve Raporlarina
Gre IbrahimPaa'nm IrakeynSeferindeki
Ilk Tedbirlerive Ftuhati,"in
Belleten
, XXI, (Ankara,1957),pp. 449ff.
21RsternPaa( ?), Tevrih-i
l-i Osman,University
Library,Istanbul,MS.
nu. 2438,fol.205r.

52
SALHZBARAN
of Luristan and of the Huwaizah marches,near Khuzistan, also gave

theirallegiance to the Ottomans.22Also in December 1534 therecame to
Baghdad fromthe sheikhsof Katif and of the Bahrayn envoys bearing
messages of welcome to the Sultan.23 Whatever their feelingsmight
have been, all these small states needed protection from or allies
against the Portuguese.
In Basra it was not until 1538 that the name of the Sultan appeared
on the coinage and was read in the Khutba, i.e., the Friday prayer.
and
Basra received the titular status of an eyalet (or beylerbeylik),
Rashid ibn Megamis was confirmedin his position at Basra.24 He was
expected to obey the ordersof the Pasha of Baghdad and to maintain
the shari'a law. Not much informationis available about his rule at
Basra after this time. Rashid was succeeded by his son Man'i. Man'i,
however,by the decisionof the councilof local notables (icma'-i vilyet
mveresi) at Basra was forced to yield his position to Yahya, the
sheikhofthe Banu Aman.25Yahya aligned himselfwith Sayyid Amira notable who had separated fromhis tribe,the Banu Mushasha, and
had received fromSultan Sleyman the town and districtof Zakiyya,
a place of some strategic importance on the bank of the Euphrates.
These two chieftainsturned,in 1545, against Hurrem Bey whom the
Pasha of Baghdad had sent to build a fortwhich would control the
region of Zakiyya.26In the end Sayyid Amir was overcome, Zakiyya
came under direct Turkish control and thus the road to Basra was
open. Sheikh Yahya of Basra fell into furtherdisfavorwith the Ottomans when, in 1546, he ignored an order fromthe Sultan to return
certainrefugeesto Baghdad, who had fled to Basra fromcentralIraq.
22S. H. Longrigg,
Four Centuries
ofModemIraq, (Oxford,1925),p. 25.
23Even thevizierSharafal-DinofHormuzsenta letterto SultanSleyman
askinghimto send help againsthis Portuguesemasters(cf.L. Ribeiro,"Em
tornodo primeirocerco de Diu", in Studia, XIII-XIV, (Lisboa, 1964),pp.
102-103.
24"Mh-imezbrun
1saltanat
namusyirmiyedincigndivn-1hmynda
muktezasinca
padiahiile merref
ziyfetolunubve takbl-irikb-ihmyn-i
olub Basra hkmetieyletnvaniylakendiyeinayetolunub. . (Peev,
A. D., I, p. 207).
TarihjIstanbul,1238/1866
25RstemPasa, op.cit.,fol.239v.
26Ibid., fol.240v; see also theletterofLuis Falco, thegovernador
ofHorofIndia. Luis Falco obtainedhis
muz,dated 10 January1546,to thegovernor
whosenameis notgivenin theletter
information
througha certainmerchant,
Casa Forte,Cartasde Ormuza D .
do
da
Torre
Nacional
Tombo,
(cf.Arquivo
Joode Castro
, fol.38r).

IN THE PERSIANGULF
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PersianGulfin theSixteenthCentury(SouthernSection)
Scale 1:5.000.000

53
54
SALIRZBARAN
The refusalmarkedthe end of his rule.27Ayas Pasha, the then beylerbey

of Baghdad, was now ordered to punish Yahya. The Ottomans thus
enteredBasra on 21 evval 952/26 December 1546.28Afterappointing
Bilal Mehmed Pasha to be muhafiz (governor) of Basra, Ayas Pasha
returnedto Baghdad. For this success he was given 200,000 ake as
under direct Ottoman
terakk.29 Basra itself became a beylerbeylilc
control,the officebeing conferrednow on Bilal Mehmed Pasha.30
Immediately afterthe conquest of Basra the Ottomans, well aware
of the significanceof the trade through the Persian Gulf, made an
amicable approach to the Portuguese. Haj ji Fayat, an Arab merchant,
was sent with a letterto the Portuguese governorof Hormuz, Manuel
de Lima. The lettermade clear the intentionofthe Ottoman authorities
in Iraq. Manuel de Lima, reportingto the governor of India, wrote
that Ayas Pasha, the chief Ottoman officialin Iraq, was determined
to make Basra prosperousforthe merchants.31
At the same time the Ottomans sought to establish themselves on
the shores of the Persian Gulf. Very littleis known about the Ottoman
penetrationinto the region of Lahsa. Manuel de Lima states that the
Ottoman Turks took Lahsa immediatelyaftertheircapture of Basra.32
Domingos Barbudo, whom Manuel de Lima sent to Basra to gather
information,stated that the capito of Lahsa was a certain Abdullah
(Abedela). This man, the son of the formerruler of Lahsa, went to
27Bilal MehmedPasha, who was givencommandof Basra afterthe Ottomans had taken it, explainedthe reasonsforthe campaignagainstSheikh
in 1547.He wrotethatYahya had oppressed
Yahya ofBasra in a letterwritten
translation
in thePortuguese
all thepeopleunderhisrule.Yahya is mentioned
ofBilal Mehmed'sletteras xequeHaya (ArquivoNacionalda Torredo Tombo,
IV, foi.141r).
Colecode So Loureno
28Cf. RsternPaa, op.cit.,foi. 243v ; also Nazmi-zdeMrteza,Glen-i
fol.62v; theletterofManuelde Lima (seeAppenHulefa,(Istanbul,1143/1730),
dix I).
29Terakk,meaningherean additionto his annualsalary.
30"Padiah. . . AyasPaa'ya 200,000aketerakkve Bilal MehmedPaa'ya
on kerreyzbinakeile Basra vilyetinin
Paa,
beylerbeyli
giniverdi"(Rstern
in Europe
op.cit.,fol.243v). Akeis theTurkishtermfora silvercoinexpressed
as asper.
81"A setede Julhoveio o seu embaixadorcomhua cartapara mimo qual
embaixadorhe humarabiomercadorque se chamahagyfayat... a detreminao de ayaz baxa era fazerbaoramuitoprosperade mercador. . ." (see
AppendixI).
32Ibid. Manuelde Lima refersno doubtto the northern
part of al-Hasa,
Arabia.
whichcoveredmostofnorth-eastern

IN THEPERSIANGULF
TURKSANDPORTUGUESE
55
that region with the Ottoman expedition prepared forthe occupation

of that area.33The Pasha of Basra, in 1550, demanded the surrenderof
the fortof Katif. The Arabs made no resistance and yielded theirfort
to the Ottomans. A number of Ottoman troops, with some artillery,
was then stationed at Katif.34
Within a few years, afterthe conquest of Basra in 1546, the Ottomans introduced and set on firmfoundation the eyaletsystem in the
newly conquered lands. There were two kinds of eyaletin the empire.
The firstwas yilliJcsiz(salyanesiz), namely the timar system.35The
second was yillikli (salyaneli), i.e., provinces where a portion of the
revenues was not distributedin the formof timars,but was collected
directlyfor the treasury. In the salyaneli eyaletsthe salaries of the
the soldiers and other functionariescame fromthe annual
beylerbeys,
taxes gatheredin the eyalets. The two eyalets(beylerbeylks
) with which
we are most concernedhere are Basra and Lahsa-both of them being
salyaneli eyalets.
Bilal Mehmed Pasha was appointed as the firstbeylerbeyof Basra
with an income amounting to 200,000 ahe per annum. According to
the letter37of Manuel de Lima there were 2,200 Ottoman troops in
Basra in 1547. These troops were describedin the Portuguese letteras
, i.e., arquebusiers. We are told that 1,000 of them were
espingardeiros
stationed in the actual fortof Basra and 700 of them in the town itself.
The letter also gives the informationthat there were, in addition,
1,000 Turkish horsemen at Basra. The Ottoman forces included a
considerablenumberof Gnll, i.e., of volunteerswho were under the
command of an aga.Z8
The eyaletof Basra, under the control of a beylerbey
, consisted of a
number of sanjaks (Uva ) ; each sanjak was under a sancak beyi. The
himselfwas at the head of the actual sanjak of Basra, which
beylerbey
was called pasa sancag%
The othersanjaks, as faras we can judge from
38Cart.Ormuz,fol.116r.
84Cf.Couto,Dec. VI, Liv. IX, p. 243; I. Wicki(ed.),Documenta
Indica, II,
(Romae,1950),p. 69. In a letter,dated24 November1550,Liz ThomSerro,
ouvidorof the King,wrotethatthe Turkswentto Katifwith200 menin six
on land (cf.Schurhammer,
fustasand 500 horsemen
op.cit.,nu. 4539).
85 Timar, i.e., a kindofTurkishfief,thepossessorsofwhich mountedto
go
warand supplysoldiersforwar.
86Cf.H. nalcik,in IE2, s.v. Eyalet.
87See AppendixI.
88Cf.forexample,IstanbulBabakanlikArivi,KmilKepeciTasnfi,Rus
nu. 218,p. 142.
Defterleri,

56
SALHZBABAK
the documentsexistingin the State Archivesof Istanbul, were Garrf,

Hemmar,Madina, Fethiyya,Zakiyya,Kurna, Sadr Sevib, Rahmniyya,
Turra-i Jezayir,Keyn Kind( ?), Ma'dan, Vki, Kinhiyya, Takpr,
Akakal'e, Arja, Muharri,Sharir and Jarr.39
The Ottomans had a tersane (dockyard) at Basra; timber for the
building of new ships was brought from the mountains of Mara, a
town situated on the southernedge of the Taurus range in Southern
Asia Minor, down to Iraq throughBirejik on the River Euphrates.40
Simo da Costa, a Portuguese agent, who was allowed by the pasha of
Basra to visit the tersanein 1563, reportsthat he saw there fivenewly
made galleys,the biggesthavingtwenty-twobenchesforthe oarsmen 41.
AfterBasra, Katif played a very importantpart in the conflictwith
the Portuguese. It was a second base on the coast of the Persian Gulf.
of Lahsa. At
Katif was included among the sanjaks of the beylerbeylik
a
rank
of
held
the
Lahsa
of
firstthe Ottoman governor
sanjak bey.42
A document dating from the year 967/1555 reveals that sometime
previously the sanjak bey of Lahsa had been raised to the status of
.43The eyaletof Lahsa, which extended
Mir-i Miran , i.e., of beylerbey
as faras Qatar, consistedofthe sanjaks ofKatif, Hama, Mubarriz( j >.),
Jesha (**-),Saff,Jabrayn,Kobn, Tahammiyya and Uyun.44
89Cf.forexample,Rus 225,p. 222 (seeAppendixIV) ; also thekanun-nme
La Province
fiscauxottoman,
ofBasra of 1574-75in R. Mantran,"Rglements
and SocialHistory
de Bassora(2emoitidu XVIs.)," in JournaloftheEconomic
to findsome
, X/2-3,(Leiden,1967),pp. 224-277.It is difficult
of theOrient
of the namesof the sanjakson the map. Some of thesenamesseemto have
indicatedthe Arab tribesin the Jezayirdistrict.Mostof themare, however,
mentionedin the Vera DelineatioCivitatisBassoras, Paris, 1680(?). See the
ofPrintedMa/psin theBritishMuseum,49475(1). Cf.also S. zbaran,
Catalogue
liginin
Basra Beylerbey
"XVI. YzyildaBasra KrfeziShillerinde
Osmanlilar,
Kuruluu,"TarihDergisi,25 (Istanbul,1971),pp. 57ff.
40 IstanbulBabakanlikArivi,MhimmeDefterleri(MD), XXII, p. 70;
also MD, III, pp. 263,290, citedin C. Orhonluand T. Iiksal,"OsmanliDevNakDicle ve FiratNehirlerinde
rindeNehirNakliyatiHakkindaAratirmalar,
79.
in
Tarih
,
1963),
(Istanbul,
p.
DergisiXIII/17-18,
liyat,"
41As Gavetasde Torredo Tombo
, V, (Lisboa,1965),p. 140.
42 IstanbulTopkapiSarayiKtphanesi,MS. nu. Kogular888, fol. 102r.
thistime.
A certainMehmedBey heldtheappointment
48C. Orhonlu,"1559 BahreynSeferineAid Bir Rapor," in Tarih Dergisi,
XVII/22,(Istanbul,1967),p. 6; quotingfromMD, II, p. 167.
44Cf.Rus 238,p. 146(dated6 ewal 988/14November1580).See also J. S.
Mandaville,"The OttomanProvinceof al-Hasa in the Sixteenthand Sevenin JournaloftheAmericanOriental
teenthCenturies,"
, 90/3,(1970),p.
Society
488.

TURKSANDPORTUGUESE
IN THE PERSIANGULF
The copyofSultan'sletterto theKing ofPortugal(MD. v. p. 70)

57
58
salh zbaran
THE OTTOMAN-PORTUGUESE RIVALRY IN THE
PERSIAN GULF
As shown above, in 1547 the Ottomans had made an amicable approach to the Portuguese governor of Hormuz. From the political
point of view the efforthad been fruitlessfor the simple reason that
the existence of the Turks in the Persian Gulf was against the interest
of the Portuguese who wanted to control the trade to Basra. The
Portuguese saw the Ottoman occupation of Basra as a threat in the
Persian Gulf. At this time,therefore,the Portuguese were on the alert.
The Ottoman Turks, wishing to exploit the advantages arising from
theirpossessionofBasra, could send naval assistance,wheneverneeded,
fromthe Red Sea to the Persian Gulf. It was importantfor them to
maintain a firmhold over the waters of the Red Sea.45 In fact the
Portuguese were to have littlesuccess in theirattemptsto pass through
the Bab al-Mandab. Aden came into the hands of the Ottomans in
1538 and ten years later the town was broughtstill more closely under
Ottoman influence.46In 1550 a furtherevent occured in the Persian
Gulfwhichled the Portuguese to undertakea campaign of some importance. The Arabs of Katif yielded theirfortressto the Ottomans. This
event alarmed the Portuguese and induced them to take advantage of
approaches coming fromthe Arab chieftainsof Basra.47 Some of the
local Arab chieftainsin that region,even beforethe Ottoman capture
of Basra in 1546, had sought the interventionof the Portuguese.48
D. Afonso de Noronha, the Portuguese governorof India, now appointed D. Anto de Noronha to command a force of 1,200 men and
seven galleys, orderinghim to move against the Ottoman Turks in
45Cf.C. Orhonlu,"XVI. AsrinIlk YarismdaKizildanizSahillerinde
Osmanlilar,"in TarihD ergisi,XII/16, (1962),pp. 5ff.
48R. B. Serjeant,ThePortuguese
offtheSouthArabianCoast, (O.U.P., 1963),
pp. 107-108.
47"El Rey [i.e.,theKingofPortugal]o sentiomuitopela perdahumafortaleza to importa. . ." (Couto,Dec. VI, Liv. IX, p. 244). See also Faria e
Sousa, Asia Portuguesa
, trans.M. Busquets de Aquilar,I-VI, (Porto,1945),
III, p. 227.
48The copiesof the lettersfromAli ibn Ulyan and SheikhYahya to Luis
ofHormuz,are in Col.Loureno,
IV, fols139rFalco,thePortuguese
governor
141r and 493r-494r.Couto,referring
to the 'King of Basra' (perhaps,in fact,
ofIndia,offering
to theGovernor
SheikhYahya),saysthathe sentambassadors
to the Portuguesea fortin the harbourofBasra (Dec,VI, Liv. IX, pp. 244245).

IN THEPERSIANGULF
TRKSANDPORTUGUESE
59
the Persian Gulf. Turan Shah, the ruler of Hormuz, was also asked to
reinforcethem with three thousand men for the venture of Katif.
Anto de Noronha set sail forKatif, accompanied by Ra'is Sharaf alDin of Hormuz and Amir Majid of Moghistan49with three thousand
men. The Turks there,some fourhundredstrong,defendedthemselves
bravely,but surrenderedto the Portuguese aftera siege of eight days.
Noronha now destroyedthe fort of Katif and resolved to go against
Basra. He achieved verylittlethere,forthe beylerbey
of Basra50carried
out a clever plan. He made the Portuguese commander believe that
the Turks and the Arabs of Basra had formedan alliance against the
Portuguese-whereuponD. Anto de Noronha decided to withdraw
to Hormuz. There he learned that he had been deceived.51
As yet the Ottomans had no adequate naval facilitiesin the Persian
Gulf. Thereforethe ships, and the naval equipment employed for
their firstsea campaigns in the waters of the Gulf came from their
naval bases in the Red Sea. Afterthe conquest of Egypt in 1516-1517,
Suez became the base for the Ottoman naval activities directed towards the Indian Ocean. This base had been inheritedfromthe Mamluks of Syria and Egypt, and it had played a significantrole in the
years before the Ottoman conquest. Selman Reis, a Turkish captain
in the service of the Mamluks, also served the Ottomans after 1517.
He seems to have been the firstOttoman High Admiral of the Red
Sea (Kapudan-i Bahr-i Ahmer). In his famous lyiha, a report presented in 1525 to the Ottoman Grand Vizier, Ibrahim Pasha, he underlined the importance of the trade in the Indian Ocean.52 The first
and the most ambitious Ottoman attempt to intervene against
the Portuguese came in 1538. In that year Hadim Sleyman Pasha,
the beylerbeyof Egypt, led a strong Ottoman armada into the In49Coutorefers
to thetroopsfromMagostoas Perseos,i.e., Persians,and to
the troopsfromHormuzas Aramuzanos(Ibid., p. 326). Magostoor Mina
as Moghistan
orMughistan,
(Minam),a namewhichappearsin modernhistories
and whichis describedin the letterof GonaloRodriguez,dated 31 August
1552,as beingat a distanceofsix or sevenleaguesfromHormuz(I. Wicki,op.
cit.,p. 11, 331,337). Cf.also Barros,Dec. III, Liv. IV, p. 37; L. Lockhart,in
EI 2,s.v. Hormuz.
50Couto givesthe name of this beylerbey
as Ali Pasha whereasthereis a
mentionofKubad Pasha in an Ottomandocumentas earlyas 1550(Rus 209,
p. 51).
51For thefullstoryofthecampaignsee Couto,Dec. VI, Liv. IX, pp. 334ff.
52F. Kurtoglu,"SelmanReis Lyihasi,"in Deniz Mecmuasi,XXXXVII,
(Istanbul,1934),pp. 67-73.

60
SALIRZBARAN
dian Ocean. He visited Aden, and sailing to the western coast of

India, besieged Diu in Gujarat. The siege was unsuccessful,but it left
a strongimpressionon the Portuguese of the potential danger of the
Ottoman naval forces at Suez. The Ottoman control over Aden and
Zebid in the Yemen was also established on this occasion. Three years
later, Estavo da Gama, the son of the famous Vasco da Gama, sailed
up the Red Sea to attack Suez, but without success. The Ottomans
thus remained masters of the Red Sea, having now, in addition to
Suez, a second naval base at Aden.53
In Cemazielevvel 959 /April 1552 the veteran sailor, Pr Reis, set
sail fromSuez withtwenty-five
galleys (kadirga), fourgalleons (kalyon)
and one othership carrying850 soldiers.An ordersent out fromIstanbul to Basra-dated 18 Zilhicce/6 November 1552-forthe information
of Basra, Kubad Pasha, sets forththe instructionsto
of the beylerbey
be given to Pr Reis. He was to capture Hormuz and then,if possible,
to take the island of Bahrayn.54Couto, the Portuguese historian,states
that the main purpose of this campaign was to secure "the strait of
Basra."65 However, in the beginningof August the Ottomans appeared
before Muscat. First came Mehmed Bey,66the son of Pr Reis, with
five galleys, then Pr Reis himself.Muscat was defended by Joo de
Lisboa, whom the governorof India, D. Alfonsode Noronha, had sent
to build a fortressforthe greatersafetyof the Portuguese. The fort,at
that moment,held sixty Portuguese.57The Ottomans capturedMuscat
without difficulty,took the garrison as prisoners and proceeded to
Hormuz, arriving there on 19 September. The governor of Hormuz
was lvaro de Noronha who had held this appointmentsince 1550. The
Portuguese governor had almost complete control of the island, although therewas a prince (Shah) and his vizier nominally rulingover
Hormuz itself,over the southern coast of Persia along the strait of
Hormuz and also over certain territorieson the shore of Arabia.
68Lopez Lobato,thePortuguese
agentat Hormuz,in hisletterto thegoverthatfourTurkishshipswentin
norofIndia,dated 31 October1546,mentions
to handthetownover.
1546to calayate,
i.e., Kalhat.TherulerofKalhatrefused
Thenthe Turkssailedto Muscatand set it on fire(Col. So Loureno
, IV, fol.
479r,485r).
84Kogular888, fol. 487v, publishedin C. Orhonlu, Hmt Kaptanligive
Pr Reis," in BeiUten
, XXXIV, (Ankara,1970),p. 279. Cf. also the letterof
Ra'is Sharafal-Din,theguazilofHormuz(see AppendixII).
88Dec. VI, Liv. X, pp. 405-406.
8#Ibid., p. 407; Kogular888,fol.488r.
87Couto,p. 408.

IN THE PERSIANGULF
TURKSANDPORTUGUESE
The FirstPage ofD. Manuelde Lima's Letter(1547)

61
62
salh zbaran
lvaro de Noronha was well informedabout the activities of the Ottoman fleetand had made all the necessarypreparationsfor resistance.
The Turks captured the city of Hormuz and bombarded the castle
intermittently.The Portuguese, seven hundred in number (it is also
said that they numbered more than the Turkish besiegers), defended
themselves,but never ventured out to attack the Turks.58According
to Portuguese sources,Pr Reis then withdrewto the island of Kishm,
having been informedthat the richestpeople of Hormuz residedthere.59
He foundno resistanceon the island. The rich communityof the island
consisted of some thirty merchants who had an average capital of
20,000 cruzados.60There was also a Spanish Jew who alone had no
less than 80,000 cruzados in gold.61Towards the end of October, Pr
Reis sailed forBasra with all the spoils. Meanwhile,Goa had also heard
of the impending Ottoman threat.62ThereforeAffonsode Noronha
decided to sail to Hormuz with more than eightyships (over thirtyof
them being of large dimensions)and with several distinguishedsoldiers
at his side. On his arrival at Diu he learned that the Ottoman fleethad
sailed to Basra. So he decided not to go in person to Hormuz. Instead
he sent his nephew, D.Anto de Noronha,at the head of a squadron
consistingof twelve large ships and twenty-eightlight ones. D. Anto
reached Hormuz towards the end of November and found it relieved
fromall danger. But he saw visible signsof the damage inflictedduring
the recent siege.63
of
On the arrival of Pr Reis at Basra, Kubat Pasha, the beylerbey
that province, sent the Sultan a report about Pr's activities. When
he learned that Kubad Pasha's report was unfavourable to him, Pr
departed fromBasra, taking with him on three galleys all the spoils
that he won duringthe campaign includinghis Portuguese prisoners.64
68See AppendixII.
59Cf.The LetterofAlvarode Noronha
in theArquivoNacionalda Torredo
Parte
89,
Ia, Mao Documento9, fol.2v; also Couto,
,
Tombo,CorpoCronologico
Dec. VI, Liv. X, p. 426.
80Cruzadowas a Portuguesecoin of thistimeworth400 Reis (Antniode
Dicionrioda Lingua Portuguesa
MoraisSilva,Granda,
, (Lisboa, 1945),III, p.
729,col. 2).
61Coutomentions
This
that20,000peoplein theislandweretakenprisoner.
Liv.
Dec.
much
too
no
doubt
is
X,
VI,
p. 426).
high(j
figure
62Ibid.,p. 427.
63Ibid.,pp. 439 and 465.
64The spoilsare said to havebeenworthmorethana millionofgold: 4mais
de hummilhode ouro" (Ibid.,p. 468).

TURKSANDPORTUGUESE
IN THEPERSIANGULF
63
Afterhis arrival at Suez, Pr Reis, who had been a notable Ottoman

geographer and cartographeras well as one of the most famous of
Turkish seamen, was arraigned for his lack of success in the Persian
Gulf and was beheaded in 1553.65
This episode was in no way the end of the Ottoman attempt to gain
controlof the Persian Gulf. Their effortto possess the eastern shore of
Arabia, to win the island of Bahrayn and to keep open the strait of
Hormuz was now to become moresustainedthan it had everbeen before.
Success would depend on Ottoman land forces in Basra and in the
Lahsa districtand on Ottoman naval facilitiesin the arsenal of Basra
ratherthan on the Suez fleetwhichhad been leftby Pr Reis at Basra.
There was now a considerable fear that the Portuguese might take
reprisals for the harm which the operation of Pr Reis had caused
them. In fact, the Portuguese fleet under Pero de Taide Inferno was
patrollingin the Red Sea area.66The Sultan thereforelost no time in
appointing a new captain to bring back to Suez the Ottoman vessels
still at Basra. However, the attempt of the new Jcapudan
, Murad Reis,
to bringback fifteengalleys, one galleon and one other vessel to Suez
was unsuccessful.The Portuguese had all the informationabout his
67
journey froma captured terranquim with its crew of Mouros.68The
Portuguese with their naval commander, D. Diogo de Noronha, encounteredthe Ottoman fleetin the strait of Hormuz near the Persian
coast. During the battle the Ottomans received considerable damage
and Murad Reis thereforedecided to sail back to Basra.69 In spite of
this setback the Sultan still wanted to have the fleet broughtback to
Suez. Seydi Ali Reis, the well known Turkish geographer,was now
appointed to undertake the same operation. He set sail fromBasra on
2 July 1554 with his fifteenships, having been informedthat the
Portuguese had only four ships in the Persian Gulf. The Portuguese,
with theirfleetcommander,D. Fernando de Menezes, then at Muscat,
again obtained informationfrom some terradas70 that Seydi Ali was
65SeydAli Reis,MiratClMemlik
, (Istanbul,1895),p. 13; Peev,Tarih,
p. 352; Couto,Dec. VI, Liv. X, p. 468.
66Couto,p. 485.
7 Terranquim
, i.e., a smalloaredshiphavingsails also-itwas muchused
in India (Leitoand Lopez,op.cit.,p. 385).
68Mouros
- hereto be understood
no doubtas ArabsfromtheShattal-Arab
area ofIraq.
69SeydAli Reis,Mirt, p. 13; Couto,pp. 487-494.
7 Terrada,i.e., a kindofshipthatwas muchusedin thePersianGulfand in
theRed Sea (Leitoand Lopez,p. 385).Thewordterrada
is derivedfromArabic

64
salh zbaran
beginninghis voyage. The Portuguese fleet,consistingof twenty-five

ships includingsix caravels and twelve grabs,11encounteredthe Ottoman vessels near Khawr Fakkan, on the coast of Oman. There, on
9 August 1554, the Ottomans and the Portuguese foughtone of their
most violent sea battles. The Portuguese were forcedto retreatto the
Gulf of Lima. Seydi Ali, in his Mirat'l Memlik, counts this first
meeting as a success. But the Portuguese armada retreated and was
refitted. This having been done, D. Fernando de Noronha emerged
with thirty-fourships and engaged the Ottomans once more. This time
the Ottomans sufferedheavy losses. Seydi Ali Reis, in his account of
this event, describes the battle as much more terriblethan those of
Barbarossa, the famous Ottoman admiral with whom he had served
in the MediterraneanSea.72 With nine ships left, Seydi Ali sailed for
Yemen. He was, however,drivenby the westerlywinds to the coast of
India. Eventually he went to Gujarat and remained there for some
time. In Gujarat he wrote his famous work,the Muhit-& guide to the
navigation of the Eastern Seas. In May 1557 he arrived once more at
Istanbul. According to Diogo do Couto,73at the time when Seydi Ali
Reis was operating in the Persian Gulf, Sultan Sleyman sent out
another admiral, SeferReis ("Cafar Capito") to look forthe Ottoman
fleet.74With his two galleys and one brigantinehe was only able to
capture some Portuguese ships which were sailing from Hormuz to
Diu.
On 6 July 1555, at the command of the Sultan, zdemir Pasha
of Habes, embracingthe ports of Massawa
organiseda new beylerbeklik
and Sevakin.75Thus the Ottomans were now better established in the
Red Sea and strong enough to control it against their Portuguese
rivals. However, the Persian Gulf was open, to the Portuguese, for at
torrad(see H. Kindermann,
, (Zwickau,i. Sa, 1935),pp.
"Schiff"im Arabischen
56-57).
71SeydAli Reis,Mirt, p. 19. A grabwas a kindofoaredship.Largegrabs
resemblelargegalleys,and smallones are shapedlike oaredgalliots(cf. .H.
Merkezve BahriyeTekilti
, (Ankara,1948),
Uzunarili,OsmanliDevletinin
cit.,
461;
143).
p.
Serjeant,op.
p.
72SeydAli Reis,Mirt, p. 21.
73Dec. VII, Liv. I, p. 46.
74Later,in 1559,SeferReis was appointedhighadmiralof the Red Sea
(SveyKapudani), leavinghis former
postas captainofthevesselsstationed
at Mocha,to a certainMustafa(MD, IV, p. 51).
76C. Orhonlu,"OsmanlilarinHabeistanSiyseti,1554-1560,"in Tarih
Dergisi, XV/20,(Istanbul,1965),p. 45.

TURKSANDPORTUGUESE
IN THE PERSIANGULF
The Final Page ofD. Manuelde Lima's LetterwithHis Signature

65
66
salh zbaran
this moment,the Ottomans had no naval resourcesthere sufficientto

encounter the advance of the Christians. In 1556 D. lvaro da Silveira, a Portuguese admiral (capito mr) from Goa, sailed towards
Basra. This furtherexpedition of the Portuguese to Basra was also
unsuccessful.When the Portuguese fleetcame offthe Shatt al-Arab a
storm broke out, driving back the Portuguese to Hormuz with no
achievementto theircredit.In fact, most of the Portuguese ships were
considerablydamaged by the storm. Couto states that one purpose of
this Portuguese expedition of 1556 was to help the Arab chieftains
against their Ottoman masters.76The Ottomans, their fleet lost in
course of recent operations, offeredno resistance. On the other hand,
shores
Ottoman controlwas now well established on the north-western
of Lahsa had just been
of the Persian Gulf, where the beylerbeylik
created.
STRUGGLE FOR THE ISLAND OF BAHRAYN
Bahrayn, situated between al-Hasa and Qatar, was at this time an
intermediatepoint of some importanceon the sea route between Hormuz and Basra. It was also the center of pearl fishingin the Persian
Gulf. For these reasons, the island oftenattracted the attentionof its
more powerfulneighbors. Since 1521, after defeatingthe local ruler,
Mukrim,the Portuguese had exerted some degree of influenceupon
the island. In 1535, however,the rulerof Bahrayn sent his submission
to Sultan Sleyman just afterthe Ottoman conquest of Baghdad. The
ruler of the island turned now to the one and now to the other of his
two powerfulneighbors,depending on which one offeredmore advantages.77With the arrival of the Ottomans on the north-westernshores
of the Persian Gulf,the local rulerswho had submittedto the Ottoman
Sultan received fromIstanbul the title of Sancak Bey. For example in
1559 the then ruler of Bahrayn, Ra'is Murad, was given this status.78
Even so, the influenceof the Portuguese on the island was not negligible.
78Dec. VII, Liv. I, p. 206.
77To write,however,as Striplinghas done (The OttomanTurksand the
Arabs1511-1574
, (Urbana111.,1942), p. 94) thatby 1554the Ottomanshad
theactualsituation.In 1554,duringhis
conqueredBahrayn,is to misrepresent
about
journeytowardsHormuz,SeydAliReisobtainedat Bahrayninformation
fleet.
thePortuguese
78MD, III, p. 139.

IN THEPERSIANGULF
TURKSANDPORTUGUESE
67
The instructionsgiven to Pr Reis forhis campaign of 1552, ordered

him to bring under Ottoman control not only Hormuz, but also
Bahrayn.79He had not been able to realize these aims. It was not until
1559 that the Ottomans made a serious effortto establish themselves
in Bahrayn. In this year, Mustafa Pasha, the beylerbey
of Lahsa, undertook a campaign against the island. This campaign was undertaken,
however,with no permissionfromthe Sultan. Accordingto an orderof
Sultan Sleyman, sent to the ruler of Bahrayn and dated 28 Zilhicce
966/1 October 1559, the Sultan made specific referenceto the fact
that Mustafa Pasha had acted withoutordersfromIstanbul.80Mustafa
Pasha went against the island with two fightinggalleys (kadirga),
seventy light ships of various kinds and one brigantine.He had with
him, according to Couto, 1,200 soldiers includinga certain number of
Janissaries from Baghdad, and ample supplies and munitions.81A
Turkishdocument82froman Ottoman bey who foughtin this campaign
mentionsthat beforethe expedition set out, 200 mounted troops and
400 arquebusiers had been sent fromBasra to Lahsa. On 26 Ramazan
966/2 July 1559, the Turks began to besiege Manama, the fortressof
Bahrayn, on the northerncoast of the island. The news of the Ottoman
descent on Bahrayn reached Hormuz, and a Portuguese fleetconsisting of twenty-two grabs was sent to save the island. Their capito mor
was D. Joo de Noronha, the nephew of the Portuguese governorof
Hormuz. With the aid of Joo de Quadros, a captain endowed with a
long experience of navigation in the Persian Gulf, the Portuguese set
on firethe Ottoman supply ships and capturedthe two Ottoman galleys.
Confrontedwith a shortageof supplies and munitionsand the death of
their beylerbey
, Mustafa Pasha, the Ottomans decided to end the
The
struggle.
Portuguese on the otherhand, withtheirfleetin complete
controlof the island, also had reason to put an end to this rivalry.The
east winds (os levantes) had begun to blow, bringing with them
malignant fever and causing numerous deaths among the Portuguese and the Ottomans. Under these circumstancesthere was little
79Kogular888,fol.487v.
80"... haliya Lahsa beylerbeyisi
olan MustafaSdde-iSaadetimearz ve
ilm itmedenfuzlibazi merave asakirletaht tasrifinde
olan Cezire-iBahreyn'egeib..." (see SaffetBey, "Bahreyn'deBir Vak'a," in Tarih-iOsmani
EncmeniMecmuasi
, III, (Istanbul,1328/1910),
p. 1142).
81Dee. VII, Liv. VII, p. 110.
82TopkapiSarayiMzesiArivi,nu. N.E. 3004,in C. Orhonlu,1559 Bahreyn...,pp. 1-16.

68
salh zbaran
recourseleftto the combatants save to make peace at last. The Ottomans surrenderedtheirarms to the Portuguese and gave a payment of
12,000 cruzados. In return,the Portuguese undertookto transportthe
remainingOttoman troops back to the mainland.83
Since the Ottoman occupation of Basra in 1546, the Persian Gulf
had been the scene of conflictbetween the Portuguese and the Ottomans. The Portuguese were unable to establish themselves on the
shores of Basra and Katif, and the Ottomans failed to win controlover
the strait of Hormuz. Bahrayn remained as a "buffer"island separating the rival powers and their limits of influence.On the whole, the
conflict had been harmful to Ottoman interests. Realizing that it
would be more advantageous to encourage the flow of trade to and
ofBasra in 1562 sent an envoy to
fromthe Ottoman lands, the beylerbey
Hormuz to negotiate with the Portuguese fora resumptionof commercial relations through the Persian Gulf.85The viceroy of India (then
the Conde do Redondo) also sent a certain Antonio Teixeira to the
Sultan.86At Istanbul, Teixeira was given an audience with the Sultan
and according to Couto, Sultan Sleyman told him that he asked for
peace fromno one. "If the King of the Portuguese required peace, he
should send to Istanbul a great man from his court to discuss the
matter." The letter, however, which the Sultan sent to the King of
Portugal, dated 28 Muharrem972/6 September 1564, reveals what the
actual policy of the Ottomans was. The letterasked the King to ensure
secure passage on land and on sea forthe people and merchantsof the
Ottoman Empire trading to and fromthe lands under the Portuguese
domination. Friendship between the two powers would be established
if the King complied with his request.87
From time to time "incidents" in the waters of the Indian Ocean
continued to disrupt Ottoman-Portugueserelations. There is mention
of a Portuguese attack in February 1565 on a big Atjehnese ship
sailing off Hadramawt and having on board four hundred men,
amongst them, according to Couto, a number of "white Turks,"
Brancos Turcos** Moreover,in 1566 and also in 1567 the Portuguese
83Couto,Dec. VII, Liv. VII, p. 145.
84Cf.I. Wicki,op.cit.,IV, pp. 180-181.
85"Ho ano de mylle quinhentos
e sasentae dousveoha Ormuzhumembaixador do turquoenvyadopelo baxa de Baora ..." (in As Gavetasda Torredo
Tombo
, V, p. 137).
88Couto,Dec. VII, p. 44.
87See AppendixIII.
88Dec. VII, p. 60ff.

IN THEPERSIANGULF
TURKSANDPORTUGUESE
69
tried to interceptAtjehnese vessels bound for the Red Sea.89 In 1573

the Portuguese sailed to Bahrayn, seized several merchantships and
captured an envoy fromLaristan.90As for the Ottoman government,
of Basra and Lahsa and wanted
it now soughtto activate the beylerbey
to returnto a more aggressivepolicy. Bahrayn became once more the
object of Ottoman ambition. A document dated 23 Muharrem 981/
25 May 1573 asks the beylerbey
of Lahsa whetheror not the reduction
of Bahrayn was feasible,what preparationswould be required forsuch
an enterprise,and what would be the most opportune time for it.91
The Ottomaninterestin Bahrayn increasedeven more in the year 1575.
The central governmentwanted the beylerbeysof Basra, Lahsa and
were
Baghdad to prepare for the coming expedition.92The beylerbeys
to keep watch over the coast of Lahsa.93 But all these initial preparations eventually came to nothing. It seems, however, that the Ottoman naval facilities at Basra, though far from being sufficientfor a
large-scale campaign, had, nevertheless,been increased. On 21 Receb
985/4 October 1577 Mahmud, the officerin charge of the fleet( Donan ma-i Hmyun Ketliudasi) at Basra was appointed to be Lahsa Kapu dam , i.e. captain of the vessels stationed on the shores of Lahsa.94 He
was, however, to watch the harmful activities of Kefere Arabian .95
now mentionedin correspondence.A document of 23 Receb 985/6 October 1577, addressed to the beylerbeyof Basra,96 reveals that the
KefereArabian caused so much damage to the local marketsin Katif
that the merchantshad moved to Bahrayn. These minorincidentsdid
since the
not,in fact,affectthe flowof trade whichhad been flourishing
1560's. A raid on Muscat in 1581 which was carried out by Ali Bey
came from the Red Sea. Ali Bey, a Turkish corsair, went against
Muscat with fourgalleys, plundered the town, and made his way back
89Ibid., p. 68ffand 102ff;and also C. R. Boxer,"A Note on Portuguese
Reactionsto the Revival of the Red Sea Spice Trade and the Rise of Acheh,
AsianHistory
1540-1600,"in JournalofSoutheast
, X, (December1969),p. 418.
relationssee, in thesamejournal (pp. 395-414),A. Reid,
On Turco-Achehnese
in WesternIndonesia.''
"SixteenthCenturyTurkishInfluence
90MD, XXII, p. 322.
91MD, XXII, p. 43.
92MD, XXVII, pp. 76 and 81 (see AppendixV); MD Zeyli,III, p. 128.
93MD Zeyli,III, p. 166.
94Rus 231,p. 127; MD, XXXIII, p. 184.
96Theseare perhapsnautaquesor nodhakisoperating
in thewatersnearthe
Bahrayn(cf.below,note98).
96MD, XXXI, p. 338.

70
SALITIZBARAN
to the Red Sea.97 The Portuguese under D. Luis de Almeida failed in

their pursuit of the Ottomans but turned now to attack on the nau 98
taques who, by reason of their piracy, had been the cause of much
damage and destruction.D. Luis destroyed some towns and burned
many terradason the costa dos Nautaques ."
CONCLUSION
When the Ottoman Turks arrived at the head of the Persian Gulf
they found the Portuguese well established at Hormuz, the key point
and the centre of seaborne trafficfromIndia. Their naval campaigns
directedagainst this point and also against Bahrayn were unsuccessful
-the Portuguese seamanship was superiorto Turkish. But the districts
of Basra and Lahsa did come to direct Ottoman control. Thus they
controlledthe overland trafficto and fromAleppo, and encouraged the
flowof trade via the Persian Gulf. It would be superfluousto adduce
here evidence to demonstrate the revival of spice trade during the
But it should be noted, as
middle decades of the sixteenthcentury.100
that the commerce
Professor
clearly shown by
Magalhes-Godinho,101
through the Gulf, unlike that in the Red Sea, was not very much
affectedeither by the Portuguese interventionor by the local piracy
during the sixteenth century.Towards the end of the centuryit was
more flourishing.This was not withoutsome degree of influenceon the
of Basra.
Turkish authoritiesin the beylerbeylik
97Couto,Dec. X, Liv. I, pp. 86if.
98OftheNautaquesit is written
intheSumaOriental
ofTomPires, (London,
HakluytSociety,1944),I, p. 31 that"MostofthemaxePiratesand go in light
boats. Theyare archers,and as manyas twohundredput to sea and rob . . .
sometimes
theyget as faras Ormuzand enterthe straitsin theirmarauding,
thatis whattheyliveon." P. Teixeira(The TravelsofPedroTeixeira
, ed. W. F.
Sinclair,London,HakluytSociety,1902,p. 21) callsthemArabswhodwellon
the Persianshore.M. L. Dames (ed.), The Book of DuarteBarbosa, (London,
HakluytSociety,1918),I, p. 87 statesthattheywereBalochi. On theBaluchis
see The Cambridge
1968),p.
HistoryofIran, I, (ed.W. B. Fisher),(Cambridge,
1414.
99Couto,Dec. X, Liv. I, p. 99.
100See, forexample,F. Braudel,La Mditerrane
et le MondeMditerranen
l'poquedePhilippeII (revisedandenlarged
edition,Paris,1966),I, pp. 493i;
Reactions. . .," pp. 415-428.
C. R. Boxer,"A Note on Portuguese
101L'conomiede VEmpirePortugais. . ., pp. 764ff.

IN THEPERSIANGULF
TURKSANDPORTUGUESE
APPENDIX
71
I*
Cart. Ormuz, fol. 88r-92r.

The letter of Dom Manuel de Lima, Governorof Hormuz
to D. Joo de Castro, Governorof India:
Hormuz, 23 June 1547
Senhor,
I arrivedat this fortressof Hormuz on 18<*May [but] I did not take
charge of the fortressfor one month, because Luis Falco wanted to
complete his time [as governor],which was [indeed a month more]. I
took charge of the fortresson 19thJune and I found the place veryuneasy, having in it not even one merchant nor anyone else
buyingbeatilha1or any kindof spices or any othermerchandize.And all
the people who were coming to do business at Hormuz were surprised
for the reason of this situation. Moreover, a captain of the ruler of
Laristan, one of his principal men, was located opposite this island [of
Hormuz], on the mainland, with many horsemen and foot-soldiers;
and it was already some months that he had been there with his encampment at certain wells fromwhich this city of Hormuz draws its
water. And the people of Moghistan [Mogosto], fearingthis people,
took refugein this city. And it was here that the cafillas passed, so
that these people [fromLaristan] stopped them, with the result that
none came to pay the taxes at the customs house of the king, Our
Lord. With regardto Basra, thingsare as V. S.2 knows and, in addition,
I shall proceed to tell Your Lordship more about that land and about
the affairsof Basra.
Luis Falco had given permission to certain terrados, to go with
their merchandize to Basra. And since my arrival in this city [of
Hormuz] he has also allowed some [other] people to go therewith nine
terrados. When I reached this city,I was informedthat the capito*of
Basra, who was called Mehmed Pasha (Mohamed boxa turco), had
resolved to send an ambassador to me.
On 7thJulyhis ambassador came with a letterforme. This ambassador is an Arab merchantwho is called Hajji Fayat (hagy fayat). He is a
* I amverygrateful
to SenhorLuis de Sousa RebelloofKing'sCollege,London,forthehelphe gave me in London.
1 Beatilhai.e., finelinen.
2 V. S., i.e., VossaSenhoriameaning'Your Lordship.'
* Capito-i.e., here,thebeylerbey
ofBasra.

72
salh zbaran
man much esteemed and known amongst the Portuguese. I am

sending Your Lordship, with this [letter],the translationof the letter
wrote to me. I had conversationwith this
which he [i.e. the beylerbey]
in the course of which he said to me
on
several
occasions,
Hajji Fayat
that I should give full credence to the thingsthat he told me. He was
willingto swear on his Koran [moafo] that everythingwhich he told
me was indeed true. I asked him whetherhe was willingto swear that
his actions were in good faith4and I orderedhim to give a great oath
through Garcia delia Pinha, the interpretorof this fortress[of Hormuz]. In this oath he affirmedthat the main reason for his coming
here was to be a true friendof the Portuguese. And [he related] all the
thingsthat he knew about Ayas Pasha, [stating]that he is the principal
capito [i.e., beylerbey]in Baghdad and that it was he who came to
take Basra. He also [spoke about] Mehmed Pasha who is capito of
Basra, and, in addition, he gave me informationabout all the other
regions. He was aware of the resolve of Ayas Pasha to make Basra
very prosperous through commerce, so that it might yield a large
revenue to the Great Turk-also that RsternPasha, the grand vizier
(guazil) and son-in-law of the Great Turk, regarded as detrimental
this capture of Basra, saying that it was worth nothing at all, a
ruined place. Over these matters the two men were opposed to one
another-and even at an earlier time had ceased to be friends.Ayas
Pasha thereforestrove very much to make Basra important,so that it
might give a great revenue to the Great Turk. And over these and
other mattershe works as hard as he can.
I asked him [i.e., Hajji Fayat] about the fortressof Basra; in what
conditionit was or if they had carriedon any militaryworks in it. He
told me that they had done nothing [there]. I [also] asked him what
troops were at Basra. He told me that Mehmed Pasha, the beylerbey
of Basra, had placed there five hundred Turkish arquebusiers ( turcos
espimgardeiros
) and an alcaide morbholds officethere,stationed in the
fortress
citadel of the
; moreoverthe alcaide morand these fivehundred
Turkish arquebusiers nevergo outsidethe fortressforany reason at all ;
and in the town [itself]there are a thousand Turkish horsemenand
seven hundred arquebusiers,all of which makes two thousand and two
4 i.e., literally,
- it was verywell
in Portuguese:"que era muybem feito"
done.
5 Alcaidemor-i.e., in Ottomanparlance,dizdarthe seniorofficerin command of the garrisontroops.The wordalcaideis derivedfromthe ArabicalLuso-Asitico,(Coimbra,1922),p. 21).
Icaid(cf.S. R. Dalgado,Glossrio

IN THEPERSIANGULF
TURKSANDPORTUGUESE
73
hundred mounted Turks.6 At the mouth of the strait of Basra where

there was a mosque they built a circularwall, not a strongone, inside
which there are ten pieces of artillery,[all of them] small guns; and
every night fiftyarquebusiers keep watch. When the Turks took this
fortressof Basra, they found in it two hundred and ninety pieces of
artillery,sixty of which were bronze cannon (berosde metal), but the
greaternumber were of iron; and the fortresscontained [also] twenty
candis7 of powder. When Ayas Pasha departed afterthe taking of the
fortresshe leftin it one hundredpieces of artilleryand threebasaliscos8
which he had brought with him; but most of the guns [found in the
fortress]he took with him to Baghdad.
Furthermore,I asked him about the [Turkish] armada of Suez. He
told me that there were [at Suez] forty-fourgalleys, some of which
had come to Diu under the eunuch Sleyman Pasha. They were all
in good condition. I asked what ships these were which had come to
Mocha and whythey had gone there. He told me that they were fourteen oared vessels which had come fromSuez under the command of a
Turkishcaptain called Oez baxa.9 Oez baxa broughttroopsto make war
and to fightagainst an Arab chieftainwho is called Zaidi Imam ( emom
zeidi).10 But he [i.e., Hajji Fayat] did not know at all whetheror not
there was talk at Basra that these ships would set out for India. I
asked him, too, about the intention of Ayas Pasha and of Mehmed
Pasha - whetherit was their intentionto attempt somethingagainst
this fortress[of Hormuz]. He stated that he knew nothing of their
desires,save that the Turks wanted very much to establish a flourishing trade in Basra, that on many evenings they sent for him and he
never heard anythingof that [intention]; and if the Turks had such an
evil purpose, they could build in the riverEuphrates as many ships as
they wanted, because near the town of Birejik (biraa),11 seven days
6 Thetextcontainshere-perhaps
as a resultofscribalerror-arepetition
ofthe
quepertodosso dousmile duzentosturcos."
phrase: "e setecento
espimgardeiros
7 Candilor camdil
of weightequivalentto 20 maosor
, pl. caracas-mesure
about 500 arraieis, I, p. 199).
i.e., nearly250 lbs (cf.Dalgado,Glossrio
8 Basaliscos(in OttomanTurkishbadaluka)was a largesiegegun (cf.V. J.
herecameno doubt
Parry,in EI2, s.v. Barut).The threeexamplesmentioned
fromBaghdadwiththe Ottomanforces.
9 Oeza#a-perhaps
as veysPasha.
to be construed
10This is a Shi'iteZaidi dynastyin the northern
part of the Yemen (cf.
Serjeant,op.cit.,pp. 7 and 112).
11Birejik-animportantriverport and crossingon the riverEuphrates
(cf.V. J. Parry,in EI2, s.v. Birejik).

74
salh zbaran
journey [fromBasra], there are great forests,fromwhich comes much

finetimber and, in addition, there is also pine-wood fromwhich they
could build as many ships as they desired, both large and small, by
reason of the abundance of timber to be found there. This town of
Birejik is large and well-populated and has a great trafficwith Persia
and with otherregions.From this place, two days' journey away, there
is the city of Aleppo, situated between Persia and Turkey.
He said that fromthis town of Birejik there are two routes which go
to Basra-one of them runs through a town which is called Illaa12 and
the othergoes throughBaghdad. And this [latter]route is more direct,
but since, three month of the year, [the channel of] this river [tends
to] dry up, then whoever wants to use sailing ships had better go
through Illaa because water is always flowingthere, and there are
many [irrigation]channels cut throughthe cultivated lands (sememteiras). The lowest level [of water], throughthe year, remains at two
and a half to three fathoms (braos) in depth, so that all ships and
boats, however large they are, can sail therein.And to come fromthe
town of Birejik to Basra takes twenty-fourdays even when the water
in this riveris runningat its lowest towards Basra. And the riverwinds
about fromone end to the other,yet it is none the less so broad and
well-knownthat it can easily be distinguishedfrom other channels
which are made for [the purpose of] irrigation.
Hajji Fayat also told me that there came now to Basra a slavemessenger( escravo) of the Great Turk with a letterto Mehmed Pasha.
It took him forty-two days to come to Basra from Constantinople.
Hajji Fagat, by a solemn oath that he took on his Koran, [sworethat]
he would tell me the truthin all these things; and also that he would
send me from there [i.e., from Basra] all the news which he might
learn. He asked me to give him certain signs by which it would be
known what the Turks at Basra intended to do; and that he would
send this informationby one of his sons. This Hajji Fayat and his son
are men who, each year, visit Aleppo, Alexandria and many other
places, so that necessarilythey come to know many things about all
that the Great Turk decrees. He told me that I should put my trustin
these things because he belonged to a sect amongst the Turks-who
were themselves of a differentbelief-and that he was a friendof the
Turks, because he was nothing but a merchant, trading always in
12Illaari.e., al-Hilla,on theriverEuphrates(cf.J. Lassner,in EI2t s.v. oZHilla).

TURKSANDPORTUGUESE
IN THEPERSIANGULF
75
these regions; and that the otherArabs who lived in Basra were of the
same kind. He assured me also that Mehmed Pasha wanted to make
friendshiponly with me and that the Turks waited in hope until I
arrived in this fortress[of Hormuz], where I would remain for three
years. And all these matters that Hajji Fayat told me-he begged
that I would keep them in great secrecy.
of Basra,
In the time of Luis Falco, Mehmed Pasha, the beylerbey
ordered that a place called Lahsa (laaa) [situated] on the coast of
Arabia, not far fromBasra, should be taken, and gave it to an Arab
and made him the ruler (rey)13of it.
This Hajji Fayat asked me many times to send a factor ( feitor
) of
mine to Basra. This was the main thingthat Mehmed Pasha had asked
me and it was what he wished most of all ; because the cafillasand the
merchantsdid not want to go to Basra until they saw that therewas a
factorof mine there. To take advice on this matterin orderto do what
would be best for the service of the King, Our Lord, I summoned the
most important persons of his town (i.e., Hormuz], who were about
14
twenty-eightor thirty[in number]. Throughthe ouvydor 1 requested
them to swear on the Holy Gospels that it would be advantageous for
the service of the King, Our Lord, that this factor of mine should go
to Basra and that certain terradoswhich were at Hormuz should also
go to Basra. All of them declared on the oath which they took that it
would be well fora trustedman to be in Basra, one who could send me
fromthere all the news and whatever else might be needful, also for
the terradosto be allowed to go [to Basra]. It seems to me that it
would be [advantageous] for the service of the King, in that [the
Turks] would not be able to make any decision without my knowing
about it. Moreover,it will be possible to get news of [what is happening
at] Suez and all the other regions,for to Basra come the merchants
from all parts, more commonly from Cairo, Damascus, Birejik and
Aleppo; and inevitably there will be means of knowing what [the
Turks] are doing and what they intend to do. In addition, the Arabs
who dwell in Basra will also give me news truthfullyabout these
matters,because they are the enemies of the Turks.
I am sending to Basra a certain Domingos Barbudo, and he is
taking with him a letter of mine to Mehmed Pasha in response to his
13Rey-i.e., presumably
the sanjakbeyof Lahsa. This sanjak was later-in
1555-tobecomebeylerbeylik.
14ouvydori.e., thecrownjudge.

76
salh zbaran
[letter] which he sent to me-[my letter] making no agreementabout

anything,but writtenwith finewords [forthe Pasha]. And withregard
to what he writes to me and with regard to Basra [itself], I shall
always stand with a drawn sword in my hand ; and the more words he
writesto me, the more diligentI shall be and thereby the more alert
in relation to them. This Domingos Barbudo is a man of good repute
at Hormuz, a man of much knowledge,sociable, and who is well known
in Basra amongst the Arabs and amongst the merchants,and he has
great experience of that land. Despite the opinion of these people who
think that he should remain in Basra, I am sending him there for no
more than three months,because within this time he will see all the
affairs of Basra and will learn also the news from the merchants
comingfromAlexandria and all otherregions.He will be able to be in
Hormuz again at the beginningof November, so that which may seem
advisable to Your Lordship in connectionwith the affairsof Basra and
advantageous forthe service of S.A.15 may be done.
According to what the old people say in this land, there come, in
most years, from Basra, six to eight hundred horses, on which [the
merchants] pay at Goa the customs duty that Your Lordship knows.
The spices which came this year fromIndia were so scant that it was
a pity to see them,forI did not hear of any merchantwho bought even
a handful of spices; but when these merchants of Basra came they
bought a good quantity of spices. There is indeed no other outlet for
the spices save through Basra, because all [the subjects] of xeque
Ismael16 did not buy [even] ten candis of spice.
Hajji Fay at requested me to write to Your Lordship about three
nephews of his, who are [now] at Goa. One of them is called Jaber
equirami, the second xaacoar equirami and the third one abaz royal;
and these [three] went therefromhere, Hormuz, on a ship of Cambay
(Cambaya). It seems to me that [it was] the ship which Antonio Moiz
captured. Furthermore,this Hajji Fayat shows himselfwell disposed
forthe service of the King and of Your Lordship deserves all the favor
that Your Lordship might order to be shown to him; because if he,
indeed, wants to do so he can learn all the news about the [Great]
Turk and his intentions.
The guazil of Kalhat (callayate) and sheikh Rabia (xeque rabia)
15S.A.-i.e., Sua Alteza(His Highness),referring
to the King of Portugal.
16i.e., Shah Ismail of Persia. At this time-in1547-itwas Shah Tahmasp
(1524-1576)whoreignedin Persia.

TURKSANDPORTUGUESE
IN THEPERSIANGULF
77
and also the factorof Kalhat wrote [and gave] to me the news about
the strait [of Mocha]. They said that there had come fromAden [to
Kalhat] a certain sheikh Abdullah and also another terrada. They
[also] said that there had come fromthe port of Suez to the port of
Mocha a capitou)with twenty galleys and two large ships, with three
thousand Turks on board. [The Turks] had given orders to take all
the land which was then in the possession of the Zaidi Imam who is a
ruler (rey) in these territoriesof Arabia. Before the Turks (rumes)
came, a son of the Zaidi Imam had control of all the troops of his
father. This son was at variance with the Imam. He took no heed
whetherhis fatherwould fightagaint the Turks or not. And when the
Turks arrived,they attacked and captured the fortressof Ta'izz ( toez);
and, in addition, they seized five other ports, attacking them by
treachery. However, they were unable to take the fortressof San'a
(anaa). Although the son was on bad terms with his father,once he
saw the land was being lost [to the Turks], he entered into amicable
relations with his father,made ready all his soldiers one night and fell
on the Turks, killing four hundred of their horsemen. [Sheikh Abdullah] says [also] that there will come to Muscat and Kalhat, within
this firstmonsoon,whichis threemonth's time,ten or twelve [Turkish]
fustas, as they did last year. It is certain that there are [already] at
Aden three well equipped fustas and more [of them] will come from
the port of Mocha. Sheikh Abdullah states that beyond doubt they
will come. Many of his friendshave told him they are certain that
these ships will come this year and they have advised him to remove
his residence out of Kalhat. Last year there came no more than four
fustasbut none of the Portuguese stayed at Kalhat, all of them going
to Muscat last year, the guazil of Kalhat, with the help of the King,
Our Lord, drove them fromthe port and did not even allow them to
take water. Now, if these ten or twelve ships come with many troops,
it would be necessary for the Portuguese and the Muslims (mouros)
to help him [i.e., the guazil of Kalhat] in such manner as to make
possible a resistance [to the Turks]. And it will not be more than two
monthsand a half beforethese Turks arrive.
At the end of the month of June there arrived at this town of Hormuz a ship which came fromMecca ( mequa) and in it there came a
merchantwho lives here in Hormuz and is a native of the place. He
told me that he had come through Mocha, that there were seven or
eight oared ships lying there and that he had not seen more than this
number. The Turks kept him there [at Mocha] forthree days and did

78
salh zbaran
not let him go outside the gates so that he should not warn the 'fustas'
which Your Lordship had sent to the strait [of Mocha]; [he stated]
that the Turkish vessels were waiting there,thinkingthat the 'fustas'
mightenterinto the harbour.It seemed to him that the eight [Turkish]
ships which came to Kalhat and Muscat [last year] were there then.
I believe that this informationmay well be true. I have ordered to
be made ready nine fustasand catures, which are here [at Hormuz]. At
the end of this monthof Julythey will leave forMuscat, in orderto lie
in wait there for the fustasof the Turks, in case they should come in
August or at the beginningof September.I am writingto sheikhRabia
and also to the guazil of Kalhat [bidding] them hold in readiness the
best terraquiswhich they have there. And these are ships which [can]
hold ten or twelvePortuguese and whichrow well; forthe rest,if there
is a need, Arab archers [can] be put in them, to give aid in what may
be necessary. To Muscat, according to what I was told by people on
the ships which have arrivedfromthose parts afterI passed that way,
there came fortyof fiftyPortuguese [soldiers]-this is an excellent
reinforcementwhich can go on board wheneverit is most needful,in
order, with the aid of Our Lord, to fightthe Turkish ships, if they
should come to Muscat. And over the Turkish ships Our Lord will
surely give us a complete victory.
It seems to me that [it will be for] the service of His Majesty and
of Your Lordship to send these ships to sea, because the vessels which
are settingforthfrom[Hormuz] forIndia carry [each of them] two or
three Portuguese and much money; and if these Turks succeed in
plundering Muscat, and in findingthe ships [which have on board]
many xerafinsand tamgas,17and then in makingoffwith theirprizes to
the strait [of Mocha], it will be an inducementforthem to come each
year against Muscat.
Dom Payo thought that he had better stay here [in Hormuz] and
he asked me for [command of] the fleet,forit seemed to him that in
this manner he could do better service for the King. And I gave the
fleetto him and he is going with it as admiral-in-chief(capito mor).
The captains and the soldierswho are on board can be expected to act
as honorable and reliable men.
At the beginningof August I am going to send to the cape Ras alHadd fcabo do rroalgate)two catures, the ones with the most oars,
17 Tamga(ortanga)-a Portuguese
coinworth60 reis(cf.Dalgado,op.cit.,II,
p. 355).

TURKSANDPORTUGUESE
IN THEPERSIANGULF
79
[with orders] to stand on watch and discover the Turkish vessels

coming fromthe strait [of Mocha] and to see what there is ; and, if
[these catures] see such vessels before them, then, to warn the fleet
which will be [waiting] at Muscat.
In the event that these ships do not come fromthe strait [ofMocha],
therewill be much to be done against the noutaques. [These noutaques]
are impudent [people]. A large Portuguese ship, having on board
Amdre Cortes and laden with much finemerchandize,was wrecked on
a sandbank as it came fromthe island of Macira (Maceira) and was lost
there. The noutaques took and carried offall the merchandize in the
ship and killed all the Portuguese on board, leaving no one alive,
except Amdre Cortes, his wife and one of his daughters, who made
their escape. Amdre Cortes lost all his possessions but, because he
fought well, he got away, although he was wounded by eight large
arrowsand he could not reach his own paro until he was carriedthere.
In addition [the noutaques] attacked a Muslim terradaand wounded
some of the people on board who resisted them. And because of these
and other happenings [the Portuguese], each year, send [theirfleet],
with the help of Our Lord, to plunder the coast of the noutaques and
to burn the terradas [of the noutaques'],as much as possible. And this
fleet,each year, will watch over the merchantships; it will, serve two
purposes for His Highness now-to go against the fustasof the Turks
and [also] to sail whereverit has gone in past years.
I shall write to Your Lordship, by other means, more about this
land. I kiss the hands of Your Lordship. May your lifeand the affairs
of Our Lord [the King] prosper. From Hormuz the 23rdof June, in
[the year] 1547.
Dom Manuell de Lyma
APPENDIX
II
CC, Parte Ia, Mao 89, Doc. 9, fol. 3v-5r.

Translated fromthe letter of Ra'is Nur al-Din [to the Governor
of India] which Ferno Farto has brought [to Goa].
Hormuz, 30*hOctober 1552
Senhor,
Ferno Farto gave me a letter of Your Lordship, which came in
such a good time it could not be better,so set beyond doubt [or make
certain] the great concernthat Your Lordship takes forthis land and

80
salh zbaran
for the service of the King, Our Master. Because this land has been
so ruined, [then] all will be lost. We all believe, however, that Your
Lordship will [send aid] as fully as the necessityrequires, in accordance with the news we now have that Your Lordship is preparing [to
send to] this land a great armada, should the need arise. Please believe
that, just because Your Lordship is mindfulof us, we feel freealready
of all these troubles that we expected.
I wrote to Your Lordship, by Ruy Lopes, how we were besieged on
land and sea by the Turks, in the course of which [siege] these Turks
placed six pieces of heavy artillery,[i.e.,] [four]basalisks, one espalha2
fatoj1 one salvage togetherwith some small pieces set on the flatroofs
of certainbuildingsbelongingto the King. During the eleven days the
Turks bombarded the fortress,they did little harm to it, because it
3 and
was so strong. The Turks destroyed one of our camello de ferro
with one of our shots we ruined fromthe fortress,their espalhafato.
That killed four Portuguese and wounded some ten or twelve; but as
it appeared aftertheir departure-theyreceived [even] greaterdamage
fromthe good shootingthat our gunnersmade against theirmantelets.
On the last night when the Turks gathered togethertheir cannons
and raised the siege,theybroughtto the walls a Portuguesebombardier,
whom they had captured at the fortressof Muscat. [This man] came
to speak with the men on the [fortress]wall, asking that they should
try to rescue him and the other captured. Until that moment we
knew nothing about him, though in fact on numerous occasions at
night our men had called out to the renegades [in the Turkish camp],
asking them to come to speak with the soldierswho stood on the wall
-but the renegades had never replied to this request. On the day that
the Turks went away they left with us two Christians, the one a
Russian by race and the other an Italian; through these men we
learned all that occured at Muscat-that Mehmed Bey, the son of
Pr Bey ( Barba Negra) who was admiral ofthe Ottoman fleet,attacked
1 Pierisand Fitzler(Ceylonand Portugal
1539, Pt. I: Kingsand Christians
". . . thegreatestofall gunswas
1552, Leipzig,1927,p. 304)writethefollowing:
jBazalisco,whichreacheda weightof 150 quinteswitha lenghtof 35 palms.
. The espala70 quintes
weredescribedas bastardos
Smallerbasiliscosweighing
fattowas heavierthantheselatter,thoughit was onlysixteenpalmsin length,
whichwas also the lengthon the salvage,a piece of 40 quintes.Therewere
whichwereusedwithstoneballs,
smallergunslikethecamelloand thecamalete
as wellas theLeo (lion),Aguia (eagle),Serpe(serpent)and co (dog)."
2 See above,note1.
3 See above,note1.

IN THEPERSIANGULF
TURKSANDPORTUGUESE
81
the fortressforsix days. At the end of that time his father [Pr Bey]
arrived with thirteengalleys. The son [Mehmed Bey] had begun to
bombard the fortresswithsix galleys only. On the second day following
the arrival of Pr Bey, Joo de Lisboa and all the Portuguese yielded
on condition of being allowed to depart safely for this fortress(i.e.,
Hormuz]. But Pr Bey managed the affairwith such address that he
put them as galley slaves bound to their bench with iron chains and
subjected to the lash. For a man who [like Joo de Lisboa] showed
such weakness, it was merited judgement. The [Ottoman] admiral
would never discuss a ransom for them, even though on a number of
occasions there were offers made for the women only-but these
infideldogs treated the matter in such a fashion that it seemed there
would never be a successfulresult.
After this event Pr Bey, on a Monday morning- the 19thSeptember- arrived at this island [of Hormuz] with twenty-fivegalleys
and one galleon with which he departed from Suez; also another
4
galleon which he was bringing,together with two quartetosand numerous guns and all the powder, cannon balls and munitions-[this
vessel] was lost in shallow water at Aden. AfterBarba Negra had set
out forthis place [Hormuz], he took two ships and one caturat Muscat.
What he did here [at Hormuz] I have already writtento Your Lordship. Moreover,he captured here a large ship of a certainJoo Nunez
a man from Chaul. Having stayed at Hormuz for sixteen days [the
Turks] went to the island of Kishm (Queyxome) which is three
leagues fromhere. At Kishm were the principal people and merchants
fromthis town [of Hormuz] with a great quantity of goods, of gold
and silver, and of cash. The Turks took all these things, nothing
escaped them, and Your Lordship can be assured that this was the
richestprize that could be foundin all the world. Pr Bey did all these
things with only seven hundred fightingmen and two thousand or
two thousand and five hundredsailors and galley crews.In this fortress
[ofHormuz] therewere seven hundredsoldiersmuch esteemed and the
best arquebusiers that there were. If we had known more about the
Turks, it might have been possible to seize their guns and to inflict
much harm [on them]. Accordingto what we have learned,the [Great]
Turk ordered Pr Bey not to seek out Hormuz beforehe had gone to
Basra to take on board other troops there-but as a result of the
weakness he found at Muscat, Pr Bey thought it would be the same
4 Quartoi.e., an old typeofgun (cf.Pierisand Fitzler,op.cit.,p. 302).

salh zbaran
82
here [at Hormuz] and so, with the powder that he brought from
Muscat, he subjected us to a bombardment.
From Lara and Shiraz news came that Shah Tahmasp was marching
into the lands of the Ottoman Sultan across the frontierof Tabriz.
Subsequently I have heard nothing more about this matter. Should
[fresh]news arrive,I will writeto Your Lordship [and send the letter]
by ships leaving forthat quarter.
I have sent a terraquimto the island of Kishm to get news about
the intentionsof the Turks. I am writingto Your Lordship today, in
the afternoon,Sunday the 30thof October-a terraquimhas come, from
which we have learned that this same day all the fleet of the Turks
assembled at the point of the island of Kishm and departed-from
that spot where they have been all the time since theirdeparturefrom
this place [Hormuz]. They have taken their course to Basrah-setting
out this very nightjust gone. Trust in God that all this will be forthe
great destruction of these people, by reason of the coming of Your
Lordship to this land and by your going towards Basra, so that Pr
Bey will in no wise escape fromthe net. The letterYour Lordship sent
to me for Murad Ra'is [the ruler of Bahrayn], this I have despatched
to him forthwithand I wrote and bade him gather his strengthin
case the Turks come to seize [Bahrayn], so that he could defendhimself as it mightbe needfulforthe service of S.A., Our Lord. May the
life and affairsof Your Lordship increase for many years. [Written]
fromHormuz on the 30thday of October 1552.
rrex nordim
[Ra'is Nur al-Din, the guazil of Bahrayn]
APPENDIX
III*
MD, v, p. 70.
Kostantiniyye,28 Muharrem972/5 September 1564

It has been sent to the Pasha, His Excellency,
sealed and put in a brocade purse.
An imperial letter [written]to the King of Portugal:

To Our Exalted Court which is the refuge of the felicityand Our
High Porte which is the seat of good fortune,so that it is the asylum
* I am indebtedto Dr. C. Orhonluof the University
of Istanbuland also
to Dr. V. L. Mnageof the Schoolof Orientaland AfricanStudiesof London,
in thisletterand also in otherTurkish
certainpointsoccurring
who clarified
documents.

IN THEPERSIANGULF
TURKSANDPORTUGUESE
83
of famous khagans and the recourse of sultans possessed of power,

there has come your friendship-bearingletter which has arrived
throughyour man Nikola, who is one of the notables of the Christian
millet. It [is about] mattersset forthin the well-intentionedcontents
of the letters which have reached Our Exalted Court sometime ago
fromyourown personand fromyourgovernor( kaimmakam) in the land
of India. You have sought our imperialpermissionthat your esteemed
ambassador should come [to discuss] the friendshipdesired with our
court which is famed for justice. Our felicity-bearingletter has been
sent in respect of that matter and our imperial permissionhas been
given that your ambassador shall come [to us], for the sovereign
elevation of our thoughtshas ever been well-intentionedand directed
towards those who make, to our high court, a request in friendship
and sincerity.Your province [of India] is far offand the journey is
dangerous,whereforeyour ambassador has been delayed here,whilewe
sought consultationwith the people of your province: but do not have
any doubts about the sincerityof our desire forfriendship; our ambassador is about to be sent. You have requested that your man who has
come [to us] should send back promptly, [bearing] joyful news. All
mattersincluded have been submitted, in their entirety,to our victoriousstirrupand our noble world-adorningconciousnesshas comprehended and embraced it. Matters being so, our felicitouscourt is ever
open and accessible and thereis no impedimentto the desire of anyone
who [wishes] to come and go. By the favor of Allah-praise be unto
him, may his Name be exalted-now, at this present time, the caliphate of the world is in the hands of our possession and power. The
people (re'aya) of the East and the West seek the protectionof our
State. Since the abundance of our imperial compassion is ever decided
[in favor] of [other]people, and since-forthe well-beingof the people
and the merchants in these regions-thereis no withdrawingfromthe
friendship [now] desired, you shall establish, on land and on sea,
safety and security for the people and the merchants of our well
protected dominions, who are in the land of India, in the region of
Jezayir and in other lands. Your present ambassador has-without
delay-been accorded our noble permission, and, with our imperial
letter,he has been sent back to that land. Now it is needfulthat, when
[this letter]reaches you, you shall, without delay, despatch to us your
ambassador, who shall be sent for this laudable purpose, that is, for
the betteringof the conditionsof the people and forthe good ordering
of affairsof state. And you shall act promptly,so that the conditionsof

84
salh zbaran
[our] friendshipmay be decided on both sides, and so that the people

and the merchants in those lands may be relieved of anxiety and
distress and live on good terms.
APPENDIX
Rus 225, p. 222.
IV
Konstantiniyye,27 Zilkade 980/30. April 1572
These are the changes in the subdivisions of the Province and the
appointments which have been ordered in accordance with the subof Basra. The arz was made
mission (arz) of Ali Pasha, the beylerbey
on 15thZilkade, [i.e., on 19*hMarch]:
with its revenue,1has been conferredon
The liva of Garraf (
Madina
the
of
(o>),
bey
Haydar Bey,
The Uva of Madina, with its revenue, has been conferredon Said
Bey, the beyof Garraf.
The Uva of Rahmaniyya (vl>j), with its revenue,has been conferred
on Mehmed Bey, the beyof Hafa (U>-?).
The Uva of Hafa, in the beylerbeylik
of Lahsa, with its revenue, has
been conferredon Pervez Bey, the beyof Rahmaniyya.
The Uva of Takpr
U>),with its revenue,has been conferred
on Sam Bey who had been removed fromthe above-mentioned liva
[i.e. Hafa].
with its revenue, has been conferred
The liva of Akakale (<uU
on Hiiseyin Bey who had been removed fromKinahiyya
The Uva of Kinahiyya has been conferredon Arslan, the Kapudan
of Remle (<Lj).
The liva of Kan Kinabad (^LJuT
jf), with its revenue, has been
conferredon Sinan Bey, at present,the beyof Hemmar
The liva of Hemmar in the vilayetof Basra :
The beylerbeyof Basra has sent a letter,referringthat Sinan, formerly the kajmdan of Basra, has undertakenthe has2 of Hemmar at
more than 200,000 ake, on condition that the afore-saidprovince be
4
assigned to him. Veli, the present agaz of the Azaplar in the above1 Bedeliylei.e., withtheannualrevenues.
2 Has-i.e., the biggesttype of fief,the minimilm
incomeof whichwas
100,000ake.
3 Aa, meaningin OttomanTurkish"chief"or "master."
4 The namegivento a particularcorpsof Ottomantroopsused in fighting
bothon landand at sea.

IN THEPERSIANGULF
TURKSANDPORTUGUESE
85
mentioned liva, has also undertaken to farm the has at more than
200,000 ake, on condition that the province be assigned to him. The
of Basra has presentedan arz that the afore-saidUva be duly
beylerbey
and legally assigned to Veli. Order has been made that the province be
so conferredon the conditions [mentionedabove].
The Agalik* of the Azeban of Hemmar has been conferredon Muzaffer,one ofthe avuslar6at Basra, with 15 ake.1
The liva of Turre-iJezayir (y|>- **}>?) has been conferredon Hseyin
Bey, the aga of the Gnlllerat Kuban (Oli).
And the agaltk of the above-mentioned liva has been conferredon
veys Aga, the aga of the Azablar at Jarur (jjjU).
And the above-mentioned agalik of veys has been conferredon
eref,the kethvda8of the fortressof Jarur.
9 of the above-mentionedfortresshas been conAnd the kethudahk
ferred on a certain person called Ferruh, one of the Blkbasts10
stationed at Rahmaniyya, with 15 ake.
Terakki: in response to the arz of the above-mentioned[i.e., the beylerbeyof Basra] a terakkiof 20,000 ake has been conferredon Ali Bey,
the beyof Madan (ol.u.).
Terakki: in response to the arz of the above-mentioned [b.b. of
Basra] a terakkiof 20,000 ake has been conferredon Ali Bey, the bey
of Katif.
Basra] a terakkiof 20,000 ake has been conferredon Hemmad Bey,
the beyof Abu Arba (b j*^.1 ?).
Basra] a terakkiof 20,000 ake has been conferredon Ahmed Bey, the
beyof Sadr Sevib
j-u).
Basra] a terakkiof 20,000 ake has been conferredon Ahmed Bey, the
beyof Zernuk
Basra] a terakkiof 20,000 ake has been conferredon ankoglu Mehmed
Bey, the beyof Hafa.
5 Aalikofaa.
i.e., theoffice
avu-i.e., a memberofthecorpsofPursuivants.
7 i.e., perdiem.
8 Kethuda-i.e.,an adjutant.
9 i.e., theofficeofkethvda.
10Blkbair-i.e.,
the commander
of a blk.Blkmeans a Regimentof
troops.'

86
salh zbaran
Teralcki: in response to the arz of the above-mentioned [b.b. of

of 20,000 ake has been conferredon his own son,
Basra] a terakJci
Murad Bey, the beyof Tehemmiyye(vr).
The liva of Tavil
?) has been conferredon Zaim Salih, one of the
zema11at Aleppo, now servingin the vilayet[of Basra].
The Uva of Remle, having a salyane of 200,000 ake has been conferred,with its revenue, on Mehmed Bey, who was a sanjakbey in
Lahsa and is now in the service of the defterdarhk.12
A liva in Lahsa with salyane: a muhafaza sanjak in Lahsa has been
conferredon Ferruh Bey, now the beyof Remle, with the same salyane
as Mehmed Bey [received].
The liva of Vaki ('j) in the neighborhoodof Jezayir has been conferredon Ferhad Aga who holds a zeametof 50,000 ake in the province
of Basra.
The avuslukof the Imperial Court: the zaim called Abdi, who holds
a zeamet of 20,000 ake at Aleppo and who has done good and able
service in the collection of taxes at Basra, has been made a memberof
the afore-said corps of avus.
APPENDIX
MD, xxvn, p. 81.
V
9 Safer 983/20 May 1575
Given to stipl Ali avus.
of Baghdad :
Order to the beylerbey
of Lahsa has sent a letter,statingthat the conquest of
The beylerbey
Bahrayn (with God's favor) be easy. He writes that there are [very]
few warriors (cenkci) in the fortress,also that the galleys (kadirga)
actually at Basra are sufficient.Now it is not admissible to treat the
foe as of no account, but it is essentialto make [proper]preparationfor
it. You, who where once beylerbey
of that region,must know the local
conditions; I have commandedthat when [thisfirman]reaches you, you
shall informyourselfof all details and reportaccordingto yourknowledge and accurately how best to prepare for this enterprise-i.e.,
what number of galleys, and what number of siege guns, of soldiers
11Zema, thepluralofz im. A za*im was theholderofa zeamet
, a typeof
fiefyieldingan annualrevenueofmorethan20,000ake.
12Defterdarhkwas the termused for
i.e., the officeof defterdar.
Defterdar
theofficials
ofthefinancial
administration
(cf.B. Lewis,in EI 2,s.v. Daftardr
).

IN THEPERSIANGULF
TURKSANDPORTUGUESE
87
(asker) and of munitions and supplies are necessary to attack the

fortress.[You shall state also] if these essential guns, munitionsand
supplies are available in Baghdad and Basra ; also if there are enough
soldiers [on hand] or whether more of them are needed and [if so]
where such troops can be found. [Furthermore],it is likely that the
Portuguese foe, who has his main fleet at Hormuz, could come to
oppose [an expedition to the Bahrayn] , so you are to take special care
that no situation should arise which may [God forbid] be contraryto
the honor and the good name of the Sultanate. The beylerbey
of Lahsa
declares that if the above-mentioned island be conquered, its
annual yield will be 40,000 filori.You shall write and informus if this
annual revenue will in fact be forthcoming,over and above local
expenses, or if the island can produce more. You shall make known,
in addition, whetheror not the ships at Basra are sufficientor if it is
important to build the eight galleys, the constructionof which was
ordered in an [earlier] firman;you shall state also where you will get
the [necessary] guns if these [eight galleys] are indeed constructed.
You shall build ships as soon as the timber arrives and in short you
shall take note of all the conditionsrelatingto the aforesaid island and
tell us in detail about them.


The Ottoman & The Portuguese in The Persian Gulf

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The Ottoman & The Portuguese in The Persian Gulf

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THE OTTOMAN TURKS AND THE PORTUGUESE IN THE PERSIAN GULF, 1534 - 1581

Author(s): SALIH ZBARAN and Dom Manuell de Lyma

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There were in the sixteenthcenturytwo great powers which came to

THE COMING OF THE PORTUGUESE

The motives which led the Portuguese to undertake such a great

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reasons underlyingPortuguese penetrationinto the lands of the East.1

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ruler of al-Hasa, son of Zamel, refusedto pay to Hormuz the tribute

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placed the reservationthat such vessels and merchantsshould not sail

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PersianGulfin the SixteenthCentury(Northern

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of Luristan and of the Huwaizah marches,near Khuzistan, also gave

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The refusalmarkedthe end of his rule.27Ayas Pasha, the then beylerbey

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that region with the Ottoman expedition prepared forthe occupation

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the documentsexistingin the State Archivesof Istanbul, were Garrf,

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The copyofSultan'sletterto theKing ofPortugal(MD. v. p. 70)

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dian Ocean. He visited Aden, and sailing to the western coast of

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The FirstPage ofD. Manuelde Lima's Letter(1547)

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Afterhis arrival at Suez, Pr Reis, who had been a notable Ottoman

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beginninghis voyage. The Portuguese fleet,consistingof twenty-five

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The Final Page ofD. Manuelde Lima's LetterwithHis Signature

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this moment,the Ottomans had no naval resourcesthere sufficientto

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The instructionsgiven to Pr Reis forhis campaign of 1552, ordered

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tried to interceptAtjehnese vessels bound for the Red Sea.89 In 1573

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to the Red Sea.97 The Portuguese under D. Luis de Almeida failed in

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Cart. Ormuz, fol. 88r-92r.

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man much esteemed and known amongst the Portuguese. I am

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hundred mounted Turks.6 At the mouth of the strait of Basra where

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journey [fromBasra], there are great forests,fromwhich comes much

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[letter] which he sent to me-[my letter] making no agreementabout

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