The capture of Muscat occurred in 1552, when an Ottoman fleet under Piri Reis attacked

Old Muscat Old Muscat is the original historic city of Muscat, the capital of Oman, on the coast in the Gulf of Oman. Overview The old city of Muscat is separated from the rest of modern Muscat by coastal mountains. It is located along the Muttrah Cornich ...

, in modern

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...

, and plundered the town from the Portuguese. These events followed the important Ottoman defeat in the

Second Siege of Diu The Third Siege of Diu was a siege of the Portuguese Indian city of Diu by the Gujarat Sultanate in 1546. It ended with a major Portuguese victory. Background At the beginning of the 16th century, the Muslim Sultanate of Gujarat was the pr ...

in 1546, which put a stop to their attempts in India, but also the successful

capture of Aden (1548) The capture of Aden of 1548 was accomplished when Ottomans under Piri Reis managed to take the harbour of Aden in Yemen from the Portuguese on 26 February 1548. Background Aden had already been captured by the Ottomans for Suleiman the M ...

, which allowed the Ottomans to resist the Portuguese in the northwestern part of the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...

.''Maritime India-Trade, Religion and Polity In the Indian Ocean'' by Pius Malekandathil p.117
/ref>

Background

The city, once part of the Kingdom of Hormuz, had been in Portuguese hands since 1507, when a Portuguese fleet under

Afonso de Albuquerque Afonso de Albuquerque, 1st Duke of Goa (; – 16 December 1515) was a Portuguese general, admiral, and statesman. He served as viceroy of Portuguese India from 1509 to 1515, during which he expanded Portuguese influence across the Indian Ocean ...

attacked the city, destroyed it, and then came back soon after to occupy it. The Ottomans attempted to intervene against the Portuguese presence, and four Ottoman ships bombarded the city in 1546.''Historical Muscat: an illustrated guide and gazetteer'' John Peterson p.118
/ref> The city was again attacked by the Ottomans in 1552 as part of a broader conflict over the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean. This time they attacked with a larger fleet under Piri Reis and Seydi Ali Reis. Their ultimate objective was to seize the islands of Hormuz and

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and a ...

, in order to block Portuguese access to the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bo ...

and thus reestablish Ottoman control of the

Indian Ocean trade Indian Ocean trade has been a key factor in East–West exchanges throughout history. Long-distance trade in dhows and proas made it a dynamic zone of interaction between peoples, cultures, and civilizations stretching from Southeast Asia to Ea ...

The battle

The Ottoman force consisted in 4 galleons, 25

galleys A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be use ...

, and 850 troops (according to Diogo do Couto, the Ottomans had 15 galleys and 1200 troops ''Décadas da Ásia, Década Sexta, Livro X, Capítulo 1'' by Diogo do Couto
/ref>). The recently built Fort Al-Mirani was besieged for 18 days with one piece of Ottoman artillery brought on top of a ridge. Lacking food and water, the 60 Portuguese garrison and its commander, João de Lisboa, agreed to surrender, only to be taken as captives. The fort was captured and its fortifications destroyed.''Historical Muscat: an illustrated guide and gazetteer'' John Peterson p.48''ff''
/ref> Soon however the Ottomans departed. Ultimately, they managed to occupy and control the coasts of

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast and ...

Aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 peopl ...

, and

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Pl ...

, as far north as

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is han ...

, so as to facilitate their trade with

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

and block the Portuguese from attacking the

Hijaz The Hejaz (, also ; ar, ٱلْحِجَاز, al-Ḥijāz, lit=the Barrier, ) is a region in the west of Saudi Arabia. It includes the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif, and Baljurashi. It is also known as the "Western Provinc ...

Aftermath

The Ottomans again attacked the Portuguese possessions of the coast of India in 1553, with a raid on the

Pearl Fishery Coast The Pearl Fishery Coast refers to a coastal area of southern India, extending along the Coromandel Coast from Tuticorin to Comorin ruled by Paravars. The coast took its name from the presence of pearls along the coast, and the numerous pearl f ...

of South India around

Tuticorin Thoothukudi (formerly Tuticorin) is a port city, a municipal corporation and an industrial city in Thoothukudi district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The city lies in the Coromandel Coast of Bay of Bengal. Thoothukudi is the capital and ...

. They were assisted by the Marakkar

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

of Malabar, and had the tacit agreement of Vittula Nayak of

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration i ...

. 52 Portuguese were captured at Punnaikayal, and churches were burnt down. The Ottomans failed however in 1553 against a Portuguese fleet at sea near al-Fahl. Seydi Ali Reis and his galleys would be attacked in an

ambush An ambush is a long-established military tactic in which a combatant uses an advantage of concealment or the element of surprise to attack unsuspecting enemy combatants from concealed positions, such as among dense underbrush or behind moun ...

by Portuguese forces while he was trying to bring back his float from

Suez Suez ( ar, السويس '; ) is a seaport city (population of about 750,000 ) in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez (a branch of the Red Sea), near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same bou ...

in August 1554. Three Ottoman galleys would again occupy Muscat in 1581, letting the population escape, before the city again fell to the Portuguese in 1588.

References

{{Major Ottoman sieges

Muscat Muscat ( ar, مَسْقَط, ) is the capital and most populated city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the total population of Muscat Governorate was ...

Suleiman the Magnificent Piri Reis

1552 in the Ottoman Empire 1552 in Asia History of Muscat, Oman Old Muscat

Background

The battle

Aftermath

See also

References