Page 17 - Journal of Asian History_Neat

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50 HAUH OZBAKAK

at Basra. Tlu'so fustu woro well armed with guns and had fifty Humes
on hoard. When Rashid ibn Mcgumis declined to do so, Belehior do
.Sousa burnt the settlements located on the adjoining coast and with-
drew to Hormuz. i i
Also in the same year, 1529, the Portuguese sent a force to Bahrayn.
The ruler of that island, the Ra’is “Barbadim” (Baha al-Din or Back*
al-Din ?), a nephew of the guozil 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, Simao da Cunha, with five ships and
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almost five hundred men to Bahrayn. At this time Belehior de Sousa,
with six oared vessels, was also patrolling in the waters adjacent to the
island, seeking to prevent the Ra’is Badradim from recruiting troops
in the coastal areas of Persia. The Ra’is, with some eight hundred
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Persians under his command, refused to surrender the fortress of
Bahrayn. The Portuguese now bombarded the fort, but in vain-a
shortage of powder arid an outbreak of sickness15 compelled them to
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withdraw to Hormuz.14 .1
The years after 1529 saw little of note occuring at Hormuz. But the
pattern of relations prevailing thus far between Christians and Muslims
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in the Persian Gulf and in the adjoining territories was soon to undergo
a notable change. A new factor would influence strongly the future
course of events.

v
THE OTTOMAN TURKS IN THE COASTLANDS OF THE
PERSIAN GULF

In 1534 the Ottomans entered into a new conflict with 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 number of considerations
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14 Barroa, Dec. IV, Liv. Ill, pp. 348-350.
/
14 Tho sources state that the eaat wind blowing in September often brought
with it or caused outbreaks of sickneas-as, for example, on a later occasion in
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1559, when tho Ottoman beyUrbcy of Lahsa was engaged in a campaign against
the Bahrayn. •c
“ Barroa, Dec. IV, Liv. Ill, pp. 362ff: Diogo do Couto, Da Asia, (Lisboa
1778), Dec. IV, Liv. IV, capituloa III and IV; Gaapar Correa, Lendas da India’
I-IV, (Lisboa, 1862), III, pp. 325ff; Fem&o Lopea do Castanheda, Historia do
DescobrimerUo t Conquista da India peloa Portugu
(Lisboa, 1833), Liv. VII,
; capitulqs CII-CIII. ^4

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