Page 247 - Journal of Asian History_Neat

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M \niia vn.l.K: The Oltomnn I'runner ••/ nl-Hasti 101

,vod, the task was not dillicult. The planned and oxocutnl an attack on Bahrein.
As it pr«
governors of Bahrein showed themselves to be The initiative was taken alone by the governor
.miallv anxioua to |»rcM*rve their autonomy in general of Lal.isA, who presumably hoped to pre­
of Ottoman pressure, untl used the prof- sent Sultan Suleyman with a viclaire accomplic
f.-r.-.l support of the Portuguese Hormuz fleet and trusted that the new income in customs reve­
-nil am! again to counter the several threatened nue and pearls and the extension of direct imperial
from Lahsa. This use of Portuguese control at the expense of presumed Portuguese
invasions
not to have identified the plans would overcome the Sultan's displeasure
military aid seems
Bahrein government with that of the Portuguese at the breach of discipline, the direct disobedience
in the eyes of the Ottomans. In none of the several of his own personal orders. .-Vs it happened, the
lengthy reports and orders to and from LabsA and first news the Imperial Council in Istanbul had
Istanbul dealing with the projected and attempted of the invasion was that the Lafysa garrison had i
Bahrein campaigns between 155S and 1591 is been captured on Bahrein in an attempt to seize
this fact, that Bahrein was an ally of the kuffar the island. And further, that the main instrument
enemy, noted as a reason for the invasion. in their surrender was a detachment of kuffdr
The first attempted and only realized invasion ships from Hormuz, which the Portuguese had
of Bahrein from Lahsa by the Ottomans was made dispatched to the aid of the Iilrl governor.5’
in the summer of 1559. It was led by Mustafa The impression made in Istanbul could scarcely
Pa§a, the governor general of LatisiL,5* and ended have beeQ worse.10
in the surrender of the Ottoman forces and an Ail of the documents in the muhimnit series
ignominious withdrawal to the mainland after the pertaining to this invasion are concerned with the
payment of ransom. This much is given in the problem of extracting the garrison from Bahrein
Portuguese sources and is corroborated by the and reinforcing Lalj-sa and Basra against the pos­
documents. But the documents also give various sibility of the Portuguese pressing their advan­
details and explanations which lend an entirely tage, and especially with the BanI Q:£lid revolt
different slant to the story*. which broke out in Lafrs& upon the collapse of the
Contrary to the interpretations usually made campaign. Little information is offered on the
from the Portuguese sources, the expedition was military action itself. However, the number of
not authorized by the Imperial Council in Istan­ men participating must have been about 600 to
bul. Certainly it was not a case of . . the newly 1,000, with the lower figure being more likely; j
formed Persian Gulf units of the Turkish fleet. . .” perhaps half of these were locally enrolled militia
attacking Bahrein,57 nor was it one in which . . (g&n&Uuler).>l The invasion force must have been
the Turks desired to possess themselves of the well armed and equipped. The forts at Labsa and
Arabian ports on the Persian Gulf. . and al-Iyatlf and their armories were stripped for the
On the 10th of September orders were dispatched *• There is no mention in the documents of the “Per­
to Pa^a for the return of an 'azeb unit oa loan sian soldiers" given so prominent a role in the island’s
bahsA from Basra, and now reported needed by the defense by Faroughy (Bahrein, p. 63).
B'jUrbtfx Of Basra (M 3:301-2). Three weeks later, on *• For an article discussing briefly Mu^afi Papa’s
t e 1st of October, the first official action was taken by motives, see §afvet’s "Bahreyn*de bir vaka’a’’, cited
rstanbui on the raid (the letter to Murftd $&h, governor above in footnote 15.
* B*hrein; below p. 492). Istanbul must have ,l In these early years an attempt was made to main­
eard °f the campaign, then, no earlier than September tain 300 gfinUlluUr on the Lahsi rolls: see M 3:1126, 21
an perhaps as late as the last week of the month, §a*b£n 967/17 May 1560. The number of men of the
o^mg no more than two months for transmission from regular garrison who were at this time detached for
th. t1° Istanbul and a week for deliberation in council garrison duty from different Janissary divisions is un­
e,fC WOU^ place the date of the invasion as roughly certain, but probably was less than 800. Faria \ Sousa’s
cariy or mid-July.
1200 Janissaries and “milice’’ given as “1200 Turks and
” doughy, Bahrein, p. 63.
Janissaries” by Wilson, (Persian Gulf, p. 126) is not
Wilson, Persian Gulf, p. 126.
after all, far off.