Page 251 - Journal of Asian History_Neat

MaNDAVIU.k: V’/ir Ottoman I'nwincs »f al-flasd •193

irdcrcd to ha>l«'n to his now district, and and agreed to sue for pence from the Portuguese
I !o i>* <
ilirro to cooperate fully and in a friendly {kafir). In the end it was bought, by turning
Udnon with all persons who have accepted Otto- over to the Portuguese everything the men had
allegiance (’ulrbci 'ulyd-ya 'ubwliyft uzcrc of value. All arms, horses, personal effects and
man
y.Mm) whether they be feyhs of Arab tribes or available cash were given up, as well as a goldon-
other men important in tribal or administrative hiltcd and decorated sword (presumably belonging :
matters ('afh&b-i kabd'il 'a$d'ir « ’eyd/W).41 As to the late Mustafa Paja). To complete the trans­
can bo seen by the letter to Murild §Ah, Bahrein action 176 pearls belonging to Mustafa Pa$a
was considered at lc:ist on a formal level to have and held in the treasury at pvafctf were sold or
Mibmitted to the state, so cooperation was prob­ pawned by the judge of LabsA, MevI&nS IJuseyn,
ably intended with him as well. and the proceeds delivered to the victors. All in
During the following months the Imperial all, the Portuguese received goods worth (accord­
Council, despite the handicap of slow' communi­ ing to the report) ten yuk okqtKK (one million
cations, pressed for the safe withdrawal of the men akfe).
stranded on Bahrein. On the seventh of February The men returned to the mainland probably
1560 orders were issued to the vizier Mclimed sometime in March or April of 1560. On the I
Pa$a to make certain that money and materials twenty-seventh of May a firman was issued i
■
were made available to the governor general of acknowledging a notification from LabsA of
Basra so that he might finish outfitting the fleet their arrival and the need to enroll men there I
built to rescue them. A transfer of 200,000 gold with camels and horses to replace them.0
pieces (allln) from the Egyptian treasury to The loss of men and materials badly needed
Basra was authorized for this purpose and noted by the LahsS garrison was only one of the many
in the central office of finance (maliye).u All of immediate problems created by Mu§taf& Papa’s
this, four months and a week after the first orders ill-conceived adventure. Far more threatening to
had gone out to Basra to detail ships to evacuate the maintenance of Ottoman control over Lafr-sS
the army. was the revolt of the BanI 05lid leaders, erstwhile
But while funds were being transferred from rulers of the area, who seized the opportunity
as far away as Trabzon overland to Birecik and offered by the withdrawal of most of the garrison
from there by river down to Basra44 to equip the to occupy part of L&bs& with Mubarraz as
rescue fleet, the men on Bahrein island saved headquarters and claim the rest as theirs by tradi­
themselves. Plow this was done was described in a tional right.44 The rebels were unable to take the i
report from the new governor general of LabsS fortress at LabsS and the revolt died dowro, but ; *
which is summarized in a lengthy firman issued only after months of skirmishing.4*
to that officer on the seventeenth of May 1560.u Still, the invasion was useful to the Ottoman i
No dates are given, but the sequence of events is central government in one respect. The results
clear. Following the death of Mustoffi Pa$a must have made it perfectly clear that any
(how he died is not explained) the men and officers thought of joint action with the LSrI governor of
of the Janissary Corps {hul (d’ifesi) held council Bahrein against the Portuguese was now out of the
question, whatever the possibilities were before
the campaign. The dominant role of the Portu­
41 M 3:367, same date.
M 3:747, 1 CU 967/7 February 1560. Mefrmed Pa$a guese in the defense of the island was obvious in
Was ordered to act on this matter with reference to re­
ports which had been forwarded to him from the gover- 41 Ibid. According to Portuguese sources, “10,000
nor genera] of Basra and from the Maliye office. I take ducats’* (Wilson, Persian Gulf, p. 126).
| u to mcao that the specified sum and its source had 41 M 3:1130, same date as n. 45.
,,eCD recorded by the latter office. 44 M 3:1146, 23 $a’b*n 967/19 May 1560.
44 Ibid. For this transport route see below p. 508 f. 41 M 3:1633, copied 20 §afer 968/10 November 1560.
.. w
M 3:1128, 21 $a‘bAn 967/17 May, 1560. See below p. 498 f.