Page 55 - Journal of Asian History_Neat

r, i
\ ; AND P0RTU0UE3E IN THE PERSIAN GULF G9
TU
tried to intercept Atjehnese vessels bound for tho Red Sea.89 In 1573
the Portuguese sailed to Bahrayn, seized several merchant ships and
captured an envoy from Laristan.90 As for the Ottoman government,
it now sought to activate the beylerbey of Basra and Lahsa and wanted
to return to a more aggressive policy. Bahrayn became once more the
object of Ottoman ambition. A document dated 23 Muharrem 981/
25 May 1573 asks the beylerbey of Lahsa whether or not the reduction
i of Bahrayn was feasible, what preparations would be required for such
•4
an enterprise, and what would be the most opportune time for it.91
The Ottoman interest in Bahraym increased even more in the year 1575.
The central government wanted the beylerbeys of Basra, Lahsa and
Baghdad to prepare for the coming expedition.92 The beylerbeys were
Si
'
to keep watch over tho coast of Lahsa.93 But all these initial prepara­
tions eventually came to nothing. It seems, however, that the Otto­
i man naval facilities at Basra, though far from being sufficient for a
S'
I large-scale campaign, had, nevertheless, been increased. On 21 Receb
3 985/4 October 1577 Mahmud, the officer in charge of the fleet (Donan-
ma-i Hiimdyun Kelhuias\) at Basra was appointed to be Lahsa Kapu-
3 dani, i.e. captain of the vessels stationed on the shores of Lahsa.94 He
a was, however, to watch the harmful activities of Kef ere Arabian.95
now mentioned in correspondence. A document of 23 Receb 985/6 Oc­
tober 1577, addressed to the beylerbey of Basra,98 reveals that the
Kefere Arabian caused so much damage to the local markets in Katif
if
it that the merchants had moved to Bahrayn. These minor incidents did
not, in fact, affect the flow of trade which had been flourishing since the
1560’s. A raid on Muscat in 1581 which was carried out by Aii Bey
came from the Red Sea. Ali Bey, a Turkish corsair, went against
Muscat with four galleys, plundered the town, and made his way back

11 Ibid., p. 68ff and 102ff; and also C. R. Boxer, “A Noto on Portuguese
Reactions to the Revival of the Red Sea Spice Trade and the Rise of Acheh,
1540-1600,” in Journal oj Southeast Asiar\ History, X, (December 1969), p. 418.
On Turco-Achehnese relations see, in the same journal (pp. 395-414), A. Reid,
‘‘Sixteenth Century Turkish Influence in Western Indonesia.”
M MD, XXII, p. 322.
,l MD, XXII, p. 43.
•* MD, XXVII, pp. 76 and 81 (see Appendix V); MD Zeyli, III, p. 128.
” MD Zeyli, m, p. 166.
94 RuOfl 231, p. 127; MD, XXXIII, p. 184.
11 These are perhaps nautaques or nodhaJcis operating in the waters near the
Bahrayn (cf. below, noto 98).
94 MD, XXXI, p. 338.

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