Kurtoğlu Muslihiddin Reis

Kurtoğlu Muslihiddin Reis
Born	c. 1487
Died	1535 Rhodes, Ottoman Empire
Piratical career
Type	Barbary Corsair
Allegiance	Ottoman Empire
Years active	c. 1508–1535
Rank	Admiral
Base of operations	Mediterranean
Battles/wars	Ottoman–Mamluk War Siege of Rhodes

Kurtoğlu Muslihiddin Reis (1487 – c. 1535) was a privateer and admiral of the Ottoman Empire, as well as the Sanjak Bey (Provincial Governor) of Rhodes. He played an important role in the Ottoman conquests of Egypt (1517) and Rhodes (1522) during which he commanded the Ottoman naval forces. He also helped establish the Ottoman Indian Ocean Fleet based in Suez, which was later commanded by his son, Kurtoğlu Hızır Reis.

Kurtoğlu was known as Curtogoli in Europe, particularly in Italy, France and Spain. He is also alternatively referred to as Cadegoli, Cadoli, Gadoli, Kurtog Ali, Kurdogli, Kurdogoli, Kurdoglou, Cartugli, Cartalli and Orthogut in several European resources.

Kurtoğlu Muslihiddin Reis was the father of Kurtoğlu Hızır Reis, the Admiral-in-Chief of the Ottoman Indian Ocean Fleet who commanded the Ottoman naval expedition to Sumatra in Indonesia (1568–1569) in order to protect it from Portuguese aggression. The Ottoman fleet arrived to the Aceh province in 1569, whose ruler, Sultan Alaaddin, had earlier declared allegiance to the Ottoman Empire in 1565. This event marked the easternmost Ottoman territorial expansion. Aceh effectively remained as an Ottoman protectorate until the late 18th century, and an ally of the Ottoman Empire until 1904, when it largely went under Dutch control.

The name Kurtoğlu means Son of Kurt (Wolf) in Turkish, a family name which Muslihiddin inherited from his father, Kurt Bey, a Turkish seaman from Anatolia who went to northwestern Africa for privateering together with the other Ottoman corsairs of that period such as the brothers, Aruj and Hayreddin Barbarossa.

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