Ottoman–Portuguese conflicts (1538–59 ) | |||||||
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Part of the Ottoman–Portuguese conflicts and the Adal-Ethiopian War | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Portuguese Empire Ethiopian Empire Kingdom of Hormuz |
Ottoman Empire Adal Sultanate Ajuran Sultanate |
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Estêvão da Gama Cristóvão da Gama Dawit II of Ethiopia † Gelawdewos of Ethiopia † |
Piri Reis Seydi Ali Reis Sefer Reis Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi † Nur ibn Mujahid |
The second Ottoman-Portuguese War (1538–1559) was an armed military conflict between the Portuguese Empire, the Kingdom of Hormuz and the Ethiopian Empire against the Ottoman Empire, Ajuran Sultanate, and Adal Sultanate, into the Horn of Africa, the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea and in East Africa.
This war took place upon the backdrop of the Ethiopian-Adal War. Ethiopia had been invaded in 1529 by the Somali Imam Ahmed Gragn. Portuguese help, which was first asked by Emperor Lebna Dengel in 1520 to help defeat Adal while it was weak, finally arrived in Mitsiwa on February 10, 1541, during the reign of Emperor Galawdewos. The force was led by Cristóvão da Gama (second son of Vasco da Gama) and included 400 musketeers, several breech-loading field guns and few Portuguese cavalry as well as a number of artisans and other non-combatants.
Major hostilities between Portugal and the Ottoman Empire began in 1538, when the Ottomans with 54 ships laid siege to Diu, which had been built by the Portuguese in 1535. The Ottoman fleet was led by Suleiman I's governor of Egypt Suleiman Pasha, but the attack was not successful and the siege was lifted.