Kurtoğlu Hızır Reis was an Ottoman admiral who is best known for commanding the Ottoman naval expedition to

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

(1568–1569).

Background and family origins

Kurtoğlu Hızır Reis was the son of the famous Ottoman privateer and Ottoman admiral Kurtoğlu Muslihiddin Reis, who was known as Curtogoli in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, particularly in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

.Bono, Salvatore: Corsari nel Mediterraneo (Corsairs in the Mediterranean), Oscar Storia Mondadori. Perugia, 1993. The name ''Kurtoğlu'' or ''Kurdoğlu'' means ''Son of Kurt (Wolf)'' in Turkish, a

patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (more specifically an avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. It is the male equivalent of a matronymic. Patronymics are used, b ...

epithet An epithet (, ), also a byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) commonly accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a real or fictitious person, place, or thing. It is usually literally descriptive, as in Alfred the Great, Suleima ...

of Muslihiddin, derived from the name of Muslihiddin's father, Kurt Bey, a Turkish seaman from

Kayseri Kayseri () is a large List of cities in Turkey, city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri Province, Kayseri province. Historically known as Caesarea (Mazaca), Caesarea, it has been the historical capital of Cappadocia since anc ...

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

who went to northwestern Africa for

privateering A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since Piracy, robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sover ...

together with the other famous Ottoman corsairs of that period such as the

Barbarossa Barbarossa, a name meaning "red beard" in Italian, primarily refers to: * Frederick Barbarossa (1122–1190), Holy Roman Emperor * Hayreddin Barbarossa (c. 1478–1546), Ottoman admiral * Operation Barbarossa, the Axis invasion of the Soviet Uni ...

brothers,

Oruç Reis Aruj Barbarossa ( 1474 – 1518), known as Oruç Reis () to the Turks, was an Ottoman corsair who became Sultan of Algiers. The elder brother of the famous Ottoman admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa, he was born on the Ottoman island of Midilli (L ...

and Hızır Reis. Hızır Reis became a close friend of Kurtoğlu Muslihiddin, who named his son after him.

, Hızır Reis, Kemal Reis, Piri Reis and Kurtoğlu Muslihiddin Reis often sailed together in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

Ottoman naval expedition to Sumatra (1568–1569)

In 1565, Sultan Alaaddin of

Aceh Aceh ( , ; , Jawi script, Jawoë: ; Van Ophuijsen Spelling System, Old Spelling: ''Atjeh'') is the westernmost Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is located on the northern end of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capit ...

declared allegiance to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

and sent a request for assistance to the Ottoman Sultan

Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I (; , ; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the Western world and as Suleiman the Lawgiver () in his own realm, was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman sultan between 1520 a ...

(which was received by the Grand Vizier Sokollu Mehmet Pasha due to the absence of Suleiman who was heading for the Battle of Szigetvár, his final military campaign) for defending his land from Portuguese aggression. Due to Suleiman's death in 1566, the Ottoman naval expedition to

was sent by his son, Selim II, who appointed Kurtoğlu Hızır Reis with the mission. Kurtoğlu Hızır Reis was the Admiral-in-Chief of the Ottoman Indian Ocean Fleet based in

Suez Suez (, , , ) is a Port#Seaport, seaport city with a population of about 800,000 in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea, near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal. It is the capital and largest c ...

, with other homeports in

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

and

Basra Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...

. In 1568 he set sail with a force of 22 ships carrying soldiers, military equipment and other supplies, but was prevented to cross the Indian Ocean by the campaigns in Yemen. Only some of the cannons were shipped to the Sumatran sultanate (Göksoy, "Ottoman-Aceh relations", 78).

References and sources

Kurtoğlu Hızır Reis (Turkish)
*Bono, Salvatore: ''Corsari nel Mediterraneo'' (''Corsairs in the Mediterranean''), Oscar Storia Mondadori. Perugia, 1993.

*Bradford, Ernle, ''The Sultan's Admiral: The life of Barbarossa'', London, 1968.
The Ottomans: Comprehensive and detailed online chronology of Ottoman history in English.Comprehensive and detailed online chronology of Ottoman history in Turkish.Turkish Navy official website: Historic heritage of the Turkish Navy (in Turkish)Ottoman-Aceh relations according to Turkish sources
* İsmail Hakkı Göksoy, "Ottoman-Aceh relations as documented in Turkish sources" in Michael R. Feener, Patrick Daly, and Anthony Reid, Mapping the Acehnese Past (Leiden: KITLV, 2011),65-95. {{DEFAULTSORT:Reis, Kurtoglu Hizir Kurtoglu Hizir Reis Kurtoglu Hizir Reis Kurtoglu Hizir Reis Year of birth missing Year of death missing 16th-century Ottoman military personnel

Background and family origins

Ottoman naval expedition to Sumatra (1568–1569)

See also

References and sources