Everything about Piyale Pasha totally explained
Piyale Pasha (c.
1515-
1578), also known as
Piale Pasha in the West or
Pialí Bajá in Spain;
Turkish:
Piyale Paşa), was an
Ottoman-Turkish admiral (
Kaptan Pasha = fleet commander) between 1553 and 1567 and an Ottoman
Vizier after 1568.
Piyale Pasha received his formal education at the
Enderun (Imperial Academy) in modern-day
Istanbul,
Turkey. He graduated from the Enderun with the title of
Kapıcıbaşı and was appointed
Sanjak Bey (Province Governor) of
Gallipoli.
Admiral of the Ottoman Fleet
He was promoted to
Bahriye Beylerbeyi (for example First Lord of Admiralty) and became Admiral-in-Chief of the Ottoman Fleet at the age of 39.
In
1554 he captured the islands of
Elba and
Corsica with a large fleet which included famous Ottoman admirals like
Turgut Reis and
Salih Reis. The following year Sultan
Suleiman the Magnificent assigned him with the task of helping
France against the
Spaniards upon request by the mother of King
Francois II, and Piyale Pasha set sail on 26 June
1555. The Turkish fleet met the French fleet at
Piombino and successfully repulsed a Spanish attack on France while conquering several Spanish fortresses on the
Mediterranean Sea.
Battle of Djerba
In June
1558, joined by
Turgut Reis, Piyale Pasha sailed to the
Strait of Messina and the two admirals captured
Reggio Calabria. From there, they went to the
Aeolian Islands and captured several of them, before landing at
Amalfi, the Gulf of
Salerno, and capturing
Massa Lubrense, Cantone and
Sorrento. They later landed at
Torre del Greco, the coasts of
Tuscany, and
Piombino. In September
1558 they assaulted the coasts of
Spain before capturing
Minorca and inflicting particular damage on the island's ports.
This caused fear throughout the
Mediterranean coasts of
Spain, and King
Philip II appealed to
Pope Paul IV and his allies in Europe to bring an end to the rising Turkish threat. In
1560 King Philip II succeeded in organizing a
Holy League between
Spain, the
Republic of Venice, the
Republic of Genoa, the
Papal States, the
Duchy of Savoy and the
Knights of Malta. The joint fleet was assembled at
Messina and consisted of 54 galleys and 66 other types of vessels under the command of
Giovanni Andrea Doria, nephew of the famous Genoese admiral
Andrea Doria.
On 12 March
1560, the Holy League captured the island of
Djerba which had a strategic location and could control the sea routes between
Algiers and
Tripoli. As a response,
Suleiman the Magnificent sent an Ottoman fleet of 86 galleys and galliots under the command of Piyale Pasha, which arrived at Djerba on 11 May
1560 and destroyed the Christian fleet in a matter of hours at the
Battle of Djerba. Giovanni Andrea Doria managed to escape with a small vessel, but the surviving Christians, now under the command of D. Alvaro de Sande, took refuge in the fort on the island of Djerba which they'd constructed during the expedition. Piyale Pasha and
Turgut Reis eventually forced the garrison to surrender and Piyale Pasha took 5,000 prisoners, including de Sande, to
Istanbul, where he was met by joyous crowds. He married
Sultana Gevher Han, daughter of Suleiman's son
Selim II.
In
1563 Piyale Pasha captured
Naples and the fortresses around the city on behalf of
France, but after the Ottoman forces left the city the French couldn't hold on to these and the Spaniards eventually took them back.
Siege of Malta
In
1565 Piyale Pasha, together with the general
Lala Mustafa Pasha and
Turgut Reis, was charged by Suleiman to capture
Malta, but the effort failed in the face of determined resistance by the
Maltese Knights and cost the Ottoman fleet not only large numbers of casualties, but also the life of Turgut Reis.
In
1566 Piyale captured the island of
Chios and brought an end to the Genoese presence in the
Aegean Sea. He later landed on
Puglia in
Italy and captured several strategic fortresses.
In
1568 he was promoted to
Vizier, becoming the first admiral in Ottoman history to reach this rank.
Conquest of Cyprus
In
1570 he set sail for
Cyprus, then a
Venetian possession, with a large invasion force on board his ships. Having left Istanbul on 15 May
1570, the fleet arrived at Cyprus on 1 July
1570. On 22 July the Turks, under the command of
Lala Mustafa (the Fifth Vizier, who had five years previously failed to capture Malta), commenced the siege of
Nicosia, capturing the city on 9 September. After capturing
Pafos,
Limassol and
Larnaca in rapid succession, they surrounded
Magosa (Famagusta), the final Venetian stronghold on the island, on 18 September
1570 and finally took it on 1 August
1571, completing the conquest of Cyprus.
Final Assignments
After the defeat of the Turkish fleet under the command of
Ali Pasha at the
Battle of Lepanto in
1571, Piyale Pasha was called to take back the command of the Ottoman navy. The Ottomans managed to rebuild a fleet as large as that lost at Lepanto in less than a year, and
Uluç Ali Reis reconquered
Tunisia from Spain and their Hafsid vassals in
1574.
In
1573 Piyale Pasha once again landed on Puglia in Italy. This was his final naval expedition.
Death
Piyale Pasha died on 21 January
1578 and is buried at the Piyale Pasha Mosque in Istanbul which he'd built in his final years.
Legacy
Several warships of the
Turkish Navy have been named after him.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Piyale Pasha'.
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