Ottoman aid to Sumatra was diverted by a Yemen rebellion
Evidence
In 1563, the Muslim king of Acheh sent an embassy to Istanbul to ask for help against the Portuguese. If the Ottomans would only come and save them, he said, the infidel rulers of Calicut and Ceylon would embrace Islam. A large-scale Ottoman expedition was prepared, but at the last minute had to be diverted to Aden to deal with an insurrection in Yemen. Instead, two ships with supplies and military technicians, chiefly gunners and gun-founders, were sent. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 596
Categorization
Category: Factual Claims
- QUESTION: Did the Aceh-Ottoman connection deepen after this, and did Ottoman gunners reach Aceh anyway? This is a small but suggestive chapter in Indian Ocean history.