The Portuguese reach the Indian Ocean; Jeddah walled
ظهور البرتقال في المحيط الهندي وبناء سور جدة
c. 1514 CE · 920 AH
Shadharat's register of the Portuguese irruption: appearing beyond the Sea of Darkness past the Mountains of the Moon, they ravaged India and reached the Arabian peninsula, the Yemeni ports and Jeddah; al-Ghawri sent fifty ghurab ships under Husayn al-Kurdi who walled Jeddah within a year and relieved Gujarat 1.
At a glance
- Era
- The Mongol and Post-Mongol Era
- Region
- Arabia · South Asia
- Review
- Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it
In time
Summary
Ibn al-Imad, in Shadharat al-Dhahab, reports that around 920 AH the "Franks, the Portuguese" appeared in the Indian Ocean, and their harm reached the Arabian Peninsula, the ports of Yemen and Jeddah. 1
The Mamluk response
The news reached the sultan Qansuh al-Ghawri, who equipped fifty galleys under the command of the amir Husayn al-Kurdi, together with troops of Turks, Maghribis and Lund. He granted him Jeddah as an iqta and ordered him to fortify it. 1
The walls of Jeddah
Husayn began building the wall and its towers, and demolished many people's houses. The author describes this as done with harshness and severity. The wall was completed in less than a year. Then he set out for India, where he met the sultan of Gujarat. The source reports that the Franks left the ports when they heard of his arrival. 1
Connections
- Had participant
- حسين الكردي· Sultan Qansuh al-Ghawri
People and things also explored
معركة ديو البحرية· Cairo· حسين الكردي· Sultan Qansuh al-Ghawri
Sources
- Shadharat al-Dhahab — Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali, p. 531
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “The Portuguese reach the Indian Ocean; Jeddah walled”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/portuguese-reach-indian-ocean-920/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-17.