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Afonso de Albuquerque

أفونسو دي ألبوكيرك

Afonso de Albuquerque — 'al-Buqarq' in al-Salabi's text — the Portuguese commander who seized Hormuz and wrote Shah Ismail offering 'the fleet, the soldiers and the weapons to use against the Turkish forts in India; and should you wish to strike the lands of the Arabs or attack Mecca you will find me beside you in the Red Sea before Jeddah, or in Aden, Bahrain, Qatif or Basra' 1. His death, the book says, obstructed the Portuguese-Safavid alliance 1; the same pages record Portugal's declared aim of storming the Prophet ﷺ's Mosque and taking the Prophet's remains to bargain for Jerusalem 2.

Depth

At a glance

Roles
military-leader
Era
The Gunpowder Empires
Region
al-Andalus & Europe
Identifiers
Wikidata
Review
Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it

Summary

Afonso de Albuquerque — 'al-Buqarq' in al-Salabi's text — the Portuguese commander in the Indian Ocean 1.

His letter to the shah

After seizing Hormuz, the book records, he wrote Shah Ismail: "I honour your esteem for the Christians in your lands, and offer you the fleet, the soldiers and the weapons to use against the Turkish forts in India; and should you wish to strike the lands of the Arabs or attack Mecca you will find me beside you in the Red Sea before Jeddah, or in Aden, Bahrain, Qatif or Basra — the shah will find me at his side along the Persian coast, and I shall do all he wishes" 1.

Death and the alliance

His death, al-Salabi says, obstructed completion of the Portuguese-Safavid alliance 1; elsewhere the book records Portugal's declared aims as reaching the storming of the Prophet's Mosque to take the Prophet's remains and bargain them for Jerusalem 2.

Connections

Explore the connections

Opposed
Safavid Iran

People and things also explored

Ismail I (Shah Ismail Safavi)· Timurid Empire· Safavid Iran

Sources

  1. al-Dawla al-Uthmaniyya — Ali Muhammad al-Salabi (2001) , p. 182
  2. al-Dawla al-Uthmaniyya — Ali Muhammad al-Salabi (2001) , p. 193
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Afonso de Albuquerque”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/afonso-de-albuquerque/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.

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Wing

People

Prophets, companions, scholars, rulers, scientists, poets, travelers: women and men who shaped the story. Related

Ismail I (Shah Ismail Safavi)

Shah Ismail, founder of the Safavid state; al-Salabi traces the Safavids to Shaykh Safi al-Din al-Ardabili (650–735 AH), Ismail's great ancestor, whose Sufi following spread through Iran, Ottoman lands, Iraq and Syria, and claims Safi al-Din practised dissimulation, appearing outwardly Shafi'i. When Ismail contended with Selim I, Selim sent him a dervish's rag, beads, bowl and staff to mock his roots, killed his envoy after the shah sought a truce, then crushed him at Chaldiran in August 1514 and entered Tabriz. The book says the defeat pushed Ismail toward the Portuguese, conceding Hormuz in exchange for help against Bahrain and Qatif.