Kurtoğlu Muslihiddin Reis (c. 1487 – c. 1535) was the admiral of the Ottoman Empire, as well as the Sanjak Bey (Provincial Governor) of Rhodes. He played an important role in the Ottoman conquests of Egypt (1517) and Rhodes (1522) during which he commanded the Ottoman naval forces. He also helped establish the Ottoman Indian Ocean Fleet based in Suez, which was later commanded by his son, Kurtoğlu Hızır Reis.
Kurtoğlu was known as Curtogoli in Europe, particularly in Italy, France and Spain.Bono, Salvatore: Corsari nel Mediterraneo (Corsairs in the Mediterranean), Oscar Storia Mondadori. Perugia, 1993. He is also alternatively referred to as Cadegoli, Cadoli, Gadoli, Kurtog Ali, Kurdogli, Kurdogoli, Kurdoglou, Cartugli, Cartalli and Orthogut in several European resources.
Kurtoğlu Muslihiddin Reis was the father of Kurtoğlu Hızır Reis, the Admiral-in-Chief of the Ottoman Indian Ocean Fleet who commanded the Ottoman naval expedition to Sumatra in Indonesia (1568–1569) in order to protect it from Portuguese aggression. The Ottoman fleet arrived in the Aceh province in 1569, whose ruler, Sultan Alaaddin, had earlier declared allegiance to the Ottoman Empire in 1565. This event marked the easternmost Ottoman territorial expansion. Aceh effectively remained an Ottoman protectorate until the late 18th century, and an ally of the Ottoman Empire until 1904, when it largely went under Dutch control.
Background The name Kurtoğlu means Son of Kurt (Wolf) in Turkish, a patronymic epithet derived from the name of Muslihiddin's father, Kurt Bey, a Turkish seaman from Anatolia who went to northwestern Africa for privateering together with the other Ottoman corsairs of that period such as the Barbarossa brothers, Aruj and Hayreddin Barbarossa.
Hayreddin Barbarossa became a close friend of Kurtoğlu Muslihiddin, who named his son after him. Aruj, Hayreddin Barbarossa, Kemal Reis, Piri Reis and Kurtoğlu Muslihiddin Reis operated together in the Mediterranean on many occasions. In 1522 Hayreddin Barbarossa sent his private fleet to assist the forces of Kurtoğlu Muslihiddin Reis during the Ottoman conquest of Rhodes, which was the base of the Knights of St. John.
Early career as a privateer In 1508 Kurtoğlu Muslihiddin obtained permission from the Hafsid Sultan Abu Mohammed Abdullah to use Bizerte as his base for operating in the western coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. The Sultan, in return, was to receive one fifth of his profits. Kurtoğlu assembled a fleet of some thirty ships, carrying 6,000 corsairs, and in the summer of 1508 he attacked Liguria, where he landed his troops at Diano Marina and sacked the town. The following year he received an appeal from the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II to participate in the assault against Rhodes, and in February 1509 he took part in the Ottoman expedition to Rhodes against the Knights of St. John in command of 17 ships, transporting the Janissaries to the island. However, the siege did not succeed and was eventually lifted. In August 1509, near the mouth of the Tiber River in central Italy, he engaged two Papal galleys under the command of Baldassarre di Biassa and captured one of them. In September 1510, with a squadron of nine fustas, he landed at the island of Andros, which was then under Venetian control, and took dozens of captives who were later ransomed. Later in September, with a squadron of six fustas, he landed at the Genoese-controlled island of Chios and forced the governor to pay 100,000 aspri (silver coins) in return for the release of the island.
Between 1510 and 1514 Kurtoğlu operated in the Tyrrhenian Sea and the coasts of Spain, bringing the maritime traffic in the areas around Sicily, Sardinia, Calabria, and the Kingdom of Naples to a near halt. In the summer of 1514, with one galley and three fustas, he captured a Genoese flotilla near Corsica, including its captain, Matteo Trucco.
In February 1515 Kurtoğlu assaulted Rhodes and in July he landed at Chios, from where he set sail to raid the coasts of Sicily. Later that year he appeared off the coasts of Liguria where he captured a Genoese galley and towed it, along with its crew, to his base in Bizerte.
In February 1516 he appeared off the island of Corfu where he received a message from the Ottoman sultan Selim I, who was in Edirne (Adrianople) at the moment, and invited Kurtoğlu to serve in the Ottoman navy. Kurtoğlu was to play a key role in the Ottoman conquests of Egypt in 1517 and Rhodes in 1522.
In April 1516, with a force of 20 ships, he assaulted and sacked the coastal towns of Liguria, where he also captured a galley. In mid April, he captured a fleet of 18 Sicilian trade ships which were heading to Genoa, and sent them to his base in Bizerte. From there he went to Tuscany and blocked almost every single vessel near the port of Civitavecchia. The Papal States prepared a fleet under the command of Giovanni di Biassa and Paolo Vettori to engage him. Later in that month Kurtoğlu assaulted the coasts of Catalonia in Spain.
In May 1516, together with Hayreddin Barbarossa and Piri Reis, Kurtoğlu once again landed in Liguria, and the Genoese allied themselves with the Papal forces under the command of Federigo Fregoso, archbishop of Salerno, in their fight against him. They were also joined by the forces under Prégent de Bidoux, Bernardino d’Ornesan and Servian, which together amounted to 6 galleys and 3 galleons. In the meantime, the combined fleet of Kurtoğlu, Hızır Reis and Piri Reis, which amounted to a total of 27 ships (4 galleys and 24 fustas) assaulted the port of Civitavecchia, before sailing through the Channel of Piombino and landing at the islands of Giannutri and Elba, where they sieged the local fortress.
In June 1516 Kurtoğlu landed on the coast of Apulia and took nearly 800 prisoners. From there he sailed around Calabria to the Tyrrhenian Sea, where he captured a Sicilian ship which had recently arrived from England and emptied its cargo at the port of Genoa before returning to Sicily. He then sailed back to Djerba.
Admiral of the Ottoman Navy While in Djerba, Kurtoğlu received the ‘’Kapucubaşı’’ of the Ottoman Sultan Selim I who asked him to become an admiral of the Ottoman navy and join the Ottoman expedition against the Mameluke Empire based in Egypt (1516–1518). Kurtoğlu accepted the offer and immediately began preparations, but the Franco-Spanish attack on La Goulette and Bizerte in August 1516 delayed his participation. The Franco-Spanish forces were joined by the Papal fleet under the command of Federigo Fregoso, Archbishop of Salerno, which also carried a force of 1,000 soldiers. They were escorted by the force of Paolo Vettori who commanded five Papal ships (three galleys and two brigantines), the force of Giovanni and Antonio di Biassa who commanded four Papal galleys, the force of Andrea Doria who commanded eight Genoese galleys, and the combined forces of Prégent de Bidoux, Bernardino d’Ornesan and Servian, which amounted to six galleys and three galleons. The combined Spanish-French-Papal-Genoese fleet had searched for Kurtoğlu in the vast area between Elba, Capraia, Corsica and Sardinia before arriving at the coasts of Tunisia. From there the combined fleet set sail towards Bizerte. The French and Genoese ships hid themselves behind the Isle of Galitta at night before attacking the port of Bizerte in the morning. Several of Kurtoğlu's ships which were anchored at the harbour were destroyed, but during the fighting Kurtoğlu managed to capture six French galleys, which he later used during the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517. The Genoese forces landed at the port but were repulsed by the Ottomans and Tunisians and were forced to retreat, during which they lost two galleys.
Kurtoğlu finally left Bizerte and set sail to join the Ottoman fleet which headed towards Egypt. On his way he landed at Albania, where he captured a Venetian ship near the entrance of the Adriatic Sea. In September 1516 he took part in the Ottoman naval campaign against the Mamelukes in Egypt.
Later in September 1516, he arrived at Chios with four galliots and 18 fustas, where he filled his ships with water and other supplies, before sacking the ports of Crete (Candia) which was under Venetian control. At the vicinity of Cape Maleo in Rhodes he spotted 2 Venetian ships, one of which headed towards Kithira (Cerigo) where its crew managed to land but was forced to abandon the ship to the forces of Kurtoğlu, while the other Venetian ship was captured in the sea, together with its crew and captain, Marino Falier, who had 2000 ducats of gold but was forced to pay 3000 more for obtaining his liberty. In the meantime Kurtoğlu captured two more Venetian vessels – one caravel and one galleon. He later sailed towards Fraschia, Rethymno and Chania in Crete, where he captured several other ships. After leaving Crete he assaulted four other Venetian-controlled islands in the Aegean Sea: Mykonos, Skyros, Serifos and Milos. From there he sailed towards Calabria with 15 ships and landed at Crotone, where he bombarded the city's fortress. He later sailed towards Apulia with two galleys, three galliots, six fustas and four other ships, and landed at Salento before sacking Supersano, where he also captured several prisoners but freed them in exchange of 1200 gold ducats. From there Kurtoğlu set sail towards the Adriatic Sea, where two Venetian galleys started following him from visual distance to spy on his moves. At the vicinity of Cape Santa Maria in Lefkada (Leuca) other corsairs joined his fleet, which reached a new total of 22 ships. Towards the end of September 1516 he sailed towards Otranto and captured a Venetian ship from Zakynthos (Zante) before capturing 2 Papal fustas. The Venetians felt intimidated of his fleet and seemed powerless to stop his actions in the Adriatic Sea. In October 1516 Kurtoğlu landed at Lavinio with a force of 18 fustas, where he hoped to capture Pope Leo X who was there at the moment for participating in a royal hunt; but the sentinels of the Papacy brought the news of Kurtoğlu's incursion in time and the Pope was safely rushed back to Rome. Kurtoğlu, in the meantime, sacked every single settlement between Lavinio and Anzio, before returning to his ships and setting sail towards the Island of Elba, which he captured and sacked. In November 1516 he landed at Sardinia before returning to Bizerte.
Commander of the Ottoman naval expedition to Egypt (1517) In March 1517 Kurtoğlu joined a vast Ottoman fleet heading towards Egypt with his own force of 30 ships near Bozcaada (Tenedos) and once again took part in the Ottoman campaign against the Mameluke Empire. Sultan Selim I assigned him the command of patrolling the Egyptian shores and preventing the escape of Tuman Bay (Tomanbay), the last Mameluke sultan, who finally surrendered on April 14, 1517.
Establishment of the Ottoman Egyptian Fleet and Ottoman Indian Ocean Fleet In June 1517 Kurtoğlu entered the port of Alexandria with a huge Ottoman fleet of 170 ships, capturing 2 Genoese ships carrying 100,000 ducats worth of cargo on the way. Still in June, with several light vessels, he entered the River Nile and sailed southwards until reaching Cairo, before returning to Alexandria where he captured a ship from the Republic of Ragusa.