An Ottoman Imperial Campaign: Suppressing the Marsh Arabs, Central power and peripheral rebellion in the 1560s

Abstract

The revolt of the Marsh Arabs in the 1560s was put down by means of a major regional campaign. The narrative of the campaign is supplied by Feridun Bey in a coda to his book on the Szigetvar campaign. The registers of important affairs for the years 1565-1568 also supply pertinent details. This was a carefully prepared affair, called an “imperial campaign” by Feridun Bey, presumably because 2,000 janissaries and some hundreds of artillerymen of the sultan’s porte were sent to join local forces. The suppression of the revolt provided rewards for future loyalty as well as severe punishment for past transgressions. Also, relations with Shah Tahmasb on one hand and the Portuguese in the Gulf area on the other were carefully monitored.