Piri Reis: Ottoman Navigator, Admiral, and Master Cartographer

Piri Reis

An Ottoman admiral, navigator, geographer, and cartographer. Active in the Mediterranean alongside his uncle Kemal Reis, he participated in Ottoman naval operations. He is known for his 1513 world map and *Kitab-i Bahriye*, a navigation guidebook detailing the Mediterranean coasts, ports, and navigation hazards. His work was distinctive for combining European and Islamic maps, personal sailing experience, and new information about the Americas. In his final years, he served as admiral of the Indian Ocean Fleet, but following the failed siege of the Hormuz fortress, he was held responsible for retreating with his fleet and was executed in Cairo.

Timeline

Category
Element

Year	Piri Reis
1465	Birth of Piri Reis (Period: c. 1465–1470 (exact date unknown), Location: Presumed to be Gelibolu (Gallipoli, Turkey). Another theory suggests Karaman.)
1480	Naval activities under his uncle Kemal Reis (Piri Reis, Age: 15 years old, Period: Late 1480s to around 1511, Location: Mediterranean, North African coast, surrounding areas of the Iberian Peninsula)
1487	Battles in the final phase of the Spanish Reconquista (Age: 22 years old, Period: Around 1487, Location: Malaga (present-day Spain))
1511	Completion of the first edition of Kitab-i Bahriye (Age: 46 years old, Period: 1511 to around 1521, Location: Ottoman territory centered around Gelibolu)
1513	Creation of the 1513 world map (Age: 48 years old, Period: 1513, Location: Gelibolu (present-day Turkey))
1516	Ottoman conquest of Egypt (Age: 51 years old, Period: 1516–1517, Location: Syria, Palestine, Egypt, surrounding areas of Alexandria) Participation in the conquest of Egypt and presentation of the world map (Age: 51 years old, Period: 1516–1517, Location: Surrounding areas of Alexandria (present-day Egypt) and Cairo)
1522	Siege of Rhodes (Age: 57 years old, Period: 1522, Location: Rhodes (present-day Greece)) Participation in the Siege of Rhodes (Age: 57 years old, Period: 1522, Location: Rhodes (present-day Greece))
1524	Completion of the revised edition of Kitab-i Bahriye (Age: 59 years old, Period: Around 1524–1526, Location: Ottoman imperial court and naval bases)
1528	Creation of the 1528 world map (Age: 63 years old, Period: 1528, Location: Gelibolu (present-day Turkey))
1547	Appointment as admiral of the Indian Ocean Fleet (Age: 82 years old, Period: Around 1547, Location: Suez and Egypt) Recapture of Aden (Age: 82 years old, Period: October 1547 – February 26, 1548, Location: Aden (present-day Yemen))
1552	Hormuz expedition and failure of the siege (Age: 87 years old, Period: April–October 1552, Location: Muscat, Hormuz Island, surrounding areas of the entrance to the Persian Gulf)
1553	Death of Piri Reis (Age: 88 years old, Period: 1553 (executed in Cairo; exact date unknown)) Execution of Piri Reis (Age: 88 years old, Period: 1553, Location: Cairo (present-day Egypt))
1929	Rediscovery of Piri Reis's world map (Age: 376 years after death, Period: 1929, Location: Topkapi Palace (present-day Istanbul, Turkey)) Transmission of cartography and nautical knowledge to posterity (Piri Reis, Age: 376 years after death, Period: 16th century onwards, especially post-1929, Location: Libraries and museums in various locations including Istanbul)
Unknown	Ottoman-Venetian War (Period: 1463–1479, Location: Aegean Sea, Greece, Albania, Adriatic coast, etc.) Ottoman-Portuguese War (Period: First half of the 16th century to the 1550s, Location: Red Sea, Arabian Peninsula, Aden, Oman, Persian Gulf, surrounding areas of the Strait of Hormuz)

Map

Category
Element

Asia World

Group	List
Ottoman Empire	Mehmed II Bayezid II Selim I Suleiman I Selim II Murad III Mehmed III Ahmed I Murad IV Mehmed IV Mustafa II Ahmed III
Safavid dynasty	Suleiman I Abbas I Shah Ismail I Tahmasp I Ismail II Safi I Abbas II Sultan Hossein Nader Shah
Trade and Diplomacy	Piri Reis Hayreddin Pasha Turgut Reis Aruj Reis Abbas I Anthony Shirley Robert Shirley Jean Chardin Pietro della Valle William Baffin

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Piri Reis: Ottoman Navigator, Admiral, and Master Cartographer

Piri Reis

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