Dragut

<h2 id="origin-and-early-career">Origin and early career</h2>
Dragut was born in Karatoprak (known today as <a href="/facts/Turgutreis/cdvVyuxg">Turgutreis</a> in his honour) near <a href="/facts/Bodrum/V4FmDb1l">Bodrum</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9">9</a> on the <a href="/facts/Aegean_Sea/Vx4Gg5CT">Aegean</a> coast of <a href="/facts/Asia_Minor/vMkrLrPr">Asia Minor</a>, in the sub-district called Saravalos in the western tip of <a href="/facts/Bodrum/V4FmDb1l">Bodrum</a> peninsula; or probably in the Karabağ village on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10">10</a> His family were either <a href="/facts/Greek_people/wXwd2xlb">Greek</a> Christians<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11">11</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12">12</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13">13</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14">14</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15">15</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:16" href="#fn:16">16</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:17" href="#fn:17">17</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:18" href="#fn:18">18</a> or <a href="/facts/Turkish_people/3Rg0k6vU">Turkish</a> Muslims.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:19" href="#fn:19">19</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:20" href="#fn:20">20</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:21" href="#fn:21">21</a>
At the age of 12 he was noticed by an <a href="/facts/Ottoman_Empire/6QvfTRsg">Ottoman</a> army commander for his extraordinary talent in using spears and arrows and was recruited by him. Under his support, the young Turgut became a skilled sailor, an outstanding gunner, and was trained as a <a href="/facts/Cannoneer/RaDIbKKk">cannoneer</a> and master of <a href="/facts/Artillery/GLpMYG9o">siege artillery</a>, a skill which would play an important role in Turgut's future success and reputation as a superb naval tactician. The Ottoman Turkish governor eventually carried Turgut off to <a href="/facts/Egypt/8Ttg0JwB">Egypt</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:22" href="#fn:22">22</a> in 1517, where he participated in the <a href="/facts/Ottoman%E2%80%93Mamluk_War_(1516%E2%80%931517)/bH9H2jzJ">Ottoman conquest of</a> <a href="/facts/Egypt_Eyalet/Gyd1RMF0">Egypt</a> as a cannoneer. He further improved his skills in this field during his presence in <a href="/facts/Cairo/dXjj60ar">Cairo</a>. Following the death of his master, Turgut went to <a href="/facts/Alexandria/hdg1twWA">Alexandria</a> and began his career as a sailor after joining the fleet of <a href="/facts/Sinan_Pasha_(Ottoman_admiral)/V5G0JStG">Sinan Pasha</a>. He immediately became one of the favourite crewmen of the famous <a href="/facts/Privateer/PfeEkF2p">corsair</a> due to his success in hitting enemy vessels with cannons. Turgut soon mastered the skills of seamanship and became the captain of a <a href="/facts/Brigantine/ahHV1QnJ">brigantine</a>, while given 1/4 of its ownership. After several successful campaigns, he became the sole owner of the brigantine. Turgut later became the captain and owner of a <a href="/facts/Galliot/ktQ9BLF1">galiot</a>, and arming it with the most advanced cannons of that period, he started to operate in the <a href="/facts/Mediterranean_Sea/Vr2pzVbM">Eastern Mediterranean</a>, especially targeting the shipping routes between <a href="/facts/Venice/Xzc2uVDg">Venice</a> and the <a href="/facts/Aegean_Sea/Vx4Gg5CT">Aegean</a> islands belonging to the <a href="/facts/Republic_of_Venice/5aqUw6gJ">Republica Serenissima</a>.
In 1520, he joined the fleet of <a href="/facts/Hayreddin_Barbarossa/bg7CagbI">Hayreddin Barbarossa</a>, who would become his protector and best friend. Turgut was soon promoted to the rank of Chief Lieutenant, by Barbarossa, and was given command of 12 <a href="/facts/Galiot/ktQ9BLF1">galiot-class</a> naval vessels. In 1526, Turgut Reis captured the fortress of <a href="/facts/Capo_Passero/o3vYuQGT">Capo Passero</a> in <a href="/facts/Sicily/E6fug03z">Sicily</a>. Between 1526 and 1533 he landed several times at the ports of the <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Sicily/AuymVu1X">Kingdom of Sicily</a> and the <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Naples/9NtrlFp7">Kingdom of Naples</a>, while intercepting the ships which sailed between <a href="/facts/Spain/bIyrB8EY">Spain</a> and <a href="/facts/Italy/tUf0PDYF">Italy</a>, capturing many of them.
In May 1533, commanding four <a href="/facts/Fusta/FEmmt6kQ">fustas</a> and 18 <a href="/facts/Barque/np4CEhBy">barques</a>, Turgut Reis captured two Venetian <a href="/facts/Galley/U2vxqwWl">galleys</a> near the island of <a href="/facts/Aegina/IyVQ3qoM">Aegina</a>. In June and July 1538 he accompanied Barbarossa on his pursuit of <a href="/facts/Andrea_Doria/Mjc05xd8">Andrea Doria</a> in the <a href="/facts/Adriatic_Sea/v5I5Jl3f">Adriatic Sea</a>, while capturing several fortresses on the coasts of <a href="/facts/Albania/8GP40BUD">Albania</a> as well as the <a href="/facts/Preveza/nG8Gcty4">Gulf of Preveza</a> and the island of <a href="/facts/Lefkada/ECq6bxIq">Lefkada</a>. In August 1538 Turgut Reis captured <a href="/facts/Heraklion/084Yug9x">Candia</a> in <a href="/facts/Crete/VSqxTU9u">Crete</a> as well as several other <a href="/facts/Republic_of_Venice/5aqUw6gJ">Venetian</a> possessions in the <a href="/facts/Aegean_Sea/Vx4Gg5CT">Aegean Sea</a>.

<h2 id="battle-of-preveza">Battle of Preveza</h2>

In September 1538, at the <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Preveza/TM8wIqfQ">Battle of Preveza</a>, Turgut Reis, with 20 galleys and 10 galiots, commanded the center-rear wing of the Ottoman fleet which defeated the <a href="/facts/Holy_League_(1538)/fofkj7SL">Holy League</a>, a short-lived Christian alliance consisting of the <a href="/facts/Knights_of_Malta/seXJfbQR">Knights of Malta</a>, the <a href="/facts/Papal_States/536PqTjo">Papal States</a>, Venice, Spain, Naples and Sicily, who were then under the command of <a href="/facts/Andrea_Doria/Mjc05xd8">Andrea Doria</a>.
Despite the <a href="/facts/Holy_League_(1538)/fofkj7SL">Holy League</a>'s vastly superior numbers of ships, 302, and soldiers, 60,000, Dragut and the Ottoman fleet dealt the Christian alliance a decisive defeat, with only 112 ships, and 12,000 soldiers. During the battle, with two of his galiots, Dragut captured the Papal galley under the command of Giambattista Dovizi, the knight who was also the abbot of <a href="/facts/Bibbiena/Sc2azSP7">Bibbiena</a>, taking him and his crew as prisoners.

In 1539, commanding 36 galleys and galiots, Turgut Reis recaptured <a href="/facts/Herceg_Novi/lRqQH9es">Castelnuovo</a> from the <a href="/facts/Republic_of_Venice/5aqUw6gJ">Venetians</a>, who had taken the city back from the Ottomans. During the combat he sank two Venetian galleys and captured three others. Still in 1539, while landing on <a href="/facts/Corfu/PHc5Jskt">Corfu</a>, he encountered 12 Venetian galleys under the command of Francesco Pasqualigo and captured the galley of Antonio da Canal. He later landed at Crete and fought against the Venetian cavalry forces under the command of Antonio Calbo.

<h2 id="governor-of-djerba">Governor of Djerba</h2>

Later that year, when <a href="/facts/Sinan_Pasha_(Ottoman_admiral)/V5G0JStG">Sinan Pasha</a>, the Governor of <a href="/facts/Djerba/fyrbbvra">Djerba</a>, was appointed by <a href="/facts/Suleiman_the_Magnificent/AQKbFdJu">Suleiman the Magnificent</a> as the new Commander-in-Chief of the Ottoman <a href="/facts/Red_Sea/0dKWSgEe">Red Sea</a> Fleet based in <a href="/facts/Suez/0GflHFFL">Suez</a>, Turgut Reis was appointed as his successor and became the Governor of Djerba.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:23" href="#fn:23">23</a>
In early 1540 Turgut Reis captured several <a href="/facts/Republic_of_Genoa/WUngElFp">Genoese</a> ships off the coast of <a href="/facts/Santa_Margherita_Ligure/TJSlUKn7">Santa Margherita Ligure</a>. In April 1540, commanding two galleys and 13 galiots, he landed at <a href="/facts/Gozo/RL3zquGK">Gozo</a> and sacked the island.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:24" href="#fn:24">24</a> He later landed at <a href="/facts/Pantelleria/6CeeC3gN">Pantelleria</a> and raided the coasts of Sicily and Spain with a force of 25 ships, inflicting so much damage that Andrea Doria was ordered by <a href="/facts/Charles_V,_Holy_Roman_Emperor/QdqkWAeq">Charles V</a> to chase him with a force of 81 galleys. From there, Turgut Reis sailed to the <a href="/facts/Tyrrhenian_Sea/akx6f83B">Tyrrhenian Sea</a> and bombarded the southern ports of <a href="/facts/Corsica/6xJ6aREr">Corsica</a>, most notably <a href="/facts/Palasca/27bcf4qs">Palasca</a>. He later captured and sacked the nearby island of <a href="/facts/Capraia/wNQPtpsN">Capraia</a>.

<h2 id="captivity-and-freedom">Captivity and freedom</h2>

Turgut Reis later sailed back towards <a href="/facts/Corsica/6xJ6aREr">Corsica</a> and docked his ships at <a href="/facts/Torra_di_Girolata/PFF1qwjR">Girolata</a> on the western shores of the island. Taken by surprise in the <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Girolata/tuYWq9D4">Battle of Girolata</a> while repairing his ships, Turgut Reis and his men were attacked by the combined forces of Giannettino Doria (<a href="/facts/Andrea_Doria/Mjc05xd8">Andrea Doria</a>'s nephew), Giorgio Doria and Gentile Virginio Orsini. Turgut Reis was captured and was forced to work as a <a href="/facts/Galley_slave/TJQgdUWV">galley slave</a> in the ship of Giannettino Doria for nearly four years before being imprisoned in <a href="/facts/Genoa/PE9sekQU">Genoa</a>. Barbarossa offered to pay ransom for his release but it was rejected.
In 1544, when Barbarossa was returning from <a href="/facts/France/CxIeIKM3">France</a> with 210 ships sent by Sultan Suleiman to assist King <a href="/facts/Francis_I_of_France/US9aL69h">Francis I</a> in a <a href="/facts/Franco-Ottoman_alliance/aNTCwIKP">Franco-Ottoman alliance</a> against <a href="/facts/Habsburg_Spain/YDSCuG3x">Spain</a>, he appeared before Genoa, laying siege to the city and forcing the Genoese to negotiate for the release of Turgut Reis. Barbarossa was invited by Andrea Doria to discuss the issue in his palace at Fassolo, and the two admirals reached an agreement for the release of Turgut Reis in exchange for 3,500 gold ducats.
Barbarossa gave Turgut his spare flagship and the command of several other vessels, and in that same year Turgut Reis landed at <a href="/facts/Bonifacio,_Corse-du-Sud/Q4cGx0DQ">Bonifacio</a> in Corsica and captured the city, inflicting particular damage to Genoese interests. Still in 1544 he assaulted the island of Gozo in Malta and fought against the forces of knight Giovanni Ximenes while capturing several <a href="/facts/Knights_Hospitaller/Xjkj29TT">Maltese</a> ships which were bringing precious cargo from Sicily. In June 1545 he raided the coasts of Sicily and bombarded several ports on the <a href="/facts/Tyrrhenian_Sea/akx6f83B">Tyrrhenian Sea</a>. In July he ravaged the island of <a href="/facts/Capraia/wNQPtpsN">Capraia</a> and landed at the coasts of <a href="/facts/Liguria/S5xt46pN">Liguria</a> and the <a href="/facts/Italian_Riviera/gNzmnjQL">Italian Riviera</a> with a force of 15 galleys and fustas. He sacked <a href="/facts/Monterosso_al_Mare/GLuSwWS5">Monterosso</a> and <a href="/facts/Corniglia/KnEhk8mN">Corniglia</a>, and later landed at <a href="/facts/Manarola/ShorooSm">Manarola</a> and <a href="/facts/Riomaggiore/zXyaxrIq">Riomaggiore</a>.
In the following days he landed at the Gulf of <a href="/facts/La_Spezia/uNqcjf2K">La Spezia</a> and captured <a href="/facts/Rapallo/rM2LTLHC">Rapallo</a>, <a href="/facts/Pegli/TAERqdE9">Pegli</a> and <a href="/facts/Levanto,_Liguria/5uVrvopU">Levanto</a>. In 1546 he captured <a href="/facts/Mahdia/fFBIdI5y">Mahdia</a>, <a href="/facts/Sfax/zVNrCJDE">Sfax</a>, <a href="/facts/Sousse/25ULznTb">Sousse</a> and <a href="/facts/Al-Munastir/DFTzgmjW">Al-Munastir</a> in <a href="/facts/Tunisia/4uC8Po6k">Tunisia</a>, afterwards using Mahdia as a base to assault the <a href="/facts/Knights_Hospitaller/Xjkj29TT">Knights of St. John</a> in <a href="/facts/Malta/FsqM3M37">Malta</a>. In April 1546 he raided the coasts of Liguria. In May, still in Liguria, he captured <a href="/facts/Laigueglia/lDXS7cWu">Laigueglia</a>, a province of <a href="/facts/Savona/0X5QnsbH">Savona</a>, with a force of 1000 men. He later captured <a href="/facts/Andora/XQEXNvmT">Andora</a> and took the <a href="/facts/Podest%C3%A0/5KxGaXjX">podestà</a> of the town as a prisoner. There he and his troops rested for a brief period, before resuming their assault on the Italian Riviera and landing at <a href="/facts/San_Lorenzo_al_Mare/akw9ttRS">San Lorenzo al Mare</a>. He also destroyed the village of <a href="/facts/Civezza/jAjnboMy">Civezza</a>. From there he once again sailed towards Malta and laid siege to the island of Gozo.
In June 1546 Andrea Doria was appointed by Emperor Charles V to force Turgut Reis away from Malta, and Doria based his forces at the island of <a href="/facts/Favignana/rXHeEunG">Favignana</a>. The two admirals, however, did not meet up, as Turgut Reis had sailed to <a href="/facts/Toulon/bnYFwGTc">Toulon</a> in August 1546, staying there for several months and letting his men have some rest in the security of a French port.

<h2 id="commander-in-chief-of-ottoman-naval-forces-in-the-mediterranean">Commander-in-chief of Ottoman naval forces in the Mediterranean</h2>

After Barbarossa's death in July 1546, Turgut succeeded him as supreme commander of Ottoman naval forces in the <a href="/facts/Mediterranean_Sea/Vr2pzVbM">Mediterranean</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:25" href="#fn:25">25</a> In July 1547 he once again assaulted Malta with a force of 23 galleys and galiots, after hearing the news that the <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Naples/9NtrlFp7">Kingdom of Naples</a> was shaken by the revolt against Viceroy Don <a href="/facts/Pedro_%C3%81lvarez_de_Toledo,_Marquis_of_Villafranca/2ajCmWkS">Pietro of Toledo</a>, which would make a naval support from there to Malta rather unlikely. Turgut Reis landed his troops at <a href="/facts/Marsaxlokk/e8mKUM0c">Marsa Scirocco</a>, the extreme southern point of the island which faces the shores of Africa. From there the Ottoman troops quickly marched towards the vicinity of the Church of Santa Caterina. The guards of the church tower escaped as soon as they saw the forces of Turgut Reis, which prevented them from igniting the tub of gunpowder—a common method used then to warn the local inhabitants of attacks.
After sacking the island, Turgut Reis headed towards Capo Passero in Sicily, where he captured the galley of Giulio Cicala, son of Duke Vincenzo Cicala. He later sailed to the <a href="/facts/Aeolian_Islands/PpbmDyA5">Aeolian Islands</a>, and at <a href="/facts/Salina_Island/wl0qCKKU">Salina Island</a> he captured a Maltese trade ship with valuable cargo. From there he sailed to <a href="/facts/Apulia/svvnMLN5">Apulia</a> and towards the end of July 1547 he assaulted the city of <a href="/facts/Salve,_Italy/j2BNvCzF">Salve</a>. He later sailed to <a href="/facts/Calabria/n9602l3b">Calabria</a>, forcing the local population to flee towards the safety of the mountains. From there he went to Corsica and captured a number of ships.

<h2 id="beylerbeyi-of-algiers">Beylerbeyi of Algiers</h2>
In 1548 he was appointed <a href="/facts/Beylerbey/5a17e0UI">Beylerbeyi</a> (Chief Governor) of <a href="/facts/Ottoman_Algeria/7NTmU9u8">Algeria</a> by Suleiman the Magnificent. In that same year he ordered the construction of a quadrireme galley at the naval arsenal of <a href="/facts/Djerba/fyrbbvra">Djerba</a>, which he started using in 1549. In August 1548 he landed at <a href="/facts/Castellamare_di_Stabia/Acxz7Apq">Castellamare di Stabia</a> on the Bay of Naples and captured the city along with nearby <a href="/facts/Pozzuoli/bJRK7xhT">Pozzuoli</a>. From there he went to <a href="/facts/Procida/YcVwzc08">Procida</a>. A few days later, he captured a Spanish galley loaded with troops and gold at <a href="/facts/Capo_Miseno/Pwqy4euY">Capo Miseno</a> near <a href="/facts/Procida/YcVwzc08">Procida</a>. In the same days he captured the Maltese galley, La Caterinetta, at the Gulf of Naples, with its cargo of 70,000 gold ducats which were collected by the Knights of St. John from the churches of France with the aim of strengthening the defenses of <a href="/facts/Ottoman_Tripolitania/srSzTwrI">Tripoli</a>, which was then under Maltese control.
In May 1549 he set sail towards Liguria with 21 galleys and in July he assaulted <a href="/facts/Rapallo/rM2LTLHC">Rapallo</a>, later replenishing his ships with water and other supplies at San Fruttuoso. From there he sailed to <a href="/facts/Portofino/0A5I3vwU">Portofino</a> and landed at the port, before appearing at <a href="/facts/Sanremo/k33b1mtB">San Remo</a> where he captured an <a href="/facts/Crown_of_Aragon/sGEyzVrH">Aragonese</a> galley from <a href="/facts/Barcelona/8PWLdRbW">Barcelona</a> ] heading towards Naples. From there he first sailed towards Corsica and later towards Calabria<, where he assaulted the city of <a href="/facts/Palmi,_Calabria/d02jmKC4">Palmi</a>.
In February 1550, sailing with a force of 36 galleys, he recaptured Mahdia along with <a href="/facts/Al_Munastir/DFTzgmjW">Al Munastir</a>, <a href="/facts/Sousse/25ULznTb">Sousse</a> and most of <a href="/facts/Tunisia/4uC8Po6k">Tunisia</a>. In May 1550 he assaulted the ports of <a href="/facts/Sardinia/7GGJNHCx">Sardinia</a> and Spain and landed on their coasts with a force of six galleys and 14 galiots. Still in May he unsuccessfully tried to capture Bonifacio in Corsica. On his way back to Tunisia, he stopped at Gozo to replenish his ships with water and to gather information on the activities of the Maltese Knights. He later sailed towards Liguria.
In June 1550, while Turgut Reis was sailing near Genoa, Andrea Doria and Bailiff <a href="/facts/Claude_de_la_Sengle/XhqYYtrR">Claude de la Sengle</a> of the Maltese Knights attacked Mahdia in Tunisia. In the meantime, Turgut Reis was busy assaulting and sacking Rapallo for a third time, before raiding the coasts of Spain. He then sailed to the <a href="/facts/Tyrrhenian_Sea/akx6f83B">Tyrrhenian Sea</a> and towards the beginning of July landed at the western shores of Sardinia, before returning to Djerba, where he learned that Doria and Claude de la Sengle had been attacking Mahdia and <a href="/facts/Tunis/nmKNnW85">Tunis</a>. He collected a force of 4500 troops and 60 <a href="/facts/Sipahi/Jk0CuE8l">sipahis</a> and marched on Mahdia to assist the local resistance. He did not succeed and returned to Djerba with his troops.
In September 1550 Mahdia surrendered to the joint Spanish-Sicilian-Maltese force. In the meantime, Turgut Reis was repairing his ships at the beach of Djerba. On October, Andrea Doria appeared with his fleet at Djerba and blocked the entrance of the island's lagoon with his ships, trapping the beached galleys of Turgut Reis inside the Channel of Cantera. Turgut Reis had all his ships dragged overland through hastily dug canals and on a heavily greased broadway to the other side of the island and sailed to <a href="/facts/Istanbul/Xo1hzGWH">Istanbul</a>, capturing two galleys on the way, one Genoese and one Sicilian, which were en route to Djerba in order to assist the forces of Doria. Prince Abu Beker, son of the Sultan of Tunis, who was an ally of Spain, was on the Genoese galley.

After arriving in Istanbul, Turgut Reis, under mandate by <a href="/facts/Suleiman_the_Magnificent/AQKbFdJu">Sultan Suleiman</a>, mobilized a fleet of 112 <a href="/facts/Galleys/U2vxqwWl">galleys</a> and two <a href="/facts/Galleass/jYszJevr">galleasses</a> with 12,000 <a href="/facts/Janissary/oAgdrtpw">Janissaries</a>, and in 1551 set sail with the Ottoman admiral <a href="/facts/Sinan_Pasha_(Ottoman_admiral)/V5G0JStG">Sinan Pasha</a> towards the <a href="/facts/Adriatic_Sea/v5I5Jl3f">Adriatic Sea</a> and bombarded the Venetian ports, inflicting serious damage on Venetian shipping.
In May 1551 they landed on Sicily and bombarded the eastern shores of the island, most notably the city of <a href="/facts/Augusta_(Italy)/jGLdTT5W">Augusta</a>, as revenge for the Viceroy of Sicily's role in the invasion and destruction of Mahdia, where most inhabitants had been massacred by the joint Spanish-Sicilian-Maltese force. They then attempted to capture Malta, landing with about 10,000 men at the southern port of <a href="/facts/Marsamxett_Harbour/oKJC22ub">Marsa Muscietto</a>. They laid siege to the citadels of <a href="/facts/Birgu/m8kSPuQs">Birgu</a> and <a href="/facts/Senglea/LnsYexjo">Senglea</a>, and later went north and assaulted <a href="/facts/Mdina/ugEvYB9D">Mdina</a>, but lifted the siege after realizing that it was impossible to capture the island with the number of troops in hand.
Instead, they moved to the neighboring island of <a href="/facts/Gozo/RL3zquGK">Gozo</a>, where they bombarded the citadel for several days. The Knights' governor there, Galatian de Sesse, realizing that resistance was futile, surrendered the citadel, and the corsairs sacked the town. Taking virtually the entire population of Gozo (approximately 5,000 people) into captivity, Turgut and Sinan set sail from the port of Mġarr ix-Xini in Gozo and headed towards Libya, where they shipped the captives to <a href="/facts/Tarhuna_Wa_Msalata/lghK54QU">Tarhuna Wa Msalata</a>. They later sailed towards Tripoli with the aim of conquering the strategic port city and its environs.

<h2 id="sanjak-bey-of-tripoli">Sanjak Bey of Tripoli</h2>

In August 1551 Turgut Reis <a href="/facts/Siege_of_Tripoli_(1551)/dXRBprk3">attacked and captured Tripoli</a> (<a href="/facts/Ottoman_Tripolitania/srSzTwrI">Ottoman Tripolitania</a>, modern <a href="/facts/Libya/HMPH8PWR">Libya</a>) which had been a possession of the <a href="/facts/Knights_Hospitaller/Xjkj29TT">Knights of St. John</a> since 1530. Gaspare de Villers, the commander of the fort, was captured, along with other prominent knights of Spanish and French origin.
However, upon the intervention of the French <a href="/facts/Ambassador/hVpzsRdy">ambassador</a> in Constantinople, <a href="/facts/Gabriel_d%27Aramon/KtrmvHFI">Gabriel d'Aramon</a>, the French knights were released. A local leader, <a href="/facts/Murad_Agha/7YTWFodB">Murad Agha</a>, was initially installed as governor of <a href="/facts/Ottoman_Tripolitania/srSzTwrI">Tripoli</a>, but subsequently Turgut himself took control of the area. In recognition of his services, Sultan Suleiman awarded Tripoli and the surrounding territory to Turgut, along with the title of <a href="/facts/Sanjak-bey/CNRQFU6g">Sanjak Bey</a> ("Lord of the Standard").
In September 1551, Turgut Reis sailed to Liguria and captured the city of <a href="/facts/Taggia/JWlad2En">Taggia</a>, before capturing other ports of the Italian Riviera, after Ottoman troops landed at the beach of <a href="/facts/Riva_Trigoso/uJ9RPsYW">Riva Trigoso</a>. Later that year, he returned to Tripoli and sought to extend his territory, capturing the entire region of <a href="/facts/Misrata/FQ5lg17f">Misrata</a> all the way to <a href="/facts/Zuwara/decvMkIX">Zuwara</a> and Djerba to the west. Turning inland, he enhanced his territory until reaching Gebel.

<h2 id="beylerbeyi-of-the-mediterranean">Beylerbeyi of the Mediterranean</h2>
Following this victory, Suleiman appointed Turgut <a href="/facts/Beylerbey/5a17e0UI">Beylerbeyi</a> (Chief Regional Governor) of the Mediterranean Sea.
In May 1553, Turgut Reis set sail from the <a href="/facts/Aegean_Sea/Vx4Gg5CT">Aegean Sea</a> with 60 galleys, captured <a href="/facts/Crotone/fxvCzdUS">Crotone</a> and Castello in Calabria, and from there marched inland. Later he landed on Sicily and sacked most of the island until stopping at <a href="/facts/Licata/RIfYnwBC">Licata</a> for replenishing his ships with water. In August 1553, he sacked the island of <a href="/facts/Pantelleria/6CeeC3gN">Pantelleria</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:26" href="#fn:26">26</a> 
From there <a href="/facts/Invasion_of_Corsica_(1553)/uqJFEVwh">he sailed to Corsica</a> and took Bonifacio and <a href="/facts/Bastia/U7CwtovK">Bastia</a> on behalf of <a href="/facts/Franco-Ottoman_alliance/aNTCwIKP">France, then ally of the Ottoman Empire</a>, which paid him 30,000 gold ducats for the expense of ammunition in the conquest. Leaving Corsica, Turgut Reis returned to Elba and attempted to capture <a href="/facts/Piombino/uCjLJoxH">Piombino</a> and <a href="/facts/Portoferraio/zvfkwTXu">Portoferraio</a>, but eventually gave up and captured the island of <a href="/facts/Pianosa/P7zhQxkj">Pianosa</a> and recaptured the island and castle of <a href="/facts/Capri/HBwfnBQf">Capri</a> (previously captured by Barbarossa back in 1535) before returning to Istanbul.
In 1554 he sailed from the <a href="/facts/Bosphorus/3Id0Pfum">Bosphorus</a> with 60 galleys and passed the winter in <a href="/facts/Chios/haUoPNCV">Chios</a>. From there he sailed to the <a href="/facts/Adriatic_Sea/v5I5Jl3f">Adriatic Sea</a> and landed at <a href="/facts/Sack_of_Vieste/XB8R16Uo">Vieste</a> near <a href="/facts/Foggia/QfFWY3YM">Foggia</a>, capturing and sacking the city, killing 5000 of its inhabitants.

<h2 id="pasha-of-tripoli">Pasha of Tripoli</h2>

In March 1556, Turgut Reis was appointed <a href="/facts/Pasha/Qqx1dt2J">Pasha</a> of <a href="/facts/Ottoman_Tripolitania/srSzTwrI">Tripoli</a>. There, he strengthened the walls of the citadel surrounding the city and built a gunpowder bastion (Dar el Barud). He also strengthened the defenses of the port and built the Turgut (Dragut) Fortress in place of the old Fortress of San Pietro. In July 1556 he again set sail and landed at Cape Santa Maria at the island of <a href="/facts/Lampedusa/ct89qcaQ">Lampedusa</a>, where he captured a Venetian ship which transported ammunition and weapons for the defense of Malta. He later landed in Liguria and captured <a href="/facts/Bergeggi/9J6vTshx">Bergeggi</a> and <a href="/facts/San_Lorenzo_al_Mare/akw9ttRS">San Lorenzo</a>. In December 1556 he captured <a href="/facts/Gafsa/fNNNsR3d">Gafsa</a> in Tunisia and added it to his territory.
In the summer of 1557 he left the Bosphorus with a fleet of 60 galleys and, arriving at the <a href="/facts/Gulf_of_Taranto/hgPQLHd8">Gulf of Taranto</a>, he landed in Calabria and assaulted <a href="/facts/Cariati/AY01rHa1">Cariati</a>, capturing the city. He later landed at the ports of <a href="/facts/Apulia/svvnMLN5">Apulia</a>.
In 1558 he added <a href="/facts/Gharyan/GYKDJrsb">Gharyan</a>, about 70 miles south of Tripoli, to his territory. He then defeated the Beni Oulid dynasty with a force of janissaries and added their territories to the Ottoman Empire. He later took Taorga, <a href="/facts/Misrata/FQ5lg17f">Misrata</a> and Tagiora, before recapturing the island of Djerba and adding it to his province. In June 1558 he joined the fleet of <a href="/facts/Piyale_Pasha/5vKu5q8o">Piyale Pasha</a> at the <a href="/facts/Strait_of_Messina/30mvgb0f">Strait of Messina</a>, and the two admirals captured <a href="/facts/Reggio_Calabria/eQIFQr0J">Reggio Calabria</a>, sacking the city.
From there, Turgut Reis went to the <a href="/facts/Aeolian_Islands/PpbmDyA5">Aeolian Islands</a> and captured several of them, before landing at <a href="/facts/Amalfi/AfU2AlRU">Amalfi</a>, in the Gulf of <a href="/facts/Salerno/zqTIXxJk">Salerno</a>, and capturing <a href="/facts/Massa_Lubrense/QIwrQxIW">Massa Lubrense</a>, Cantone and <a href="/facts/Sorrento/2zG0N3xV">Sorrento</a>. He later landed at <a href="/facts/Torre_del_Greco/vlhQeVPN">Torre del Greco</a>, the coasts of Tuscany, and Piombino. In August he captured several ships off Malta. In September 1558 he joined Piyale Pasha, and the two admirals assaulted the coasts of Spain before capturing <a href="/facts/Ciutadella_de_Menorca/d3kSvWuQ">Ciutadella</a> (<a href="/facts/Menorca/qoaphuvL">Menorca</a>) and inflicting particular damage on the island's ports.
In 1559 he repelled a Spanish attack on <a href="/facts/Algiers/Cdk8BQl1">Algiers</a> and put down a revolt in Tripoli. In that same year he captured a Maltese ship near <a href="/facts/Messina/sHEPHWSS">Messina</a>. Learning from its crew that the knights were preparing for a major attack on Tripoli, he decided to sail back there and strengthen the city's defenses.

<h2 id="battle-of-djerba">Battle of Djerba</h2>

In the meantime, Dragut had made enemies of many of the nominally Ottoman, but practically independent rulers in Tunis and the adjoining hinterland, and several of them entered into an alliance in 1560 with <a href="/facts/Juan_de_la_Cerda,_4th_Duke_of_Medinaceli/snNGJx8j">Viceroy Cerda of Sicily</a>, who had orders from King <a href="/facts/Philip_II_of_Spain/xSwrEajp">Philip II of Spain</a> to join his forces in an effort to capture Tripoli.
Philip II's efforts ended in failure when the Ottoman fleet of 86 ships, under the command of Piyale Pasha and Turgut Reis, decisively defeated the fleet of the Christian alliance of Philip II, consisting of 200 ships, at the <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Djerba/xYAJYeqT">Battle of Djerba</a>.

<h2 id="mediterranean-landings-and-sieges">Mediterranean landings and sieges</h2>
In March 1561 Turgut Reis and <a href="/facts/Ulu%C3%A7_Ali_Reis/5KQSBSRH">Uluç Ali Reis</a> captured Vincenzo Cicala and Luigi Osorio near the island of <a href="/facts/Marettimo/5YhM7oAz">Marettimo</a>. In June 1561 Turgut landed on the island of <a href="/facts/Stromboli/QEhydS3I">Stromboli</a>. In July 1561 he captured seven Maltese galleys under the command of knight Guimarens, whom he later freed for a ransom of 3,000 gold ducats. After stopping at Gozo to replenish his galleys with water, he sailed back to Tripoli. In August 1561 he laid siege to the city of Naples and blocked the port with 35 galleys.
In April 1562 he sent scout ships to explore all corners of the island of <a href="/facts/Malta/FsqM3M37">Malta</a>. Still in 1562 he laid siege to <a href="/facts/Oran/TQaLn6EQ">Oran</a> which was under Spanish control.
In 1563, he landed at the shores of the province of <a href="/facts/Granada/S9BNeGR8">Granada</a> and <a href="/facts/Sack_of_Granada/uPXBlsdl">captured coastal settlements</a> in the area like <a href="/facts/Almu%C3%B1%C3%A9car/CogwkNq4">Almuñécar</a>, along with 4,000 prisoners. He later landed at <a href="/facts/M%C3%A1laga/9lpQKS8w">Málaga</a>. In April 1563 he supported the fleet of <a href="/facts/Salih_Reis/K8atbVp1">Salih Reis</a> with 20 galleys during the Ottoman siege of Oran, bombarding the Fortress of <a href="/facts/Mers-el-Kebir/1zgRqsNs">Mers-el-Kebir</a>.
In September 1563, Dragut sailed to Naples and captured six ships near the island of <a href="/facts/Capri/HBwfnBQf">Capri</a>, which carried valuable goods and Spanish soldiers. He later landed at the <a href="/facts/Chiaia/5kWwKGnb">Chiaia</a> neighbourhood of Naples and captured it. From there he sailed to Liguria and Sardinia, raiding the coastal towns, particularly <a href="/facts/Oristano/yUgfJwnK">Oristano</a>, Marcellino and Ercolento. He then sailed to the Adriatic Sea and landed on the coasts of Apulia and <a href="/facts/Abruzzo/cV0UlVgu">Abruzzo</a>. He later landed twice at San Giovanni near Messina with a force of 28 galleys. In October 1563 he sailed towards Capo Passero in Sicily and later landed once more on Gozo, where he briefly fought against the knights.

<h2 id="siege-of-malta-and-death">Siege of Malta and death</h2>

When <a href="/facts/Suleiman_the_Magnificent/AQKbFdJu">Sultan Suleiman</a> ordered the <a href="/facts/Great_Siege_of_Malta/A7d2oPB4">Great Siege of Malta</a> in 1565, Dragut joined <a href="/facts/Piali_Pasha/5vKu5q8o">Piyale Pasha</a> and the Ottoman forces with 1,600 men (3,000 according to some sources) and 15 ships (13 galleys and 2 galiots; while some sources mention 17 ships) on 31 May 1565. He landed his troops at the entrance of <a href="/facts/Marsamxett_Harbour/oKJC22ub">Marsa Muscietto</a>, a cape which was named after him, '<a href="/facts/Tign%C3%A9_Point/wqcNTLAQ">Dragut Point</a>'.
It was there where Dragut met with Kızılahmedli Mustafa Pasha, commander of the Ottoman land forces, who was besieging <a href="/facts/Fort_Saint_Elmo/p93WTSFm">Fort St. Elmo</a>. Dragut advised him to first capture the poorly defended <a href="/facts/Cittadella_(Gozo)/NhRLdanJ">Cittadella</a> and <a href="/facts/Mdina/ugEvYB9D">Mdina</a> as soon as possible, but this advice was not taken. Dragut also arranged for more cannon fire to be concentrated on the recently built Fort St. Elmo which controlled the entrance of the <a href="/facts/Grand_Harbour/C8px6f9M">Grand Harbour</a> and seemed weaker than the other forts; joining the bombardment with 30 of his own cannon. In only 24 hours the Ottomans fired 6000 cannon shots. Realizing that Fort St. Elmo and <a href="/facts/Fort_St._Angelo/Bgq2eFLD">Fort St. Angelo</a> (the main headquarters of the Knights on the other side of the Grand Harbour) could still communicate with each other, Dragut ordered a complete siege of Fort St. Elmo with the aim of isolating it from Fort St. Angelo.
On 18 June 1565, Dragut was injured on the head, after he was hit by a piece of rock when a cannonball struck close to his position.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:27" href="#fn:27">27</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:28" href="#fn:28">28</a> It is not clear if the shot was fired from Fort St. Angelo, or if he was hit by <a href="/facts/Friendly_fire/huKuPn8V">friendly fire</a> from a Turkish battery.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:29" href="#fn:29">29</a> Dragut succumbed to his wounds and died five days later, on 23 June 1565.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:30" href="#fn:30">30</a> Spanish and Italian historians such as <a href="/facts/Francisco_Balbi_di_Correggio/FJpPETo9">Francisco Balbi di Correggio</a> record the eventual defeat of Dragut's forces, after his death, in Malta.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:31" href="#fn:31">31</a> Many historians believe that, had he lived, the siege would have succeeded. His death, however, prompted squabbling between the two senior Ottoman military officers, which led, in turn, to a series of disastrous decisions that helped save the knights.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:32" href="#fn:32">32</a> His body was taken to Tripoli by <a href="/facts/Ulu%C3%A7_Ali_Reis/5KQSBSRH">Uluç Ali Reis</a>, and buried in the <a href="/facts/Sidi_Darghut_Mosque/cKBjGHXr">Sidi Darghut Mosque</a>, situated behind the castle. The mosque is still in use today.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:33" href="#fn:33">33</a>

<h2 id="legacy">Legacy</h2>

Dragut is depicted in many works of art, statues, and many books have been written about his life and conquests. Points of interest and buildings in multiple countries have been named after his native Turkish name of Turgut Reis. The town where he was born now bears his name, being renamed from <a href="/facts/Turgutreis/cdvVyuxg">Karatoprak</a> in his honor, in 1972. Warships of the <a href="/facts/Turkish_Navy/DIbgnefr">Turkish Navy</a>, and passenger ships have been named after Turgut Reis. Turgut Reis continues to enjoy great fame and respect in Turkey, where the town of his birth is named <a href="/facts/Turgutreis/cdvVyuxg">Turgutreis</a>.
The end of the <a href="/facts/Tign%C3%A9_Point/wqcNTLAQ">Tigne</a> promontory in <a href="/facts/Malta/FsqM3M37">Malta</a> is called Dragut Point, where Turgut established his first battery for the bombardment of <a href="/facts/Fort_Saint_Elmo/p93WTSFm">Fort Saint Elmo</a> in 1565. Dragut is considered a nemesis in Maltese history, and "il-Ponta ta' Dragut" serves as a <a href="/facts/Memorial/rGdH6gNH">memorial</a> to the great battles that were fought there and the ultimate defeat of Dragut at the <a href="/facts/Great_Siege_of_Malta/A7d2oPB4">Great Siege of Malta</a>.

<h2 id="in-popular-culture">In popular culture</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Rafael_Sabatini/R05ETCjN">Rafael Sabatini</a>'s story "The Sword of Islam" was published in Premier magazine, August 1914.</li>
<li><a href="/facts/David_W._Ball/EDQ9YS8S">David W. Ball</a>'s novel Ironfire (Bantam Dell 2004, published as The Sword and the Scimitar in the U.K., and in two parts as Haç ve Hilal - Savrulan Yürekler and Haç ve Hilal - Kavuşan Yürekler, Istanbul, 2005). This novel of the 16th century Mediterranean includes details of the life of Dragut from the Battle of Djerba to the Siege of Malta.</li>
<li>The Course of Fortune by <a href="/facts/Tony_Rothman/x8yAL2lF">Tony Rothman</a> (J. Boylston 2015, in three volumes). In this novel, which follows the adventures of a young Spaniard throughout the contest between the Turks and Christians to control the Mediterranean, Dragut is portrayed as a clever and ruthless adversary from his enslavement of the population of Gozo in 1551, through the Djerba campaign in 1560 and finally to the Siege of Malta in 1565.</li>
<li>The Disorderly Knights and Pawn in Frankincense by <a href="/facts/Dorothy_Dunnett/VkVYTRSD">Dorothy Dunnett</a> both feature Dragut Rais as part of the 6-book series, the <a href="/facts/Lymond_Chronicles/2D8tat9V">Lymond Chronicles</a>, following fictional character <a href="/facts/Francis_Crawford_of_Lymond/2D8tat9V">Francis Crawford of Lymond</a>.</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Civilization_V/BbsV2T6P">Civilization V</a> features Turgut Reis as a Great Admiral.</li>
<li>Vengeance Island (2020) by <a href="/facts/Geoff_Nelder/HPAIhPr7">Geoff Nelder</a>, features Dragut in his role of the mass abduction of Gozo, in 1551.</li></ul>
<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/List_of_Muslim_military_leaders/IXxTc2p3">List of Muslim military leaders</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Military_of_the_Ottoman_Empire/M1aX9Q3a">Military of the Ottoman Empire</a></li></ul>
<h2 id="citations">Citations</h2>

<h2 id="general-sources">General sources</h2>
<ul><li>Bono, Salvatore, Corsari nel Mediterraneo (Corsairs in the Mediterranean), Oscar Storia Mondadori. Perugia, 1993.</li>
<li>Bradford, Ernle, The Sultan's Admiral: The life of Barbarossa, London, 1968.</li>
<li>Currey, E. Hamilton, Sea-Wolves of the Mediterranean, London, 1910</li>
<li>Wolf, John B., The Barbary Coast: Algeria under the Turks, New York, 1979; <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-393-01205-0</li>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080505045940/http://www.corsaridelmediterraneo.it/indice/a.htm">Corsari nel Mediterraneo: Condottieri di ventura. Online database in Italian, based on Salvatore Bono's book.</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.theottomans.org/english/chronology/index.asp#">The Ottomans: Comprehensive and detailed online chronology of Ottoman history in English.</a></li>
<li><a href="https://archive.today/20121205074848/http://www.turkcebilgi.com/arastir?q=kronoloji+osmanl%C3%A4%C2%B1+tarihi&ara=ara">Comprehensive and detailed online chronology of Ottoman history</a> (in Turkish)</li>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090308030932/http://www.dzkk.tsk.mil.tr/TURKCE/tarihiMiras.asp?strAnaFrame=TarihiMiras&strIFrame=INDEX">Turkish Navy official website: Historic heritage of the Turkish Navy (in Turkish)</a></li></ul>
<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Turgut Reis.

<ul><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070401145317/http://www.corsaridelmediterraneo.it/corsari/d/dragut.html">Chronological list of important dates and events in the life of Turgut Reis (Italian)</a><a href="http://www.bnatgamesplay.com/">[1]</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.turgutreis.info/portal/default.asp">Municipality of Turgutreis</a></li>
<li><a href="http://bbprivateer.com/dragut.htm">Privateering History: Dragut Reis</a></li>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070527114946/http://www.almunecar.com/Visitors_Guide/Sightseeing/Watchtowers.html">Almuñécar: Watchtowers and Coastal Defences</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.isoladicapraia.it/raisdragut/page9.html">Capraia Island and Dragut</a></li>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070205145825/http://www.benimblog.com/ilter/3991/">Turgut Reis and Sinan Pasha</a> (in Turkish)</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1">Judith Miller (28 September 1986). "Malta, Where Suleiman Laid Siege". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 January 2017. Dragut Reis was respected as the best Moslem seaman of his era, a true pirate, Governor of Tripoli and a military genius. Many historians believe that, had he lived, the siege would have succeeded. His death, however, prompted squabbling between the two senior Ottoman military officers, which led, in turn, to a series of disastrous decisions that helped save the knights. It was on this point... that Dragut was mortally wounded before the fall of St. Elmo when a fragment of rock thrown up by a cannonball struck his head. He would have died instantly had it not been for his thick turban. Death came days later in his tent, shortly after he received news from a messenger that St. Elmo had fallen at last. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/28/travel/malta-where-suleiman-laid-siege.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/28/travel/malta-where-suleiman-laid-siege.html</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:2">Braudel, Fernand (1995). The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean world in the age of Philip II, Volume 2. University of California Press. pp. 908–909. ISBN 9780520203303. Of all the corsairs who preyed on Sicilian wheat, Dragut (Turghut) was the most dangerous. A Greek by birth, he was now about fifty years old and behind him lay a long and adventurous career including four years in the Genoese galleys. <a href="9780520203303" target="_blank">9780520203303</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:3">Judith Miller (28 September 1986). "Malta, Where Suleiman Laid Siege". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 January 2017. Dragut Reis was respected as the best Moslem seaman of his era, a true pirate, Governor of Tripoli and a military genius. Many historians believe that, had he lived, the siege would have succeeded. His death, however, prompted squabbling between the two senior Ottoman military officers, which led, in turn, to a series of disastrous decisions that helped save the knights. It was on this point... that Dragut was mortally wounded before the fall of St. Elmo when a fragment of rock thrown up by a cannonball struck his head. He would have died instantly had it not been for his thick turban. Death came days later in his tent, shortly after he received news from a messenger that St. Elmo had fallen at last. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/28/travel/malta-where-suleiman-laid-siege.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/28/travel/malta-where-suleiman-laid-siege.html</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:4">Balbi, Francesco (2011). The Siege of Malta, 1565. Boydell Press. pp. 63–64. ISBN 9781843831402. Born in 1485, he was eighty years old when he came to Malta for the siege. He had been a lieutenant under the famous Barbarossa and, on the latter's death, Dragut became the uncrowned king of the Mediterranean. He was known to his fellow Moslems as 'The Drawn Sword of Islam'. Although in his earlier career he had been at variance with the Sultan Suleiman, the latter had recently recognized Dragut's abilities by confirming him Governor of Tripoli. He knew the Maltese archipelago very well, having raided both islands on several occasions. Among his many successes against the Christians was his capture of Bastia in Corsica (when he had carried off seven thousand captives) and of Reggio in Italy (when he enslaved the whole population of the city). It was Dragut who had captured Tripoli from the Knights of St John in 1551. An old adversary of La Valette, he was undoubtedly the most able of all the Turkish leaders. He was described by a French admiral as 'A living chart of the Mediterranean, skillful enough on land to be compared to the finest generals of the time. No one was more worthy than he to bear the name of king'. <a href="9781843831402" target="_blank">9781843831402</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:5">Rafael Sabatini (2008). The Sword of Islam and Other Tales of Adventure. Wildside Press. p. 7. ISBN 9781434467904. Ordinarily Dragut Reis – who was dubbed by the Faithful "The Drawn Sword of Islam" <a href="9781434467904" target="_blank">9781434467904</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:6">Balbi, Francesco (2011). The Siege of Malta, 1565. Boydell Press. pp. 63–64. ISBN 9781843831402. Born in 1485, he was eighty years old when he came to Malta for the siege. He had been a lieutenant under the famous Barbarossa and, on the latter's death, Dragut became the uncrowned king of the Mediterranean. He was known to his fellow Moslems as 'The Drawn Sword of Islam'. Although in his earlier career he had been at variance with the Sultan Suleiman, the latter had recently recognized Dragut's abilities by confirming him Governor of Tripoli. He knew the Maltese archipelago very well, having raided both islands on several occasions. Among his many successes against the Christians was his capture of Bastia in Corsica (when he had carried off seven thousand captives) and of Reggio in Italy (when he enslaved the whole population of the city). It was Dragut who had captured Tripoli from the Knights of St John in 1551. An old adversary of La Valette, he was undoubtedly the most able of all the Turkish leaders. He was described by a French admiral as 'A living chart of the Mediterranean, skillful enough on land to be compared to the finest generals of the time. No one was more worthy than he to bear the name of king'. <a href="9781843831402" target="_blank">9781843831402</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:7">Pauls, Michael; Facaros, Dana (2000). Turkey. New Holland Publishers. pp. 286–287. ISBN 9781860110788. It is named after the 16th-century Admiral Turgut (Dragut), who was born here to Greek parents; his mentor Barbarossa, another Greek who 'turned Turk', in a moment of unusual humility declared that Dragut was ahead of him 'both in fishing and bravery'. <a href="9781860110788" target="_blank">9781860110788</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:8">Naylor, Phillip Chiviges (2009). North Africa: a history from antiquity to the present. University of Texas Press. pp. 120–121. ISBN 9780292719224. One of the most famous corsairs was Turghut (Dragut) (?–1565), who was of Greek ancestry and a protégé of Khayr al-Din. He participated in the successful Ottoman assault on Tripoli in 1551 against the Knights of St. John of Malta. ... While pasha, he built up Tripoli and adorned it, making it one of the most impressive cities along the North African littoral. <a href="9780292719224" target="_blank">9780292719224</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:9">Yemişçi, Cihan (2013). Turgut Reis Turkish Maritime History Symposium (PDF) (in Turkish). Bodrum Agency Publishing Group. p. 31. ISBN 978-605-64005-1-3. <a href="978-605-64005-1-3" target="_blank">978-605-64005-1-3</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:10">Yemişçi, Cihan (2011). Turgut Reis'in Nereli Olduğu Meselesi 'The Question of Turgut Reis' Birth Place'. I. Turgut Reis Turkish Maritime History Symposium (27–28 May 2011). Although there is no historical record to which village Turgut Reis was born in Saravalos, region folks in an agreement point to us Karabağ, which strikes our attention as no village other than here has any claim on the issue and the fact that the narrative story that is recited since the 1700s about how Turgut Reis sailed to seas the first time in his life also directs us to this village, brings out the conclusion that Turgut Reis was from the Karabağ village of Turgut Reis sub-district. <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:11">Pauls, Michael; Facaros, Dana (2000). Turkey. New Holland Publishers. pp. 286–287. ISBN 9781860110788. It is named after the 16th-century Admiral Turgut (Dragut), who was born here to Greek parents; his mentor Barbarossa, another Greek who 'turned Turk', in a moment of unusual humility declared that Dragut was ahead of him 'both in fishing and bravery'. <a href="9781860110788" target="_blank">9781860110788</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:12">Naylor, Phillip Chiviges (2009). North Africa: a history from antiquity to the present. University of Texas Press. pp. 120–121. ISBN 9780292719224. One of the most famous corsairs was Turghut (Dragut) (?–1565), who was of Greek ancestry and a protégé of Khayr al-Din. He participated in the successful Ottoman assault on Tripoli in 1551 against the Knights of St. John of Malta. ... While pasha, he built up Tripoli and adorned it, making it one of the most impressive cities along the North African littoral. <a href="9780292719224" target="_blank">9780292719224</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:13">Reynolds, Clark G. (1974). Command of the sea: the history and strategy of maritime empires. Morrow. pp. 120–121. ISBN 9780688002671. Ottomans extended their western maritime frontier across North Africa under the naval command of another Greek Moslem, Torghoud (or Dragut), who succeeded Barbarossa upon the latter's death in 1546. <a href="9780688002671" target="_blank">9780688002671</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:14">Beeching, Jack (1983). The galleys at Lepanto: Jack Beeching. Scribner. pp. 72–73. ISBN 9780684179186. And the corsairs' greatest leader, Dragut, had also done time, at the oar of a Genoese galley. Dragut was born of Greek parents, Orthodox Christians, at Charabulac on the coast of Asia Minor, but a Turkish governor took a fancy to the boy and carried him off to Egypt. <a href="9780684179186" target="_blank">9780684179186</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:15">Chambers, Iain (2008). Mediterranean crossings: the politics of an interrupted modernity. Duke University Press. pp. 38–39. ISBN 9780822341260. Neither was the career of Dragut, another Greek whom we find in 1540s on the Tunisian coast and in 1561 installed at Tripoli in Barbary, in place of the Knights of Malta whom the Turks had expelled five years earlier. <a href="9780822341260" target="_blank">9780822341260</a> <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:16">Lewis, Dominic Bevan Wyndham (1931). Charles of Europe. Coward-McCann. pp. 174–175. OCLC 485792029. A new star was now rising in the piratical firmament, Barbarossa's lieutenant Dragut-Reis, a Greek who had been taken prisoner by the corsairs in his youth and had turned Mahometan. <a href="/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:16" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:17">Braudel, Fernand (1995). The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean world in the age of Philip II, Volume 2. University of California Press. pp. 908–909. ISBN 9780520203303. "Of all the corsairs who preyed on Sicilian wheat, Dragut (Turghut) was the most dangerous. A Greek by birth, he was now about fifty years old and behind him lay a long and adventurous career including four years in the Genoese galleys. <a href="9780520203303" target="_blank">9780520203303</a> <a href="#fnref:17" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:18">Belge, Murat (2008). Genesis: 'Büyük Ulusal Anlatı' ve Türklerin Kökeni (in Turkish). İletişim Yayınları. pp. 321–322. ISBN 978-975-05-0625-3. Osmanlı donanması, daha çok hayatına korsan olarak başlamış reislerin komutasında varlık göstermiştir. Bu reislerin birçoğu da Hıristiyan kökenliydi. Örneğin Turgut Reis'in annebabasının Rum olması ihtimali güçlüdür. Ancak, Türk kaynaklan bu iddiayı ciddiye almazlar. Benzer biçimde, Hızır Reis ve kardeşlerinin babalannın Rum'dan dönme bir tımar beyi olduğu kuvvetle muhtemel, annelerinin Rum olduğu da kesindir. Halikamas Balıkçısı, Turgut Reis'le ilgili bu güçlü ihtimale önem vermeye hiç niyetli görünmüyor. Tersine, kitaba doğumunu anlatmakla başlayarak böyle bir ihtimali zihnimizden silmek üzere davranıyor. <a href="978-975-05-0625-3" target="_blank">978-975-05-0625-3</a> <a href="#fnref:18" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:19">Jamieson, Alan G. (2013). Lords of the Sea: A History of the Barbary Corsairs. Canada: Reaktion Books. p. 59. ISBN 978-1861899460. Desperate to find some explanation for the sudden resurgence of Muslim sea power in the Mediterranean after centuries of Christian dominance, Christian commentators in the sixth century (and later) pointed to the supposed Christian roots of the greatest Barbary corsair commanders. It was a strange kind of comfort. The Barbarossas certainly had a Greek Christian mother, but it now seems certain their father was a Muslim Turk. Attempts were made to give Greek Christian parents to Turgut Reis, but all the indications are that he came from a Muslim Turkish peasant family. <a href="978-1861899460" target="_blank">978-1861899460</a> <a href="#fnref:19" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:20">Cengiz Orhonlu (1968). Belgelerle Türk Tarihi Dergisi "Journal of Turkish History with Documents". p. 69. "Turgut Reis is one of the well known of Turkish seaman of XVI. century Mediterranean. He is the son of a villager named Veli from the Menteşe – Serulus (Serulus or Seravulos) region. At early age he joined the seamen and became known. In short time he became a captain of levends. In some views his life as a corsair starts almost during the same time that of Barbarossa brothers. Later he began to operate on western Mediterranean seas, working together with Barbarossa brothers (Gelibolulu Mustafa Ali, Künhü'l-ahbar, University books, No: 5959, p. 300a)". <a href="#fnref:20" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:21">Svat Soucek, "Torghud Re'is", The Encyclopaedia of Islam (New Edition), Vol. 10, LeidenBrill, 2000, p. 570. <a href="#fnref:21" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:22">Beeching Jack (1983). The galleys at Lepanto: Jack Beeching. Scribner. pp. 72–73. ISBN 9780684179186. a Turkish governor took a fancy to the boy and carried him off to Egypt. <a href="9780684179186" target="_blank">9780684179186</a> <a href="#fnref:22" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:23">Jamieson, Alan G. (2013). Lords of the Sea: A History of the Barbary Corsairs. Reaktion Books. ISBN 9781861899460. <a href="9781861899460" target="_blank">9781861899460</a> <a href="#fnref:23" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:24">"Pirates All – Barbarossa, His Brothers and Their Successors | World History". worldhistory.us. 24 May 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2017. <a href="https://worldhistory.us/medieval-history/pirates-all-barbarossa-his-brothers-and-their-successors.php" target="_blank">https://worldhistory.us/medieval-history/pirates-all-barbarossa-his-brothers-and-their-successors.php</a> <a href="#fnref:24" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:25">"Science Source - Turgut Reis, Ottoman Admiral and Privateer". www.sciencesource.com. Archived from the original on 9 December 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2017. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171209103038/https://www.sciencesource.com/p/14476635/Turgut-Reis-Ottoman-Admiral-and-Privateer-BV2446.html" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20171209103038/https://www.sciencesource.com/p/14476635/Turgut-Reis-Ottoman-Admiral-and-Privateer-BV2446.html</a> <a href="#fnref:25" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:26">Braudel, Fernand (1995). The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. p. 927. ISBN 978-0-520-20330-3. <a href="978-0-520-20330-3" target="_blank">978-0-520-20330-3</a> <a href="#fnref:26" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:27">Setton, Kenneth Meyer (1984). The Papacy and the Levant (1204–1571). Vol. 4. American Philosophical Society. p. 860. ISBN 978-0-87169-162-0. <a href="978-0-87169-162-0" target="_blank">978-0-87169-162-0</a> <a href="#fnref:27" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:28">Cassola, Arnold (21 October 2018). "Süleyman the Magnificent and other Ottoman Great Siege protagonists...after Malta". Retrieved 16 February 2023. <a href="https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/52796" target="_blank">https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/52796</a> <a href="#fnref:28" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:29">Carabott, Sarah (3 October 2015). "Fascinating new insights into Great Siege legends". Times of Malta. Archived from the original on 3 October 2015. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20151003135448/http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20151003/local/fascinating-new-insights-into-great-siege-legends.586735" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20151003135448/http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20151003/local/fascinating-new-insights-into-great-siege-legends.586735</a> <a href="#fnref:29" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:30">Setton, Kenneth Meyer (1984). The Papacy and the Levant (1204–1571). Vol. 4. American Philosophical Society. p. 860. ISBN 978-0-87169-162-0. <a href="978-0-87169-162-0" target="_blank">978-0-87169-162-0</a> <a href="#fnref:30" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:31">"The Great Siege – 1565". visitmalta.com. Retrieved 3 March 2015. <a href="http://www.visitmalta.com/en/great-siege-1565" target="_blank">http://www.visitmalta.com/en/great-siege-1565</a> <a href="#fnref:31" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:32">Judith Miller (28 September 1986). "Malta, Where Suleiman Laid Siege". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 January 2017. Dragut Reis was respected as the best Moslem seaman of his era, a true pirate, Governor of Tripoli and a military genius. Many historians believe that, had he lived, the siege would have succeeded. His death, however, prompted squabbling between the two senior Ottoman military officers, which led, in turn, to a series of disastrous decisions that helped save the knights. It was on this point... that Dragut was mortally wounded before the fall of St. Elmo when a fragment of rock thrown up by a cannonball struck his head. He would have died instantly had it not been for his thick turban. Death came days later in his tent, shortly after he received news from a messenger that St. Elmo had fallen at last. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/28/travel/malta-where-suleiman-laid-siege.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/28/travel/malta-where-suleiman-laid-siege.html</a> <a href="#fnref:32" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:33">John Oakes (2011). Libya: The History of Gaddafi's Pariah State. The History Press. p. 38. ISBN 9780752471082. Dragut was killed on Saturday 23 June 1565, in the great battle between the Ottomans and the Hospitallers of St. John in Malta. He was approximately 80 years old. His body was shipped to Tripoli and buried in the Dragut mosque situationed behind the castle. The mosque is still in use today. <a href="9780752471082" target="_blank">9780752471082</a> <a href="#fnref:33" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
</ol>

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Dragut