Fernao Mendes Pinto 2: The Red Sea and the Siege of Diu

16th-Century Painting of an Ottoman Fleet - (Wikimedia)

Pinto visits the "Land of Prester John," faces trouble on the Red Sea, and brushes up against the 1538 Siege of Diu. He takes part in combat on the waters and along the Indian coast, grumbles as to his lot in life, and is whisked about by boat to Massawa, Mokha, Qeshm, Chaul, Goa, Honnavar, and Diu, before heading further east.

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3 Things:

1. Article on ambergris, a substance which makes fairly frequent appearances on this podcast.

2. Podcast episode on “The Ottoman Red Sea.”

3. Article on the Ottoman coffee crackdown.

Sources:

• The Travels of Mendes Pinto, edited and translated by Rebecca D. Catz. University of Chicago Press, 1989.

• Casale, Giancarlo. The Ottoman Age of Exploration. Oxford University Press, 2010.

• Pearson, N.M. The Portuguese in India. Cambridge University Press, 2006.

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