Battle of Reishahr

Battle of Reishahr
Date April 1534 Location Reishahr (Modern day Bushehr), Iran Result Arab victory
Belligerents
Portuguese Empire	Reishahr Arabs
Commanders and leaders
Jorge de Castro	Shah Ali Sultan
Strength
200 men 9 Vessels	300 men
Casualties and losses
Many killed 50 captured	Unknown

The Battle of Reishahr was a military engagement between the Portuguese and the Arabs of Reishahr who rebelled against Ormus. The battle ended with the defeat of the Portuguese.

After the conquest of Shiraz, Shah Ismail I appointed Mir Abu Ishaq governor of Reishahr, Abu Ishaq began attacking Ormus shipping, and he became a target to the Portuguese. After the Battle of Chaldiran, Abu Ishaq saw the opportunity to free himself from the Safavid yoke and decided to share his spoil with Afonso de Albuquerque. The city of Reishahr was important as it was a wheat supplier for Ormus. Mir Abu Ishaq had been succeeded by his son, Shah Ali Sultan.^[1]

In April 1534, Shah Ali Sultan, called a vassal of Ormus by Portuguese sources, rebelled and resumed his attacks on Ormus shipping. The king of Ormus, Muhammad Shah II, asked for help from the Portuguese governor of Hormuz, António da Silveira, to get rid of him and his vessels. Antonio dispatched Jorge de Castro with a force of two galiots, two fustas, and 100 men. Antonio felt that the force was weak and dispatched another force of 5 vessels and 100 men.^[2][3][4]

The Portuguese force ran into contrary winds for 20 days. The water supplies for the Portuguese ran out. They stopped near Reishahr and went ashore to fetch some water which they did. Few people who lived there escaped to the mountains. Later on the same day, a body of 300 armed Arabs coming from the mountains attacked the Portuguese who killed many of the landing party and captured 50 of them. Hearing this, Jorge was displeased and returned to Ormus.^[5][6][7]