Piri Reis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Piri Reis
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Statue of Piri Reis
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| Born |
Ahmed Muhiddin Piri
c. 1465 |
| Died | 1553 (aged 87–88) |
| Nationality | Turkish |
| Known for | Drawing the Piri Reis map |
| Relatives | Kemal Reis (uncle) |
Ahmed Muhiddin Piri (around 1465 – 1553), better known as Piri Reis, was a famous Ottoman navigator, geographer, and mapmaker. He is best known for his amazing maps and charts. These were collected in his book, the Kitab-ı Bahriye, which means "Book of Navigation". This book shared important details about how to navigate ships. It also had very accurate maps of the Mediterranean Sea for his time.
Piri Reis became famous as a mapmaker when a part of his first world map was found in 1929. This map was made in 1513 and discovered at the Topkapı Palace in Istanbul. His world map is the oldest known Turkish map that shows the New World (the Americas). It is also one of the oldest maps of America still existing today.
In 1528, Piri Reis drew a second world map. Only a small piece of this map still exists. It shows Greenland and parts of North America. Piri Reis said he used about 20 different maps to draw his own. These included maps from Arab, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Indian, and Greek sources. He even used a map made by Christopher Columbus. Piri Reis was executed in 1553 in Cairo.
Contents
The Life of Piri Reis
We don't know much about Piri Reis's early life. It is believed he was born around 1470 in Gallipoli. This city was an important naval base for the Ottoman Empire. His father was Hacı Mehmed. Piri's full name was Hacı Ahmed Muhiddin Piri. The word Reis was a military rank, like a captain. So, Piri Reis means Captain Piri. The title Hadji (Hacı in Turkish) means that both Piri and his father had completed the Hajj. This is an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca.
Piri Reis started working as a privateer when he was young. This meant he sailed ships and attacked other ships with government support. This was a common practice in the Mediterranean Sea at the time. He followed his uncle, Kemal Reis, who was a famous seafarer. Kemal Reis later became a well-known admiral in the Ottoman Navy.
Piri Reis and his uncle fought in many naval wars. They battled against Spain, the Republic of Genoa, and the Republic of Venice. These battles included the First Battle of Lepanto in 1499 and the Second Battle of Lepanto in 1500. After his uncle Kemal Reis died in 1511, Piri Reis went back to Gelibolu. There, he began to study navigation and mapmaking.
By 1516, he was back at sea as a ship captain. He took part in the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1516–17. In 1522, he helped in the Siege of Rhodes. This battle was against the Knights of St. John. The island surrendered to the Ottomans in December 1522. In 1524, Piri Reis captained the ship that took the Ottoman Grand Vizier Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha to Egypt.
In 1547, Piri Reis became an admiral (Reis). He was the Commander of the Ottoman Fleet in the Indian Ocean. He was also the Admiral of the Fleet in Egypt, based in Suez. In 1548, he recaptured Aden from the Portuguese. In 1552, he attacked Muscat, which Portugal had held since 1507. He also captured the important island of Kish.
Piri Reis then tried to capture Hormuz Island in the Strait of Hormuz. This attempt was not successful. The Ottomans captured the city but not the main fortress. He then attacked the nearby island of Qeshm. After this, he sailed to Basra. When the Portuguese focused on the Persian Gulf, Piri Reis took over the Qatar peninsula. This stopped the Portuguese from having good bases on the Arabian Peninsula.
Piri Reis then returned to Egypt. He was an old man, almost 90 years old. He refused to help the Ottoman Governor of Basra in another fight against the Portuguese. Because of this, Piri Reis was executed in 1553.
Several ships and submarines of the Turkish Navy have been named after Piri Reis.
Piri Reis wrote the Kitab-ı Bahriye, or "Book of the Sea". This is one of the most famous mapmaking books of its time. The book gives sailors important information about the Mediterranean Sea. It describes coasts, islands, and safe places during storms. It also explains how to approach ports and gives exact routes.
The first version of this book was published in 1521. It was updated in 1524–1525 with more information and better maps. This updated version was given as a gift to Sultan Suleiman I. The revised book had 434 pages and 290 maps.
Where Piri Reis Got His Information
Piri Reis was not an explorer who sailed to the Atlantic Ocean himself. Instead, he gathered information from over twenty different maps. These maps came from Arab, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Indian, and older Greek sources. He combined them to create a full picture of the world as it was known then. His first World Map from 1513 even says: "these lands and islands are drawn from the map of Columbus."
He also wrote that he used "maps drawn in the time of Alexander the Great." However, he probably confused the Greek geographer Ptolemy (who lived in the 2nd century) with Alexander's general who had the same name. This is because his map looks similar to a famous map by Ptolemy, printed in 1512. Ptolemy's Geographia had been translated into Turkish earlier.
You can see that the Atlantic part of his map came from Columbus. This is because it has some of Columbus's mistakes. For example, Columbus believed that Cuba was part of a continent. At the time Piri Reis made his map, the Spanish had already been in Mexico for two years.
What the Book Contains
Besides maps, the Kitab-ı Bahriye also had detailed information about major ports, bays, and islands in the Mediterranean Sea. It included navigation techniques and facts about astronomy. It also shared information about the local people and their cultures in each country and city. The world map has thirty legends (notes), mostly in Turkish. One note in Arabic gives the date as spring 1513.
The Kitab-ı Bahriye has two main parts. The first part explains different types of storms. It teaches how to use a compass and how to find direction using the stars. It also describes the main oceans and the lands around them. It pays special attention to the discoveries in the New World by Christopher Columbus. It also covers the journeys of Vasco da Gama and other Portuguese sailors to India and Asia.
The second part is full of detailed maps and travel guides. Each topic has a map of an island or coastline. The first book (1521) had 132 such maps. The second book (1525) had 210 maps. This section starts with the Dardanelles Strait. It then covers the islands and coastlines of the Aegean Sea, Ionian Sea, Adriatic Sea, and other parts of the Mediterranean. It also includes descriptions and drawings of famous buildings in each city. Piri Reis also explains why he chose to put these maps in a book instead of drawing one single large map. A single map would not be able to hold so much detail.
About a hundred years after Piri Reis died, a third version of his book was made. This version added new, larger maps. These were mostly copies of maps from Italian and Dutch mapmakers. These new maps were more accurate and included the Black Sea, which was not in the original book.
Where to Find Copies
Copies of the Kitab-ı Bahriye can be found in various libraries. Many are in Istanbul, and some are in major libraries in Europe. One copy is also privately owned in the USA.
See also
In Spanish: Piri Reis para niños
- Geography and cartography in medieval Islam
- Ottoman naval journeys in the Indian Ocean
- Ottoman Navy
