Battle of Diu
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The Battle of Diu was a naval battle fought on 3 February 1509 in the Arabian Sea, in the port of Diu, India, between the Portuguese Empire and a joint fleet of the Sultan of Gujarat, the Mamluk Sulta
Notable victory achieved by the Viceroy D. Francisco de Almeida against the navies of the Sultan of Egypt and the Kings of Cambay and Calicut. Lithograph by Maurício José do Carmo Sendim, 1840
16th-century Mamluks
Portuguese nau. With fore and aft castles integrated in the hull and a deeper draught meant to withstand long trans-oceanic voyages, Portuguese carracks were some of the most seaworthy ships of their time.
Before the heavy galleon, the Portuguese square-rigged caravel was the first fully rigged dedicated warship. It performed mainly as a heavy escort.
Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghuri
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Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghuri or Qansuh II al-Ghawri was the penultimate Mamluk Sultan. One of the last and most powerful of the Burji dynasty, he reigned from 1501 to 1516.
Portrait by Florentine painter Cristofano dell'Altissimo, Uffizi Gallery
Venetian embassy to the Mamluk Governor in Damascus in 1511, during the reign of Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghuri. Workshop of Giovanni Bellini.
The Mamluks defended Jeddah against the Portuguese under Ottoman naval commander Selman Reis, in the Siege of Jeddah (1517)
Wikala of Al-Ghuri, one of al-Ghuri's many constructions in Cairo, completed in 1505