Georgius Huszthius, a traveller from Croatia, and his account of the Ottoman naval campaign in India

What is it about?

This paper analyses the description of the Ottoman naval campaign in India (1538-1539) in the travelogue of the Croatian traveller Georgius Huszthius, a trumpeter in the fleet of Hadim Suleiman Pasha during the Indian campaign ; thus he is an excellent witness to these events. The aim is to compare Huszthius’s account with other primary sources for the mentioned events and secondary sources published until today. Huszthius’s unpublished travelogue (Descriptio peregrinationis Georgii Huszthii) is historically significant because it gives us new information about the mentioned Ottoman campaign and also corroborates the testimonies of the Portuguese chroniclers and of an anonymous Venetian author whose journal Viaggio di un comito Veneziano da Alessandria all’ assedio di Diu was published in Venice in 1540. Huszthius’s and the unknown Venetian’s works represent the only two first-hand accounts of the Indian campaign from the side of the crew of the Ottoman fleet. Their works confirm Portuguese primary sources and give us a more balanced view on Hadim Suleiman Pasha’s naval campaign. Huszthius’s travelogue’s section concerning the Ottoman naval campaign in India and the siege of Diu still hasn’t been fully examined by Turkish historians and this paper is an attempt to ameliorate that situation.

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Why is it important?

This paper analyses the description of the Ottoman naval campaign in India (1538-1539) in the travelogue of the Croatian traveller Georgius Huszthius, a trumpeter in the fleet of Hadim Suleiman Pasha during the Indian campaign ; thus he is an excellent witness to these events. The aim is to compare Huszthius’s account with other primary sources for the mentioned events and secondary sources published until today. Huszthius’s unpublished travelogue (Descriptio peregrinationis Georgii Huszthii) is historically significant because it gives us new information about the mentioned Ottoman campaign and also corroborates the testimonies of the Portuguese chroniclers and of an anonymous Venetian author whose journal Viaggio di un comito Veneziano da Alessandria all’ assedio di Diu was published in Venice in 1540. Huszthius’s and the unknown Venetian’s works represent the only two first-hand accounts of the Indian campaign from the side of the crew of the Ottoman fleet. Their works confirm Portuguese primary sources and give us a more balanced view on Hadim Suleiman Pasha’s naval campaign. Huszthius’s travelogue’s section concerning the Ottoman naval campaign in India and the siege of Diu still hasn’t been fully examined by Turkish historians and this paper is an attempt to ameliorate that situation.

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