Piri Reis – from pirate to renowned cartographer

First published in AgulhasNPark eBulletin, May 2016

In the Naval Museum (www.denizmuzesi.dzkk.tsk.tr/) in Istanbul, Turkey about one third of the map drawn by Piri Reis that survived is exhibited as a cultural and geographical asset.

Ahmet Muhiddin Piri (1465/1470 – 1553/4), later known as Piri Reis (Captain Reis), started his illustrious career sailing with his uncle who was a well-known corsair (pirate) at the time. He also served as an admiral in the Turkish fleet. A world map drawn by Piri Reis in 1513 is the oldest known map showing the New World and one of the oldest maps of America that exists. The map depicts North America, parts of Central and South America, and the Atlantic Ocean. Apart from the Canary Islands and the islands of Cape Verde and the Azores, illustrations of sailing ships, an ostrich, elephant and llama, a man in Arab dress on a throne and a man with a crown as well as a sea monster, have been added.

The name of Piri Reis became known to the world when his map drawn on gazelle skin was discovered in 1929 in the library of the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul. Before closer examiniation, it was thought, albeit briefly, that this could be the long lost map of Christopher Columbus. Some notes in the margin and a corner of the map state that Piri Reis compiled the map using some of Columbus’s maps, among others.

Piri Reis also compiled a book of maps and charts called Kitab-i-Bahriye (Book of Navigation). It is thought that he might have been born in Gelibolu, a small fishing village near Gallipoli, where a small museum in an old lookout tower bears testimony to his work.

Piri Reis was beheaded in 1553 when he refused to support the reigning Ottoman governor.