Editing Basra (section)

===Mongol rule and thereafter: 1258–1500s===
{{Further|Safavid occupation of Basra}}
In 1258, the Mongols under [[Hulagu Khan|Hulegu Khan]] sacked Baghdad and ended Abbasid rule. By some accounts, Basra capitulated to the Mongols to avoid a massacre. The Mamluk [[Bahri dynasty]] map (1250–1382) shows Basra as being under their area of control, and the [[Ilkhanate|Mongol Dominions]] map (1300–1405) shows Basra as being under Mongol control. In 1290<ref>[[Buscarello de Ghizolfi]]</ref> fighting erupted at the [[Persian Gulf]] port of Basra among the [[Republic of Genoa|Genoese]], between the [[Guelphs and Ghibellines|Guelph and the Ghibelline]] factions.

[[Ibn Battuta]] visited Basra in the 14th century, noting it "was renowned throughout the whole world, spacious in area and elegant in its courts, remarkable for its numerous fruit-gardens and its choice fruits, since it is the meeting place of the two seas, the salt and the fresh."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Battutah |first1=Ibn |title=The Travels of Ibn Battutah |date=2002 |publisher=Picador |location=London |isbn=9780330418799 |pages=60}}</ref> Ibn Battuta also noted that Basra consisted of three-quarters: the Hudayl quarter, the Banu Haram quarter, and the Iranian quarter (''mahallat al-Ajam'').<ref name="BasraIranica">{{cite encyclopedia |title=BASRA |last=Donner |first=F.M. |author-link=Fred Donner |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/basra |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. III, Fasc. 8 |pages=851–855 |year=1988}}</ref> [[Fred Donner]] adds: "If the first two reveal that Basra was still predominantly an Arab town, the existence of an Iranian quarter clearly reveals the legacy of long centuries of intimate contact between Basra and the Iranian plateau."<ref name="BasraIranica" />

The Arab Al-Mughamis tribe established control over Basra in the early fifteenth century, however, they quickly fell under influence of the [[Kara Koyunlu]] and [[Ak Koyunlu]], successively.{{sfn|Matthee|2006a|page=57}}{{efn|The Al-Mughamis were a branch of the [[Al-Muntafiq|Banu'l-Muntafiq]] who inhabited the area between [[Kufa]] and Basra.{{sfn|Matthee|2006a|page=57}}}} The Al-Mughamis' control of Basra had become nominal by 1436; ''de facto'' control of Basra from 1436 to 1508 was in the hands of the [[Musha'sha'iyyah|Moshasha]].{{sfn|Matthee|2006a|page=57}}{{efn|The Moshasha were a tribal confederation of radical [[Shia Islam|Shi'ites]] found mainly on the edges of the marshes alongside the Safavid province of [[Safavid Arabestan|Arabestan]] (present-day [[Khuzestan Province|Khuzestan]]). They often acted as Safavid proxies and were led by a Safavid governor. They participated in campaigns against the Arabs of southern Iraq and Basra. Matthee notes that even though they were nominal Safavid subjects, they had a broad scope of autonomy, and their territory served as a buffer between the Ottomans and the Iranians.{{sfn|Matthee|2006a|page=55}}{{sfn|Matthee|2006b|pages=556–560, 561}}}} In the latter year, during the reign of King (''[[Shah]]'') [[Ismail I]] ({{reign}}1501–1524), the first [[Safavid dynasty|Safavid]] ruler, Basra and the Moshasha became part of the Safavid Empire.{{sfn|Longrigg |Lang|2015}}{{efn |according to Floor (2008), a certain Shaykh Afrasiyab (the local ruler of Basra, not to be mistaken with the later Afrasiyab of Basra) came to [[Shiraz]] in 1504 to pledge his allegiance to Ismail I.{{sfn|Floor|2008|page=165}} Ismail I in turn confirmed him in his possessions and position as governor (''[[Vali (governor)|vali]]'') of Basra.{{sfn|Floor|2008|page=165}} Thus, Floor's stance differs slightly.}} This was the first time Basra had come under Safavid suzerainty. In 1524, following Ismail I's death, the local ruling dynasty of Basra, the Al-Mughamis, resumed effective control over the city.{{sfn|Matthee|2006a|page=57}} Twelve years later, in 1536, during the [[Ottoman–Safavid War (1532–1555)|Ottoman–Safavid War of 1532–1555]], the [[Bedouins|Bedouin]] ruler of Basra, Rashid ibn Mughamis, acknowledged [[Suleiman the Magnificent]] as his suzerain who in turn confirmed him as governor of Basra.{{sfn|Longrigg |Lang|2015}} The Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire exercised a great deal of independence, and they even often raised their own troops.{{sfn|Longrigg |Lang|2015}} Though Basra had submitted to the Ottomans, the Ottoman hold over Basra was tenuous at the time.{{sfn|Matthee|2006b|pages=556–560, 561}} This changed a decade later; in 1546, following a tribal struggle involving the Moshasha and the local ruler of Zakiya (near Basra), the Ottomans sent a force to Basra. This resulted in tighter (but still, nominal) Ottoman control over Basra.{{sfn|Matthee|2006b|pages=556–560, 561}}{{sfn|Matthee|2006a|page=53}}[[File:Persian Gulf Pt8.png|thumb|Purple – [[Portuguese Empire|Portuguese]] in the Persian Gulf in the 16th and 17th century. Main cities, ports and routes.]]
In 1523, the [[Portugal|Portuguese]] under the command of António Tenreiro crossed from Aleppo to Basra. [[Nuno da Cunha]] took Basra in 1529.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Livermore |first=H. V. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FFCzAAAAMAAJ&q=Nuno+da+Cunha+took+Basra+in+1529 |title=A History of Portugal |date=1947 |publisher=University Press |page=236 |language=en}}</ref> In 1550, the local Kingdom of Basra and tribal rulers trusted the Portuguese against the Ottomans, from then on the Portuguese threatened to invoke an invasion and conquest of Basra several times. From 1595 the Portuguese acted as military protectors of Basra,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://iranicaonline.org/|title=Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica|first=Encyclopaedia Iranica|last=Foundation|website=iranicaonline.org}}</ref> and in 1624 the Portuguese assisted the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] [[Pasha]] of Basra in repelling a Persian invasion. The Portuguese were granted a share of the customs revenue and freedom from tolls. From about 1625 until 1668, Basra and the Delta marshlands were in the hands of local chieftains independent of the Ottoman administration at Baghdad.