_ 471 _ (83) Document no. and reference. In the same year (1546) Sheikh Yahya, King of Basra, sent a letter to the Portuguese, reminding them of the arrival of the Turks near Basra, Basra in December 1546:(83) The Turks are now close to me, and they sent me a letter on the 7th of this month to say that they are enemies of the Franks and that as Basra is on the way to their crossing, they need to build a fortress in Basra to shelter them. I am certain that they are using this pretext to gain a foothold but their intention is that once they have done this they will take everything for themselves and carry on. They want to build a fortress at [Corna] to prevent the King of Gizara from obstructing their passage downriver. I have my spies and friends there, who tell me everything, and say that the soldiers who are coming
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