 Kemal Reis started his career as the commander of the naval fleet belonging to the "Sanjak Bey" (Provincial Governor) of Eğriboz (present-day Euboea) which was under Ottoman control.In 1487 the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II appointed Kemal Reis with the task of defending the lands of Emir Abu Abdullah, the ruler of Granada, which was then one of the final Muslim strongholds in Spain.Kemal Reis sailed to Spain and landed an expeditionary force of Ottoman troops at Málaga, capturing the city and the surrounding villages and taking many prisoners (see Granada War).