Portugal had been victorious in the second Ottoman–Portuguese Conflicts (1558–1563), however the Ottomans went on with a new war, given the continuous expansion of the Portuguese Empire in the Indian Ocean, which threatened the Ottoman monopoly of the spice trade through the Middle East. At the behest of Suleiman the Magnificent the Ottoman fleet attacked and plundered Portuguese ships, fortifications and settlements in the Indian Ocean, Asia and in East Africa. The Portuguese forces were commanded by Estêvão da Gama, as in the previous war. By the time Suleiman died (1566), the conflict ended.