The Ottoman Entry into Yemen

Al-Salabi describes the entry of the Ottomans into Yemen, beginning with the submission of the Mamluk ruler and then the campaign of Sulayman Pasha in 945 AH / 1538 CE. ²

After the defeat of the Mamluks, the Mamluk ruler of Yemen, Iskandar, sent a delegation to Sultan Selim declaring his submission, and he left him in his post. Ottoman control was weak at first because of the rivalries of the commanders, the influence of the Zaydi imamate in the mountains, and the Portuguese danger on the coasts. ²

Sultan Suleiman sent the campaign of Sulayman Pasha the Albanian, with seventy-four ships and twenty thousand fighters. Its aim was to occupy Aden and close the Bab al-Mandab to Portuguese ships. ²

The Ottomans entered Aden in 946 AH / 1539 CE, Ta'izz in 952 AH / 1545 CE, and Sanaa fell in 954 AH / 1547 CE. Sulayman seized the ports of Hadramawt such as al-Shihr and al-Mukalla, then the Abyssinian coast, Suakin and Massawa in 964 AH / 1557 CE. ²

Yemen remained, in the period of submission (1538–1635 CE), contested between the Ottomans and the Zaydi imams. Al-Salabi holds that the Ottomans never secured real control. ²