Yemen Eyalet

Eyalet-i Yemen Eyalet of the Ottoman Empire ← 1517–1636 1849–1872 →   → Yemen Eyalet in 1609 Capital Sana'a History  -  Established 1517  -  Disestablished 1872 Today part of Saudi Arabia Yemen

The Eyalet of Yemen (Ottoman Turkish: ایالت یمن; Eyālet-i Yemen) was an eyalet of the Ottoman Empire.

History

In 1516, the Mamluks of Egypt annexed Yemen; but in the following year, the Mamluk governor surrendered to the Ottomans, and Turkish armies subsequently overran the country. They were challenged by the Zaidi Imam, Qasim the Great (r.1597–1620), and by 1636, the Zaydi tribesmen had driven the Ottomans out of the country completely.

From then until the 19th century, the Ottomans retained control only of isolated coastal areas, while the highlands generally were ruled by the Zaidi Imams. In the 1830s, aided by the collapse of the Zaidi Imamate due to internal division and the adoption of modern weaponry after the Crimean War, the Ottomans regained control of northern Yemen. It was then created as a sanjak of the Eyalet of Habesh, until it was established as an eyalet of its own in circa 1849.

Governors

Governors of the eyalet:

• Mustafa Sabri Pasha (May 1850 - March 1851)
• Mehmed Sirri Pasha (March 1851 - October 1851)
• Bonaparta Mustafa Pasha (October 1851 - May 1852)
• Kürt Mehmed Pasha (May 1852 - May 1856)
• Babanli Ahmed Pasha (1st time) (May 1856 - December 1862)
• Musullu Ali Yaver Pasha (December 1862 - August 1864)
• Babanli Ahmed Pasha (August 1864 - February 1867)
• Tacirli Ahmed Pasha (February 1867 - March 1869)
• Halepli Ali Pasha (March 1869 - May 1871)
• Topal Bursali Mehmed Redif Pasha (May 1871 - August 1871)

Administrative divisions

Sanjaks of the Eyalet in the mid-19th century:

1. Sanjak of Mokha
2. Sanjak of Eharish (Abu `Arish?)
3. Sanjak of Massu

See also

• Islamic history of Yemen