Capture of Aden (1548)

Capture of Aden
	Part of Ottoman–Portuguese conflicts (1538–1559)
	; Ottoman fleet in the Indian Ocean in the 16th century.
Date	26 February 1548
Location	Aden, Yemen
Result	Ottoman victory; Ottomans recapture Aden;
Belligerents
Ottoman Empire	Portuguese Empire
Commanders and leaders
Piri Reis	Paju de Noronha Âli bin Süleyman el-Tavlakî †
Casualties and losses
Unknown	3 Portuguese ships burned, 120 Portuguese sailors enslaved ,Âli bin Süleyman el-Tavlakî killed

The capture of Aden of 1548 was accomplished when Ottomans under Piri Reis managed to take the harbour of Aden in Yemen from the Portuguese on 26 February 1548.^[1]

Background

Aden had already been captured by the Ottomans for Suleiman the Magnificent in 1538 by Hadim Suleiman Pasha, in order to provide an Ottoman base for raids against Portuguese possessions on the western coast of India.^[2] Sailing on to India, the Ottomans failed against the Portuguese at the Siege of Diu in September 1538, but then returned to Aden where they fortified the city with 100 pieces of artillery.^[2]^[3]

From this base, Sulayman Pasha managed to take control of the whole country of Yemen, also taking Sanaa.^[2] In 1547, Aden arose against the Ottomans however and invited the Portuguese instead, so that the Portuguese were in control of the city.^[4]

The Battle

Ali bin Suleyman al-Tawlaki who was a local chieftain fought the Ottoman navy of 60 ships of various sizes which arrived on 15 November 1547 until he died, then he was succeeded by his son, Mohammed, who kept resisting until a small Portuguese fleet of 3 ships arrived on 19 January 1548. However, the Portuguese were forced to retreat to Zeila, where 120 sailors were captured, and their ships were burned. Eventually, the Ottomans managed to win and the city was captured by Piri Reis on 26 February 1548.^[5]

Aftermath

Piri Reis would continue with successes against the Portuguese with the capture of Muscat (1552).

Notes

^ Ezel Kural Shaw (29 October 1976). History of the Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey. pp. 106–107. ISBN 9780521291637.
^ ^a ^b ^c The history of Aden, 1839-72 by Zaka Hanna Kour p. 2
^ Halil İnalcik (May 1997). An economic and social history of the Ottoman Empire. p. 326. ISBN 9780521574563.
^ R. B. Serjeant, The Portuguese off the South Arabian Coast, Hadrami Chronicles, Oxford, 1963, p. 20.
^ Ertuğrul Önalp (12 December 2013). "Pîrî Reis'in Hürmüz Seferi ve İdamı Hakkındaki Türk ve Portekiz Tarihçilerinin Düşünceleri" [The Military Expedition of Piri Reis to Hormuz and the Considerations of Turkish and Portuguese Historians About his Execution] (PDF) (in Turkish). p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 December 2013.

12°47′52″N 45°01′27″E / 12.79778°N 45.02417°E / 12.79778; 45.02417

[1] Ezel Kural Shaw (29 October 1976). History of the Ottoman Empire and modern Turkey. pp. 106–107. ISBN 9780521291637.

[Kour-2] The history of Aden, 1839-72 by Zaka Hanna Kour p. 2

[3] Halil İnalcik (May 1997). An economic and social history of the Ottoman Empire. p. 326. ISBN 9780521574563.

[4] R. B. Serjeant, The Portuguese off the South Arabian Coast, Hadrami Chronicles, Oxford, 1963, p. 20.

[5] Ertuğrul Önalp (12 December 2013). "Pîrî Reis'in Hürmüz Seferi ve İdamı Hakkındaki Türk ve Portekiz Tarihçilerinin Düşünceleri" [The Military Expedition of Piri Reis to Hormuz and the Considerations of Turkish and Portuguese Historians About his Execution] (PDF) (in Turkish). p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 December 2013.

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v t e Major sieges involving the Ottoman Empire by century
13th-14th	1285 Kulaca Hisar 1326 Bursa 1328–1331 Nicaea 1333–1337 Nicomedia 1360s Adrianople 1385 Sofia 1393 Tarnovo 1394–1402 Constantinople
15th	1411 Constantinople 1422 Constantinople 1422–1430 Thessalonica 1428 Golubac 1440 Belgrade 1440–41 Novo Brdo 1448 Svetigrad 1450 Krujë 1453 Constantinople 1455 Berat 1456 Belgrade 1461 Trebizond 1462 Mytilene 1463 Jajce 1464 Jajce 1466–67 Krujë 1467 Krujë 1470 Negroponte 1474 Scutari 1477–78 Krujë 1478–79 Scutari 1480 Rhodes 1481 Otranto 1484 Chilia
16th	1500 Cephalonia 1517 Cairo 1521 Belgrade 1522 Knin 1522 Rhodes 1529 Peñón of Algiers 1529 Vienna 1531 Diu 1532 Güns (Kőszeg) 1532 Maribor 1533–34 Coron 1534 Tunis 1534 Baghdad 1537 Klis 1537 Corfu 1538 Diu 1539 Castelnuovo 1541 Buda 1543 Nice 1543 Esztergom 1548 Aden 1548 Van 1551 Tripoli 1552 Muscat 1552 Hormuz 1552 Temesvár 1552 Eger 1556 Oran 1559 Bahrain 1563 Oran 1565 Malta 1566 Szigetvar 1570–71 Famagusta 1574 Tunis 1578 Gvozdansko 1592 Bihać 1593 Sisak 1596 Eger
17th	1601 Nagykanizsa 1621 Khotyn 1638 Baghdad 1663 Uyvar 1664 Novi Zrin 1648–1669 Candia 1672 Kamenets 1683 Vienna 1684 Buda 1684 Santa Maura 1685 Érsekújvár 1686 Buda 1686 Pécs 1688 Negroponte 1688 Belgrade 1690 Belgrade 1695 Azov 1696 Azov
18th	1711 Brăila 1715 Nauplia 1716 Corfu 1716 Temeşvar 1717 Belgrade 1733 Baghdad 1734–35 Ganja 1737 Ochakov 1739 Belgrade 1788 Ochakov 1788 Khotin 1789 Belgrade 1789–90 Izmail 1799 El Arish 1799 Jaffa 1799 Acre
19th	1801 Cairo 1806 Belgrade 1821 Patras 1821–22 Acropolis 1821 Tripolitsa 1822 Missolonghi 1823 Missolonghi 1825–26 Missolonghi 1826–27 Acropolis 1828 Kars 1828 Varna 1854 Calafat 1854 Silistra 1854–55 Sevastopol 1855 Kars 1877 Plevna
20th	1912–13 Scutari 1912–13 Adrianople 1915 Van 1915–16 Kut 1916–1919 Medina
Ottoman defeats shown in italics.