Lahej breaks from Sana’a authority

Returning from the failed siege of Portuguese-held Diu, Hadım Süleyman Pasha’s fleet stopped at Shihr on the Hadramawt coast. The ruler of Shihr accepted Ottoman authority during the return...

Ottoman forces established a foothold in Zabid and extended control across parts of the Tihama. The coastal lowlands were strategically valuable for ports, customs and routes around the Red Sea, but...

Ottoman troops captured Sana’a after renewed campaigning. The city became an imperial center, while Zaydi imams and local forces continued to challenge Ottoman power in the surrounding highlands.

A major Yemeni uprising challenged Ottoman rule. Zaydi leadership and tribal forces resisted taxation, coercive administration and the presence of foreign garrisons. The revolt exposed the limits of...

After prolonged resistance, Ottoman forces withdrew from Yemen. The retreat ended the first Ottoman period of rule and restored substantial authority to Yemeni imamate leadership. The outcome...

After a British ship was wrecked near Aden, British officials used the incident and the port’s strategic position to press for control. British India sought a coaling and naval station on the route to...

A British naval and military force captured Aden and annexed it to British India. The occupation secured a strategic port at the mouth of the Red Sea and was part of Britain’s wider imperial network...

Ottoman forces returned to parts of Yemen’s coast, reopening competition over the Tihama and the Red Sea approaches. Their renewed presence did not immediately restore control over the highlands,...

The Ottoman Empire reoccupied Sana’a and established a second period of direct rule in the highlands. Ottoman authorities expanded taxation, conscription and administrative control, while Zaydi...

Imam Muhammad bin Yahya al-Mansur led a revolt against renewed Ottoman rule. Yemeni resistance briefly captured Sana’a before Ottoman troops suppressed it. The episode demonstrates the recurring gap...