Battle of Zeila 1517 | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of Somali-Portuguese conflicts | |||||||
19th century map of Zeila | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Portuguese Empire | Adal Sultanate | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Lopo Soares de Albergaria | Unknown | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
34 ships | Unknown | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Few or none | Unknown |
The Battle of Zeila was an armed encounter that took place in the city of Zeila, in modern-day Somaliland, between the forces of the Sultanate of Adal and those of the Portuguese empire, under the command of the governor of India Lopo Soares de Albergaria. After a brief fight, the Portuguese captured and razed the city.
In 1517, the Portuguese governor of India Lopo Soares de Albergaria sailed a large armada to attack Ottoman positions in the Red Sea. Having failed to capture Jeddah, short on water and supplies, the fleet withdrew, having called at Kamaran Island before sailing to Zeila. At the time the Sultanate of Adal was involved with most of its forces in a war with Ethiopia, a Portuguese ally, and the emir of Zeila Mahfuz had recently been killed. [1] Having been warned that the Portuguese fleet was incoming, the inhabitants evacuated all women and children, and a number of warriors remained behind to defend the city and the ships left behind. They gathered on the beaches to resist a Portuguese landing. [2] Seeing this, Albergaria determined to capture the city and landed a contingent of men. [2]
The Portuguese wrote that "The city is of good size and flat, by the edge of the sea. It's made of stone and lime houses with terraced roofs like those of Aden. Its inhabitants are moors and merchants of great trade and for the most part are black, men as well as children, and some white, and they treat each other well". [2]
Harassed by cannon-fire and taunted, the Portuguese under the command of Gaspar da Silva, Aires da Silva and António Ferreira Fogaça moved in to assault the city before the governor had landed, and when they realized there were few defenders they occupied it after a brief struggle. [2] A Portuguese prisoner which had been help captive in Zeila for nine years was rescued. [2] The city was then torched and destroyed. [3] [2] 388 hero
Year 1517 (MDXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.
The Battle of Diu was a naval battle fought on 3 February 1509 in the Arabian Sea, in the port of Diu, India, between the Portuguese Empire and a joint fleet of the Sultan of Gujarat, the Mamlûk Burji Sultanate of Egypt and the Zamorin of Calicut.
The Adal Sultanate, also known as the Adal Empire or Bar Saʿad dīn, was a medieval Sunni Muslim Empire which was located in the Horn of Africa. It was founded by Sabr ad-Din III on the Harar plateau in Adal after the fall of the Sultanate of Ifat. The kingdom flourished c. 1415 to 1577. At its height, the polity under Sultan Badlay controlled the territory stretching from Cape Guardafui in Somalia to the port city of Suakin in Sudan. The Adal Empire maintained a robust commercial and political relationship with the Ottoman Empire. Sultanate of Adal was alternatively known as the federation of Zeila.
Lopo Soares de Albergaria was the fifth captain-major of the Portuguese Gold Coast and third governor of Portuguese India, having reached India in 1515 to succeed Afonso de Albuquerque as governor.
The Ottoman–Portuguese or the Turco-Portuguese confrontations refers to a series of different military encounters between the Portuguese Empire and the Ottoman Empire, or between other European powers and the Ottoman Empire in which relevant Portuguese military forces participated. Some of these conflicts were brief, while others lasted for many years. Most of these conflicts took place in the Indian Ocean, in the process of the expansion of the Portuguese Empire, but also in the Red Sea. These conflicts also involved regional powers, after 1538 the Adal Sultanate, with the aid of the Ottoman Empire, fought against the Ethiopian Empire, which was supported by the Portuguese, under the command of Cristóvão da Gama, the son of the famous explorer Vasco da Gama. This war is known as the Ethiopian–Adal war.
The Ottoman-Portuguese conflicts were a period of conflict during the Ottoman–Portuguese confrontations and series of armed military encounters between the Portuguese Empire and the Ottoman Empire along with regional allies in and along the Indian Ocean, Persian Gulf, and Red Sea.
Amir Husain Al-Kurdi, named Mihir Hussain or Mir-Hocém or Mirocém by the Portuguese, was a Kurdish governor of the city of Jeddah in the Red Sea, then part of the Mamluk Sultanate, in early 16th century. He stood out as admiral of the Mamluk fleet fought by the forces of the Portuguese Empire in the Indian Ocean. Shortly after the arrival of the Portuguese to the Indian sea, Mirocem was sent by the last Mamluk Sultan, Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghawri, to defend his interests in the sea, including the defense of the fleets of Muslim pilgrims to Mecca, then part of the sultanate.
The siege of Diu occurred when an army of the Sultanate of Gujarat under Khadjar Safar, aided by forces of the Ottoman Empire, attempted to capture the city of Diu in 1538, then held by the Portuguese. The siege was part of the Ottoman-Portuguese war. The Portuguese successfully resisted the four-month long siege.
Mateus, also known as Matthew the Armenian, was an Ethiopian ambassador sent by regent queen Eleni of Ethiopia to king Manuel I of Portugal and to the Pope in Rome, in search of a coalition to help on the increasing threat that Ethiopia faced from the growing Muslim influence in the region. Mateus arrived at Goa in 1512, and traveled to Portugal in 1514, from where he returned with a Portuguese embassy, along with Francisco Álvares. The Portuguese only understood the nature of his mission after they arrived in Ethiopia in 1520, shortly after Mateus' death, a fact that complicated their mission to the new Ethiopian Emperor.
The Sixth India Armada was assembled in 1504 on the order of King Manuel I of Portugal and placed under the command of Lopo Soares de Albergaria.
The military history of Somalia encompasses the major conventional wars, conflicts and skirmishes involving the historic empires, kingdoms and sultanates in the territory of present-day Somalia, through to modern times. It also covers the martial traditions, military architecture and hardware employed by Somali armies and their opponents.
João da Silveira was the first Captain of Portuguese Ceylon. Silveira was appointed in 1518 under Manuel I of Portugal. He was succeeded by Lopo de Brito.
Duarte Galvão was a Portuguese courtier, diplomat and chronicler.
The siege of Jeddah was a naval battle that took place in the harbor of Jeddah between a Portuguese expeditionary force under Lopo Soares de Albergaria and Ottoman elements under Selman Reis. The Portuguese fleet arrived off the city’s coast on Easter day, 1517, Hijri year 923, and moored in the channel. After a quick naval action that day with few casualties, shore artillery prevented the Portuguese from landing, and weather ultimately caused them to withdraw.
The Battle of Suez occurred in 1541 and was a failed attack by the Portuguese against the Ottomans.
The Battle of Pago was a military operation that took place in 1520, in which Portuguese forces successfully attacked Pago, where the former Sultan of Malacca Mahmud Shah had built a fortified camp to harass Portuguese Malacca.
The Attack on Jeddah occurred in 1541 and was the last attempt by the Portuguese to capture the city.
The Battle of Socotra was a military engagement that took place on Socotra Island in 1507, and which resulted in the occupation of the Island by the Portuguese Empire.
Somali–Portuguese conflicts refers to the armed engagements between Portuguese forces and Somali forces, namely those of the Adal Sultanate and the cities of Barawa and Mogadishu in the 16th century.
Adil Shahi–Portuguese conflicts refers to the various armed engagements that took place in India between the Portuguese Empire and the Sultanate of Bijapur, ruled by the Adil Shahi dynasty, whose rulers were known to the Portuguese as Hidalcão.