| Battle of Benadir | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Somali-Portuguese conflicts | |||||||
 Portuguese fortress of Sofala | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Ajuran Sultanate | Portuguese Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Unknown | João de Sepúlveda | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Unknown | 100 men, 6 small galleys [2] Malindi auxiliaries | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
The Battle of Benadir was an armed engagement between the Ajuran Sultanate and the Portuguese Empire.
After Tristão da Cunha and Afonso de Albuquerque sacked the city of Barawa during the Battle of Barawa. Cunha then steered for Mogadishu, wanting to do the same as had done at barawa, he sent Leonez Coutign with offer of peace and friendship to the people of Mogadishu. The people at Mogadishu made a formidable appearance: Great numbers of foot and cuirassiers were patrolling on the shore, the walls of the city were lined with armed men and a considerable body of troops were drawn up before it. Tristão da Cunha being afraid to land, sent one of the Bravan captives to let the people know, that the portuguese came not to denounce war but to offer peace. [3]
Infront of Cunha they tore the captive to pieces and threatened to serve Cunha in the same manner, if he could dare to come ashore
Cunha was for storming the city, but at the persuasion of all of his officers and Pilots, he dropped the resolution. [3]
The place was almost inaccessible, strong by its natural situation, and defended by a numerous garrison: the station for our ships extremely dangerous, and very much exposed to the enemy: besides the winter was fast approaching, and the season for sailing almost elapsed, so that if our people should have miscarried in this attempt, their fleet and army would in all probability have met with inevitable destruction. Tristão da Cunha
After the Portuguese conducted a large-scale naval expedition to Suez in 1541, the Ottoman Empire dedicated greater resources into protecting the Red Sea from Portuguese intrusion. To such effect, about 25 galleys were armed and stationed at Aden. [4]
The Portuguese captain of Sofala, João de Sepúlveda, was informed of the presence of these forces by allied Swahili city-states, mainly Malindi, who also reported that the hostile Ajuran Sultanate had appealed to the Ottomans for military support, in preparation for a rebellion against Portuguese suzerainty in the region. João de Sepúlveda thus set out with 6 small galleys and 100 soldiers to conduct a preemptive strike against the coastal cities of the Ajuran Sultanate. He was joined by an unrecorded number of vessels and warriors from Malindi. [2]
According to João de Sepúlveda's own account, having arrived at Mogadishu he "destroyed the city and did them great damage and injury". Moving a few leagues north, he reached a popular anchorage for tradeships coming from the Red Sea, where he learned that the Turks would not be sailing to East Africa that year. Thus he returned to what remained of Mogadishu, and made a peace deal with its rulers. [2]
However, according to modern historians it's not likely that João de Sepúlveda's small fleet actually destroyed Mogadishu. [5] Instead, it appears that the capture of one Ottoman ship and a brief firing upon the city was enough to compel the sultan of Mogadishu to sign a peace deal with the Portuguese. [1]
Passing by Barawa, the city was sacked, [6] in retaliation for its inhabitants having delivered a few Portuguese prisoners to the Turks. After also sealing a peace with Barawa, [6] João de Sepúlveda returned to Malindi. [2]
The word benadir means coast in Somali referring to the richness of southern Somali coast. [7]
Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. The country is an important centre for commerce with the rest of the world, and according to most scholars, it is among the most probable locations of the fabled ancient Land of Punt. During the Middle Ages, several powerful Somali states and port towns dominated the regional trade, the [[Boqoortooyada Somalia from the Macrobian dynasty and later some states sultans also known as tribal leaders both centered around the port town Mogadishu, but also the port towns of Barawe and Merca.
Mogadishu, locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Ocean for millennia and has an estimated urban population of 2,610,483.
Tristão da Cunha was a Portuguese explorer and naval commander. In 1499, he served as ambassador from King Manuel I of Portugal to Pope Leo X, leading a luxurious embassy presenting in Rome the new conquests of Portugal. He later became a member of the Portuguese privy council.
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Barawa, also known as Barawe and Brava, is the capital of the South West State of Somalia. It functions as a port town in the southwestern Lower Shebelle region of Somalia. Facing the Indian Ocean, Barawa serves as the main port of the South West State.
The Ajuran Sultanate, natively referred to as Ajuuraan, and often simply Ajuran, was a medieval Muslim Empire in the Horn of Africa. Founded by Somali Sultans it ruled over large parts of the Horn of Africa during the Middle Ages. It rose to power in the 13th century and would dominate the Indian Ocean trade for centuries to come. Through a strong centralised administration and an aggressive military stance towards invaders, the Ajuran Empire successfully resisted Oromo invasions from the west and fought against Portuguese incursions from the east.
The military history of Africa is one of the oldest military histories in the world. Africa is a continent of many regions with diverse populations speaking hundreds of different languages and practicing an array of cultures and religions. These differences have also been the source of much conflict since a millennia.
Mogadishu is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital. Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries.
The Ottoman–Portuguese Conflicts (1586–1589) were armed military engagements which took place between the Portuguese Empire and the Ottoman Empire along the coast of eastern Africa.
António de Saldanha was a Castilian-Portuguese 16th-century captain. He was the first European to set anchor in what is now called Table Bay, South Africa, and made the first recorded ascent of Table Mountain.
Ahmed Yusuf Mahamud was a Somali Sultan of the Geledi sultanate, reigning from 1848 to 1878 and succeeded his father Yusuf Mahamud after his demise at the battle of Adaddey Suleyman. Ahmed was crowned fourth in line and his rule marked a period of great prosperity in the Sultanate. The Sultan was credited as having brought over 20,000 Somali troops to free the slaves of Zanzibar.
Maritime history of Somalia refers to the seafaring tradition of the Somali people. It includes various stages of Somali navigational technology, shipbuilding and design, as well as the history of the Somali port cities. It also covers the historical sea routes taken by Somali sailors which sustained the commercial enterprises of the historical Somali kingdoms and empires, in addition to the contemporary maritime culture of Somalia.
Somalia–Turkey relations are bilateral relations between Somalia and Turkey. The two nations are longstanding partners, engaging in close development cooperation.
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.
The Sultanate of Mogadishu, also known as Kingdom of Magadazo, was a medieval Muslim sultanate centered in southern Somalia. It rose as one of the pre-eminent powers in the Horn of Africa under the rule of Fakhr al-Din before becoming part of the powerful and expanding Ajuran Sultanate in the 13th century. The Mogadishu Sultanate maintained a vast trading network, dominated the regional gold trade, minted its own currency, and left an extensive architectural legacy in present-day southern Somalia.
Somali nationalism is a nationalist ideology advocating for the unification of all Somali people who share a common ethnicity, language, and culture, under a single banner. Its earliest manifestations has its roots in the Middle Ages and the Adal Sultanate whilst in the contemporary era its often traced back to the Somali Youth League, a political organisation founded in 1943. The Somali Youth League became one of the most influential political parties in Somalia prior to post-independence. The Somali guerilla militia Al-Shabab is also noteworthy for incorporating Somali nationalism into its Islamist ideology.
The Battle of Barawa was an armed military encounter between the Portuguese Empire and the Ajuran Sultanate, in the city of Barawa. The Portuguese staged a landing and achieved their objectives of sacking the city.
The Hiraab Imamate, also known as the Yacquubi Dynasty, was a Somali kingdom that ruled parts of the Horn of Africa during the 16th century till the 19th century until it was incorporated into Italian Somaliland. The Imamate was governed by the Hiraab Yacquub Dynasty. It was founded by Imam Omar who successfully rebelled and defeated the Ajuran and established an independent kingdom.
The Muẓaffarids were a Muslim dynasty that ruled the Banaadir coast with their capital at Mogadishu from the late 15th or early 16th century until around 1624 or possibly as late as 1700. They were of Persian extraction that mixed with the local Somali population and are related to the Ajuran clan. They were effectively independent, but allied to the more powerful Ajuran Sultanate. They resisted the Portuguese, but occasionally paid them tribute. In the 17th century, the Muẓaffarids were conquered by the Somali Abgaal.
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.