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Revision as of 09:22, 27 June 2025

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Battle of Zeila (1841)
Part of Sharmarke Ali Saleh conquests

Zeila after the battle
Date1841
Location
Zeila, Ottoman Zeila, modern day Somaliland
Result

Isaaq victory

Belligerents

Isaaq Sultanate Isaaq Sultanate

Ottoman Empire Ottoman Zeila Yemen Eyalet
Commanders and leaders
Isaaq Sultanate Sharmarke Ali Saleh Ottoman Empire Syed Mohamed Al Bar
Strength
2 battleships, 4 cannons, 50 musketeers 40 matchlock men from Yemen
Casualties and losses
Unknown Unknown

The Battle of Zeila (1841) was an armed confrontation between the Ottoman governor of Zeila and Isaaqs led by Sharmarke Ali Saleh who would end up succeeding Syed Mohammed Al bar as governor..[4][5][6][7]

Background

See also: Sharmarke Ali Saleh, Ottoman Zeila, and Yemen vilayet

As a tributary of Mocha, which in turn was part of the Ottoman possessions in Western Arabia, the port of Zeila.[8][9][6]

The Ottomans based in Yemen held only nominal authority of Zeila when Haji Sharmarke Ali Saleh, a successful and ambitious Somali merchant, purchased the rights of the town from the Ottoman governor of Mocha and Hodeida. However, the previous governor was not eager to relinquish his control of Zeila, which lead to Sharmarke mobilizing troops in order to plan an assault on the city.[10][5][6]

With the town rights bought by Sharmarke, and Syed Mohammed refusing to give up his power, Sharmarke sailed two ships equipped with two to four cannons and around fifty Somali musketmen.[11]

Syed, then based at Al-Hudaydah, confirmed his authority, and sent to Zeila a small garrison of about 40 matchlockmen from Yemen.[12][13]

Sharmarke reached Zeila and tried to negotiate with Syed Mohammed, but this failed. Instead Sharmarke started to prepare for an assault on the city[14]

Battle

With the town rights bought by Sharmarke, and Syed Mohammed refusing to give up his power, Sharmarke sailed two ships equipped with two to four cannons and around fifty Somali musketmen.[15]

Syed, then based at Al-Hudaydah, confirmed his authority, and sent to Zeila a small garrison of about 40 matchlockmen from Yemen.[16][13]

Sharmarke reached Zeila and tried to negotiate with Syed Mohammed, but this failed. Instead Sharmarke started to prepare for an assault on the city[14]

Sharmarke initially only directed his cannons at the city walls, which frightened some of Al Barr's followers into fleeing. When Sharmarke actually fired his cannons, the rest of Al Barr's troops fled.[17][18]

The remaining fighters were defeated and routed after a short battle and Sharmarke immediately deposed the defeated governor, claiming the city for himself.[14][13][19]

Aftermath

During Sharmarke Ali Saleh's governorship of Zeila, Sharmarke's pre-existing trading activities with Southern Arabia and India continued unabated. Out of the twenty local vessels docked in Zeila, ten were owned by Sharmarke himself, with two of the ships being "large trading dhows which convey yearly, about 300 tons of coffee and other goods" to Bombay.[20]

Afar merchant Abu Bakr, rival of Sharmarke for control of Zeila

In the year 1855, Sharmarke was deposed by his Danakil rival, Abu Bakr, who gained control of Zeila with the support of the French. However, Sharmarke was restored to power in 1857 and became the governor of Zeila again, ruling the historic port town until his death in 1861[7]

Downfall

See also: Assassination of Henri Lambert and Sharmarke Ali Saleh

Following the assassination of Henri Lambert preumably by Sharmake Ali Saleh a French Consul and naval officer Fleuriot de Langle launched a complex into the matter as Commander of the Naval Station for the East African Coasts.[21][22][23][24][25]

De Langle proposed Aboubakr Pasha as Provisional Governor. In a secret meeting with de Langle, Aboubeker requested ratification of prior negotiations with France regarding territorial occupation. He also clarified the origins of Tadjoura's customs payments to Zeila, tracing them back to agreements under Yemeni Imams and later Turkish oversight, detailing the overthrow of Syed Mohammed Al Bar.[26][27][28]

Sharmarke and some of his supporters were arbitrarily arrested and handed to the French navy for a trial in Constantinople (although the trial was later moved to Jeddah).[29] However, Sharmarke died during the journey, and whether foul play was involved or not remains unknown.[30]

See also

References

  1. ^ Johnston, Charles (1844). Travels in southern Abyssinia : through the country of Adal to the kingdom of Shoa. London: J. Madden. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.59208.
  2. ^ Making Sense of Somali History: Volume 1 - Page 63
  3. ^ Omar, Mohamed Osman (2001). The scramble in the Horn of Africa: history of Somalia, 1827-1977. Somali Publications. ISBN 9781874209638.
  4. ^ Rayne, Henry (1921). Sun, sand and Somals; leaves from the note-book of a district commissioner in British Somaliland. Witherby, London. pp. 15–16.
  5. ^ a b Omar, Mohamed Osman (2001). The Scramble in the Horn of Africa: History of Somalia, 1827-1977. Somali Publications. pp. Page 12 and page 40. ISBN 978-1-874209-63-8.
  6. ^ a b c Burton, Richard (2011-07-07). First Footsteps in East Africa. Cambridge University Press. p. 19. doi:10.1017/cbo9781139004107. ISBN 978-1-108-03030-4.
  7. ^ a b Graham, Gerald S.; Marston, Thomas E. (1962). "Britain's Imperial Role in the Red Sea Area, 1800-1878". The Economic History Review. 15 (2): Page 123. doi:10.2307/2599015. ISSN 0013-0117. JSTOR 2599015.
  8. ^ Marston, Thomas E. (1961). Britain's Imperial Role in the Red Sea Area, 1800-1878. Shoe String Press. pp. Page 123 and page 103. ISBN 978-0-608-32506-4. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  9. ^ Making Sense of Somali History: Volume 1 - Page 63
  10. ^ Rayne, Henry (1921). Sun, sand and Somals; leaves from the note-book of a district commissioner in British Somaliland. Witherby, London. pp. 15–16.
  11. ^ Rayne, Henry A. (1921). Sun, sand and Somals; leaves from the note-book of a district commissioner in British Somaliland. University of California Libraries. London : Witherby. p. 15.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  12. ^ Abir, Mordechai (1968). Ethiopia: the Era of the Princes: The Challenge of Islam and Re-unification of the Christian Empire, 1769-1855. Praeger. pp. 14–16. ISBN 978-0-582-64517-2.
  13. ^ a b c Ingiriis, Mohamed Haji (2017-07-03). "Making Sense of Somali History: Volume One". African Historical Review. 49 (2): 119–122. doi:10.1080/17532523.2017.1402856. ISSN 1753-2523.
  14. ^ a b c "Sun, Sand, and Somals: Leaves from the Notebook of a District Commissioner in British Somaliland". Nature. 108 (2708): Page 14 to page 16. September 1921. Bibcode:1921Natur.108R.112.. doi:10.1038/108112b0. ISSN 0028-0836.
  15. ^ Rayne, Henry A. (1921). Sun, sand and Somals; leaves from the note-book of a district commissioner in British Somaliland. University of California Libraries. London : Witherby. p. 15.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
  16. ^ Abir, Mordechai (1968). Ethiopia: the Era of the Princes: The Challenge of Islam and Re-unification of the Christian Empire, 1769-1855. Praeger. pp. 14–16. ISBN 978-0-582-64517-2.
  17. ^ Burton, Richard (2011). First Footsteps in East Africa: Or, An Exploration of Harar. Cambridge Library Collection - African Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 16–30. doi:10.1017/cbo9781139004107. ISBN 978-1-108-03030-4.
  18. ^ Rayne, Henry (1921). Sun, sand and Somals; leaves from the note-book of a district commissioner in British Somaliland. Witherby, London. pp. 15–16.
  19. ^ Kirk, John (1869). "Letter from Dr. Kirk to C. Gonne, Esq., Secretary to the Government, Bombay". Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London. 14 (1): 16–18. doi:10.2307/1799603. ISSN 1478-615X. JSTOR 1799603.
  20. ^ Jama, Mohamed (1996). Constructing colonial hegemony in the Somaliland protectorate, 1941-1960 (Thesis). University of Toronto. p. 49.
  21. ^ Salima Machamba, Queen of Mohéli and farmer in Cléry, Archives départementales de la Côte d'Or, 2016.
  22. ^ Anne Etter, "À Salima de Mohéli, dernière reine comorienne, la fidélité d'une petite-fille," Éditions Komedit, 2012.
  23. ^ Roglo (27 December 2020). "Relationship between Alphonse Fleuriot de Langle and Suzanne Armande de La Monneraye". Roglo. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  24. ^ "{Title}". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
  25. ^ Joint-Daguenet, Roger (1992-01-01). Aux origines de l'implantation française en Mer Rouge: Vie et mort d'Henry Lambert, consul de France à Aden. 1859 (in French). Editions L'Harmattan. p. 209. ISBN 978-2-296-27042-8.
  26. ^ Indian Office Records (IOR): R/20/A/226 Aden, p. 12, Captain Paqué to Playfair, April 16, 1861.
  27. ^ Indian Office Records (IOR): R/20/A/226 Aden, p. 14, Lejeune at Playfair, April 17, 1861.
  28. ^ Indian Office Records (IOR): R/20/A/226 Aden, pp. 39-40, Hassan Ali at Playfair, April 22, 1861.
  29. ^ Marston, Britain's Imperial Role, pp. 256-257,
  30. ^ Charton, Edouard (1862). Le tour du monde: nouveau journal des voyages, Volume 2; Volume 6 (in French). Libraires Hachette. p. 78.
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