Editing Aden (section)

===Medieval history===
Although the pre-Islamic [[Himyar]] civilization was capable of building large structures, there seems to have been little fortification at this stage. Fortifications at Mareb and other places in Yemen and the [[Hadhramaut]] make it clear that both the Himyar and the [[Sabaeans|Sabean]] cultures were well capable of it. Thus, watchtowers, since destroyed, are possible. However, the Arab historians [[Ibn al-Mujawir|Ibn al Mujawir]] and Abu Makhramah attribute the first fortification of Aden to Beni Zuree'a. Abu Makhramah has also included a detailed biography of Muhammad Azim Sultan Qamarbandi Naqsh in his work, Tarikh ul-Yemen. The aim seems to have been twofold: to keep hostile forces out and to maintain revenue by controlling the movement of goods, thereby preventing smuggling. In its original form, some of this work was relatively feeble.

With the introduction of Islam to Yemen in the seventh century AD, Aden experienced a period of stagnation that lasted until the ninth century AD.<ref name="Daniel McLaughlin p.1752"/> In the early years of Islam, Aden belonged to the province of Jund (Taiz).<ref name="Early Islam p.182">The Yemen in Early Islam (9-233/630-847): A Political History p.182</ref> It was controlled by the state of [[Ziyadid dynasty|Ziyadid]] and the [[Sulayhid dynasty|Sulayhid]]. After the death of [[Ali al-Sulayhi|Ali bin Muhammad Al-Sulayhi]], his son took charge of [[Zurayids]], and Aden continued to pay the annual royalty until [[Arwa al-Sulayhi|Queen Arwa bint Ahmed Al-Sulayhi]] reduced it.<ref name="H.C. Kay, Yaman 1892, pp. 66-7">H.C. Kay, Yaman: Its early medieval history, London 1892, pp. 66-7</ref> After the fall of the Sulayhid state, the Banu Zurayi became independent in Aden, taking advantage of the Sulayhids’ preoccupation with the [[Khawlan]] tribes.<ref name="عمارة بن علي تاريخ اليمن ص 174">عمارة بن علي تاريخ اليمن ص 174</ref> The Zurayites continued to rule Aden, Lahj, and Abyan for less than forty years until they fell under the Ayyubids’ control of the city.<ref>السروري مظاهر الحياة والحضارة في اليمن ص 233</ref> A major battle took place between [[Turan-Shah|Turan Shah bin Ayyub]] and Yasser bin Bilal al-Muhammadi, Minister of State, and the Zurayiyyah were defeated and al-Muhammadi fled to Taiz.<ref>ابن الدبيع ''قرة العيون في اخبار اليمن الميمون'' ص 319</ref> One of the most important contributors to the defeat of the Zurayids was their ongoing wars with the Bani Mahdi in [[Tihamah|Tihama]] and the departure of their army to confront the Ayyubids instead of fortifying themselves in Aden.<ref>السروري مظاهر الحياة والحضارة في اليمن ص313</ref>

After 1175, rebuilding in a more solid form began, and ever since then Aden has been a popular city attracting sailors and merchants from [[Egypt]], [[Sindh]], [[Gujarat]], [[East Africa]] and even [[China]]. According to [[Muqaddasi]], Persians formed the majority of Aden's population in the 10th century.<ref>{{cite book |author=Lawrence G. Potter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ncfIAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA180 |title=The Persian Gulf in History |date=2009 |publisher=Springer |isbn=9780230618459 |page=180 |access-date=13 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230908065552/https://books.google.com/books?id=ncfIAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA180 |archive-date=8 September 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Dr Pirouz Mojtahed-Zadeh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EUL8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA64 |title=Security and Territoriality in the Persian Gulf: A Maritime Political Geography |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781136817175 |page=64 |access-date=13 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230908065552/https://books.google.com/books?id=EUL8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA64 |archive-date=8 September 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> It was visited by the medieval scholar [[Ibn Battuta]] in the 14th century, who described Aden's reservoirs, the [[Cisterns of Tawila]], "These reservoirs accumulate rainwater for the sole purpose of drinking for the city's citizens."

During the Ayyubid period in Yemen, Sana'a and its environs were more hostile to their presence than other regions.<ref>السروري مظاهر الحياة والحضارة في اليمن ص412</ref> The Zaidi tribes were able to defeat the Ayyubids in 1226, but Omar bin Rasul, the founder of the [[Rasulid dynasty|Rasulid state]], was able to repel them, so he tightened his control over Aden. The city regained its position during the days of the Rasulids, so they dug wells and built schools, and Aden flourished commercially.<ref name="Aden p.23">''Aden & the Indian Ocean Trade: 150 Years in the Life of a Medieval Arabian Port'' Roxani Eleni Margariti p.23</ref> The kings of Bani Rasul were also merchants and enacted a number of laws and regulations to codify trade in the city.<ref name="Aden p.24">''Aden & the Indian Ocean Trade: 150 Years in the Life of a Medieval Arabian Port'' Roxani Eleni Margariti p.24</ref>

The Banu Tahir were able to control Aden after the Banu Rasool, and the Italian traveller [[Ludovico di Varthema|Lodovico di Verthama]] describes it as one of the most powerful cities seen on Earth during the days of the [[Tahirids (Yemen)|Tahirids]].<ref name="Egypt, Syria p.59">''The travels of Ludovico di Varthema in Egypt, Syria, Arabia Deserta and Arabia Felix, in Persia, India, and Ethiopia; A.D. 1503 to 1508'' Lodovico Di Varthema, John Winter Jones, George Percy Badger p.59</ref>
[[File:Assault_on_Aden.jpg|thumb|215x215px|Portuguese [[conquistador]] and viceroy [[Afonso de Albuquerque]] failed twice to [[Siege of Aden|capture Aden]] in 1513.]]In 1513, the Portuguese, led by [[Afonso de Albuquerque]], launched an unsuccessful four-day naval [[siege of Aden]].<ref name="Broeze2013">{{cite book |author=Broeze |title=Gateways Of Asia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yXgsBgAAQBAJ |date=28 October 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-16895-6 |page=30}}</ref> The Mamluks in Egypt sensed the danger and sent a force led by Hussein al-Kurdi. The victorious King Amer bin Abdul Wahhab provided great aid to the Kurds, but he suffered a heavy defeat in the Battle of Diu. The Mamluks sent a second fleet, but the victorious king refused to cooperate with the Mamluks because he had succeeded in repelling the Portuguese from Aden without their help.<ref name="ReferenceA">Robert W. Stookey,''the politics of the Yemen Arab Republic''Westview Press, 1978 P.129</ref> Hussein al-Kurdi became angry and allied with the Zaidi Imam, who was opposed to the Tahirids, al-Mutawakkil Sharaf al-Din, and the Tahirid cities fell successively, with the exception of Aden.<ref name="Ronald Lewcock p.68">Ronald Lewcock,''Sanaa an Arabian Islamic city'' p.68</ref> The Ottoman Empire took control of the city in 1538. The Ottomans' goal was to prevent the Portuguese from controlling Aden, so the city witnessed difficult days, in addition to the fact that the port of Mocha gained greater importance at the expense of Aden during the sixteenth century.<ref name="Sir Robert Lambert Playfair p.143">Sir Robert Lambert Playfair,''A History of Arabia Felix Or Yemen'' p.143</ref> The city's population declined and it turned into a small village with a population of no more than 600 people.<ref name="al-bab.com">[http://www.al-bab.com/bys/articles/hyweljones98.htm ''The Crater residence of Captain S B Haines'' MERILYN HYWEL-JONES]  {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304050900/http://www.al-bab.com/bys/articles/hyweljones98.htm|date=4 مارس 2016}}</ref> While its population was approximately eighty thousand people during the days of the Rasulid state.<ref name="H Kour, p.14">Dr Z H Kour,''The History of Aden'' p.14</ref>[[File:Hogenberg.Aden.jpg|thumb|944x944px|Aden, with Portuguese fleet (1590)|center]]In 1421, China's Ming dynasty [[Yongle Emperor]] ordered principal envoy grand eunuch Li Xing and grand eunuch Zhou Man of [[Zheng He]]'s fleet to convey an imperial edict with hats and robes to bestow on the king of Aden. The envoys boarded three treasure ships and [[Treasure voyages|set sail from Sumatra to the port of Aden]]. This event was recorded in the book ''Yingyai Shenglan'' by [[Ma Huan]] who accompanied the imperial envoy.<ref>[[Ma Huan]] Ying-yai Sheng-lan, The Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores, 1433, translated by J.V.G. Mills, with foreword and preface, Hakluty Society, London 1970; reprinted by the White Lotus Press 1997. {{ISBN|974-8496-78-3}}</ref>

After [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] rule, Aden was ruled by the [[Sultanate of Lahej]], under suzerainty of the Zaidi imams of Yemen. The first political intercourse between Lahej and the British took place in 1799, when a naval force was sent from Great Britain, with a detachment of troops from India, to occupy the island of Perim and prevent all communication of the French in Egypt with the Indian Ocean, by way of the Red Sea. The island of Perim was found unsuitable for troops, and the Sultan of Lahej, Ahmed bin Abdul Karim, received the detachment for some time at Aden. He proposed to enter into an alliance and to grant Aden as a permanent station, but the offer was declined. A Treaty was, however, concluded with the Sultan in 1802 by Admiral Sir Home Popham, who was instructed to enter into political and commercial alliances with the chief rulers on the Arabian coast of the Red Sea.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Aitchison |first=G |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.49919/page/n1/mode/2up |title=A Collection of Treaties, Engagements And Sanads Relating To India And Neighbouring Countries |publisher=Government of India |year=1931 |volume=xi |pages=2–7}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>