Editing Aden (section)

==== British administration 1839–1967 ====
{{see also|Aden Colony|State of Aden}}
[[File:Port of Aden 1890's.png|thumb|Port of Aden 1890|left]]
[[File:Aden postcard.jpg|thumb|Port of Aden (around 1910). Ships lying off Steamer Point at the entrance to the modern inner harbour.<ref>[http://www.portofaden.com/Aden.JPG Port of Aden inner harbour]{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>]]
[[File:Map of Aden (Baedeker 1914).jpg|thumb|Map of Aden peninsula, ca. 1914]]
[[File:Aden. Esplanade Road, Crater, late 1930s.jpg|thumb|Esplanade Road in the late 1940s]]

In 1609 ''The Ascension'' was the first English ship to visit Aden, before sailing on to [[Mocha (port)|Mocha]] during the fourth voyage of the [[East India Company]].<ref>J. K. Laughton, '[[John Jourdain|Jourdain, John]] (c.1572–1619)', rev. H. V. Bowen, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008</ref>

British interests in Aden began in 1796 with [[Napoleon]]'s invasion of Egypt, after which a British fleet docked at Aden for several months at the invitation of the sultan. The French were defeated in Egypt in 1801, and their [[privateers]] were tracked down over the subsequent decade.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} By 1800, Aden was a small village with a population of 600 Arabs, [[Somalis]], Jews, and Indians—housed for the most part in huts of reed matting erected among ruins recalling a vanished era of wealth and prosperity.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} As there was little British trade in the Red Sea, most British politicians until the 1830s had no further interest in the area beyond the suppression of piracy. However, a small number of government officials and the [[East India Company]] officials thought that a British base in the area was necessary to prevent another French advance through Egypt or [[The Great Game|Russian expansion through Persia]]. The emergence of [[Muhammad Ali of Egypt]] as a strong local ruler only increased their concerns. The governor of Bombay from 1834 to 1838, [[Sir Robert Grant]], was one of those who believed that India could only be protected by preemptively seizing "places of strength" to protect the Indian Ocean.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

The Red Sea increased in importance after the steamship {{ship|HCS|Hugh Lindsay|1829|2}} sailed from Bombay to the Suez isthmus in 1830, stopping at Aden with the sultan's consent to resupply with coal. Although cargo was still carried around the [[Cape of Good Hope]] in sailing ships, a steam route to the Suez could provide a much quicker option for transporting officials and important communications. Grant felt that armed ships steaming regularly between Bombay and Suez would help secure British interests in the region and did all he could to progress his vision. After lengthy negotiations due to the costs of investing in the new technology, the government agreed to pay half the costs for six voyages per year and the East India Company board approved the purchase of two new steamers in 1837. Grant immediately announced that monthly voyages to Suez would take place, despite the fact that no secure coal supplying station had been found.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Christie |first1=Nikki |title=Gaining and Losing an Empire: Britain 1763–1914 |date=2016 |publisher=Pearson |pages=53–55}}</ref>

In 1838, under Muhsin bin Fadl, Lahej ceded {{convert|194|km2|abbr=on}} including Aden to the [[British Empire|British]]. On 19 January 1839, the [[British East India Company]] landed [[Royal Marines]] at Aden to secure the territory and stop attacks by pirates against British shipping to India. In 1850 it was declared a [[free trade]] port, with the liquor, salt, arms, and [[Opium Wars|opium trades]] developing duties as it won all the coffee trade from [[Mokha]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Great Britain Hydrographic Dept|title=The Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Pilot|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EVDNAAAAMAAJ&pg=PR1|year=1900|edition=5th|publisher=Order of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty|page=348}}</ref> The port lies about equidistant from the [[Suez Canal]], [[Bombay]], and [[Zanzibar]], which were all important [[British possessions]]. Aden had been an [[entrepôt]] and a way-station for ships in the ancient world. There, supplies, particularly water, were replenished, so, in the mid-19th century, it became necessary to replenish [[coal]] and boiler water. Thus Aden acquired a [[Coaling Station|coaling station]] at Steamer Point and Aden was to remain under British control until November 1967.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}
[[File:Aden British Forces Headquarters.jpg|left|thumb|Photograph showing the headquarters of the British Forces in Aden (in Barrack Hill, Steamer Point). The R.A.F. Hospital is seen in the background. Cropped from a postcard published c. 1935.]]
Until 1937, Aden was governed as part of [[British Raj|British India]] and was known as the [[Aden Settlement]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Robbins |first=Robert R. |date=1939 |title=The Legal Status of Aden Colony and the Aden Protectorate |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2192881 |journal=The American Journal of International Law |volume=33 |issue=4 |pages=700–715 |doi=10.2307/2192881 |jstor=2192881 |issn=0002-9300}}</ref> Its original territory was enlarged in 1857 by the {{convert|13|km2|abbr=on}} island of [[Perim]], in 1868 by the {{convert|73|km2|abbr=on}} [[Khuriya Muriya Islands]], and in 1915 by the {{convert|108|km2|abbr=on}} island of [[Kamaran]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} The settlement would become [[Aden Province]] in 1935.<ref name=":1" />
[[File:Bombing of Aden gate march 1963.jpg|thumb|Bab Aden demolition in March 1963 under the pretext of expanding the road.]]
In 1937, the settlement was detached from India and became the [[Aden Colony|Colony of Aden]], a British [[Crown colony]]. The change in government was a step towards the change in the official currency unit. When [[British India]] became independent in 1947, Indian [[rupee]]s (divided into [[Indian anna|annas]]) were replaced in Aden by [[East African shilling]]s. The [[hinterland]] of Aden and [[Hadhramaut]] were also loosely tied to Britain as the [[Aden Protectorate]], which was overseen from Aden.

Aden's location also made it a useful ''[[entrepôt]]'' for [[mail]] passing between places around the [[Indian Ocean]] and Europe. Thus, a ship passing from [[Suez]] to [[Mumbai|Bombay]] could leave mail for [[Mombasa]] at Aden for collection (See ''[[Postage stamps and postal history of Aden]]'').[[File:Mualla Main Road.JPG|thumb|Mualla Main Road, 1963. Vehicles at the time were righthand drive and drove on the left, in the British custom until 1977.]]The [[1947 Aden riots]] saw more than 80 Jews killed, their property looted and schools burned by a Muslim mob. After the [[Suez Crisis]] in 1956, Aden became the main location in the region for the British.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

Aden sent a team of two to the [[1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games]] in [[Perth, Western Australia]].{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}