Battle of Ash-Shihr (1523)

The Battle of Ash-Shihr was an attack launched by the Portuguese navy in 1523 on the city of Ash-Shihr which was a part of the Kathiri Sultanate.

Background
Portugal's pretext for invading the city of Al-Shihr was to recover the property of a Portuguese merchant that had been seized by the ruler of the city of Al-Shihr, Prince Mutran bin Mansour. On the other hand, the continuous support for the city of Al-Shihr caused the Tahirid state to remain steadfast in Aden against the Portuguese forces, who aimed to invade the city of Al-Shihr to cut off the resistance's supply lines in Aden.

A Portuguese fleet consisting of eight warships arrived from Portuguese India to Shihr on Thursday morning, the ninth of the month of Rabi’ al-Awwal in the year 929 AH (29 January 1523 AD). The Portuguese commander Luís de Meneses sent to the ruler of Shihr, Prince Mutran bin Mansur, demanding from Sultan Badr Abo Tuairq al-Kathiri the property of a Portuguese person whom he claimed that he died in Ash-Shihr, as the Sultan seized his estate. The Portuguese commander requested that the deceased person be handed over to him immediately, otherwise he would take them by force. This request was the Portuguese reason for the invasion of Al-Shahr. Prince Mutran denied knowledge of the deceased person and his state, and told the Portuguese commander that Sultan Badr was in Hadhramaut, and that he would return to Ash-Shihr after a few days and present the matter to him. The commander insisted on fulfilling his request, and it became clear to Prince Mutran and the people of Ash-Shihr that the Portuguese were arranging a matter for them, and among other things they had decided. To prepare to fight the Portuguese, whatever the cost. They sent an urgent message to Sultan Badr informing him of the situation. They also sent another message to Prince Atif bin Ali bin Dahdah, commander of the Al-Mishqas region, requesting quick military assistance, because the Al-Shehr garrison had gone to Hadramaut Al-Dakhil, accompanied by Sultan Badr, and no soldiers remained in Ash-Shihr except some elderly people as guards of some official institutions.

The battle
In Thursday, February 28, 1523 (10 of the month of Rabi’ al-Awwal in the year 929 AH), the Portuguese governor of India, Dom Duarte de Meneses, dispatched his brother, Dom Luís de Meneses, to the Red Sea with a force of 6 galleons. Dom Luis was tasked with delivering an ambassador to the Christian Emperor of Ethiopia and hunting hostile Muslim trade ships sailing between the Indian Ocean and Jeddah. Along the way, he called at the city of Ash-Shihr. The forces invaded the city of Al-Shihr on Friday early in the morning, shooting everyone they encountered, burning homes, warehouses, and panels, and looting shops. The Portuguese soldiers used firearms and the people of the city of Al-Shihr used swords, spears and sticks. The city's defenders attempted to face them on the beaches, but they were routed and the emir Mutran b. Mansur was killed in battle with a bullet.

The Portuguese then successfully assaulted and sacked the town while the inhabitants fled. Shihr was further plundered by the settlement's garrison, and by vagrants. The battle continued for three days between the people of the city of Al-Shihr and the Portuguese forces. The Portuguese forces withdrew on the third day after the arrival of the Al-Mishqas army led by Atif bin Dahdah to support the people of the city of Al-Shihr.

Losses
About 480 residents of the city of Al-Shehr were killed in the battle, in addition to the killing of seven resistance leaders in the city of Al-Sheher:


 * 1) Prince Mutran bin Mansur - Emir of the city of Ash-Shihr
 * 2) Yaqoub bin Saleh Al-Haridi
 * 3) Salem bin Saleh Baaween
 * 4) Hussein bin Abdullah Al-Aidaroos
 * 5) Ahmed bin Radwan ba-Fadl
 * 6) Fadl bin Radwan ba-Fadl

In addition to: Ahmed bin Abdullah Belhaj ba-Fadl, whose family at the time requested that he be buried next to his father in the Dome of Belhaj ba-Fadl.

Cultural significance
The people of Ash-Shihr built the shrine of the Seven Martyrs, and its walls contained illustrations and evidence of the number of people buried there, in commemoration of their memory. Then the shrine became a shrine that people visited every year once or twice, especially on the fourth or fifth day of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. The visits include: popular dances such as the Baraa and the Iddah, the gathering of visitors, the selling of sweets, etc.