Draft:Battle Of Zeila (1841)

The battle of Zeila (1841),was a confrontation between the Ottoman governor of Zeila and the fleet of Sharmarke Ali Saleh,an isaaq nobleman and trader known as the “African Rothchild” due to his immense wealth.

Background
As a tributary of Mocha, which in turn was part of the Ottoman possessions in Western Arabia, the port of Zeila had seen several men placed as governors over the years. The Ottomans based in Yemen held nominal authority of Zeila when Haji Sharmarke Ali Saleh, who was 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 inorder to plan an assault on the city

Prelude
With the town rights bought by Sharmarke,and Syed Mohammed refusing to give up his power,Sharmarke sailed two ships equipped with 2-4 cannons and around 50 Somali Musketmen. He reached Zeila and tried to negotiate with Syed Mohammed,though these have failed,Sharmarke started to prepare for an assault on the city.

Battle
Sharmarke initially directed his cannons at the city walls which frightened Al Barr's followers and caused them to abandon their posts. The remaining fighters were defeated and routed after a short battle and sharmarke immediately deposed the defeated governor,Claiming the City for himself.