Aden's Early History
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Little is known about Aden during the early centuries of Islamic history. Historians report that Ali al-Suleyhi added Aden and its hinterland to his sphere of influence during the early years of the Suleyhi kingdom.
When Arwa Bint Ahmed was married to Ali's son al Mukarram, she received as a dowry a yearly revenue from Aden, amounting to 100,000 gold dinars (the high amount sheds light on the prosperity of the port). Aden was by this time ruled by the Bani Zurrey. The rule of the Bani Zurrey ended in 1174 when the Ayyubites, arriving from Egypt conquered most of Yemen.
After 1175 AD, rebuilding in a more solid form began, and ever since Aden became 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.
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When the Portuguese sailor Vasco da Gama discovered the route around the Cape of Good Hope in 1497 AD, he had opened a new chapter in the history of the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Only sixteen years later, another Portuguese captain Affonso d'Albuquerque had comprehended the strategic significance of Aden and tried to conquer it. But in vain. Aden was a well fortified city under the rule of the Bani Taher.
Alarmed by the presence of the Portuguese, the Egyptian Mamlukes occupied the Yemeni Tihama, but failed to conquer Aden like the Portuguese before.
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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 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
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It was by treachery that Aden finally fell into the hands of Pasha al-Khadim, Commander of the fleet of Suleman the Magnificent in 1538 AD. The same year marked the beginning of the first occupation of Yemen by the Ottoman Turks.
The first European to give a first hand description on Aden at the beginning of the 16th century, was the Italian Ludovico di Varthema. He writes: "Aden is such mighty and powerful that I have hardly seen another city of its might during my life . . . . all big ships anchor at the port coming from India Ethiopia or Persia".
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In 1609 The Ascension was the first English ship to visit Aden, before sailing on to Mocha during the Fourth voyage of the East India Company. After Ottoman rule, Aden was ruled by the Sultanate of Lahej, under suzerainty of the Zaidi imams of Yemen.
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Aden's modern history begins with the occupation of the harbour by the British Captain Stafford Bettesworth Haines of the Indian Navy in 1839. Under Turkish Occupation and later under the rule of the Sultan of Lahej, Aden had declined to a small fishing village with only 600 inhabitants. However, within a few years, under the guidance of Haines, the population increased again to some 20,000 inhabitants.
Aden remained under British rule, and propsered, until 1967 when it became the capital of the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen on November 30, 1967.