The 1849 Ottoman Conquest of Sana'a and Zaidi Resistance

Episode 63 of The History of Yemen turns to the mid-19th century, when the Ottoman Empire, having failed to hold Yemen centuries earlier, launched a second attempt. In 1849, an Ottoman expedition under Tawfiq Pasha marched on Sana'a, exploiting internal Zaidi divisions. The episode focuses on the brief Ottoman occupation of the city, the betrayal by Imam al-Mutawakkil Muhammad al-Yaman, and the fierce resistance led by the Hashid and Bakil tribes. It covers the siege of Sana'a, the Ottoman retreat to Tihama, and the subsequent decades of Zaidi revival under Imam al-Mansur al-Qasim's grandson, al-Mutawakkil al-Mutahhar. The conversation also touches on the Anglo-Ottoman rivalry in the Red Sea, the strategic port of Hudaydah, and the 1856 treaty that left the Ottomans clinging to the coast. This episode bridges the earlier Ottoman episode (Ep 59) and the later 19th-century crises that set the stage for the 20th-century imamate.

#History #FexingoHistory #Yemen #OttomanEmpire #Sanaa #Zaidi #1849 #Tihama #Hudaydah #Hashid #Bakil #ImamMuhammadalYaman #TawfiqPasha #RedSea #BritishEmpire #YemenHistory #OttomanYemen #MiddleEastHistory

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