The British are looking for a coal…
1828 CE to 1839 CE
It takes seven hundred tons of coal for a round-trip from Suez to Bombay.
East India Company officials decide on Aden.
The British Empire tries to reach an agreement with the Zaydi imam of Sana'a, permitting them a foothold in Mocha, and when unable to secure their position, they extract a similar agreement from the Sultan of Lahej, enabling them to consolidate a position in Aden.
An incident plays into British hands when, while passing Aden for trading purposes, one of their sailing ships sinks and Arab tribesmen board it and plunder its contents.
The British India government dispatched a warship under the command of Captain Stafford Bettesworth Haines to demand compensation.
Haines bombards Aden from his warship in January 1839.
The ruler of Lahej, who is in Aden at the time, orders his guards to defend the port, but they fail in the face of overwhelming military and naval power.
The British manage to occupy Aden and agree to compensate the sultan with an annual payment of six thousand riyals.
The British evict the Sultan of Lahej from Aden and force him to accept their "protection.
In November 1839, five thousand tribesmen try to retake the town, but are repulsed and two hundred are killed.
The British realize that Aden's prosperity depends on their relations with the neighboring tribes, which require that they rest on a firm and satisfactory basis.
Locations
Groups
Arab people
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Zaidiyyah
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Ottoman Empire
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Yemen, Ottoman eyalet of
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Yemeni Zaidi State
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Lahej, Sultanate of
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East India Company, British (United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies)
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India, East India Company rule in
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Britain (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland)
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Aden, Settlement of
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Commodities
Regions
The Near and Middle East
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