Page 103 - Arabiab Studies (IV)

Foreign Interventions and Occupations of Kamaran I. 93
disease during his stay on Kamaran and before leaving he
destroyed the fortress on the island to prevent the Arabs from
using it.
Evidently Kamaran and the neighbouring coastal region were
far better provided than they arc today. Not only was the island in
a position to provide both fruit and vegetables but Albuquerque
advised the Portuguese king to ‘establish yourself on the Red Sea
and the riches you will have are unbelievable’.26
Two years later, in 1515, the Egyptian Mamluks decided upon
the occupation of Yemen and an army sailed from Suez under the
command of Salman al-Ruml and Husayn Turk!. From Jlzan news
was sent to the Tahirid Sultan of their arrival to fight the
Portuguese—for which money, munitions and provisions would be
required. The Sultan sent no reply so when the Egyptians reached
Kamaran a fresh attempt was made to obtain his co-operation.
Presents were sent to both the Sultan and his son ‘Abd al-Wahhab,
but to no avail. The Egyptians had no choice other than to launch
a raid from Kamaran against al-Hudaydah for supplies. Grain and
timber were seized, then al-Hudaydah was destroyed.27 A large
mosque and fort were constructed on Kamaran with the timber.
It was from their base on Kamaran that the Egyptians under­
took their occupation of Yemen. When the ruler of al-Luhayyah,
Faqlh Abu Bakr b. Muqbil al-Zayla‘I heard of the Egyptian
presence he went to Kamaran offering to open up the interior from
al-Luhayyah to the Egyptian army. The offer was accepted and a
hundred Mamluks accompanied his forces to Mawr where a battle
ensued against the Sultan’s forces under Amin Muhammad b.
Sulayman b. Jayyash. The latter were defeated. The Egyptians
were aided by the Zaydiyyah tribesmen who saw an opportunity to
overcome their enemies, the tribesmen of al-Patu: they visited
Husayn Turkl on Kamaran, concluded an agreement and
combined with Egyptian forces and then occupied, plundered and
burnt al-Pahl, where the Egyptians under Husayn advanced and
occupied Zabld, the Tahirid capital.28
Having occupied Yemen the Mamluks appear to have aban­
doned Kamaran. In 1517 Albuquerque’s successor, Lopo Soarez de
Albergia, forced Aden to submit, but instead of landing there he
took pilots on board and sailed for Jeddah where he was repulsed
and returned southwards, hotly pursued by Salman. Off the coast
of al-Luhayyah Salman caught a Portuguese grab and a number of
Soarez’s men.29 Soarez himself managed to escaped to Kamaran
where he stayed for three months during which he demolished the
Egyptian fort.30 In the course of his stay most of his men died from
disease.31 From Kamaran he attacked and burned Zayla‘. He then