Page 209 - Arabian Studies (II)

1

Vie First Days of British Aden 201

The fortifications on the Mansuri range and Jabal Shamsan (p. 194) may go
back to the end of the twelfth century but most of the walls and towers are
clearly Turkish. The road leading to the top of Jabal Shamsan is described by
Commander Haines with admiration. ‘It commences at about 900 or 1000 feet
above the elevation of the sea and is built of large loose stone ... beautifully laid
... It is about 10 or 12 feet broad and built in a zig-zag direction up the
mountain, the angle of elevation varying from 20 to 40 degree, its whole length
to the summit I should imagine between 5 and 6000 feet.*
The aqueduct (p. 191) led from a series of wells ai Shaykli ‘Uthman to the
foot of Jabal HadTd and was built or possibly rebuilt by al-Malik ‘Abd al-Waha
ibn Tahir at the beginning of the 16th century. It was restored by Commander
Haines. The tanks (p. 195) are the famous tanks at TawTlah described by Salt in
1809, and recommended for clearance by Haines.
The Main Pass (the Northern Gateway or Bab al-Yaman (p. 187) is or was
(1951) extremely narrow, about 10 feet wide at its narrowest part and about
100 yards long, and so curved that one could not see through it. It was probably
fortified at the same time as the Turkish wall, soon after the Turkish occupation
in 1538. It is described, apparently in its pristine condition, by the English sailor
John Jourdain (1609). He said it was heavily fortified ‘with yron grates to take
up and down at their pleasure, and within this gate, there are twoe other gates,
one a prettie distance one within another; these two gates are of timber, with
greate nails as thicke as they can stand; and the reason why this gate is stronger
than the other is because this is the easiest way for any enemie to assault the
cittie, having no other good entrance but over the rocks by the sea.’ However by
the time of Leigh’s visit those elaborate defences were no longer in existence.
After the British occupation the gate was repaired and the arch above it linking
the defence walls on either side rebuilt.
It is rather strange that Leigh makes no mention of the Camel Tunnel, also
called the Bab al-Barr (The Land Gate) and later the Water Gate. It was beside the
cistern and the end of the aqueduct of Jabal HadTd.
The fortifications on STrah Island (p. 189) were first built by the AmTr Marjan
the Governor of the town, in the early sixteenth century and are mentioned by
Albuquerque: ‘In this harbour lies a little island of sharp rock, with not a blade
of grass upon it, separated from the City and this the Moors call Cirah; the which
has a mole or mass of wall crossing the harbour and sheltering the ships under it
from the East Wind, which when it comes, is so furious that they suffer greatly
from its effects; and at the head of this mole they have a tower and a bastion
both very strong.’ The fortifications were strengthened by the Turks after they
had occupied Aden in 1538, and the island is described by Jourdain as having
‘strong walls and platformes in it with good store of ordinance.’ However by the
time of Wellsted and Leigh, owing to lack of maintenance, they were no longer
formidable. The round tower was occupied but the walls of the triangular fort
on the summit were ruinous and the guns were honeycombed. After the British
occupation the remains of the old walls were removed and gun emplacements
constructed.
The cemetery from which Leigh took two marble tombstones is the Turkish
cemetery on the south side of the town. In the words of Haines, ‘Many of the