Antiquity Aden is an ancient port and was mentioned by the Greeks under the name (), which means an Arabic trade port. The port's convenient position on the sea route between India and Europe has made Aden desirable to rulers who sought to possess it at various times throughout history. Known as
Eudaemon (, meaning "blissful, prosperous") in the 1st century BC, it was a transshipping point for the Red Sea trade, but fell on hard times when new shipping practices by-passed it and made the daring direct crossing to India in the 1st century AD, according to the
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. The same work describes Aden as "a village by the shore", which would well describe the town of Crater while it was still little developed. There is no mention of fortification at this stage. Aden was more an island than a peninsula, as the
isthmus (a
tombolo) was not then so developed as it is today. Aden was explicitly mentioned by this name in the
Book of Ezekiel, which talks about Jerusalem, and it says:"The merchants of
Sheba and Raamah are your merchants. They set up your markets with the finest perfumes and every precious stone and gold. Harran, Qena, and Aden are the merchants of Sheba, and Assyria and Kilmud are your merchants."At its beginning, the city was a small peninsula with no significant natural resources, but its location between Egypt and India made it important in the ancient Indian Ocean trade route. The city was the home of the ancient Kingdom of Awsan from the eighth to seventh centuries BC. In the beginning of the seventh century BC,
Karibʾil Watar I, king of the Kingdom of Sheba, launched a campaign against Awsan during which, according to the Sabaean texts, sixteen thousand people were killed, forty thousand people were enslaved, and the kings of
Awsan made offerings to the god
Almaqah, according to the inscription that Karibʾil Watar I left in
Sirwah, commemorating his victory. In the second half of the first century BC, the Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar determined to control Arabia Felix and reach the Indian Ocean. Aelius Gallus' Roman expedition to Arabia Felix (26–25 BCE) aimed to capture the Sabaean capital of Marib but failed due to extreme desert conditions, disease, and logistical challenges. After an unsuccessful week-long siege, the army, weakened by illness and dehydration, withdrew, losing most of its ~10,000 troops to environmental factors and disease" The Himyarites overthrew the Kingdom of Sheba in 275 AD and took control of Aden. Recent incomplete archaeological studies suggest that the Himyarites were the ones who built the huge water cisterns currently known as the "Cisterns of Aden", which stored approximately 136,382,757 litres of water. The Himyarite Kingdom fell in the first quarter of the sixth century AD. Yusuf Dhu Nuwas mentioned Bab al-Mandab in one of his writings. The forces of the Kingdom of Aksum were entering Yemen through it. The
Byzantine Emperor
Justinian I sent a fleet to fight the Himyarite Jews and support the Kingdom of Aksum and the Christians of Najran. The fleet entered through Aden. Byzantine sources indicate that the
Sasanian Empire took control of the city in 571 AD. A local legend in Yemen states that Aden may be as old as human history itself. Some also believe that
Cain and Abel are buried somewhere in the city.
Medieval history Although the pre-Islamic
Himyar civilisation was capable of building large structures, there seems to have been little fortification at this stage. Fortifications at Mareb and other places in Yemen and the
Hadhramaut make it clear that both the Himyar and the
Sabean cultures were well capable of it. Thus, watchtowers, since destroyed, are possible. However, the Arab historians
Ibn al Mujawir and Abu Makhramah attribute the first fortification of Aden to Beni Zuree'a. Abu Makhramah has also included a detailed biography of Muhammad Azim Sultan Qamarbandi Naqsh in his work, Tarikh ul-Yemen. The aim seems to have been twofold: to keep hostile forces out and to maintain revenue by controlling the movement of goods, thereby preventing smuggling. In its original form, some of this work was relatively feeble. With the introduction of Islam to Yemen in the seventh century AD, Aden experienced a period of stagnation that lasted until the ninth century AD. It was controlled by the state of
Ziyadid and the
Sulayhid. After the death of
Ali bin Muhammad Al-Sulayhi, his son took charge of
Zurayids, and Aden continued to pay the annual royalty until
Queen Arwa bint Ahmed Al-Sulayhi reduced it. After the fall of the Sulayhid state, the Banu Zurayi became independent in Aden, taking advantage of the Sulayhids' preoccupation with the
Khawlan tribes. The Zurayites continued to rule Aden, Lahj, and Abyan for less than forty years until they fell under the Ayyubids' control of the city. A major battle took place between
Turan Shah bin Ayyub and Yasser bin Bilal al-Muhammadi, Minister of State, and the Zurayiyyah were defeated and al-Muhammadi fled to Taiz. One of the most important contributors to the defeat of the Zurayids was their ongoing wars with the Bani Mahdi in
Tihama and the departure of their army to confront the Ayyubids instead of fortifying themselves in Aden. After 1175, rebuilding in a more solid form began, and ever since then Aden has been 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. It was visited by the medieval scholar
Ibn Battuta in the 14th century, who described Aden's reservoirs, the
Cisterns of Tawila, "These reservoirs accumulate rainwater for the sole purpose of drinking for the city's citizens." During the Ayyubid period in Yemen,
Sanaa and its environs were more hostile to their presence than other regions. The Zaidi tribes were able to defeat the Ayyubids in 1226, but Omar bin Rasul, the founder of the
Rasulid state, was able to repel them, so he tightened his control over Aden. The city regained its position during the days of the Rasulids, so they dug wells and built schools, and Aden flourished commercially. The kings of Bani Rasul were also merchants and enacted a number of laws and regulations to codify trade in the city. The Banu Tahir were able to control Aden after the Banu Rasool, and the Italian traveller
Lodovico di Verthama describes it as one of the most powerful cities seen on Earth during the days of the
Tahirids. and viceroy
Afonso de Albuquerque failed twice to
capture Aden in 1513. In 1513, the Portuguese, led by
Afonso de Albuquerque, launched an unsuccessful four-day naval
siege of Aden. The Mamluks in Egypt sensed the danger and sent a force led by Hussein al-Kurdi. The victorious King Amer bin Abdul Wahhab provided great aid to the Kurds, but he suffered a heavy defeat in the Battle of Diu. The Mamluks sent a second fleet, but the victorious king refused to cooperate with the Mamluks because he had succeeded in repelling the Portuguese from Aden without their help. Hussein al-Kurdi became angry and allied with the Zaidi Imam, who was opposed to the Tahirids, al-Mutawakkil Sharaf al-Din, and the Tahirid cities fell successively, with the exception of Aden. The Ottoman Empire took control of the city in 1538. The Ottomans' goal was to prevent the Portuguese from controlling Aden, so the city witnessed difficult days, in addition to the fact that the port of Mocha gained greater importance at the expense of Aden during the sixteenth century. The city's population declined and it turned into a small village with a population of no more than 600 people. While its population was approximately eighty thousand people during the days of the Rasulid state. 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. After
Ottoman rule, Aden was ruled by the
Sultanate of Lahej, under suzerainty of the Zaidi imams of Yemen. The first political intercourse between Lahej and the British took place in 1799, when a naval force was sent from Great Britain, with a detachment of troops from India, to occupy the island of Perim and prevent all communication of the French in Egypt with the Indian Ocean, by way of the Red Sea. The island of Perim was found unsuitable for troops, and the Sultan of Lahej, Ahmed bin Abdul Karim, received the detachment for some time at Aden. He proposed to enter into an alliance and to grant Aden as a permanent station, but the offer was declined. A Treaty was, however, concluded with the Sultan in 1802 by Admiral Sir Home Popham, who was instructed to enter into political and commercial alliances with the chief rulers on the Arabian coast of the Red Sea.
Modern history The situation was different in the north of the country, where the
Zaidis did not recognise the authority of the Ottomans and revolted against them many times, the most recent of which was the revolution of
Imam Al-Mansur Billah Al-Qasim bin Muhammad bin Al-Qasim, who and his son ''Al-Mu'ayyad Billah Muhammad
were able to unite the tribes and expel the Ottomans. The imams relied on the revenues from the port of Mocha, and Aden was not as important as the Abadlahs were. At the end of the eighteenth century, Sultan Fadl al-Abdali'' concluded an alliance with the
Yafi tribes to rebel against the Zaidi imams and monopolise Aden's revenues equally among them. The Sultan of
Lahej got rid of the imams, but he did not fulfil his promise to Yafa. The Zaidi imams did not recognise inheritance and saw fighting for the imamate, so the war between
Al-Nasir Muhammad bin Ishaq and
Al-Mansur Al-Hussein bin Al-Mutawakkil prolonged, so Al-Abdali took the opportunity to declare his independence in Lahej and Aden. The English had been visiting Aden and Mocha from 1609, led by
Sir Henry Middleton, who was imprisoned, his ships confiscated, and eight of his men killed. Then the Fadl family attacked Aden in 1836.
British administration 1839–1967 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. British interests in Aden began in 1796 with
Napoleon's invasion of Egypt, after which a British fleet docked at Aden for several months at the invitation of the sultan. The French were defeated in Egypt in 1801, and their
privateers were tracked down over the subsequent decade. By 1800, Aden was a small village with a population of 600 Arabs,
Somalis, Jews, and Indians—housed for the most part in huts of reed matting erected among ruins recalling a vanished era of wealth and prosperity. As there was little British trade in the Red Sea, most British politicians until the 1830s had no further interest in the area beyond the suppression of piracy. However, a small number of government officials and the
East India Company officials thought that a British base in the area was necessary to prevent another French advance through Egypt or
Russian expansion through Persia. The emergence of
Muhammad Ali of Egypt as a strong local ruler only increased their concerns. The governor of
Bombay from 1834 to 1838,
Sir Robert Grant, was one of those who believed that India could only be protected by preemptively seizing "places of strength" to protect the Indian Ocean. The Red Sea increased in importance after the steamship sailed from Bombay to the
Suez isthmus in 1830, stopping at Aden with the sultan's consent to resupply with
coal. Although cargo was still carried around the
Cape of Good Hope in sailing ships, a steam route to the Suez could provide a much quicker option for transporting officials and important communications. Grant felt that armed ships steaming regularly between Bombay and Suez would help secure British interests in the region and did all he could to progress his vision. After lengthy negotiations due to the costs of investing in the new technology, the government agreed to pay half the costs for six voyages per year and the East India Company board approved the purchase of two new steamers in 1837. Grant immediately announced that monthly voyages to Suez would take place, despite the fact that no secure coal supplying station had been found. The British first stationed a coal depot on the island of
Socotra in 1834. However, due to the lack of suitable infrastructure there, they quickly lost interest in Socotra and turned towards Aden instead. In 1838, under Muhsin bin Fadl, Lahej ceded including Aden to the
British. On 19 January 1839, the
British East India Company landed
Royal Marines at Aden to definitively conquer the territory (the so-called
Aden Expedition) and stop attacks by pirates against British shipping to India. In 1850 it was declared a
free trade port, with the liquor, salt, arms, and
opium trades developing duties as it won all the coffee trade from
Mokha. The port lies about equidistant from the
Suez Canal,
Bombay, and
Zanzibar, which were all important
British possessions. Aden had been an
entrepôt and a way-station for ships in the ancient world. There, supplies, particularly water, were replenished, so, in the mid-19th century, it became necessary to replenish
coal and boiler water. Thus Aden acquired a
coaling station at Steamer Point and Aden was to remain under British control until November 1967. Until 1937, Aden was governed as part of
British India and was known as the
Aden Settlement. Its original territory was enlarged in 1857 by the island of
Perim, in 1868 by the
Khuriya Muriya Islands, and in 1915 by the island of
Kamaran. The settlement would become
Aden Province in 1935. After the
Suez Crisis in 1956, the British held on to Aden as an outpost in the region for another decade. The British authorities had already decided to further expand its port shortly before the
Suez Canal's 1956 closure. In 1964, Britain announced its intention to grant independence to the FSA in 1968, but that British troops would remain in Aden. The security situation deteriorated as NLF and FLOSY (
Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen) vied for the upper hand. In January 1967, there were mass riots between the NLF and their rival FLOSY supporters in the old Arab quarter of Aden town. This conflict continued until mid February, despite the intervention of British troops. On 20 June 1967, 23 British Army soldiers were ambushed and shot dead by members of Aden Police during the Aden Mutiny in the Crater District. During the period there were as many attacks on the British troops by both sides as against each other culminating in the destruction of an
Aden Airways DC3 plane in the air with no survivors. The increased violence was a determining factor in the British ensuring all families were evacuated more quickly than initially intended, as recorded in
From Barren Rocks to Living Stones. On 30 November 1967, British troops were evacuated, leaving Aden and the rest of the FSA under NLF control. The
Royal Marines, who had been the first British troops to arrive in Aden in 1839, were almost the last to leave, followed only by the
10 Airfields Squadron of the
Royal Engineers, which left Aden on 13 December 1967. Helicopters of aircraft carrier , part of a
Royal Navy task force, lifted off the Royal Marine commandos who had been left to secure the airfield.
Post-independence The last British soldier left Aden on 30 November 1967, and the
National Liberation Front had the upper hand at the expense of the Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen, whose members were divided between joining the National Front or leaving for North Yemen, so Abdullah Al-Asanj and Muhammad Basindwa left for North Yemen. Qahtan al-Sha'bi assumed the presidency of the new state, and the sheikhdoms of the Eastern Protectorate of Hadramaut and Al-Mahra were annexed to the new state. Al-Shaabi took over a new country with a collapsed economy. Civilian workers and businessmen left, and British support ceased. The closure of the Suez Canal in 1967 played an important role in the country's economy, as it reduced the number of ships crossing Aden by 75%. The new state was divided into six governorates on 11 December 1967, in order to end the manifestations of tribalism in the state and ignore the tribal borders between the defunct sheikhdoms. On March 20, 1968, Qahtan dismissed all leftist leaders from the government and party membership. He was able to put down a rebellion led by leftist factions in the army in May of the same year, and faced new rebellions from leftist parties in July, August and December 1968. This is because all Arab countries welcomed the front. National Liberation received a cold reception. Regimes like Egypt wanted to merge the National Front with the
Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen, where the leftist section was more numerous than the supporters of the popular Qahtan. They wanted a regime that would lead the masses and face the great challenges facing the new state, the most important of which was the bankruptcy of the treasury. next to the "Freedom statue" in al-Oroud Square Qahtan al-Shaabi dismissed Interior Minister Muhammad Ali Haitham on 16 June 1969, but the latter, with his ties to the tribes and the army, reassembled the leftist forces that had been dispersed by President Qahtan al-Shaabi, and they were able to place him under house arrest on 22 June. A presidential committee was formed from Five people: Salem Rabie Ali, who became president, Muhammad Saleh Al-Awlaki, Ali Antar, Abdel Fattah Ismail, and Muhammad Ali Haitham, who became prime minister. This group took an extreme leftist line, declaring its support for the Palestinians and the Dhofar Revolution, and strengthening its relationship with the Soviet Union. West Germany severed its relationship with the state due to its recognition of East Germany, and the United States also severed its relationship in October 1969. The new powers issued a new constitution, nationalised foreign banks and insurance companies, and changed the name of the country to the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen in line with the Marxist–Leninist approach they followed. A centrally planned economy was established. The port of Aden was the largest source of national income for the Republic of South Yemen, but the closure of the Suez Canal by Egypt between 1967 and 1975 – reduced commercial activities in the port. Salem Rubaya Ali wanted to adopt a practical approach, so he communicated with the President of North Yemen, Ibrahim al-Hamdi, and made attempts to restore normal relations with Western countries. During his presidency, relations between South Yemen and Saudi Arabia were established in 1976. President Salmin, as he is known, coveted more Soviet support, so the contract with Saudi Arabia worried him. The Soviets pushed them to increase aid, but relations with Saudi Arabia became strained again in 1977 following the assassination of North Yemeni President Ibrahim al-Hamdi. It is believed that Salem Rabie Ali orchestrated the assassination of Ahmed Hussein al-Ghashmi in revenge for Ibrahim al-Hamdi. Salem Rabie Ali was subjected to a quick trial that ended with his execution and Abdel Fattah Ismail assuming the presidency of South Yemen. Relations with North Yemen became tense, due to Fattah's support for the factions opposing Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was more fanatical than his predecessors. Relations with the Soviet Union became active in an unprecedented way, so the Front War broke out in 1978, in which the Soviet Union and the United States intervened. Ali Nasser Muhammad was able to force Abd al-Fattah Ismail al-Jawfi to resign for "health reasons", and Ismail was exiled to Moscow two years after he assumed the presidency. Despite the approach of the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen and its removal of tribal aspects, tribalism remained alive among politicians and the public despite the exposure of its sheikhs. Tribes from their authorities. Tribal and regional favouritism and nepotism remained rife in southern Yemen, as political forces called on their tribal and regional affiliations during crises. '' in Aden with the flag of the ruling
Yemeni Socialist Party hanging above it, 1989 By January 1986, Aden was torn apart by the rivalry of two factions in the ruling Socialist Party, when President Ali Nasser Muhammad's guards launched a surprise attack on the political party's office in Aden on 13 January 1986. This was the beginning of the 1986 civil war in South Yemen. The basis of the war was regional. Ali Nasser Muhammad was from Abyan Governorate, while most of those killed in the political party office were from Al-Dhalea and Lahj. Military brigades from those areas bombed Aden from land and sea, forcing Ali Nasser Muhammad to flee and hundreds of thousands of civilians and soldiers to flee to northern Yemen, including
Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi. This was followed by systematic killings and liquidations against the people of Abyan Governorate, on charges that they were collaborating with Ali Nasser Muhammad. Nearly ten thousand people were killed, and thousands migrated towards North Yemen, most of whom were from Abyan and Shabwa. That war marked the end of the state of the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, and
Haider Abu Bakr Al-Attas assumed the presidency until May 22, 1990, the
unity of South Yemen with North Yemen, and the establishment of the Republic of Yemen. At that time,
Ali Salem al-Beidh was considered
Ali Abdullah Saleh's deputy, and Haider Abu Bakr Al-Attas was considered
prime minister, and after the
1993 elections. Conflicts began within the ruling coalition, and Vice President Ali Salem Al-Beidh retreated to Aden in August 1993. The general security situation in the country deteriorated, and the complete integration of the two armies failed. The southern forces, which were transferred to
Amran, clashed with the northern forces there, and the forces of the northern giants, which were transferred to Amran, clashed. Abyan with the southern forces, and the political parties signed the
1994 Covenant and Agreement, in the Jordanian capital, on February 20, 1994, in an attempt to end the crisis, and successive events led to the outbreak of the Summer
1994 civil war, and the southern military leaders who fled after the events of 1986 joined the ranks of the forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and supported the Unity Army in the war against their former comrades in 1994 in the war against the separatists. At the forefront of these emerged a group of the brightest officers, such as Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, who became Minister of Defense at the time; the former Chief of Staff, Major General Abdullah Aliwa; and Major General Salem Qatan, who was assassinated by an Al-Qaeda gunman. After the war, Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi was appointed Vice President of the Republic, and remained in office. He held his position until 2012, when he was elected president of the country. , Aden, in 2010 Members of al Qaeda attempted to bomb the US guided-missile destroyer
The Sullivans at the port of Aden as part of the
2000 millennium attack plots. The boat that had the explosives in it sank, forcing the planned attack to be aborted. The
bombing attack on destroyer USS Cole took place in Aden on 12 October 2000. In 2007 growing dissatisfaction with unification led to the formation of the secessionist
South Yemen Movement. According to
The New York Times, the Movement's mainly underground leadership includes socialists, Islamists and individuals desiring a return to the perceived benefits of the
People's Democratic Republic of Yemen.
Temporary capital and civil war , Aden, in 2013 Aden remained in a state of political stagnation for 25 years until President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi took refuge there and carried out his work from the Republican Palace in Aden. On 7 March 2015, Hadi declared Aden the temporary capital, instead of
Sanaa, which he described as occupied by the Houthis. This was after the Houthis took control of Sanaa on 21 September 2014, and imposed a siege on the Republican Palace and the home of President Hadi on 20 January. On 22 January, Hadi submitted his resignation to Parliament; it did not hold a session to accept or reject the resignation, and Hadi remained under house arrest imposed by the Houthis. Until he was able to leave for Aden on 21 February 2015, he retracted his resignation, and gave a statement in which he said: "All decisions taken since September 21 are invalid and have no legitimacy." President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi fled to Aden, his hometown, in February 2015 after being deposed in the
coup d'état that many consider to be the start of the
Yemeni civil war. Others consider that the civil war began in September 2014 when Houthi forces
took over the capital city Sanaa, which was followed by a rapid
Houthi takeover of the government. Hadi declared in Aden that he was still Yemen's legitimate president and called on state institutions and loyal officials to relocate to Aden. In a televised speech on 21 March 2015, he declared Aden to be Yemen's "economic and temporary capital" while Sanaa is controlled by the
Houthis. Aden was hit by violence in the
aftermath of the coup d'état, with forces loyal to Hadi clashing with those loyal to former president
Ali Abdullah Saleh in a
battle for
Aden International Airport on 19 March 2015. After the airport battle, the entire city became a battleground for the
Battle of Aden, which left large parts of the city in ruins and has killed at least 198 people since 25 March 2015. Some Arab and foreign embassies were transferred to Aden, and Defense Minister Mahmoud Al-Subaihi was able to leave Sanaa for Aden and met with President Hadi. On March 4, 2016, unidentified gunmen stormed the Mother Teresa House in the city and killed sixteen people, including four nuns. A number of the old city's churches have also been destroyed by Islamic extremists since mid-2015. On 14 July 2015, the
Saudi Arabian Army launched an offensive to win control of the city. Within three days, the city was cleared of
Houthi rebels, ending the Battle of Aden with a coalition victory. Beginning on 28 January 2018, separatists loyal to the
Southern Transitional Council (STC) seized control of the Yemeni government headquarters in Aden in a
coup d'état against the Hadi-led government. On 30 December 2020, the undersecretary of labour and deputy minister of public works were
killed along with between 20 and 30 others at the Aden airport while they conducted an international press briefing about their new arrangements with the STC, which includes the partition of forces inside Aden, as they returned from hiding in the Saudi capital. Prime Minister
Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed, his ministers and his entourage were conducted to safety under the barrage of hostile fire. On 7 January 2026, the
Yemeni government forces managed to
control Aden following the collapse of the Southern Transitional Council. == Culture ==