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al-Shihr ٱلشِّحْر | |
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Town | |
 Camels on the beach at al-Shihr | |
  al-Shihr Location in Yemen | |
| Coordinates:14°45′39″N49°36′25″E / 14.76083°N 49.60694°E /14.76083; 49.60694 | |
| Country |  Yemen |
| Governorate | Hadhramaut |
| District | al-Shihr |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (Yemen Standard Time) |
Al-Shihr (Arabic:ٱلشِّحْر,romanized: al-Shiḥr), also known asash-Shir or simplyShihr,[1] is a coastal town inHadhramaut, easternYemen.[2] Al-Shihr is a walled town located on a sandy beach. There is an anchorage but no docks; boats are used. The main export isfish oil. The town is divided in two by awādi (dry riverbed) called al-Misyāl. The western quarter is called Majraf and the eastern al-Ramla. As of 1997, it had severalsouqs (markets), including Sūq al-Lakham, Sūq al-Hunūd, and Sūq Shibām.[3]
The history of ash-Shihr (formerly alsoal-Asʿāʾ[4]) can be traced back as far as about AD 780.[4] It was a major port on theincense trade route as an exporter offrankincense to places as far away asChina.[1]Ibn Khurradādhbih calls the area around al-Shihr thebilād al-kundur, Land of Incense.[3] It was also known for itsambergris,ʿanbar Shiḥrī.[3] It was the main port of Hadhramaut until replaced byMukalla in the 19th century.[3]
Local pottery production atYadhghat was exported through al-Shihr, possibly as early as the 10th century. In 980, theentrepôt ofSharma was founded by Persian exiles up the coast from al-Shihr.[5] These rival ports are mentioned together in works ofmedieval Islamic geography. Writing in 985,al-Muqaddasī records that Sharma and ah-Shihr were dependencies of theZiyadid dynasty. About 1150,al-Idrīsī wrote that Sharma and al-Shihr were stopovers on the sailing route fromAden toMirbāṭ and were about one day apart. Around 1300,al-Dimashqī noted that Sharma and al-Shiḥr were the two harbors of Hadhramaut.[6] Al-Shihr is also mentioned byIbn Khaldun in hisal-Muqaddimah.[7]
Politically, al-Shihr has been under theZiyadids (818–981), theBanū Maʿn (11th century), theRasulids (1228–1454) and theTahirids. After a short time, the latter lost it to the sultanate ofKathiri under Badr ibn Tuwayriq in 1462. In the 16th century, it was attacked several times by thePortuguese, who called it Xaer or Xael.[3] There were battles in1523, 1532, 1533, and1548.[8] There are still graves along the shore said to be of victims of the Portuguese.[3]
In 1530, Mustafa Bey andKhoja Zufar arrived at the port of al-Shihr inYemen.[9] TheOttomans advised the Sultan of al-Shihr, Badr, to not submit to the Portuguese and left cannons and 100levends (Ottoman irregular troops) with the Sultan of al-Shihr.[9] Mustafa Bey left al-Shihr in December 1530 while Khoja Zufar remained with Badr.[9] A Portuguese force of 9 sails led by Manoel de Vasconcellos immediately arrived at the port of al-Shihr, however, Khoja Zufar prevented the Portuguese from entering al-Shihr.[10][11][12][13][14][15]
In 1548[16]Dom Álvaro arriving from Goa had it bombarded, albeit with meager results, as he lacked heavy artillery and around 40 Portuguese were killed. Sometime later two large galliots arrived with siege guns, with which the Portuguese were able to batter the walls of the fort heavily, and within a short time, the garrison sent Sulaimân bin Sa'd bin Sulaimân al-Muhammadï who sought to surrender in exchange for freedom, The fort was stormed on April 7 and the Kathiri garrison was entirely slaughtered. The fort was delivered to the Afrar brothers and Sulaimân bin Sa'd was taken prisoner to Goa.[17]
Later, al-Shihr became one of the three major cities of theQu'aiti Sultanate, before a unified Yemen was formed, the other two being Mukalla andShibam.[2]
Carsten Niebuhr visited al-Shihr in the 18th century.[3]
Yemenis who emigrated to East Africa and their descendants are known as Shihiris, because most of them moved throughthe port of al-Shihr.[3]
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