// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Zeila garrison say to its date? You're a fortress attraction.
| Ottoman zeila garrison | |
|---|---|
.svg) zeila garrison | |
| Active | 1559-1874 |
| Country | Ottoman Zeila Habesh Eyalet Khedivate's Somali Coast |
| Allegiance | Ottoman Zeila Habesh Eyalet Khedivate's Somali Coast |
| Branch | Army |
| Type | regiment |
| Size | Abubakr Ibrahim Chehem 120 infantry and 40 artillery with nine litre canon in one barrel [1]Muhammad Rauf Pasha 1,200 infantry[2][3]fourteen officers, 236 irregular soldiers (''baṣhi bozuk''), eighteen two Howitzer mountain cannons with two rocket launchers, and around 250 camels for transport.[4] |
| Engagements | Egyptian invasion of Harar Hejaz rebellion Siege of Zeila (1856) Battle of Zeila (1841) Ottoman–Ethiopian War (1557–1589) |
| Insignia | |
| Flag |  |
Was the garrison of the sanjak of Ottoman Zeila an Ottoman sanjak of the Habesh Eyalet the garrison was also reinforced and used by the Khedivate's Somali coast and was the land warfare force based in the city of Zeila from 1559 to 1884.
History
[edit]Under pasha Kara Naʾib, it was visited by the Turkish traveler Evliya Celebi in 1672. Celebi provides a lengthy description of the city, which he describes as a ‘citadel’, with a ‘castle’ that housed a garrison of 700 troops and 70 cannos under the governor Mehemmed Agha who collected customs from the 10-20 Indian and Portuguese ships that visited the port each year to purchase livestock, oil and honey.[5]
He describes its inhabitants as ‘blacks’ who followed the Qadariyyah school27 and were wealthy merchants who traded extensively with the Banyans of Cambay (India) and with Yemen.[5]
The military force that Ra’uf Pasha commanded was made up of five infantry units. It had fourteen officers, 236 irregular soldiers (''baṣhi bozuk''), eighteen two Howitzer mountain cannons with two rocket launchers, and around 250 camels for transport.[4]
Muhammad Rauf Pasha led a well armed Egyptian force of 1,200 men from [[Zeila]] into the interior of eastern Ethiopia and without encountering any opposition, seized Harar on 11 October 1875.[1]
Logistics was handled by the local Somali populations as seen with the withdrawal of the 3,500-strong Egyptian garrison from Harar was logistically dependent on local populations, meaning the evacuation could not have been successfully executed without the cooperation of the Somali 'Issa.The Egyptian Withdrawal, p. 175.[1] The retreat required a vast supply of camels to transport the military force's heavy weapons.The Egyptian Withdrawal, p. 175.[1]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 "The Egyptian Withdrawal", Emirate, Egyptian, Ethiopian, Syracuse University Press, pp. 163–200, retrieved 2026-07-31
- ↑ Zewde 2002, PT74.
- ↑ Zewde 2002, PT329.
- 1 2 "The Egyptian Colonial Path to Harar", Emirate, Egyptian, Ethiopian, Syracuse University Press, pp. 25–31, retrieved 2026-07-31
- 1 2 Dankoff, Robert; Tezcan, Nuran; Sheridan, Michael D. (2018-02-15). Ottoman Explorations of the Nile. The Gingko Library. ISBN 978-1-909942-17-2.