Battle of Ash-Shihr (1523)

Did You Know?

• The Shrine of the Seven Martyrs contains illustrations and evidence of the number of people buried there.
• The shrine is visited once or twice a year, especially on the fourth or fifth day of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.
• Visits include popular dances such as the Baraa and the Iddah, gatherings of visitors, and selling of sweets.

The battle

Luís was to deliver an ambassador to the Christian Emperor of Ethiopia and to hunt hostile Muslim trade ships sailing between the Indian Ocean and Jeddah. En route, he called at Ash-Shihr. Claiming that property of a deceased Portuguese merchant had been unlawfully taken by the Kathiri sultan, Luís ordered an assault. The city was successfully attacked and sacked while inhabitants fled; it was further plundered by the local garrison and vagrants. Defenders on the beaches were routed, and the emir Mutran b. Mansur was killed by a bullet. The fighting between the people of Al-Shihr and the Portuguese lasted three days. Seven legal scholars and learned men of Ash-Shihr were killed, later known collectively as the Seven Martyrs of al-Shiḥr.