Massawa

Massawa's island harbor joined the Red Sea world to the Ethiopian highlands. Muslim merchants, coastal rulers and Christian emperors all sought influence over the port, whose buildings included coral houses and the fifteenth-century Sheikh Hanafi Mosque. Across the water lay the Dahlak Islands, whose rulers long maintained ties with the town.

From the fourteenth century Ethiopian rulers pressed toward Massawa, competing with the rulers of Dahlak. Emperor Yeshaq's war songs recall a campaign against Dahlak's deputy there; in the following century Zara Yaqob fortified the Gerer peninsula opposite the island. The town paid tribute to highland rulers only irregularly and remained connected to Dahlak. The Portuguese established a foothold at Massawa and nearby Arkiko in 1513. In 1557 the Ottomans captured the port and sought to make it the centre of Habesh Eyalet, but resistance checked their advance inland. They relied on local Balaw officials known as naibs, while the qadi's authority extended along the coast. Ottoman interest revived in 1809 with the appointment of a Turkish governor, followed by an Egyptian governor in 1813.