page_title: Battle of Benadir
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Benadir / Background
caption_attribution_description: English: 16th century Turkish painting depicting the Ottoman fleet protecting shipping in the Gulf of Aden. The three peaks on the left symbolize Aden.
context_page_description: The second Ajuran–Portuguese Conflict was an armed engagement between the Ajuran Sultanate and the Portuguese Empire.
context_section_description: After the Portuguese conducted a large-scale naval expedition to Suez in 1541, the Ottoman Empire dedicated greater resources into protecting the Red Sea from Portuguese intrusion. To such effect, about 25 galleys were armed and stationed at Aden. 
  The Portuguese captain of Sofala, João de Sepúlveda, was informed of the presence of these forces by allied Swahili city-states, mainly Malindi, who also reported that the hostile Ajuran Sultanate had appealed to the Ottomans for military support, in preparation for a rebellion against Portuguese suzerainty in the region. João de Sepúlveda thus set out with 6 small galleys and 100 soldiers to conduct a preemptive strike against the coastal cities of the Ajuran Sultanate. He was joined by an unrecorded number of vessels and warriors from Malindi.
caption: The Ajuran Sultanate sought to ally with the Ottoman Empire against the Portuguese Empire.
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