Hodeidah
city in Yemen
Hodeidah (Arabic: الْحُدَيْدَة, romanized: al-ḥudayda), also transliterated as Hodeda, Hodeida, Hudaida or al-Hudaydah, is the fourth-largest city in Yemen, its principal port on the Red Sea, and the capital of Hodeidah Governorate. As of 2023, it had an estimated population of 735,000.
History
In Islamic chronicles, the name Hodeidah was first mentioned in the year 1454/55. The city's importance grew in the 1520s, when the Ottomans took over the Yemeni Tihāmah region.
In the 1830s, Hodeidah was controlled by Ibrahim Pasha's troops, which turned over its administration to Sherif Husayn ibn Ali Haydar. In 1849, it became part of the Yemen Eyalet.
The Malay writer Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir visited Hodeidah on his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1854, and describes the city in his account of the journey, mentioning that the custom of chewing khat was prevalent in the city at this time.
During the 19th century, Hodeidah had a large slave market. The slaves came from the Oromia region of modern Ethiopia.
In 1914, during World War I, Imperial German troops led by Major Freiherr Othmar von Stotzingen established "Stotzingen-Mission", a wireless station, at Hodeidah.
“Hodeidah” enters the record as city in Yemen. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Hodeidah, city and Yemen can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Hodeidah” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Hodeidah, city and Yemen provides the most credible route into that argument.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q270041. VIAF identifies the subject as 138393194. The Library of Congress control number is n82032211. Authority coordinates are 14.802, 42.951. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2023, 1454, 1849 and 1854.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Hodeidah”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Hodeidah primary sources, Hodeidah archive and Hodeidah research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Hodeidah”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Hodeidah” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.