Yemeni Ideas
SultanReignal-Mansur Umar I12291250al-Muzaffar Yusuf I12501295al-Ashraf Umar II12951296al-Mu'ayyad Da'ud12961322al-Mujahid Ali13221363al-Afdal al-Abbas13631377al-Ashraf Isma'il I13771400an-Nasir Ahmad14001424al-Mansur Abdullah14241427al-Ashraf Isma'il II14271428az-Zahir Yahya14281439al-Ashraf Isma'il III14391442al-Muzaffar Yusuf II1442
The Rasulid was a Muslimdynasty that ruled Yemen and Hadhramaut from 1229 to 1454. The Rasulids assumed power after the EgyptianAyyubid left the southern provinces of the Arabian Peninsula.
The Rasulid descended from Rasul, a Turkmen (or Oguz) who came to Yemen around 1180 while serving as a messenger for an Abbasidcaliph. His son Ali was governor of Mecca for a time, and his grandson Umar bin Ali was the first sultan of the Rasulid dynasty.
Rasūl is Arabic for messenger (although in this context it does not carry the Islamic prophet significance); during their reign, however, the Rasulids claimed to be descendants of the legendary patriarch Qahtan.
Bibliography
- Dresch, P., Tribes, Government, and History in Yemen. Oxford, 1989.
Hadhramaut, Hadhramout or Hadramawt (Arabic: حضرموت [Ḥaḍramawt]) is a historical region of the south Arabian Peninsula along the Gulf of Aden in the Arabian Sea, extending eastwards from Yemen (proper) to the Dhofar region of Oman. The name of the region is currently retained in the smaller Hadhramaut Governorate of the Republic of Yemen. The people of Hadhramaut are called Hadhramis.
Narrowly, Hadhramaut refers to the historical Qu'aiti and Kathiri sultanates, which were British protectorates in the Aden Protectorate overseen by the British Resident at Aden until their abolition upon the independence of South Yemen in 1967. The current governorate of Hadhramaut roughly incorporates the former territory of the two sultanates. It consists of a narrow, arid coastal plain bounded by the steep escarpment of a broad plateau (averaging 1,370 m [4,500 feet]), with a very sparse network of deeply sunk wadis (seasonal watercourses). The undefined northern edge of Hadhramaut slopes down to the desert Empty Quarter of Saudi Arabia.
In a wider sense, Hadhramaut includes the territory of Mahra to the east all the way to the contemporary border with Oman. This encompasses the current governorates of Hadramaut and Mahra in their entirety as well as parts of the Shabwah Governorate.
The Hadhramis live in densely-built towns centered on traditional watering stations along the wadis. Hadhramis harvest crops of wheat, millet, tend date palm and coconut groves, and grow some coffee. On the plateau Bedouins tend sheep and goats. Society is still highly tribal, with the old Seyyid aristocracy, descended from Muhammad, traditionally educated and strict in their Islamic observance, highly respected in religious and secular affairs. Hadhramaut emigration on a large scale since the early 19th century has established large Hadhrami minorities in South and South East Asia, namely Hyderabad, Bhatkal, Java, Sumatra, Malacca and Singapore. For example, former East Timorese primer minister Marν Alkatiri is of Hadhrami descendant. Hadhramis have also settled in the East African coast and two former Kenyan ministers Shariff Nasser and Najib Balala were of Hadhrami descent.
The original inhabitants of Hadhramaut are Hadhramis with the surnames that starts with "Ba" or "Bin." These are the among the Qahtan Original Arabs. The Sayyids are migrants from the Iraq about 400 years ago.
[edit] Etymology
The origin of the name is not exactly known. There are various theories. One theory, is that this was the nickname of 'Amar bin Qahtan' (عامر بن قحطان), which meant "death has come" from Hadr(Arabic for has come) and mout(Arabic for death). The reason was that always when he entered a battle many people die.
The Bible dictionaries, derive the name Hadhramaut from Hazarmaveth (meaning "court of death"), a son of Joktan in the Book of Genesis 10:26-28, the name actually derives from Greek hydreumata or enclosed (and often fortified) 'watering stations' at wadis. A hydreuma is a manned and fortified watering hole or way station along a caravan route. Juris Zarins, rediscoverer of the city of Ubar, described that site in a Nova interview:
'The site that we uncovered at Shisur was a kind of fortress/administration center set up to protect the water supply from raiding Bedouin tribes. Surrounding the site, as far as six miles away, were smaller villages, which served as small-scale encampments for the caravans. An interesting parallel to this are the fortified water holes in the Eastern Desert of Egypt from Roman times. There, they were called hydreumata.'
The frankincense trees that supplied the Incense Road grew to the east of Hadhramaut, in Dhofar.
Islam came to Yemen around 630, during Muhammad's lifetime. At that time the Persian governor Badhan was ruling. Thereafter Yemen was ruled as part of Arab-Islamic caliphates, and Yemen became a province in the Islamic empire.
Yemeni textiles, long recognized for their fine quality, maintained their reputation and were exported for use by the Abbasid elite, including the caliphs themselves. The products of Sana'a and Aden are especially important in the East-West textile trade.
The former North Yemen came under control of Imams of various dynasties usually of the Zaidi sect, who established a theocratic political structure that survived until modern times. In 897, a Zaidi ruler, Yahya al-Hadi ila'l Haqq, founded a line of Imams, whose Shiite dynasty survived until the second half of the 20th century.
Nevertheless, Yemen's medieval history is a tangled chronicle of contesting local Imams. The Fatimids of Egypt helped the Isma'ilis maintain dominance in the 11th century. Saladin (Salah ad-Din) annexed Yemen in 1173. The Rasulid dynasty (Kurdish and Turkish in origin) ruled Yemen, with Zabid as its capital, from about 1230 to the 15th century. In 1516, the Mamluks of Egypt annexed Yemen; but in the following year, the Mamluk governor surrendered to the Ottomans, and Turkish armies subsequently overran the country. They were challenged by the Zaidi Imam, Qasim the Great (r.15971620), and were expelled from the interior around 1630. From then until the 19th century, the Ottomans retained control only of isolated coastal areas, while the highlands generally were ruled by the Zaidi Imams.
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Originally Posted by Beauchamp
