Editing History of Yemen (section)

===Rasulid Dynasty===

{{Main|Rasulid dynasty}}
[[File:Rasulid_1264.jpg|thumb|left|Rasulid Kingdom around 1264 AD]]
[[File:Cairo Castle GardenTaiz,Yemen.jpg|thumb|[[Cairo Castle|Al-Qahyra (Cairo) Castle's]] Garden in [[Ta'izz]], the capital of Yemen during the Rasulid's era]]

The [[Rasulid Dynasty]] was established in 1229 by [[al-Mansur Umar I|Umar ibn Rasul]]. Umar ibn Rasul was appointed deputy governor by the Ayyubids in 1223. When the last Ayyubid ruler left Yemen in 1229, Umar stayed in the country as caretaker. He subsequently declared himself an independent king by assuming the title '' al-Malik Al-Mansur '' (the king assisted by [[Allah]]).<ref name="Abdul Ali 1996 84"/> Umar established the Rasulid dynasty on a firm foundation and expanded its territory to include the area from [[Dhofar]] to [[Mecca]]<ref>{{cite book |author=Abdul Ali |title=Islamic Dynasties of the Arab East: State and Civilization During the Later Medieval Times |year=1996 |publisher=M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd |isbn=8175330082 |page=85 }}</ref> Umar first established himself at [[Zabid]], then moved into the mountainous interior, taking the important highland centre [[Sana'a]]. However, the Rasulid capitals were Zabid and Ta'izz. He was assassinated by his nephew in 1249.<ref name="Alexander D. Knysh 1999 230–231"/> Omar's son Yousef defeated the faction led by his father assassins and crushed several counter-attacks by the Zaydi imams who still held on in the northern highland. It was mainly because of the victories which he scored over his rivals that he assumed the honorific title '' al-Muzaffar '' (the victorious).<ref name="Abdul Ali 1996 86">{{cite book |author=Abdul Ali |title=Islamic Dynasties of the Arab East: State and Civilization During the Later Medieval Times |year=1996 |publisher=M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd |isbn=8175330082 |page=86 }}</ref> After the [[Siege of Baghdad (1258)|fall of Baghdad]] to the [[Mongols]] in 1258, [[al-Muzaffar Yusuf I]] appropriated the title of [[caliph]].<ref name="Abdul Ali 1996 86"/> He chose the city of [[Ta'izz]] to become the political capital of the kingdom because of its strategic location and proximity to [[Aden]].<ref name="Josef W. Meri, Jere L. Bacharach 2006 669">{{cite book |author1=Josef W. Meri |author2=Jere L. Bacharach |title=Medieval Islamic Civilization: L-Z, index |year=2006 |publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=0415966922 |page=669 }}</ref> Al-Muzaffar Yusuf I died in 1296 having reigned for 47 years.<ref name="Abdul Ali 1996 86"/> When the news of his death reached the Zaydi imam [[Al-Mutawakkil al-Mutahhar bin Yahya]] he commented by saying:<ref name="Abdul Ali 1996 86"/> {{Blockquote|''The greatest king of Yemen, the [[Muawiyah I|Muawiyah]] of the time, has died. His pens used to break our lances and swords to pieces''.}}
[[File:Slaves Zadib Yemen 13th century BNF Paris.jpg|thumb|241x241px|left|Slave-market in the town of [[Zabid]] in [[Islamic history of Yemen|Yemen]]. Illustration from the 1237 ''[[Maqamat al-Hariri]]'' produced in [[Baghdad]] by [[Yahya ibn Mahmud al-Wasiti|al-Wasiti]] ([[:Commons:Category:Maqamat of al-Hariri - BNF Arabe5847|Arabe 5847]])]]

The Rasulid state nurtured Yemen's commercial links with [[India]] and the Far East.<ref>{{cite book |author1=David J Wasserstein |author2=Ami Ayalon |title=Mamluks and Ottomans: Studies in Honour of Michael Winter |year=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1136579172 |page=201 }}</ref> They profited greatly by the [[Red Sea]] transit trade via [[Aden]] and [[Zabid]].<ref name="Alexander D. Knysh 1999 230–231"/> The economy also boomed due to the agricultural development programs instituted by the kings who promoted massive cultivation of palms.<ref name="Alexander D. Knysh 1999 230–231"/> It was during this period that coffee became a lucrative cash crop in Yemen.<ref>Steven C. Caton ''Yemen'' p. 54 ABC-CLIO, 2013 {{ISBN|159884928X}}</ref> The Rasulid kings enjoyed the support of the population of [[Tihama]] and southern Yemen while they had to buy the loyalty of Yemen's restive northern highland tribes.<ref name="Alexander D. Knysh 1999 230–231"/> The Rasulid sultans built numerous [[Madrasa]]s in order to solidify the [[Shafi'i]] school of thought which is still the dominant school of [[Fiqh|jurisprudence]] amongst Yemenis today.<ref name="David J Wasserstein, Ami Ayalon 2013 201">{{cite book |author1=David J Wasserstein |author2=Ami Ayalon |title=Mamluks and Ottomans: Studies in Honour of Michael Winter|year=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1136579172 |page=201 }}</ref> Under their rule, [[Ta'izz]] and [[Zabid]] became major international centers of Islamic learning.<ref name="Alexander D. Knysh 1999 230–231"/> The Kings themselves were learned men in their own right who not only had important libraries but who also wrote treatises on a wide array of subjects, ranging from astrology and medicine to agriculture and genealogy.<ref name="Josef W. Meri, Jere L. Bacharach 2006 669"/>

The dynasty is regarded as the greatest native Yemeni state since the fall of the pre-Islamic [[Himyarite Kingdom]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Abdul Ali|year=1996|page=94|publisher=M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd|isbn=8175330082|title=slamic Dynasties of the Arab East: State and Civilization During the Later Medieval Times }}</ref> Though the Rasulids were of [[Oghuz Turks|Turkic]] descent<ref>{{cite book|author=Jane Hathaway|year=2003|title=A Tale of Two Factions: Myth, Memory, and Identity in Ottoman Egypt and Yemen|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=0791458830}}</ref> they claimed an ancient Yemenite origin to justify their rule. The Rasulids were not the first dynasty to create a fictitious genealogy for political purposes, nor were they doing anything out of the ordinary in the tribal context of Arabia.<ref name="Varisco 1993">Daniel Martin Varisco. (1993). The Unity of the Rasulid State under al-Malik al-Muzaffar. ''Revue du monde musulman et de la Méditerranée'', volume 67, p. 21</ref> By claiming descent from a solid Yemenite tribe, the Rasulid brought Yemen to a vital sense of unity in an otherwise chaotic regional milieu.<ref name="Varisco 1993"/> They had a difficult relationship with the [[Mamluks of Egypt]] because the latter considered them a vassal state.<ref name="Josef W. Meri, Jere L. Bacharach 2006 669"/> Their competition centered over the [[Hejaz]] and the right to provide [[kiswa]] of the [[Ka'aba]] in [[Mecca]].<ref name="Josef W. Meri, Jere L. Bacharach 2006 669"/> The dynasty became increasingly threatened by disgruntled family members over the problem of succession, combined by periodic tribal revolts, as they were locked in a war of attrition with the Zaydi imams in the northern highlands.<ref name="Alexander D. Knysh 1999 230–231"/> During the last twelve years of Rasulid rule, the country was torn between several contenders for the kingdom. The weakening of the Rasulids provided an opportunity for the [[Tahirids (Yemen)|Banu Taher]] clan to take over and establish themselves as the new rulers of Yemen in 1454.<ref name="David J Wasserstein, Ami Ayalon 2013 201"/>