Editing History of Yemen

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{{History of Yemen}}

[[Yemen]] is one of the oldest centers of [[civilization]] in the [[Near East]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/04/wap/ht04wap.htm |title=Arabian Peninsula, 1000 B.C.–1 A.D. {{!}} Timeline of Art History {{!}} The Metropolitan Museum of Art<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2008-01-20 |archive-date=2008-07-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724003923/http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/04/wap/ht04wap.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Its relatively fertile land and adequate rainfall in a moister climate helped sustain a stable population, a feature recognized by the ancient Greek geographer [[Ptolemy]], who described Yemen as ''[[Arabia Felix|Eudaimon Arabia]]'', meaning "''Fertile Arabia''" or "''Happy Arabia''". The [[South Arabian alphabet]] was developed at latest between the 12th century BC and the 6th century AD, when Yemen was successively dominated by six civilizations that controlled the lucrative [[spice trade]]: [[Minaeans|Ma'in]], [[Qataban]], [[Kingdom of Hadhramaut|Hadhramaut]], [[Awsan]], [[Sheba|Saba]], and [[Himyarite Kingdom|Himyar]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/03/wap/ht03wap.htm |title=Arabian Peninsula, 2000–1000 B.C. {{!}} Timeline of Art History {{!}} The Metropolitan Museum of Art<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2008-01-20 |archive-date=2007-11-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071103172007/http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/03/wap/ht03wap.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> With the 630 AD [[Early Muslim conquests|arrival]] of [[Islam]], Yemen became part of the wider [[Muslim world]], where it has remained.

==Ancient history==
{{Main|Ancient history of Yemen|Sabaeans|Qataban|Minaeans|Himyarite Kingdom}}

[[Image:Panel Almaqah Louvre DAO18.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Sabaean inscription addressed to the moon-god [[Almaqah]], mentioning five South [[Arabia]]n gods, two reigning sovereigns, and two governors, 7th century BC.]]
With its long sea border between early [[civilization]]s, Yemen has long existed at a crossroads of cultures with a strategic location in terms of trade on the west of the [[Arabian Peninsula]]. Large settlements for their era existed in the [[Harir Mountain|mountains]] of northern Yemen as early as 5000 BC.<ref>Daniel McLaughlin ''Yemen: The Bradt Travel Guide'' p. 4</ref> Little is known about ancient Yemen and how exactly it transitioned from nascent [[Bronze Age]] civilizations to more trade-focused caravan kingdoms.
[[File:British Museum Yemen 05.jpg|thumb|upright|Sabaean gravestone of a woman holding a stylized sheaf of wheat, a symbol of fertility in ancient Yemen]]
The [[Sabaeans|Sabaean Kingdom]] came into existence from at least the 11th century BC.<ref>{{cite book|author=Kenneth Anderson Kitchen|title=On the Reliability of the Old Testament|url=https://archive.org/details/onreliabilityold00kitc|url-access=limited|page=[https://archive.org/details/onreliabilityold00kitc/page/n617 594]|publisher= Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|year= 2003|isbn=0802849601}}</ref> There were four major kingdoms or tribal confederations in [[South Arabia]]: [[Sabaeans|Saba]], [[Hadramout]], [[Qataban]] and [[Minaeans|Ma'in]]. Saba is believed to be biblical [[Sheba]] and was the most prominent federation.<ref>{{cite book|author=Geoffrey W. Bromiley|title=The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia|date=1979 |volume=4|page=254|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans |isbn=0802837840}}</ref> The Sabaean rulers adopted the title [[Mukarrib]] generally thought to mean "unifier",<ref>{{cite book|author=Nicholas Clapp|title=Sheba: Through the Desert in Search of the Legendary Queen|page=[https://archive.org/details/sheba00nich/page/204 204]|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|year=2002|isbn=0618219269|url=https://archive.org/details/sheba00nich/page/204}}</ref> or a "priest-king".<ref>{{cite book|author1=P. M. Holt |author2=Peter Malcolm Holt |author3=Ann K. S. Lambton |author4=Bernard Lewis |title= The Cambridge History of Islam|page=7|publisher= Cambridge University Press|date= 21 April 1977}}</ref> The role of the Mukarrib was to bring the various tribes under the kingdom and preside over them all.<ref>Daniel McLaughlin. (2007). ''Yemen: The Bradt Travel Guide'' p. 5</ref> The Sabaeans built the [[Marib Dam|Great Dam of Marib]] around 940 BC.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Jerry R. Rogers |author2=Glenn Owen Brown |author3=Jürgen Garbrecht |title=Water Resources and Environmental History|page=36|publisher= ASCE Publications|date= 1 January 2004|isbn= 0784475504}}</ref> The dam was built to withstand the seasonal flash floods surging down the valley.

[[File:Bmane2002-1-114,1.jpg|thumb|left|A funerary [[Stele|stela]] featuring a musical scene, 1st century AD]]
Between 700 and 680 BC, the [[Kingdom of Awsan]] dominated [[Aden]] and its surroundings. Sabaean [[Mukarrib]] [[Karib'il Watar|Karib'il Watar I]] changed his ruling title to that of a king,<ref>{{cite book|author=Werner Daum|title=Yemen: 3000 Years of Art and Civilization in Arabia Felix|page= 73|publisher= Pinguin-Verlag|year= 1987|isbn=3701622922}}</ref> and conquered the entire realm of Awsan, expanding Sabaean rule and territory to include much of [[South Arabia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/online_tours/middle_east/ancient_south_arabia/the_kingdoms_of_ancient_south.aspx|title=The kingdoms of ancient South Arabia|website=British Museum|access-date=7 February 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203080802/http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/online_tours/middle_east/ancient_south_arabia/the_kingdoms_of_ancient_south.aspx|archive-date=2013-12-03}}</ref> Lack of water in the Arabian Peninsula prevented the Sabaeans from unifying the entire peninsula. Instead, they established various colonies to control trade routes.<ref>{{cite book |author=Jawād ʻAlī |script-title=ar:المفصّل في تاريخ العرب قبل الإسلام |trans-title=Detailed history of Arabs before Islam |year=1968 |orig-year=Digitized 17 February 2007 |publisher=Dār al-ʻIlm lil-Malāyīn |language=ar |isbn=<!-- N/A--> |volume=2 |page=19}}</ref> Evidence of Sabaean influence is found in Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, where the [[South Arabian alphabet]] religion and pantheon, and the South Arabian style of art and architecture were introduced.<ref>{{cite book|author=George Hatke|title=Aksum and Nubia: Warfare, Commerce, and Political Fictions in Ancient Northeast Africa|page=19|publisher= NYU Press|year= 2013|isbn=978-0814762837}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Teshale Tibebu|title=The making of modern Ethiopia: 1896–1974|page=xvii|publisher= Lawrenceville, NJ: Red Sea Press|year= 1995|isbn= 1569020019}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Peter R. Schmidt|title=Historical Archaeology in Africa: Representation, Social Memory, and Oral Traditions|page=281|publisher= Rowman Altamira|year= 2006|isbn=0759114153}}</ref> The Sabaeans created a sense of identity through their religion. They worshipped [[Almaqah|El-Maqah]] and believed themselves to be his children.<ref>{{cite book|author=Ali Aldosari|title=Middle East, Western Asia, and Northern Africa|page=[https://archive.org/details/worlditspeoplesm0000unse/page/24 24]|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|year=2007|isbn=978-0761475712|url=https://archive.org/details/worlditspeoplesm0000unse/page/24}}</ref> For centuries, the Sabaeans controlled outbound trade across the [[Bab-el-Mandeb]], a [[strait]] separating the Arabian Peninsula from the [[Horn of Africa]] and the [[Red Sea]] from the Indian Ocean.<ref>{{cite book|author=D. T. Potts|title=A Companion to the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East|page=1047|publisher= John Wiley & Sons|year=2012|isbn=978-1405189880}}</ref>

By the 3rd century BC, [[Qataban]], [[Hadramout]] and [[Minaeans|Ma'in]] became independent from Saba and established themselves in the Yemeni arena. Minaean rule stretched as far as [[Dedanites|Dedan]],<ref>{{cite book|author1=Avraham Negev |author2=Shimon Gibson |title= Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land|page=137|publisher= Continuum|year= 2005|isbn= 0826485715}}</ref> with their capital at [[Baraqish]]. The Sabaeans regained their control over [[Minaeans|Ma'in]] after the collapse of [[Qataban]] in 50 BC. By the time of the [[Aelius Gallus|Roman expedition to Arabia Felix]] in 25 BC, the Sabaeans were once again the dominating power in Southern Arabia.<ref>{{cite book|author=Lionel Casson|title=The Periplus Maris Erythraei: Text with Introduction, Translation, and Commentary|page=150|publisher= Princeton University Press|year= 2012|isbn=978-1400843206}}</ref> [[Aelius Gallus]] was ordered to lead a military campaign to establish Roman dominance over the Sabaeans.<ref>{{cite book|author=Peter Richardson|title=Herod: King of the Jews and Friend of the Romans|page=230|publisher= Continuum|year= 1999|isbn=0567086755}}</ref> The Romans had a vague and contradictory geographical knowledge about ''[[Arabia Felix]]'' or Yemen. The Roman army of ten thousand men reached [[Marib]], but was not able to conquer the city, according to [[Cassius Dio]]<ref>Cassius Dio LIII, 29</ref> and [[Pliny the Elder]].<ref>Pliny the Elder, ''Nat. Hist.'' vi. 32.</ref><ref>See also [[Charles Merivale]], ''History of the Romans under the Empire'', ch. 4; H. Krüger, ''Der Feidzug des Aelius Gallus nach dem glucklichen Arabien unter Kaiser Augustus'', 1862.</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Hârun Yahya|title=Perished Nations|page=115|publisher= Global Yayincilik|year= 1999|isbn= 1897940874}}</ref> [[Strabo]]'s close relationship with Aelius Gallus led him to attempt to justify his friend's failure in his writings. It took the Romans six months to reach Marib and sixty days to return to [[Egypt]]. The Romans blamed their [[Nabataeans|Nabataean]] guide and executed him for treachery.<ref>{{cite book|author=Jan Retso|title=The Arabs in Antiquity: Their History from the Assyrians to the Umayyads|page=402|publisher= Routledge|year= 2013|isbn=978-1136872822}}</ref> No direct mention in Sabaean inscriptions of the Roman expedition has yet been found.

[[File:Dhamar Ali Yahbur (bust).jpg|thumb|upright|Himyarite King [[Dhamar Ali Yahbur II]]]]
After the Roman expedition – perhaps earlier – the country fell into chaos and two clans, namely [[Banu Hamdan|Hamdan]] and [[Himyar]], claimed kingship, assuming the title ''King of [[Sheba]] and [[Himyar|Dhu Raydan]]''.<ref>{{cite book|author=Clifford Edmund Bosworth |title=The Encyclopedia of Islam|volume= 6|page=561|publisher= Brill Archive|year= 1989|isbn=9004090827}}</ref> Dhu Raydan (i.e. [[Himyar]]ites) allied themselves with [[Aksumite Empire|Aksum]] in Ethiopia against the Sabaeans.<ref>{{cite book|author=Stuart Munro-Hay|title= Ethiopia, the Unknown Land: A Cultural and Historical Guide|page=236|publisher= I.B.Tauris|year= 2002|isbn=1860647448}}</ref> The chief of [[Bakil]] and king of ''Saba and Dhu Raydan'', [[Ilasaros|El Sharih Yahdhib]], launched successful campaigns against the Himyarites and ''Habashat'' (i.e. Aksum), El Sharih took proud of his campaigns and added the title ''Yahdhib'' to his name, which means "suppressor"; he used to kill his enemies by cutting them to pieces.<ref>{{cite book|author1=G. Johannes Botterweck |author2=Helmer Ringgren |title=Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament|volume= 3|page=448|publisher= Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|year= 1979|isbn= 0802823270}}</ref> [[Sana'a]] came into prominence during his reign as he built the [[Ghumdan Palace]] to be his place of residence.
[[File:Himyarite Kingdom.png|thumb|left|The Himyarite Kingdom at its height in 525 AD]]
[[File:The Sasanian Empire at its apex under Khosrow II.svg|thumb|The Sasanian Empire at its greatest extent {{Circa|620}}, under [[Khosrow II]]]]
The [[Himyar]]ite annexed [[Sana'a]] from [[Banu Hamdan|Hamdan]] {{Circa|AD 100}}.<ref>{{cite book |author=Jawād ʻAlī |script-title=ar:الـمـفـصـّل في تـاريـخ العـرب قبـل الإسـلام |trans-title=Detailed history of Arabs before Islam |year=1968 |orig-year=Digitized 17 February 2007 |publisher=Dār al-ʻIlm lil-Malāyīn |language=ar |isbn=<!-- N/A --> |volume=2 |page=482}}</ref> [[Hashid|Hashdi]] tribesmen rebelled against them, however, and regained [[Sana'a]] in around 180.<ref>{{cite book|author=Albert Jamme|title=Inscriptions From Mahram Bilqis (Marib)|page=392|publisher= Baltimore|year= 1962}}</ref> It was not until 275 that [[Shammar Yahri'sh]] conquered [[Hadramout]] and [[Najran]] and [[Tihama]], thus unifying Yemen and consolidating [[Himyar]]ite rule.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Dieter Vogel |author2=Susan James |title=Yemen|page=34|publisher= APA Publications|year= 1990}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Klaus Schippmann|title= Ancient South Arabia: from the Queen of Sheba to the advent of Islam|pages=52–53|publisher= Markus Wiener Publishers|year= 2001|isbn=1558762361}}</ref> The Himyarites rejected [[polytheism]] and adhered to a consensual form of [[monotheism]] called [[Rahmanism]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Francis E. Peters|title=Muhammad and the Origins of Islam|page=[https://archive.org/details/muhammadorigins00pete/page/48 48]|publisher=SUNY Press|year=1994|isbn=0791418758|url=https://archive.org/details/muhammadorigins00pete/page/48}}</ref> In 354, [[Roman Emperor]] [[Constantius II]] sent an embassy headed by [[Theophilos the Indian]] to convert the Himyarites to Christianity.<ref>{{cite book|author=Scott Johnson|title=The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity|page=265|publisher= Oxford University Press|date= 1 November 2012|isbn= 978-0195336931}}</ref> According to [[Philostorgius]], the mission was resisted by local Jews.<ref name="Shlomo Sand p.193">{{cite book|author=Shlomo Sand|title=The Invention of the Jewish People|page=[https://archive.org/details/inventionofjewi00sand/page/193 193]|publisher=Verso|year=2010|isbn=9781844676231|url=https://archive.org/details/inventionofjewi00sand/page/193}}</ref> Several inscriptions have been found in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] and [[Sabaean language|Sabaean]] praising the ruling house in Jewish terms for ''helping and empowering the People of [[Israel]]''.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Y. M. Abdallah |title=The Inscription CIH 543: A New Reading Based on the Newly-Found Original in C. Robin & M. Bafaqih (Eds.) Sayhadica: Recherches Sur Les Inscriptions De l'Arabie Préislamiques Offertes Par Ses Collègues Au Professeur A.F.L. Beeston|year= 1987|publisher= Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner S.A.|location= Paris|pages= 4–5}}</ref>

According to Islamic traditions, King [[Tub'a Abu Kariba As'ad|As'ad The Perfect]] mounted a military expedition to support the Jews of [[Yathrib]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Raphael Patai |author2=Jennifer Patai |title=The Myth of the Jewish Race|page=63|publisher= Wayne State University Press|year= 1989|isbn=0814319483}}</ref> [[Tub'a Abu Kariba As'ad|Abu Karib As'ad]], as known from the inscriptions, led a military campaign to central Arabia or [[Najd]] to support the vassal [[Kingdom of Kinda|Kinda]] against the [[Lakhmids]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Uwidah Metaireek Al-Juhany|title=Najd before the Salafi reform movement: social, political and religious conditions during the three centuries preceding the rise of the Saudi state|page=171|publisher= Ithaca Press|year= 2002|isbn=0863724019}}</ref> However, no direct reference to Judaism or [[Yathrib]] was discovered from his lengthy reign. Abu Karib As'ad died in 445, having reigned for almost 50 years.<ref>{{cite book|author=Scott Johnson|title=The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity|page=266|publisher= Oxford University Press|date= 1 November 2012|isbn= 978-0195336931}}</ref> By 515, Himyar became increasingly divided along religious lines and a bitter conflict between different factions paved the way for an [[Aksumite Empire|Aksumite]] intervention. The last Himyarite king [[Mu'di Karab Ya'fir]] was supported by Aksum against his [[Yemenite Jewish|Jewish]] rivals. Mu'di Karab was Christian and launched a campaign against the [[Lakhmids]] in Southern [[Iraq]], with the support of other Arab allies of [[Byzantine Empire|The Byzantine Empire]].<ref name="Scott Johnson 282">{{cite book|author=Scott Johnson|title=The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity|page=282|publisher= Oxford University Press|date= 1 November 2012|isbn= 978-0195336931}}</ref> The [[Lakhmids]] were a Bulwark of [[Persia]], which was intolerant to a proselytizing religion like Christianity.<ref>{{cite book|author=Irfan Shahîd|title=Byzantium and the Arabs in the Fifth Century|page=65|publisher= Dumbarton Oaks|year= 1989|isbn=0884021521}}</ref>

After the death of Ma'adikarib Ya'fur around 521 AD, a Himyarite Jewish [[warlord]] called [[Dhu Nuwas]] rose to power. He began a campaign of violence against Christians under his control. Dhu Nawas executed Byzantine traders, converted the church in [[Zafar, Yemen|Zafar]] into a synagogue, and killed its priests, among other acts of conquest.<ref name="Ken Blady p.92">{{cite book |author=Ken Blady |title=Jewish Communities in Exotic Places |publisher=Jason Aronson |year=2000 |isbn=1-4616-2908-X |page=9 |quote=Even more dramatic was the conversion of Abu-Kariba's grandson, Zar'a, who reigned from C.E. 518 to 525. Legend ascribes his conversion to his having witnessed a rabbi extinguish a fire worshipped by some Arab magi, merely by reading a passage from the Torah over it. 12 After changing his religion, he assumed the name Yusef Ash'ar, but gained notoriety in history by his cognomen Dhu Nuwas ("Lord of the Curls," possibly because he wore his peot long). For some years Dhu Nuwas was successful in staving off Ethiopian incursions and preserving Jewish Himyar's independence. Informed by some Jewish advisors in Tiberias of atrocities perpetrated against Jews in Roman lands, the overzealous proselyte decided on a course of revenge: He executed some Byzantine Christian merchants who were traveling through Himyar on their way to Ethio-pia. This outrage led to a rebellion among his Christian subjects in the city of Nejiran, which Dhu Nuwas suppressed with great cruelty. He is said to have cast twenty thousand Christians into pits filled with flaming oil. " The massacre and forced conversions of thousands of Christians at Nejiran infuriated Constantine, the Byzantine emperor. As he was occupied in a war with Persia, Constantine sent ambassadors to his Ethiopian Christian ally, King Caleb, entreating him to intervene on behalf of their Arabian coreligionists. With a formidable force of sixty thousand men (some say one hundred twenty thousand), Caleb crossed the Red Sea and attacked the Jewish king. In a fierce battle in 525 c.E. the invaders won a decisive victory. His queen captured and his capital laid waste, Dhu Nuwas chose to escape what was sure to be a cruel death by riding horseback off a cliff into the sea.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Greenslade |first=W. G. |year=1932 |title=The Martyrs of Nejran |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-1913.1932.tb02885.x |journal=The Muslim World |volume=22 |issue=3 |pages=265 |doi=10.1111/j.1478-1913.1932.tb02885.x |issn=0027-4909 |quote=He turned the church in his capital (Ẓafār) into a synagogue, and killed all the priests and other leading Christians, especially the Abyssinians who had been in control of the church. Then he moved on to Nejran, with the intention of subduing that city, where Christianity was stronger than in any other centre of south Arabia.|url-access=subscription }}</ref> He marched toward the port city of [[Mocha, Yemen|Mocha]], killing 14,000 and capturing 11,000.<ref name="Scott Johnson 2823">{{cite book |author=Scott Johnson |title=The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity |date=1 November 2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-533693-1 |page=282}}</ref> Then he settled a camp in [[Bab-el-Mandeb]] to prevent aid flowing from Aksum. At the same time, Yousef sent an army under the command of another Jewish warlord, Sharahil Yaqbul, to [[Najran]]. Sharahil had reinforcements from the Bedouins of the [[Kinda (tribe)|Kinda]] and [[Madh'hij]] tribes, eventually wiping out the Christian community in Najran by means of execution and [[forced conversion]] to Judaism. Blady speculates that he was likely motivated by stories about Byzantine violence against Byzantine Jewish communities in his decision to begin his campaign of state violence against Christians existing within his territory.<ref>{{cite book |author=Eric Maroney |url=https://archive.org/details/otherzionslosthi0000maro/page/94 |title=The Other Zions: The Lost Histories of Jewish Nations |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-4422-0045-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/otherzionslosthi0000maro/page/94 94]}}</ref><ref name="Ken Blady p.92" /><ref name="auto">{{cite journal |author=P. Yule |year=2013 |title=A Late Antique Christian king from Ḥimyar, southern Arabia, Antiquity, 87 |journal=Antiquity Bulletin |publisher=Antiquity Publications |page=1134 |issn=0003-598X}}; {{cite book |author=D. W. Phillipson |title=Foundations of an African Civilisation: Aksum and the Northern Horn, 1000 BC – 1300 AD |publisher=Boydell & Brewer Ltd |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-84701-041-4 |page=204}}</ref>

Christian sources portray Dhu Nuwas as a Jewish zealot, while Islamic traditions say that he marched around 20,000 Christians into trenches filled with flaming oil, burning them alive.<ref name="Ken Blady p.92" /> Himyarite inscriptions attributed to Dhu Nuwas himself show great pride in killing 27,000, enslaving 20,500 Christians in [[Zafar, Yemen|Ẓafār]] and [[Najran]] and killing 570,000 beasts of burden belonging to them as a matter of imperial policy.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ryckmans |first=Jacques |title=La Persécution des Chrétiens Himyarites au Sixième Siècle |publisher=NEDERLANDS HISTORISCH-ARCHAEOLOGISCH INSTITUUT IN HET NABIJE OOSTEN |year=1956 |location=Leiden/Istanbul |language=fr |quote=Ry 508, le plus ancien des deux textes, termine ici, en mars~avril, le récit de la campagne par le bilan provisoire des opérations effectuées jusque là: 13.000 tués, 9.500 prisonniers, 280.000 têtes de bétail (Ry 508, 4 - 6). [...] Le texte termine là, à la date du mois de ḏū-Maḏraʾān (entre juillet et septembre) le récit des opérations effectuées, en mettant à jour le bilan global de la campagne (Ry 507, 8 ~ 9): on y relève 1.000 tués, 1.500 prisonniers et 10.000 têtes de bétail de plus que dans le bilan clôturé à la date de Ry 508.}}</ref> It is reported that Byzantium Emperor [[Justin I]] sent a letter to the Aksumite [[Kaleb|King Kaleb]], pressuring him to "...attack the abominable Hebrew."<ref name="Scott Johnson 2823"/> A military alliance of Byzantine, Aksumite, and Arab Christians successfully defeated Dhu Nuwas around 525–527 AD and a client Christian king was installed on the Himyarite throne.<ref name="auto"/>[[File:Jemen1988-022 hg.jpg|thumb|Ruins of [[Marib Dam|The Great Dam of Marib]]]]
[[Esimiphaios]] was a local Christian lord, mentioned in an inscription celebrating the burning of an ancient Sabaean palace in [[Marib]] to build a church on its ruins.<ref name="Angelika Neuwirth p.49">{{cite book|author1=Angelika Neuwirth |author2=Nicolai Sinai |author3=Michael Marx |title=The Quran in Context: Historical and Literary Investigations Into the Quranic Milieu|page=49|publisher= BRILL|year= 2010|isbn=978-9004176881}}</ref> Three new churches were built in Najran alone.<ref name="Angelika Neuwirth p.49" /> Many tribes did not recognize Esimiphaios's authority. [[Esimiphaios]] was displaced in 531 by a warrior named [[Abraha]], who refused to leave Yemen and declared himself an independent king of [[Himyar]]. Emperor [[Justinian I]] sent an embassy to Yemen. He wanted the officially ''Christian'' [[Himyar]]ites to use their influence on the tribes in inner Arabia to launch military operations against [[Persia]]. [[Justinian I]] bestowed the ''dignity of king'' upon the Arab [[sheikh]]s of Kinda and [[Ghassanids|Ghassan]] in central and north Arabia.<ref name="Scott Johnson 293">{{cite book|author=Scott Johnson|title=The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity|page=293|publisher= Oxford University Press|date= 1 November 2012|isbn= 978-0195336931}}</ref> From early on, Roman and Byzantine policy was to develop close links with the powers of the coast of the [[Red Sea]]. They were successful in converting [[Aksum]] and influencing their culture. The results with regard to Yemen were rather disappointing.<ref name="Scott Johnson 293"/>

A Kindite prince called ''Yazid bin Kabshat'' rebelled against [[Abraha]] and his Arab Christian allies. A truce was reached once [[Marib Dam|The Great Dam of Marib]] had suffered a breach.<ref>{{cite book|author=Scott Johnson|title=The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity|page=285|publisher= Oxford University Press|date= 1 November 2012|isbn= 978-0195336931}}</ref> [[Abraha]] died around 555&ndash;565 AD; no reliable sources regarding his death are available. The [[Sasanid empire]] annexed [[Aden]] around 570. Under their rule, most of Yemen enjoyed great autonomy except for [[Aden]] and [[Sana'a]]. This era marked the collapse of ancient South Arabian civilization, since the greater part of the country was under several independent clans until the arrival of [[Islam]] in 630.<ref>{{cite book|author=Scott Johnson|title=The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity|page=298|publisher= Oxford University Press|date= 1 November 2012|isbn= 978-0195336931}}</ref>

==Middle Ages==
{{See also|Islamic history of Yemen}}

===Advent of Islam and the three Dynasties===
{{Main|Yufirids|Ziyadid Dynasty|Imams of Yemen}}
[[File:Great Mosque of Sana'a1.jpg|thumb|Interior of the [[Great Mosque of Sana'a]], the oldest mosque in Yemen]]

[[Muhammad|Prophet Muhammad]] sent his cousin [[Ali]] to [[Sana'a]] and its surroundings around 630. At the time, Yemen was the most advanced region in [[Arabia]].<ref>{{cite book|author= Sabarr Janneh|title=Learning From the Life of Prophet Muhammad|page=17|publisher=AuthorHouse|isbn=1467899666}}</ref> The [[Banu Hamdan]] confederation were among the first to accept [[Islam]]. [[Mohammed]] sent [[Muadh ibn Jabal]] as well to Al-Janad in present-day [[Taiz]], and dispatched letters to various tribal leaders. The reason behind this was the division among the tribes and the absence of a strong central authority in Yemen during the days of the prophet.<ref>Abd al-Muhsin Madʼaj M. Madʼaj ''The Yemen in Early Islam (9-233/630-847): A Political History'' p.12 Ithaca Press, 1988 {{ISBN|0863721028}}</ref> Major tribes, including [[Himyar]], sent delegations to [[Medina]] during the ''Year of delegations'' around 630–631. Several Yemenis had already accepted [[Islam]], including [[Ammar ibn Yasir]], [[Al-Ala'a Al-Hadrami]], [[Miqdad ibn Aswad]], [[Abu Musa Ashaari]] and [[Sharhabeel ibn Hasana]]. A man named [[Aswad Ansi|'Abhala ibn Ka'ab Al-Ansi]] expelled the remaining Persians and claimed to be a [[prophet]] of [[Rahman (Islamic term)|Rahman]]. He was assassinated by a Yemeni of [[Persian people|Persian]] origin called [[Fayruz al-Daylami]]. Christians, who were mainly staying in [[Najran]] along with [[Yemenite Jews|Jews]], agreed to pay [[Jizya]], although some Jews converted to Islam, such as [[Wahb ibn Munabbih]] and [[Ka'ab al-Ahbar]].

The country was stable during the [[Rashidun Caliphate]]. Yemeni tribes played a pivotal role in the Islamic conquests of [[Egypt]], [[Iraq]], [[Persia]], the [[Levant]], [[Anatolia]], North Africa, [[History of Islam in Southern Italy|Sicily]] and [[Andalusia]].<ref>Wilferd Madelung ''The Succession to Muhammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate'' p. 199 Cambridge University Press, 15 October 1998 {{ISBN|0521646960}}</ref><ref>Ṭabarī. (1992). ''The History of al-Tabari Vol. 12: The Battle of al-Qadisiyyah and the Conquest of Syria and Palestine A.D. 635-637 / A.H. 14–15'' p. 10-11 SUNY Press.{{ISBN|0791407330}}</ref><ref>Idris El Hareir. (2011). ''The Spread of Islam Throughout the World'', p. 380. UNESCO {{ISBN|9231041533}}</ref> Yemeni tribes that settled in [[Syria]], contributed significantly to the solidification of [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad]] rule, especially during the reign of [[Marwan I]]. Powerful Yemenite tribes like [[Kinda (tribe)|Kindah]] were on his side during the [[Battle of Marj Rahit (684)|Battle of Marj Rahit]].<ref>Nejla M. Abu Izzeddin. (1993). ''The Druzes: A New Study of Their History, Faith, and Society''. BRILL {{ISBN|9004097058}}</ref><ref>Hugh Kennedy. (2013). ''The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State'' p. 33 Routledge, 17 June 2013 {{ISBN|1134531133}}</ref> Several emirates led by people of Yemeni descent were established in North Africa and [[Andalusia]]. Effective control over entire Yemen was not achieved by the [[Umayyad Caliphate]]. [[Imam]] [[Talib al-Haqq|Abd Allah ibn Yahya]] was elected in 745 to lead [[Ibadi|the Ibāḍī movement]] in [[Hadramawt]] and [[Oman]]. He expelled the [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad]] governor from [[Sana'a]] and captured [[Mecca]] and [[Medina]] in 746.<ref name="autogenerated237">Andrew Rippin ''The Islamic World'' p. 237 Routledge, 23 October 2013 {{ISBN|1136803432}}</ref> Ibn Yahya, known by his nickname ''Talib al-Haqq'' (Seeker of the Truth), established the first [[Ibadi]] state in the history of [[Islam]] but was killed in [[Taif]] in around 749.<ref name="autogenerated237" />

Muhammad ibn Ziyad founded the [[Ziyadid dynasty]] in [[Tihama]] around 818; the state stretched from [[Al Qunfudhah|Haly]] (In present-day Saudi Arabia) to [[Aden]]. They nominally recognized the [[Abbasid Caliphate]] but were in fact ruling independently from their capital in [[Zabid]].<ref name="autogenerated128">Paul Wheatley. (2001). ''The Places Where Men Pray Together: Cities in Islamic Lands, Seventh Through the Tenth Centuries''. p. 128. University of Chicago Press {{ISBN|0226894282}}</ref> The history of this dynasty is obscure; they never exercised control over the highlands and [[Hadramawt]], and did not control more than a coastal strip of the Yemen ([[Tihama]]) bordering the [[Red Sea]].<ref>Kamal Suleiman Salibi. (1980). ''A History of Arabia'' p. 108 Caravan Books, OCLC Number: 164797251</ref> A [[Himyar]]ite clan called the [[Yufirids]] established their rule over the highlands from [[Saada]] to [[Taiz]], while [[Hadramawt]] was an [[Ibadi]] stronghold and rejected all allegiance to the Abbasids in [[Baghdad]].<ref name="autogenerated128" /> By virtue of its location, the [[Ziyadid dynasty]] of [[Zabid]] developed a special relationship with [[Ethiopia|Abyssinia]]. The chief of the [[Dahlak Archipelago|Dahlak]] islands exported slaves as well as amber and leopard hides to the then ruler of Yemen.<ref name="Lunpor">{{cite book|last=Paul Lunde|first=Alexandra Porter|title=Trade and travel in the Red Sea Region: proceedings of Red Sea project I held in the British Museum, October 2002|year=2004|publisher=Archaeopress|isbn=1841716227|page=20|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HSdmAAAAMAAJ|quote=in 976–77 AD[...] the then ruler of Yemen received slaves, as well as amber and leopard skins from the chief of the Dahlak islands (off the coast from Massawa).}}</ref>

The first [[Zaidiyyah|Zaidi]] [[imam]], [[Al-Hadi ila'l-Haqq Yahya|Yahya ibn al-Husayn]], arrived to Yemen in 893. He was the founder of the [[Rassids|Zaidi imamate]] in 897. He was a religious cleric and judge who was invited to come to [[Saada]] from [[Medina]] to arbitrate tribal disputes.<ref>Stephen W. Day. (2012). ''Regionalism and Rebellion in Yemen: A Troubled National Union'' p. 31 Cambridge University Press {{ISBN|1107022150}}</ref> Imam Yahya persuaded local tribesmen to follow his teachings. The sect slowly spread across the highlands, as the tribes of [[Hashid]] and [[Bakil]], later known as ''the twin wings of the imamate'', accepted his authority.<ref>Gerhard Lichtenthäler. (2003). ''Political Ecology and the Role of Water: Environment, Society and Economy in Northern Yemen'', p. 55. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. {{ISBN|0754609081}}</ref> [[Al-Hadi ila'l-Haqq Yahya|Yahya]] established his influence in [[Saada]] and [[Najran]]; he also tried to capture [[Sana'a]] from the [[Yufirids]] in 901, but he failed miserably. In 904, the newly established [[Isma'ili]] followers invaded [[Sana'a]]. The Yufirid emir As'ad ibn Ibrahim retreated to [[Al Jawf Governorate|Al-Jawf]], and between 904 and 913, Sana'a was conquered no less than 20 times by Isma'ilis and [[Yufirids]].<ref>''First Encyclopaedia of Islam'': 1913–1936 p. 145 BRILL, 1993 {{ISBN|9004097961}}</ref> As'ad ibn Ibrahim regained [[Sana'a]] in 915. The country was in turmoil as [[Sana'a]] became a battlefield for the three dynasties as well as independent tribes.

The [[Yufirids|Yufirid]] emir Abdullah ibn Qahtan attacked and burned [[Zabid]] in 989, severely weakening the [[Ziyadid dynasty]].<ref>E. J. Van Donzel. (1994). ''Islamic Desk Reference'' p. 492 BRILL {{ISBN|9004097384}}</ref> The [[Ziyadid dynasty|Ziyadid monarchs]] lost effective power after 989, or even earlier than that. Meanwhile, a succession of slaves held power in [[Zabid]] and continued to govern in the name of their [[Ziyadid dynasty|masters]] eventually establishing their own [[Najahid dynasty|dynasty]] around 1022 or 1050 according to different sources.<ref>{{cite book |author=Mohammed Abdo Al-Sururi |script-title=ar:الحياة السياسية ومظاهر الحضارة في اليمن في عهد الدول المستقلة |trans-title=political life and aspects of civilization in Yemen during the reign of Independent States |year=1987 |publisher=University of Sana'a |page=237 |language=ar}}</ref> Although they were recognized by the [[Abbasid Caliphate]] in [[Baghdad]], they ruled no more than [[Zabid]] and four districts to its north.<ref>{{cite book|author=Henry Cassels Kay|year=1999|title=Yaman its early medieval history|page=14|publisher=Adegi Graphics LLC|isbn=1421264641}}</ref> The rise of the [[Ismailism|Ismaili]] [[Shia]] [[Sulayhid dynasty]] in the Yemeni highlands reduced their history to a series of intrigues.

===Sulayhid Dynasty===
{{Main|Sulayhid dynasty}}
[[File:Jibla IMG 5662.JPG|thumb|[[Jibla, Yemen|Jibla]] became the capital of the [[Sulayhid dynasty]]]]
The [[Sulayhid dynasty]] was founded in the northern highlands around 1040. At the time, Yemen was ruled by different local dynasties.
In 1060, [[Ali al-Sulayhi|Ali ibn Mohammed Al-Sulayhi]] conquered [[Zabid]] and killed its ruler Al-Najah, founder of the Najahid dynasty, whose sons were forced to flee to [[Dahlak Archipelago|Dahlak]].<ref>J. D. Fage, Roland Anthony Oliver. (1977). ''The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3'' p. 119 Cambridge University Press {{ISBN|0521209811}}</ref> [[Hadramawt]] fell into Sulayhid hands after their capture of [[Aden]] in 1062.<ref>William Charles Brice. (1981). ''An Historical Atlas of Islam [cartographic Material]'', p. 338. BRILL {{ISBN|9004061169}}</ref> By 1063, Ali had subjugated [[Greater Yemen]].<ref>Farhad Daftary. (2005). ''Ismailis in Medieval Muslim Societies: A Historical Introduction to an Islamic Community'' p. 92 I.B. Tauris {{ISBN|1845110919}}</ref> He then marched toward [[Hejaz]] and occupied [[Makkah]].<ref>Farhad Daftary. (2007). ''The Isma'ilis: Their History and Doctrines'', p. 199. Cambridge University Press {{ISBN|1139465783}}</ref> Ali was married to [[Asma bint Shihab]], who governed Yemen with her husband.<ref name="autogenerated14">Fatima Mernissi. (1977). ''The Forgotten Queens of Islam'', p. 14. U of Minnesota Press {{ISBN|0816624399}}</ref> The [[Khutba]] during [[Jumu'ah|Friday prayers]] was proclaimed in her husband's and her name. No other Arab woman had this honor since the advent of [[Islam]].<ref name="autogenerated14"/>

[[Ali al-Sulayhi]] was killed by Najah's sons on his way to [[Mecca]] in 1084. His son [[Ahmad al-Mukarram]] led an army to [[Zabid]] and killed 8,000 of its inhabitants.<ref>{{cite book |author=Mohammed Abdo Al-Sururi |script-title=ar:الحياة السياسية ومظاهر الحضارة في اليمن في عهد الدو المستقلة |trans-title=political life and aspects of civilization in Yemen during the reign of Independent States |year=1987 |publisher=University of Sana'a |page=237 |language=ar}}</ref> He later installed the [[Zurayids]] to govern [[Aden]]. [[Ahmad al-Mukarram]], who had been afflicted with facial paralysis resulting from war injuries, retired in 1087 and handed over power to his wife [[Arwa al-Sulayhi]].<ref>Farhad Daftary. (2005). ''Ismailis in Medieval Muslim Societies: A Historical Introduction to an Islamic Community'' p. 93 I.B. Tauris {{ISBN|1845110919}}</ref> [[Arwa al-Sulayhi|Queen Arwa]] moved the seat of the [[Sulayhid dynasty]] from [[Sana'a]] to [[Jibla, Yemen|Jibla]], a small town in central Yemen near [[Ibb]]. Jibla was strategically near the [[Sulayhid dynasty]] source of wealth, the agricultural central highlands. It was also within easy reach of the southern portion of the country, especially [[Aden]]. She sent [[Ismaili]] missionaries to [[India]] where a significant Ismaili community was formed that exists to this day.<ref name="Caton p51">Steven C. Caton. (2013). ''Yemen'', p. 51. ABC-CLIO {{ISBN|159884928X}}</ref> Queen Arwa continued to rule securely until her death in 1138.<ref name="Caton p51" />
[[File:Queen Arwa al- Sulaihi Palace 1.jpg|thumb|Queen Arwa al- Sulaihi Palace]]
[[Arwa al-Sulayhi]] is still remembered as a great and much loved sovereign, as attested in Yemeni historiography, literature, and popular lore, where she is referred to as '' Balqis al-sughra '', that is "the junior queen of Sheba".<ref>{{cite book |author=Bonnie G. Smith |title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History |year=2008 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0195148909 |volume=4 |page=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordencycloped0000unse_k2h2/page/163 163] |language=ar |url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordencycloped0000unse_k2h2/page/163 }}</ref> Although the Sulayhids were Ismaili, they never tried to impose their beliefs on the public.<ref>{{cite book |author=Mohammed Abdo Al-Sururi |script-title=ar:الحياة السياسية ومظاهر الحضارة في اليمن في عهد الدو المستقلة |trans-title=political life and aspects of civilization in Yemen during the reign of Independent States |year=1987 |publisher=University of Sana'a |page=414 |language=ar}}</ref> Shortly after queen Arwa's death, the country was split between five competing petty dynasties along religious lines.<ref>{{cite book |author=Mohammed Abdo Al-Sururi |script-title=ar:الحياة السياسية ومظاهر الحضارة في اليمن في عهد الدو المستقلة |trans-title=political life and aspects of civilization in Yemen during the reign of Independent States |year=1987 |publisher=University of Sana'a |page=303 |language=ar}}</ref> The [[Ayyubid dynasty]] overthrew the [[Fatimid caliphate]] in Egypt. A few years after their rise to power, [[Saladin]] dispatched his brother [[Turan Shah]] to conquer Yemen in 1174.<ref>{{cite book |author=Alexander Mikaberidze |title=Conflict and Conquest in the Islamic World: A Historical Encyclopedia |year=2011 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1598843378 |page=159 }}</ref>

===Zurayid Dynasty===
{{Main|Zurayids}}
[[File:Yemen_1160_AD.jpg|thumb|Zurayid Kingdom and the neighbouring polities]] 
Al-Abbas & al-Mas'ūd sons of Karam Al-Yami from the Hamdan tribe started ruling Aden for the Sulayhids, when Al-Abbas died in 1083. His son Zuray, who gave the dynasty its name, proceeded to rule together with his uncle al-Mas'ūd. They took part in the Sulayhid leader al-Mufaddal's campaign against the [[Najahids|Najahid]] capital [[Zabid]] and were both killed during the siege (1110).<ref>The chronology of the Zurayid rulers is uncertain for the most part; dates furnished by Ayman Fu'ad Sayyid, ''Masadir ta'rikh al-Yaman fial 'asr al-islami'', al Qahira 1974, are partly at odds with those given by H.C. Kay, ''Yaman: Its early Medieval history'', London 1892; one source seems to indicate that they were independent as early as 1087.</ref> Their respective sons ceased to pay tribute to the Sulayhid queen [[Arwa al-Sulayhi]].<ref>H.C. Kay, ''Yaman: Its early medieval history'', London 1892, pp. 66–67.</ref> They were worsted by a Sulayhid expedition but queen Arwa agreed to reduce the tribute by half, to 50,000 dinars per year. The Zurayids again failed to pay and were once again forced to yield to the might of the Sulayhids, but this time the annual tribute from the incomes of Aden was reduced to 25,000. Later on they ceased to pay even that since Sulayhid power was on the wane.<ref>El-Khazreji, ''The pearl-strings'', Vol. 1, Leyden & London 1906, p. 19.</ref> After 1110 the Zurayids thus led a more than 60 years long independent rule in the city, bolstered by the international trade. The chronicles mention luxury goods such as textiles, perfume and porcelain, coming from places like [[North Africa]], [[Egypt]], [[Iraq]], [[Oman]], [[Kirman (Sasanian province)|Kirman]], and [[China]]. After the demise of queen Arwa al-Sulayhi in 1138, the [[Fatimids]] in [[Cairo]] kept a representation in Aden, adding further prestige to the Zurayids.<ref>Robert W. Stookey, ''Yemen: The politics of the Yemen Arab Republic'', Boulder 1978, p. 96.</ref>  The Zurayids were sacked by the Ayyubids in 1174.

===Ayyubid conquest===
{{Main|Ayyubid Dynasty}}
[[File:Maqama 37 Abu Zaif before the Qadi of Saa'da, Yemen (Qadi detail).jpg|thumb|The [[Qadi]] of Sa'dah, Yemen, in 1200-1210, according to the ''[[Maqamat al-Hariri]]'' (BNF 3929)]]
[[Turan Shah]] conquered [[Zabid]] from the [[Mahdids]] in May 1174, then marched toward [[Aden]] in June and captured it from the [[Zurayids]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Mohammed Abdo Al-Sururi |script-title=ar:الحياة السياسية ومظاهر الحضارة في اليمن في عهد الدو المستقلة |trans-title=political life and aspects of civilization in Yemen during the reign of Independent States |year=1987 |publisher=University of Sana'a |page=311 |language=ar}}</ref> The [[Hamdanid sultans]] of [[Sana'a]] resisted the Ayyubid in 1175 and it was not until 1189 that the Ayyubids managed to definitely secure [[Sana'a]].<ref name="Daftary 2007">{{cite book |author=Farhad Daftary |title=The Isma'ilis: Their History and Doctrines|year=2007 |publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1139465786 |page=260 }}
</ref> The Ayyubid rule was stable in southern and central Yemen where they succeeded in eliminating the mini-states of that region, while Ismaili and Zaidi tribesmen continued to hold out in a number of fortresses.<ref name="Daftary 2007"/> The Ayyubids failed to capture the Zaydis stronghold in northern Yemen.<ref>{{cite book |author=Josef W. Meri |title=Medieval Islamic Civilization|year=2004 |publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=0415966906|page=871 }}</ref> In 1191, Zaydis of [[Shibam Kawkaban District|Shibam Kawkaban]] rebelled and killed 700 Ayyubid soldiers.<ref>{{cite book |author=Mohammed Abdo Al-Sururi |script-title=ar:الحياة السياسية ومظاهر الحضارة في اليمن في عهد الدول المستقلة |trans-title=political life and aspects of civilization in Yemen during the reign of Independent States |year=1987 |publisher=University of Sana'a |page=350 |language=ar}}</ref> Imam [[Al-Mansur Abdallah|Abdullah bin Hamza]] proclaimed the imamate in 1197 and fought [[al-Mu'izz Ismail]], the Ayyubid Sultan of Yemen. Imam Abdullah was defeated at first but was able to conquer [[Sana'a]] and [[Dhamar, Yemen|Dhamar]] in 1198<ref>{{cite book |author=Mohammed Abdo Al-Sururi |script-title=ar:الحياة السياسية ومظاهر الحضارة في اليمن في عهد الدول المستقلة |trans-title=political life and aspects of civilization in Yemen during the reign of Independent States |year=1987 |publisher=University of Sana'a |page=354 |language=ar}}</ref> [[al-Mu'izz Ismail]] was assassinated in 1202<ref>{{cite book |author=Mohammed Abdo Al-Sururi |script-title=ar:الحياة السياسية ومظاهر الحضارة في اليمن في عهد الدول المستقلة |trans-title=political life and aspects of civilization in Yemen during the reign of Independent States |year=1987 |publisher=University of Sana'a |page=371 |language=ar}}</ref> [[Al-Mansur Abdallah|Abdullah bin Hamza]] carried on the struggle against the Ayyubid until his death in 1217. After his demise, the Zaidi community was split between two rival imams. The Zaydis were dispersed and a truce was signed with the Ayyubid in 1219.<ref name="Mohammed Abdo Al-Sururi 1987 407">{{cite book |author=Mohammed Abdo Al-Sururi |script-title=ar:الحياة السياسية ومظاهر الحضارة في اليمن في عهد الدول المستقلة |trans-title=political life and aspects of civilization in Yemen during the reign of Independent States |year=1987 |publisher=University of Sana'a |page=407 |language=ar}}</ref> The Ayyubid army was defeated in [[Dhamar, Yemen|Dhamar]] in 1226.<ref name="Mohammed Abdo Al-Sururi 1987 407"/> Ayyubid Sultan [[Mas'ud Yusuf]] left for Mecca in 1228 never to return.<ref name="Alexander D. Knysh 1999 230–231">{{cite book |author=Alexander D. Knysh |title=Ibn 'Arabi in the Later Islamic Tradition: The Making of a Polemical Image in Medieval Islam |year=1999 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=1438409427 |pages=230–231 }}</ref> Other sources suggest that he was forced to leave for [[Egypt]] instead in 1223.<ref name="Abdul Ali 1996 84">{{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=84 }}</ref>

===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"/>

===Tahirid Dynasty===
{{Main|Tahirids (Yemen)}}
[[File:Tahiride Dynasty yemen.jpg|thumb|Tahirids in light green and Zaydi imams in dark green]]
The [[Tahirids (Yemen)|Tahirids]] were a local clan based in [[Rada' District|Rada'a]]. While they were not as impressive as their predecessors, they were still keen builders. They built schools, mosques and irrigation channels as well as water cisterns and bridges in [[Zabid]] and [[Aden]], [[Rada'a]], and [[Juban, Yemen|Juban]]. Their best-known monument is the [[Amiriya Madrasa]] in [[Rada' District|Rada']] which was built in 1504. The Tahiride were too weak either to contain the [[Zaidiyyah|Zaydi Imams]] or to defend themselves against foreign attacks. The [[Mamluks of Egypt]] tried to attach Yemen to [[Egypt]] and the Portuguese, led by [[Afonso de Albuquerque]], occupied [[Socotra]] and launched an unsuccessful four-day [[siege of Aden]] in 1513.<ref name="Broeze2013">{{cite book|author=Broeze|title=Gateways Of Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yXgsBgAAQBAJ|date=28 October 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-16895-6|page=30}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Halil İnalcık |author2=Donald Quataert |title=An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire, 1300–1914|year=1994 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0521343151|page=320 }}</ref> The Portuguese posed an immediate threat to the Indian Ocean trade; the [[Mamluks of Egypt]] therefore sent an army under the command of [[Amir Husain Al-Kurdi|Hussein Al-Kurdi]] to fight the intruders.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Halil İnalcık |author2=Donald Quataert |title=An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire, 1300–1914|year=1994 |publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0521343151|page=320 }}</ref> The Mamluk sultan of Egypt sailed to [[Zabid]] in 1515 and began diplomatic talks with [[Tahirids (Yemen)|Tahiride]] Sultan 'Amir bin Abdulwahab for money that would be needed for ''[[jihad]]'' against the Portuguese. Instead of confronting the Portuguese, the [[Mamluks of Egypt|Mamluks]], who were running out of food and water, landed their fleet on the Yemen coastline and started to harass [[Tihama]] villagers for what they needed.<ref name="Caton p59">Steven C. Caton ''Yemen'' p. 59 ABC-CLIO, 2013 {{ISBN|159884928X}}</ref> Realizing how rich the [[Tahirids (Yemen)|Tahiride]] realm was, they decided to conquer it.<ref name="Caton p59"/> The Mamluk army with the support of forces loyal to [[Zaidiyyah|Zaydi]] Imam [[Al-Mutawakkil Yahya Sharaf ad-Din]] conquered the entire realm of the [[Tahirids (Yemen)|Tahiride]] but failed to capture [[Aden]] in 1517. The Mamluk victory turned out to be short-lived. The [[Ottoman Empire]] conquered [[Egypt]], hanging the last Mamluk Sultan in [[Cairo]].<ref name="Caton p59"/> It was not until 1538 that the [[Ottoman Turks|Ottomans]] decided to conquer Yemen. The [[Zaidiyyah|Zaydi]] Highland tribes emerged as national heroes<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=94 }}</ref> by offering a stiff, vigorous resistance to the [[Ottoman Empire|Turkish]] occupation.<ref>{{cite book |author=Bernard Haykel |author-link=Bernard Haykel |title=Revival and Reform in Islam: The Legacy of Muhammad Al-Shawkani |year=2003 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0521528909 |page=30 }}</ref>

== Modern history ==
{{See also|Modern history of Yemen}}

=== The Zaydis and Ottomans ===
{{See also|Yemen Eyalet|Yemeni–Ottoman Conflicts|Yemeni Zaidi State}}[[File:Jemen1988-153 hg.jpg|thumb|[[al-Bakiriyya Mosque|Al Bakiriyya Ottoman Mosque]] in [[Sana'a]], was built in 1597]]
The Ottomans had two fundamental interests to safeguard in Yemen: The Islamic holy cities of [[Mecca]] and [[Medina]] and the trade route with India in spices and textiles, both of which were threatened and the latter virtually eclipsed by the arrival of the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean and the [[Red Sea]] in the early part of the 16th century.<ref>{{cite book |author=Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Nahrawālī|title=Lightning Over Yemen: A History of the Ottoman Campaign in Yemen, 1569–71|year=2002 |publisher=OI.B.Tauris |isbn=1860648363 |page=2 }}</ref> [[Hadım Suleiman Pasha]], the Ottoman governor of [[Eyalet of Egypt|Egypt]], was ordered to command a fleet of 90 ships to conquer Yemen. The country was in a state of incessant anarchy and discord as Hadım Suleiman Pasha described it by saying:<ref>{{cite book |author=Giancarlo Casale|title=The Ottoman Age of Exploration|url=https://archive.org/details/ottomanageexplor00casa|url-access=limited|year=2010 |publisher= Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0199798797 |page=[https://archive.org/details/ottomanageexplor00casa/page/n63 43] }}</ref>{{Blockquote|''Yemen is a land with no lord, an empty province. It would be not only possible but easy to capture, and should it be captured, it would be master of the lands of [[Indian subcontinent|India]] and send every year a great amount of gold and jewels to [[Constantinople]].''}}
[[File:Codice Casanatense Arabian Boduis.jpg|thumb|Arabian ''boduis'' farm couple, possibly Yemeni (''[[Códice Casanatense]]'', c. 1540)]]
Imam [[al-Mutawakkil Yahya Sharaf ad-Din]] ruled over the northern highlands including [[Sana'a]] while [[Aden]] was held by the last [[Tahirids (Yemen)|Tahiride]] Sultan 'Amir ibn Dauod. Hadım Suleiman Pasha stormed [[Aden]] in 1538, killing its ruler and extended Ottoman's authority to include [[Zabid]] in 1539 and eventually [[Tihama]] in its entirety.<ref>{{cite book |author=Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Nahrawālī|title=Lightning Over Yemen: A History of the Ottoman Campaign in Yemen, 1569–71|trans-title=البرق اليماني في الفتح العثماني|year=2002 |publisher=OI.B.Tauris |isbn=1860648363 |page=88 |language=ar}}</ref> [[Zabid]] became the administrative headquarters of [[Yemen Eyalet]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Nahrawālī|title=Lightning Over Yemen: A History of the Ottoman Campaign in Yemen, 1569–71|trans-title=البرق اليماني في الفتح العثماني |year=2002 |publisher=OI.B.Tauris |isbn=1860648363 |page=88 |language=ar}}</ref> The Ottoman governors did not exercise much control over the highlands; they held sway mainly in the southern coastal region, particularly around [[Zabid]], [[Mocha, Yemen|Mocha]] and [[Aden]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Jane Hathaway|title=A Tale of Two Factions: Myth, Memory, and Identity in Ottoman Egypt and Yemen|year=2012 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0791486108 |page=83 }}</ref> Out of 80,000 soldiers sent to Yemen from [[Lower Egypt|Egypt]] between 1539 – 1547, only 7,000 survived.<ref name="Robert W. Stookey 1978 134">{{cite book |author=Robert W. Stookey|title=Yemen: the politics of the Yemen Arab Republic|year=1978 |publisher=Westview Press|isbn=0891583009 |page=134 }}</ref> The Ottoman accountant-general in [[Eyalet of Egypt|Egypt]] remarks:<ref name="Robert W. Stookey 1978 134"/>{{Blockquote|''We have seen no foundry like Yemen for our soldiers. Each time we have sent an expeditionary force there, it has melted away like salt dissolved in water.''}}

The Ottoman sent yet another expeditionary force to [[Zabid]] in 1547 while Imam [[al-Mutawakkil Yahya Sharaf ad-Din]] was ruling the highlands independently. Imam al-Mutawakkil Yahya chose his son Ali to succeed him, a decision that infuriated his other son [[al-Mutahhar|al-Mutahhar ibn Yahya]].<ref name="Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Nahrawālī 2002 95">{{cite book |author=Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Nahrawālī|title=Lightning Over Yemen: A History of the Ottoman Campaign in Yemen, 1569–71|trans-title=البرق اليماني في الفتح العثماني |year=2002 |publisher=OI.B.Tauris |isbn=1860648363 |page=95 |language=ar}}</ref> [[Al-Mutahhar]] was lame and therefore not qualified for the Imamate.<ref name="Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Nahrawālī 2002 95"/> He urged Oais Pasha, the Ottoman colonial governor in [[Zabid]], to attack his father.<ref>{{cite book |author1=R. B. Serjeant |author2=Ronald Lewcock |title=Sana: An Arabian Islamic City|year=1983 |publisher=World of Islam Festival Pub. Co |isbn= 0905035046 |page=70 }}</ref> Indeed, Ottoman troops supported by tribal forces loyal to Imam [[al-Mutahhar]] stormed [[Ta'izz]] and marched north toward [[Sana'a]] in August 1547. The Turks officially made Imam [[al-Mutahhar]] a [[Sanjak-bey]] with authority over [['Amran]]. Imam [[al-Mutahhar]] assassinated the Ottoman colonial governor and recaptured [[Sana'a]] but the Ottomans led by [[Özdemir Pasha]], forced [[al-Mutahhar]] to retreat to his fortress in [[Thula]]. [[Özdemir Pasha]] effectively put Yemen under Ottoman rule between 1552 and 1560. He garrisoned the main cities, built new fortresses  and rendered secure the main routes.<ref name="Halil İnalcık, Donald Quataert 1994 333">{{cite book |author1=Halil İnalcık |author2=Donald Quataert |title=An Economic and Social History of the Ottoman Empire, 1300–1914|year=1994 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn= 0521343151 |page=333 }}</ref> Özdemir died in [[Sana'a]] in 1561 to be succeeded by [[Mahmud Pasha (governor)|Mahmud Pasha]].

[[Mahmud Pasha (governor)|Mahmud Pasha]] was described by other Ottoman officials as corrupt and unscrupulous governor, he used his authority to take over a number of castles some of which belonged to the former [[Rasulid Dynasty|Rasulid Kings]].<ref name="Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Nahrawālī 2002 95"/> [[Mahmud Pasha (governor)|Mahmud Pasha]] killed a [[Sunni]] scholar from [[Ibb]].<ref name="Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Nahrawālī 2002 132">{{cite book |author=Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Nahrawālī|title=Lightning Over Yemen: A History of the Ottoman Campaign in Yemen, 1569–71|trans-title=البرق اليماني في الفتح العثماني |year=2002 |publisher=OI.B.Tauris |isbn=1860648363 |page=132 |language=ar}}</ref> The Ottoman historian claimed that this incident was celebrated by the [[Zaidiyyah|Zaydi Shia]] community in the northern highlands.<ref name="Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Nahrawālī 2002 132"/> Disregarding the delicate balance of power in Yemen by acting tactlessly, he alienated different groups within Yemeni society, causing them to forget their rivalries and unite against the Turks.<ref name="Halil İnalcık, Donald Quataert 1994 333"/> [[Mahmud Pasha (governor)|Mahmud Pasha]] was displaced by Ridvan Pasha in 1564. By 1565, Yemen was split into two provinces: the highlands under the command of Ridvan Pasha and [[Tihama]] under Murad Pasha. Imam [[al-Mutahhar]] launched a propaganda campaign in which he claimed contact with prophet Muhammad in a dream advising him to wage [[jihad]] against the Ottomans.<ref>{{cite book |author=Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Nahrawālī|title=Lightning Over Yemen: A History of the Ottoman Campaign in Yemen, 1569–71|trans-title=البرق اليماني في الفتح العثماني |year=2002 |publisher=OI.B.Tauris |isbn=1860648363 |page=134 |language=ar}}</ref> [[Al-Mutahhar]] led the tribes to capture [[Sana'a]] from Ridvan Pasha in 1567. When Murad tried to relieve [[Sana'a]], highland tribesmen ambushed his unit and slaughtered all of them.<ref name="Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Nahrawālī 2002 180">{{cite book |author=Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Nahrawālī|title=Lightning Over Yemen: A History of the Ottoman Campaign in Yemen, 1569–71|trans-title=البرق اليماني في الفتح العثماني |year=2002 |publisher=OI.B.Tauris |isbn=1860648363 |page=180 |language=ar}}</ref> Over 80 battles were fought, the last decisive encounter took place in [[Dhamar, Yemen|Dhamar]] around 1568 in which Murad Pasha was beheaded and had his head sent to [[al-Mutahhar]] in [[Sana'a]].<ref name="Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Nahrawālī 2002 180"/><ref name="Abdul Ali 1996 103">{{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=103 }}</ref> By 1568, only [[Zabid]] remained under the possession of the Turks.<ref name="Abdul Ali 1996 103"/>

[[File:Thula fortification2.jpg|thumbnail|Ruins of [[Thula]] fortress in [['Amran]], where [[al-Mutahhar|al-Mutahhar ibn Yaha]] barricaded himself against Ottoman attacks.]]
[[Lala Kara Mustafa Pasha]], the Ottoman governor of [[Ottoman Syria|Syria]], was ordered by [[Selim II]] to suppress the Yemeni rebels,<ref name="Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Nahrawālī 2002 198">{{cite book |author=Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Nahrawālī|title=Lightning Over Yemen: A History of the Ottoman Campaign in Yemen, 1569–71|trans-title=البرق اليماني في الفتح العثماني |year=2002 |publisher=OI.B.Tauris |isbn=1860648363 |page=198 |language=ar}}</ref> the Turkish army in [[Lower Egypt|Egypt]] was reluctant to go to Yemen however.<ref name="Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Nahrawālī 2002 198"/> [[Lala Kara Mustafa Pasha|Mustafa Pasha]] sent a letter with two Turkish [[Sergeant|shawishes]] hoping to persuade [[al-Mutahhar]] to give an apology and say that he did not promote any act of aggression against the Ottoman army, and claim that the '' ignorant Arabians '' according to the Turks, acted on their own.<ref>{{cite book |author=Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Nahrawālī|title=Lightning Over Yemen: A History of the Ottoman Campaign in Yemen, 1569–71|trans-title=البرق اليماني في الفتح العثماني |year=2002 |publisher=OI.B.Tauris |isbn=1860648363 |page=200 |language=ar}}</ref> Imam [[al-Mutahhar]] refused the Ottoman offer. [[Lala Kara Mustafa Pasha|Mustafa Pasha]] sent an expeditionary force under the command of Uthman Pasha, the expeditionary force was defeated with great casualties.<ref>{{cite book |author=Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Nahrawālī|title=Lightning Over Yemen: A History of the Ottoman Campaign in Yemen, 1569–71|trans-title=البرق اليماني في الفتح العثماني |year=2002 |publisher=OI.B.Tauris |isbn=1860648363 |page=208 |language=ar}}</ref> Sultan [[Selim II]] was infuriated by [[Lala Kara Mustafa Pasha|Mustafa's]] hesitation to go Yemen, he executed a number of [[sanjak-bey]]s in Egypt and ordered [[Sinan Pasha]] to lead the entire Turkish army in [[Lower Egypt|Egypt]] to reconquer Yemen.<ref>{{cite book |author=Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Nahrawālī|title=Lightning Over Yemen: A History of the Ottoman Campaign in Yemen, 1569–71|trans-title=البرق اليماني في الفتح العثماني |year=2002 |publisher=OI.B.Tauris |isbn=1860648363 |page=210 |language=ar}}</ref> [[Sinan Pasha]] was a prominent Ottoman General of [[Albanians|Albanian]] origin.<ref name="Abdul Ali 1996 103"/> In 1570, he reconquered [[Aden]], [[Ta'izz]], and [[Ibb]], and he besieged [[Shibam Kawkaban District|Shibam Kawkaban]] for 7 months until a truce was reached.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Nancy Um|title=The merchant houses of Mocha: trade and architecture in an Indian Ocean port|year=2009|page=19|publisher=University of Washington Press|isbn=978-0295989105}}</ref> Imam [[al-Mutahhar]] was pushed back but could not be entirely overcome.<ref>{{cite book|author=Robert W. Stookey|year=1978|title=Yemen: the politics of the Yemen Arab Republic|page=141|publisher=Westview Press|isbn=0891583009}}</ref> After [[al-Mutahhar]]'s demise in 1572, the Zaydi community was not united under an imam; the Turks took advantage of their disparity and conquered [[Sana'a]], [[Sa'dah]] and [[Najran]] in 1583.<ref name="Michel Tuchscherer">{{cite journal|url=http://cy.revues.org/11|title=Chronologie du Yémen (1506–1635)', Chroniques yémenites|author=Michel Tuchscherer|journal=Chroniques Yéménites |date=July 2000 |issue=8 |access-date=3 February 2014|archive-date=11 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211012908/http://cy.revues.org/11|url-status=live}}</ref> Imam [[An-Nasir al-Hasan bin Ali|al-Nasir Hassan]] was arrested in 1585 and exiled to [[Constantinople]], thereby putting an end to the Yemeni rebellion.<ref name="Abdul Ali 1996 103"/>

The [[Zaidiyyah|Zaydi]] tribesmen in the northern highlands, particularly those of [[Hashid]] and [[Bakil]], were a constant irritant to Turkish rule in [[Arabia]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Harold F. Jacob|year=2007|title=Kings of Arabia: The Rise and Set of the Turkish Sovranty in the Arabian Peninsula|page=70|publisher=Garnet & Ithaca Press|isbn=978-1859641989}}</ref> Justifying their presence in Yemen as a triumph for Islam, the Ottomans accused the [[Zaidiyyah|Zaydi]]s of being [[Kafir|infidels]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad Nahrawālī|title=Lightning Over Yemen: A History of the Ottoman Campaign in Yemen, 1569–71|trans-title=البرق اليماني في الفتح العثماني |year=2002 |publisher=OI.B.Tauris |isbn=1860648363 |page=197 |language=ar}}</ref> Hassan Pasha was appointed governor of [[Yemen Eyalet|Yemen]], which enjoyed a period of relative peace from 1585 to 1597. Pupils of [[al-Mansur al-Qasim]] suggested that he claim the immamate and fight the Turks. He declined at first but was infuriated by the promotion of the [[Hanafi]] school of [[Fiqh|jurisprudence]] at the expense of [[Zaidiyyah|Zaydi Islam]]. He proclaimed the Imamate in September 1597, which was the same year the Ottoman authorities inaugurated [[al-Bakiriyya Mosque]].<ref name="Michel Tuchscherer"/> By 1608, Imam [[Al-Mansur al-Qasim|al-Mansur]] (the victorious) regained control over the highlands and signed a 10-year truce with the Ottomans.<ref>{{cite book|title=al-Ihsan fî dukhûl Mamlakat al-Yaman taht zill Adalat al-'Uthman|author='Abd al-Samad al-Mawza'i|trans-title=الإحسان في دخول مملكة اليمن تحت ظل عدالة آل عثمان|year=1986|pages=99–105|language=ar|publisher= New Generation Library}}</ref> When Imam al-Mansur al-Qasim died in 1620 his son [[Al-Mu'ayyad Muhammad]] succeeded him and confirmed the truce with the Ottomans. In 1627, the Ottomans lost [[Aden]] and [[Lahej]]. 'Abdin Pasha was ordered to suppress the rebels but failed and had to retreat to [[Mocha, Yemen|Mocha]].<ref name="Michel Tuchscherer"/> After [[Al-Mu'ayyad Muhammad]] expelled the Ottomans from [[Sana'a]] in 1628, only [[Zabid]] and [[Mocha, Yemen|Mocha]] remained under Ottoman possession. [[Al-Mu'ayyad Muhammad]] captured [[Zabid]] in 1634 and allowed the Ottomans to leave [[Mocha, Yemen|Mocha]] peacefully.<ref>{{cite book|author=Amira Maddah|year=1982|title=l-Uthmâniyyun wa-l-Imam al-Qasim b. Muhammad b. Ali fo-l-Yaman|trans-title=العثمانيون والإمام القاسم بن محمد في اليمن|page=839|language=ar}}</ref> The reasons behind [[Al-Mu'ayyad Muhammad]]'s success were the tribes' possession of firearms and the fact that they were unified behind him.<ref>{{cite book|author=Musflafâ Sayyid Salim|year=1974|title=al-Fath al-'Uthmani al-Awwal li-l-Yaman|trans-title= الفتح العثماني الأول لليمن|page=357|language=ar}}</ref>
[[File:Zaydi_State_1675.jpg|thumb|left|Zaidi State under the rule of Al-Mutawakkil Isma'il (1675)]]
[[File:Mocha1692.jpg|thumb|[[Mocha, Yemen|Mocha]] was Yemen's busiest port in the 17th and 18th century.]]
In 1632, [[Al-Mu'ayyad Muhammad]] sent an expeditionary force of 1000 men to conquer [[Mecca]].<ref name="Faulder">{{cite book|title=Accounts and Extracts of the Manuscripts in the Library of the King of France|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_WJFAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA75|volume=2|page = 75|year=1789|publisher=R. Faulder}}</ref> The army entered the city in triumph and killed its governor.<ref name="Faulder"/> The Ottomans were not ready to lose [[Mecca]] after Yemen, so they sent an army from [[Lower Egypt|Egypt]] to fight the Yemenites.<ref name="Faulder"/> Seeing that the Turkish army was too numerous to overcome, the Yemeni army retreated to a valley outside [[Mecca]].<ref name="R. Faulder">{{cite book|title=Accounts and Extracts of the Manuscripts in the Library of the King of France|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_WJFAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA75|volume=2|page = 76|year=1789|publisher=R. Faulder}}</ref> Ottoman troops attacked the Yemenis by hiding at the wells that supplied them with water. This plan proceeded successfully, causing the Yemenis over 200 casualties, most from thirst.<ref name="R. Faulder"/> The tribesmen eventually surrendered and returned to Yemen.<ref>{{cite book|title=Accounts and Extracts of the Manuscripts in the Library of the King of France|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_WJFAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA75|volume=2|page = 78|year=1789|publisher=R. Faulder}}</ref> [[Al-Mu'ayyad Muhammad]] died in 1644. He was succeeded by [[Al-Mutawakkil Isma'il]], another son of [[al-Mansur al-Qasim]], who conquered Yemen in its entirety, from [[Asir]] in the north to [[Zafar, Yemen|Dhofar]] in the east.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Kjetil Selvik |author2=Stig Stenslie |year=2011|title=Stability and Change in the Modern Middle East|page=90|publisher=I. B. Tauris|isbn=978-1848855892}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Anna Hestler |author2=Jo-Ann Spilling |year=2010|title=Yemen|page=23|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|isbn=978-0761448501}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author= Richard N. Schofield|year=1994|title=Territorial foundations of the Gulf states|page=90|publisher=UCL Press|isbn=1857281217}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Robert D. Burrowes|year=2010|title=Historical Dictionary of Yemen|page=295|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0810855281}}</ref> During his reign and that of his successor, [[Al-Mahdi Ahmad]] (1676–1681), the Imamate implemented some of the harshest discriminatory laws (Ar. ''ghiyar'') against the Jews of Yemen, which culminated in the [[Exile of Mawza|expulsion of all Jews]] to a hot and arid region in the [[Tihama]] coastal plain. The ''Qasimid'' state was the strongest [[Zaidiyyah|Zaydi]] state to ever exist.

During that period, Yemen was the sole Coffee producer in the world.<ref>{{cite book|author=Nelly Hanna|year=2005|title=Society and Economy in Egypt and the Eastern Mediterranean, 1600–1900: Essays in Honor of André Raymond|page=124|publisher=American Univ in Cairo Press|isbn=9774249372}}</ref> The country established diplomatic relations with the [[Safavid dynasty]] of [[Persia]], the Ottomans of [[Hejaz]], the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal Empire in India]] and Ethiopia. The emperor  [[Fasilides|Fasilides of Ethiopia]] sent three diplomatic missions to Yemen, but relations did not develop into a political alliance as [[Fasilides]] had hoped, due to the rise of powerful feudalists in the country.<ref>{{cite book|author=Roman Loimeier|year=2013|title=Muslim Societies in Africa: A Historical Anthropology|page=193|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0253007971}}</ref> In the first half of the 18th century, the Europeans broke Yemen's monopoly on coffee by smuggling out coffee trees and cultivating them in their own colonies in the East Indies, East Africa, the West Indies and Latin America.<ref>{{cite book|author=Marta Colburn|year=2002|title=The Republic of Yemen: Development Challenges in the 21st Century|page=15|publisher=CIIR|isbn=1852872497}}</ref> The imammate did not follow a cohesive mechanism for succession, and family quarrels and tribal insubordination led to the political decline of the Qasimi dynasty in the 18th century.<ref>{{cite book|author=Ari Ariel|year=2013|title=Jewish-Muslim Relations and Migration from Yemen to Palestine in the Late Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries|page=24|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-9004265370}}</ref> In 1728 or 1731 the chief representative of [[Lahej]] declared himself an independent [[Sultan]] in defiance of the Qasimid Dynasty and conquered [[Aden]] thus establishing the [[Sultanate of Lahej]]. The rising power of the fervently Islamist [[Wahhabi]] movement on the Arabian Peninsula cost the Zaidi state its coastal possessions after 1803. The imam was able to regain them temporarily in 1818, but new intervention by the Ottoman viceroy of Egypt in 1833 again wrested the coast from the ruler in Sana'a. After 1835 the imamate changed hands with great frequency and some imams were assassinated. After 1849 the Zaidi polity descended into chaos that lasted for decades.<ref>R.L. Playfair (1859), ''A History of Arabia Felix or Yemen''. Bombay; R.B. Serjeant & R. Lewcock (1983), ''San'a': An Araban Islamic City''. London.</ref>

=== The United Kingdom and the nine regions ===
{{See also|Aden Protectorate|Sultanate of Lahej|Aden Colony}}
[[File:Yem5.jpg|thumb|Saint Mary's Garrison church in [[Aden]] was built by the British in 1850 and is currently abandoned.]]
[[File:Stamp Aden Kathiri Seiyun 1942 2.5a.jpg|thumb|upright|Postage stamp of the Kathiri state of Sai'yun with portrait of Sultan Jafar bin Mansur. Kathiri is Kingdom of Hadhramaut Protected/Controlled [[British Empire]].]]
[[File:Flag of Aden (1937–1963).svg|thumb|left|Flag of the [[Colony of Aden]].]]
[[File:Aden 1953-35c.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Queen Elizabeth II]] and [[Gulf of Aden]] at Yemen 35 cent Stamp.]]
The British were looking for a coal depot to service their steamers en route to [[India]]. It took 700 tons of coal for a round-trip from [[Suez]] to [[Bombay]]. [[East India Company]] officials decided on Aden. London tried to reach an agreement with the Zaydi imam of [[Sana'a]] permitting them a foothold in [[Mocha, Yemen|Mocha]]; and when unable to secure their position, they extracted a similar agreement from the [[Sultanate of Lahej|Sultan of Lahej]], enabling them to consolidate a position in [[Aden]].<ref>Caesar E. Farah, "Reaffirming Ottoman Sovereignty in Yemen, 1825-1840"  ''International Journal of Turkish Studies'' (1984) 3#1 pp 101-116.</ref><ref name="Caesar E. Farah 2002 120">{{cite book|author=Caesar E. Farah|year=2002|title=The Sultan's Yemen: 19th Century Challenges to Ottoman Rule|url=https://archive.org/details/sultansyementhce00fara|url-access=limited|page=[https://archive.org/details/sultansyementhce00fara/page/n142 120]|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=1860647677}}</ref>

An incident played into British hands when, while passing [[Aden]] for trading purposes, one of their sailing ships sank and Arab tribesmen boarded it and plundered its contents. The [[British India|British India government]] dispatched a warship under the command of Captain Stafford Bettesworth Haines to demand compensation.<ref name="Caesar E. Farah 2002 120"/>  Haines bombarded Aden from his warship in January 1839. The ruler of [[Lahej]], who was in Aden at the time, ordered his guards to defend the port, but they failed in the face of overwhelming military and naval power. The British managed to occupy [[Aden]] and agreed to compensate the sultan with an annual payment of 6000 [[Yemeni rial|riyals]].<ref name="Caesar E. Farah 2002 120"/> The British evicted the [[Sultanate of Lahej|Sultan of Lahej]] from [[Aden]] and forced him to accept their "protection".<ref name="Caesar E. Farah 2002 120"/> In November 1839, 5000 tribesmen tried to retake the town but were repulsed and 200 were killed. The British realized that Aden's prosperity depended on their relations with the neighboring tribes, which required that they rest on a firm and satisfactory basis.<ref>{{cite book|author=Caesar E. Farah|year=2002|title=The Sultan's Yemen: 19th-Century Challenges to Ottoman Rule|url=https://archive.org/details/sultansyementhce00fara|url-access=limited|page=[https://archive.org/details/sultansyementhce00fara/page/n146 124]|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=1860647677}}</ref>

The British government concluded "protection and friendship" treaties with nine tribes surrounding Aden, whereas they would remain independent from British interference in their affairs as long as they do not conclude treaties with foreigners (non-Arab colonial powers).<ref>{{cite book|author=Caesar E. Farah|year=2002|title=The Sultan's Yemen: 19th Century Challenges to Ottoman Rule|url=https://archive.org/details/sultansyementhce00fara|url-access=limited|page=[https://archive.org/details/sultansyementhce00fara/page/n143 121]|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=1860647677}}</ref> [[Aden]] was declared a [[Free economic zone|free zone]] in 1850. With emigrants from [[India]], East Africa and Southeast Asia, Aden grew into a "world city". In 1850, only 980 Arabs were registered as original inhabitants of the city.<ref>{{cite book|author=R. J. Gavin|year=1975|title=Aden Under British Rule, 1839–1967|url=https://archive.org/details/adenunderbritish0000gavi|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/adenunderbritish0000gavi/page/60 60]|publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers|isbn=0903983141}}</ref> The English presence in Aden put them at odds with the Ottomans. The Turks asserted to the British that they held sovereignty over the whole of [[Arabia]], including Yemen as successor of [[Prophet Mohammed|Mohammed]] and the chief of the universal [[Caliphate]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Caesar E. Farah|year=2002|title=The Sultan's Yemen: 19th Century Challenges to Ottoman Rule|url=https://archive.org/details/sultansyementhce00fara|url-access=limited|page=[https://archive.org/details/sultansyementhce00fara/page/n154 132]|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=1860647677}}</ref>

=== Ottoman return ===
{{See also|Yemen Vilayet}}
[[File:Mukhtar Pasha.jpg|thumb|upright|left|The [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] [[Grand Vizier]] and [[Wāli]] (Governor) of Yemen [[Ahmed Muhtar Pasha]]]]
The Ottomans were concerned about the British expansion from [[British Raj|India]] to the [[Red Sea]] and [[Arabia]]. They returned to the [[Tihama]] in 1849 after an absence of two centuries.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite book|author=Caesar E. Farah|year=2002|title= The Sultan's Yemen: 19th Century Challenges to Ottoman Rule|url=https://archive.org/details/sultansyementhce00fara|url-access=limited|publisher= I.B.Tauris|page= [https://archive.org/details/sultansyementhce00fara/page/n142 120]|isbn=1860647677}}</ref> Rivalries and disturbances continued among the [[Zaidiyyah|Zaydi imams]], between them and their deputies, with the [[ulema]], with the heads of tribes, as well as with those who belonged to other sects. Some citizens of [[Sana'a]] were desperate to return law and order to Yemen and asked the Ottoman Pasha in [[Tihama]] to pacify the country.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Reeva S. Simon |author2=Michael Menachem Laskier |author3=Sara Reguer |year=2013|title=The Jews of the Middle East and North Africa in Modern Times|page=390|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0231507592}}</ref> Yemeni merchants knew that the return of the Ottomans would improve their trade, for the Ottomans would become their customers.<ref>{{cite book|author=Caesar E. Farah|year=2002|title= The Sultan's Yemen: 19th-Century Challenges to Ottoman Rule|url=https://archive.org/details/sultansyementhce00fara|url-access=limited|publisher= I.B.Tauris|page= [https://archive.org/details/sultansyementhce00fara/page/n81 59]|isbn=1860647677}}</ref> An Ottoman expedition force tried to capture [[Sana'a]] but was defeated and had to evacuate the highlands.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Derryl N. Maclean |author2=Sikeena Karmali Ahmed |year=2012|title=Cosmopolitanisms in Muslim Contexts: Perspectives from the Past|page=54|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=978-0748644568}}</ref> The opening of the [[Suez Canal]] in 1869 strengthened the Ottomans' decision to remain in Yemen.<ref name="B. Z. Eraqi Klorman 1993 11">{{cite book|author=B. Z. Eraqi Klorman|year=1993|title=The Jews of Yemen in the Nineteenth Century: A Portrait of a Messianic Community|page=11|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9004096841}}</ref> In 1872, military forces were dispatched from [[Constantinople]] and moved beyond the Ottoman stronghold in the lowlands ([[Tihama]]) to conquer [[Sana'a]]. By 1873 the Ottomans succeeded in conquering the northern highlands. [[Sana'a]] became the administrative capital of [[Yemen Vilayet]].

The Ottomans learned from their previous experience and worked on the disempowerment of local lords in the highland regions. They even attempted to secularize the Yemeni society; [[Yemenite Jews]] came to perceive themselves in Yemeni nationalist terms.<ref>{{cite book|author=Ari Ariel|year=2013|title=Jewish-Muslim Relations and Migration from Yemen to Palestine in the Late Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries|page=37|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-9004265370}}</ref> The Ottomans appeased the tribes by forgiving their rebellious chiefs and appointing them to administrative posts. They introduced a series of reforms to enhance the country's economic welfare. On the other hand, corruption was widespread in the Ottoman administration in Yemen. This stemmed from the fact that only the worst of the officials were appointed because those who could avoid serving in Yemen did so.<ref name="Doğan Gürpınar 2013 71">{{cite book|author=Doğan Gürpınar|year=2013|title=Ottoman/Turkish Visions of the Nation, 1860–1950|page=71|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-1137334213}}</ref> The Ottomans had reasserted control over the highlands for temporary duration.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> The so-called ''[[Tanzimat]]'' reforms were considered heretic by the [[Zaidiyyah|Zaydi]] tribes. In 1876, the [[Hashid]] and [[Bakil]] tribes rebelled against the Ottomans, and the Turks had to appease them with gifts to end the uprising.<ref>{{cite book|author=Caesar E. Farah|year=2002|title= The Sultan's Yemen: 19th-Century Challenges to Ottoman Rule|url=https://archive.org/details/sultansyementhce00fara|url-access=limited|publisher= I.B.Tauris|page= [https://archive.org/details/sultansyementhce00fara/page/n118 96]|isbn=1860647677}}</ref>

The tribal chiefs were difficult to appease and an endless cycle of violence curbed the Ottoman efforts to pacify the land. [[Ahmed Izzet Pasha]] proposed that the Ottoman army should evacuate the highlands and confined itself to [[Tihama]] and not to be unnecessarily burdened with continuing military operation against the [[Zaidiyyah|Zaydi]] tribes.<ref name="Doğan Gürpınar 2013 71"/> The hit-and-run tactics of the northern highlands tribesmen wore out the Ottoman military. They resented the Turkish [[Tanzimat]] and defied all attempts to impose a central government upon them.<ref name="B. Z. Eraqi Klorman 1993 11"/> The northern tribes united under the leadership of the House of Hamidaddin in 1890. Imam [[Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din|Yahya Hamidaddin]] led a rebellion against the Turks in 1904, the rebels disrupted the Ottoman ability to govern.<ref>{{cite book|author=B. Z. Eraqi Klorman|year=1993|title=The Jews of Yemen in the Nineteenth Century: A Portrait of a Messianic Community|page=12|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9004096841}}</ref> The revolts between 1904 and 1911 were especially damaging to the Ottomans, costing them as much as 10,000 soldiers and [[Pound sterling|£]]500,000 per year.<ref>{{cite book|author= Eugene L. Rogan|year=2002|title=Frontiers of the State in the Late Ottoman Empire: Transjordan, 1850–1921|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0521892236}}</ref> The Ottomans signed a treaty with imam [[Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din|Yahya Hamidaddin]] in 1911. Under the treaty, imam Yahya was recognized as an autonomous leader of the [[Zaidiyyah|Zaydi]] northern highlands. The Ottomans continued to rule [[Shafi'i]] areas in the mid-south until their departure in 1918.

=== Idrisid Emirate and Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen ===
{{Main|Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen}}
[[File:Dar al hajar.jpg|thumb|upright|{{center|1=Imam [[Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din|Yahya hamid ed-Din]]'s house in [[Sana'a]]}}]]

Imam [[Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din|Yahya hamid ed-Din al-Mutawakkil]] was ruling the northern highlands independently since 1911. After the Ottoman departure in 1918 he sought to recapture the lands of his Qasimid ancestors. He dreamed of [[Greater Yemen]] stretching from [[Asir]] to [[Dhofar]]. These schemes brought him into conflict with the de facto rulers in the territories claimed, namely the [[Idrisid Emirate of Asir|Idrisids]], [[Ibn Saud]] and the British government in [[Aden]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Clive Leatherdale|year=1983|title=Britain and Saudi Arabia, 1925–1939: The Imperial Oasis|page=140|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=0714632201}}</ref> The Zaydi imam did not recognize the Anglo-Ottoman border agreement of 1905 on the grounds that it was made between two foreign powers occupying Yemen.<ref>{{cite book|author=Nikshoy C. Chatterji|year=1973|title=Muddle of the Middle East, Volume 1|page=197|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=0391003046}}</ref> The border treaty effectively divided Yemen into "north" and "south".<ref>{{cite book|author=Harold F. Jacob|year=2007|title=Kings of Arabia: The Rise and Set of the Turkish Sovereignty in the Arabian Peninsula|page=82|publisher=Garnet & Ithaca Press|isbn=978-1859641989}}</ref> In 1915 the British signed a treaty with the Idrisids guaranteeing their security and independence if they would fight against the Turks.<ref>{{cite book|author=James Minahan|year=2002|title=Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: A-C|page=195|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=0313321094}}</ref> In 1919, Imam Yahya moved southward to liberate the nine British protectorates. The British responded by moving quickly towards [[Tihama]] and occupying [[Al Hudaydah]]. Then they handed it over to their Idrisi allies.<ref>{{cite book|author=Bernard Reich|title=Political Leaders of the Contemporary Middle East and North Africa: A Biographical Dictionary|year=1990|page=508|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=0313262136}}</ref> Imam Yahya attacked the southern protectorates again in 1922. The British bombed Yahya's tribal forces using aircraft to which the tribes had no effective counter.<ref name="autogenerated34">{{cite book|author=Paul Dresch|title=A History of Modern Yemen|year=2000|page=34|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=052179482X}}</ref>

In 1925, Imam Yahya captured Al Hudaydah from the Idrisids.<ref name="autogenerated509">{{cite book|author=Bernard Reich|title=Political Leaders of the Contemporary Middle East and North Africa: A Biographical Dictionary|year=1990|page=509|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=0313262136}}</ref> He continued to follow and attack the Idrisids until [[Asir]] fell under the control of the Imam's forces, forcing the Idrisids to request an agreement that would enable them to administer the region in the name of the Imam.<ref name="autogenerated509"/> Imam Yahya refused the offer on the grounds that the Idrisis were of a Moroccan descent. According to Imam Yahya, the Idrisids, along with the British, were nothing but recent intruders and ought to be driven out of Yemen permanently.<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Ameen Rihani]]|year=1960|title=Kings of the Arabs|trans-title=Muluk al-Arab|page=214,215,216|publisher=Dar al-Rihani|location=Beirut}}</ref> In 1927, when Imam Yahya's forces were 50 km away from Aden, [[Ta'izz]] and [[Ibb]] were bombed by the British for five days, and the Imam had to pull back.<ref name="autogenerated34"/> Small [[Bedouin]] forces mainly from the [[Madh'hij]] confederation of [[Marib]], attacked [[Shabwah Governorate|Shabwah]] but were bombed by the British and had to retreat.

The [[Italian Empire]] was the first to recognize Imam Yahya as the ''King of Yemen'' in 1926. Furthermore, the Italians in 1926 and 1927 aimed at taking control of the [[Farasan Islands]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090107131711/http://www.articlearchives.com/international-relations/national-security-foreign/1549459-1.html Italy and Yemen in 1926-1928]</ref> Italy had colonies of its own in the region: [[Eritrea#The Italians in Eritrea|Eritrea]] and [[Italian Somaliland|Somaliland]], both of low profitability. There was expectation that increased ties with Yemen would fuel increased trade with the colonies and bring the region into the Italian [[sphere of influence]]. The Kingdom of Yemen at this point had its eye on annexing Aden and Imam Yahya also had aspirations for a [[Greater Yemen]], with the possible help from Italy.

This created a great deal of anxiety for the British, who interpreted it as clear recognition of Imam Yahya's claim to sovereignty over [[Greater Yemen]] which included the [[Aden protectorate]] and Asir.<ref>{{cite book|author=Massimiliano Fiore|year=2010|title=Anglo-Italian Relations in the Middle East, 1922–1940|url=https://archive.org/details/angloitalianrela00fior|url-access=limited|page=[https://archive.org/details/angloitalianrela00fior/page/n37 21]|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd|isbn=978-0754697473}}</ref>

The Idrisids turned to [[Ibn Saud]] seeking his protection from Yahya. In 1932, however, the Idrisids broke their accord with Ibn Saud and went back to Imam Yahya seeking help against Ibn Saud himself, who had begun liquidating their authority and expressed his desire to annex those territories into his own Saudi domain.<ref name="Madawi al-Rasheed 2002 101">{{cite book|author=[[Madawi al-Rasheed]]|year=2002|title=A History of Saudi Arabia|page=101|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0521644127}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Bernard Reich|date=1990|title=Political Leaders of the Contemporary Middle East and North Africa: A Biographical Dictionary|page=509|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=9780313262135}}</ref> Imam Yahya demanded the return of all Idrisi dominion.<ref name="Madawi al-Rasheed 2002 101"/> That same year, a group of [[Hejaz]]i liberals fled to Yemen and plotted to expel Ibn Saud from the former Hashemite [[Kingdom of Hejaz]] which was [[Saudi conquest of Hejaz|conquered by the Saudis]] seven years earlier. Ibn Saud appealed to Britain for aid.<ref name="Madawi al-Rasheed 97">{{cite book|author=Madawi al-Rasheed|title=A History of Saudi Arabia|date=April 2010|page=97|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0521761284}}</ref> The British government sent arms and airplanes.<ref name="Madawi al-Rasheed 97"/> The British were anxious that Ibn Saud's financial difficulties may encourage the [[Italian Empire]] to bail him out.<ref name="Madawi al-Rasheed 2002 101"/> Ibn Saud suppressed the Asiri rebellion in 1933, after which the Idrisids fled to [[Sana'a]].<ref name="Madawi al-Rasheed 97"/> Negotiations between the Imam Yahya and Ibn Saud proved fruitless. After a military confrontation, Ibn Saud announced a ceasefire in May 1934.<ref name="Madawi al-Rasheed 97"/> Imam Yahya agreed to release Saudi hostages and the surrender of the Idrisis to Saudi custody. Imam Yahya ceded the three provinces of [[Najran]], Asir and [[Jizan Region|Jazan]] for 20 years<ref>{{cite book|author1=Raymond A. Hinnebusch |author2=Anoushiravan Ehteshami |title=The Foreign Policies of Middle East States|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781588260208 |url-access=registration |year=2002|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781588260208/page/262 262]|publisher=Lynne Rienner Publishers|isbn=1588260208}}</ref> and signed another treaty with the British government in 1934. The Imam recognized the British sovereignty over [[Aden protectorate]] for 40 years.<ref>{{cite book|author=Glen Balfour-Paul|title=The End of Empire in the Middle East: Britain's Relinquishment of Power in Her Last Three Arab Dependencies|page=60|year=1994|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0521466369}}</ref> Yahya submitted to the Saudi and British demands out of fear for Al Hudaydah. According to Bernard Reich, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at [[George Washington University]], Yahya could have done better by reorganizing the [[Zaidiyyah|Zaidi]] tribes of the northern highlands as his ancestors did against the Turks and British intruders and turn the lands they captured into another graveyard.<ref>{{cite book|author=Bernard Reich|date=1990|title=Political Leaders of the Contemporary Middle East and North Africa: A Biographical Dictionary|page=510|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=9780313262135}}</ref>

Although the imamate lost Asir, it was able to put down rebel tribes in the north using Iraq-trained Yemeni troops. With the country, now established within clearly defined territory, finally pacified, the urban nationalists began to assert themselves. These nationalists had long practiced non-Zaidi traditions (especially [[Shafi'i]]), and were centered in the coastal province of Tahama, the city of [[Taiz|Ta'izz]] and the British-occupied [[Aden]]. Many had been students in Cairo and had acquired connections with the [[Muslim Brotherhood]] and Algerian nationalists. Muslim Brotherhood operatives in Yemen aligned themselves with the urban opposition and supported Zaidi prince Abdullah bin Ahmad al-Wazir, who joined those actively seeking to overthrow Imam Yahya. On February 17, 1948, the opposition revolted in Sana'a and killed Imam Yahya. Crown prince [[Ahmad bin Yahya|Ahmad]] was able to rally northern tribes and retake the capital, quelling the revolt after a brief siege on March 12, 1948.<ref>{{cite book|author=Reinhard Schulze|title=A Modern History of the Islamic World|year=2002|pages=136–37|publisher=New York University Press|isbn=0-8147-9819-5}} (Hereafter "Schulze.")</ref>

Imam Ahmad reversed the isolationist policies of his father and opened Yemen's economy and society to the outside world.  It went as the theocratic and largely medieval Imamate which became the first Arab state to accept Soviet aid. Beginning in 1955 Yemen entered into various treaties of friendship and from 1957 began receiving large amounts of Soviet arms as well as Soviet and Chinese military advisers. When the imam went abroad owing to illness, crown prince [[Muhammad al-Badr]] led a pro-Soviet party and communist activity increased. When the Imam returned in 1959, brutal repression ensued and communists were expelled.<ref>{{cite book|author=Peter Partner|title=A Short Political Guide to the Arab World|url=https://archive.org/details/shortpoliticalgu002089mbp|year=1960|pages=195–96|publisher=Frederick A. Praeger}}</ref>

In April 1956 Yemen joined a defensive pact with Syria and Egypt, and in February 1958 it federated with the [[United Arab Republic]]. In parallel, [[Yemeni-Adenese clan violence|clan violence]] erupted in Yemen and Aden, claiming hundreds of lives over 1956–60. The defensive pact move was conceived as a defensive measure against republican agitation, which urban nationalists still engaged in from British-occupied Aden. So long as Yemen was federated with the UAR, republicans would be deprived any assistance from Egyptian President [[Gamal Abdel Nasser|Nasser]]. Although the federation lasted only for three years, crown prince al-Badr continued to portray himself as an [[Arab nationalism|Arab patriot]], often railing against "reactionary Arab monarchs."<ref>Schulze, p. 157.</ref>

== Two states ==
{{Main|Yemen Arab Republic|South Yemen}}
[[File:Abdullah Sallal.jpg|thumb|[[Abdullah as-Sallal]], [[Yemen Arab Republic|North Yemen]] President and Dana Adams Schmidt.]]
[[Arab nationalism]] influenced some circles that pushed for the modernization of the Mutawakkilite monarchy. This became apparent when Imam [[Ahmad bin Yahya]] died in 1962. He was succeeded by his son, but army officers attempted to seize power, sparking the [[North Yemen Civil War]].<ref>{{cite book |author=F. Gregory Gause |title=Saudi-Yemeni Relations: Domestic Structures and Foreign Influence |year=1990 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-07044-7 |page=60 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0yUzV-g2X2QC |access-date=22 February 2013}}</ref> The Hamidaddin royalists were supported by Saudi Arabia, Britain, and Jordan (mostly with weapons and financial aid, but also with small military forces), whilst the republicans were backed by Egypt. Egypt provided the republicans with weapons and financial assistance but also sent a large military force to participate in the fighting. Israel covertly supplied weapons to the royalists in order to keep the Egyptian military busy in Yemen and make Nasser less likely to initiate a conflict in Sinai.
After six years of civil war, the republicans were victorious (February 1968) and formed the [[Yemen Arab Republic]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Dresch |first=Paul |title=A History of Modern Yemen |year=2000 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-79482-4 |page=115 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7jxR2q-F3o4C&pg=PA115 |access-date=22 February 2013}}</ref>

The revolution in the north coincided with the [[Aden Emergency]], which hastened the end of British rule in the south. On 30 November 1967, the state of South Yemen was formed, comprising Aden and the former [[Protectorate of South Arabia]]. This socialist state was later officially known as the [[People's Democratic Republic of Yemen]] and a programme of nationalisation was begun.<ref>Schmitthoff, Clive Macmillan, Clive M. Schmitthoff's select essays on international trade law p. 390</ref>

Relations between the two Yemeni states fluctuated between peaceful and hostile. The South was supported by the Eastern bloc. The North, however, was unable to get the same connections. In 1972, the two states [[Yemenite War of 1972|fought a war]]. The war was resolved with a ceasefire and negotiations brokered by the [[Arab League]], where it was declared that unification would eventually occur. In 1978, [[Ali Abdallah Saleh]] was named as president of the Yemen Arab Republic.<ref name="BBC Timeline">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14704951 |title=Yemen profile (timeline) |date=26 October 2013 |publisher=BBC |access-date=14 December 2013 |quote=1978 – Ali Abdallah Saleh named as president of YAR. |archive-date=15 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180115164559/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14704951 |url-status=live }}</ref>
After the war, the North complained about the South's help from foreign countries, which included Saudi Arabia.<ref>{{cite book|last=Dresch|first=Paul|title=A History of Modern Yemen|year=2000|publisher=Cambridge University Press|pages=120–124}}</ref> In 1979, [[Yemenite War of 1979|fighting erupted]]  between the North and the South. There were renewed efforts to unite the two states.<ref name="BBC Timeline" />

In 1986, thousands died in the South, when a [[South Yemen Civil War|civil war]] erupted between supporters of former president [[Abdul Fattah Ismail]] and his successor, [[Ali Nasser Muhammad]]. Ali Nasser Muhammad fled the country and was later sentenced to death for treason.<ref name="BBC Timeline" />

== Unification ==
{{Main|Yemeni unification}}
In 1990, the two governments reached a full agreement on the joint governing of Yemen, and the countries were merged on 22 May 1990 with Saleh as president.<ref name="BBC Timeline" /> The President of South Yemen, [[Ali Salim al-Beidh]], became vice-president.<ref name="BBC Timeline" /> A unified [[Assembly of Representatives of Yemen|parliament]] was formed and a unity constitution was agreed upon.<ref name="BBC Timeline" /> In the [[Yemeni parliamentary election, 1993|1993 parliamentary election]], the first held after unification, the [[General People's Congress (Yemen)|General People's Congress]] won 122 of 301 seats.<ref name=elections>{{cite book |title=Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume I |editor1-last=Nohlen |editor1-first=Dieter |editor2-last=Grotz |editor2-first=Florian |editor3-last=Hartmann |editor3-first=Christof |year=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-199-24958-9 |pages=309–310 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BVFBXa69tWMC&pg=PA309 |access-date=7 April 2011 |archive-date=15 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230215135117/https://books.google.com/books?id=BVFBXa69tWMC&pg=PA309 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|309}}

After the [[Gulf War|invasion of Kuwait]] crisis in 1990, Yemen's president opposed military intervention from non-Arab states.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.laughtergenealogy.com/bin/histprof/misc/desertstorm.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040122111532/http://www.laughtergenealogy.com/bin/histprof/misc/desertstorm.html |archive-date=22 January 2004 |title=Persian Gulf War, Desert Storm – War with Iraqi |publisher=Laughtergenealogy.com |access-date=22 February 2013}}</ref> As a member of the [[United Nations Security Council]] for 1990 and 1991, Yemen abstained on a number of UNSC resolutions concerning Iraq and Kuwait<ref name=YemenProfile2008>{{cite web |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Yemen.pdf |title=Country Profile: Yemen |publisher=Library of Congress – Federal Research Division |date=August 2008 |access-date=7 April 2010 |archive-date=15 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515010519/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Yemen.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> and voted against the "use of force resolution". The vote outraged the U.S.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.realclearworld.com/printpage/?url=http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2010/01/08/fighting_al-qaeda_the_role_of_yemens_president_saleh_97472.html |title=Fighting al-Qaeda: The Role of Yemen's President Saleh |work=Realclearworld.com |date=17 December 2009 |access-date=22 February 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511000259/http://www.realclearworld.com/printpage/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearworld.com%2Farticles%2F2010%2F01%2F08%2Ffighting_al-qaeda_the_role_of_yemens_president_saleh_97472.html |archive-date=11 May 2013 }}</ref> [[Saudi Arabia]] expelled 800,000 Yemenis in 1990 and 1991 to punish Yemen for its opposition to the war.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/apr/01/yemen-guantanamo-al-qaida |title=Yemen's point of no return |author=Hill, Ginny |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |date=1 April 2009 |access-date=22 February 2013 |archive-date=7 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170907213633/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/apr/01/yemen-guantanamo-al-qaida |url-status=live }}</ref>

Following food riots in major towns in 1992, a new coalition government made up of the ruling parties from both the former Yemeni states was formed in 1993. However, vice-president al-Beidh withdrew to [[Aden]] in August 1993 and said he would not return to the government until his grievances were addressed. These included northern violence against his [[Yemeni Socialist Party]], as well as the economic marginalization of the south.<ref name=war>{{cite web |url=http://www.yca-sandwell.org.uk/history_7.htm |title=Civil war |publisher=Yementi Community Association in Sandwell |work=Yca-sandwell.org.uk |access-date=23 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130616022328/http://www.yca-sandwell.org.uk/history_7.htm |archive-date=16 June 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Negotiations to end the political deadlock dragged on into 1994. The government of Prime Minister [[Haydar Abu Bakr Al-Attas]] became ineffective due to political infighting<ref>{{cite book |author=U.S. Department of State |title=Background Notes: Mideast, March 2011 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bLRoWtwJnZQC&pg=PT262 |publisher=InfoStrategist.com |isbn=978-1-59243-126-7 }}</ref>

An accord between northern and southern leaders was signed in [[Amman]], [[Jordan]] on 20 February 1994, but this could not stop the civil war.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/yemen1.htm|title=Yemeni Civil War (1990-1994)|last=Pike|first=John|access-date=2018-02-01|archive-date=2017-07-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701200943/http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/yemen1.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>{{citation needed|date=December 2013}} During these tensions, both the northern and southern armies (which had never integrated) gathered on their respective frontiers.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/mobile/middle_east/country_profiles/1706450.stm |title=Yemen timeline |publisher=BBC |date=28 November 2012 |access-date=23 February 2013}}</ref> The May – July [[1994 civil war in Yemen]] resulted in the defeat of the southern armed forces and the flight into exile of many [[Yemeni Socialist Party]] leaders and other southern secessionists.{{citation needed|date=December 2013}} Saudi Arabia actively aided the south during the 1994 civil war.<ref>{{cite web |author=John Pike |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/yemen1.htm |title=Yemeni Civil War (1990–1994) |publisher=Global Security |date=11 July 2011 |access-date=22 February 2013 |archive-date=1 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701200943/http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/yemen1.htm |url-status=live }} {{link note|note=Requires 3rd-party cookies}}</ref>

Saleh became Yemen's first directly elected president in [[Yemeni presidential election, 1999|the 1999 presidential election]], winning 96.2% of the vote.<ref name=elections />{{rp|310}} The only other candidate, [[Najeeb Qahtan Al-Sha'abi]], was the son of [[Qahtan Muhammad al-Shaabi]], a former President of [[South Yemen]]. Though a member of Saleh's [[General People's Congress (Yemen)|General People's Congress]] (GPC) party, Najeeb ran as an independent.<ref name=REVERSAL>{{cite web |title=In eleventh-hour reversal, President Saleh announces candidacy |url=http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=27058 |publisher=[[The New Humanitarian|IRIN]] |date=25 June 2006 |access-date=14 December 2010 |archive-date=5 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080105080112/http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=27058 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In June 2000, the [[Treaty of Jeddah (2000)|Treaty of Jeddah]] was signed, defining the border with Saudi Arabia.

In October 2000, seventeen U.S. personnel died after a [[USS Cole bombing|suicide attack on the U.S. naval vessel ''USS Cole'']] in Aden which was subsequently blamed on al-Qaeda. After the [[September 11 attacks]] on the United States, President Saleh assured U.S. President [[George W. Bush]] that Yemen was a partner in his [[War on Terror]]. In 2001, there was violence surrounding [[Yemeni constitutional referendum, 2001|a referendum]] which apparently supported extending Saleh's rule and powers.

The [[Shia insurgency in Yemen]] began in June 2004 when dissident cleric [[Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi]], head of the Zaidi Shia sect, launched an uprising against the Yemeni government. The Yemeni government alleged that the [[Houthis]] were seeking to overthrow it and to implement Shī'a [[religious law]]. The rebels counter that they are "defending their community against discrimination" and government aggression.<ref name="Deadly blast">{{cite news |title=Deadly blast strikes Yemen mosque |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7379929.stm |work=BBC News |date=2 May 2008 |access-date=23 May 2008 |archive-date=1 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201160808/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7379929.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2005, at least 36 people were killed in clashes across the country between police and protesters over rising fuel prices.

In the [[Yemeni presidential election, 2006|2006 presidential election]], held on 20 September, Saleh won with 77.2% of the vote. His main rival, [[Faisal bin Shamlan]], received 21.8%.<ref name="presidentsaleh.gov.ye">{{cite web |url=http://www.presidentsaleh.gov.ye/shownews.php?lng=en&_newsctgry=2 |title=President Ali Abdullah Saleh Web Site |work=Presidentsaleh.gov.ye |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101219213256/http://presidentsaleh.gov.ye/shownews.php?lng=en&_newsctgry=2 |archive-date=19 December 2010 |access-date=18 November 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Saleh re-elected president of Yemen |url=http://english.aljazeera.net/archive/2006/09/200841013335763406.html |work=Al Jazeera |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=23 September 2006 |access-date=14 December 2010 |archive-date=20 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110220084749/http://english.aljazeera.net/archive/2006/09/200841013335763406.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Saleh was sworn in for another term on 27 September.<ref>{{cite news |title=Yemeni president takes constitutional oath for his new term |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-09/27/content_5146302.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107102318/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-09/27/content_5146302.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 7, 2012 |publisher=Xinhua |work=News.xinhaunet.com |date=27 September 2006 |access-date=14 December 2010}}</ref>

A suicide bomber killed eight Spanish tourists and two Yemenis in the [[Ma'rib Governorate|province of Marib]] in July 2007. There was a series of bomb attacks on police, official, diplomatic, foreign business and tourism targets in 2008. Car bombings outside the U.S. embassy in Sana'a killed 18 people, including six of the assailants in September 2008. In 2008, an opposition rally in Sana'a demanding electoral reform was met with police gunfire.

=== Al Qaeda ===
In January 2009, the Saudi and Yemeni al-Qaeda branches merged to form [[Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula]] (AQAP). Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is based in Yemen, and many of its members were Saudi nationals who had been released from Guantanamo Bay.<ref>{{cite web |author=Daniel Cassman |url=http://www.stanford.edu/group/mappingmilitants/cgi-bin/groups/view/19#note6 |title=Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula |publisher=Stanford University |access-date=22 February 2013 |archive-date=23 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130623015825/http://www.stanford.edu/group/mappingmilitants/cgi-bin/groups/view/19#note6 |url-status=live }}</ref> Saleh released 176 al-Qaeda suspects on condition of good behaviour, but terrorist activities continued.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

The Yemeni army launched a fresh offensive against the Shia insurgents in 2009, assisted by Saudi forces. Tens of thousands of people were displaced by the fighting. A new ceasefire was agreed upon in February 2010. However, by the end of the year, Yemen claimed that 3,000 soldiers had been killed in renewed fighting. The Shia rebels accused Saudi Arabia of providing support to [[Salafism|salafi groups]] to suppress Zaidism in Yemen.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2010/RAND_MG962.pdf |title=Regime and Periphery in Northern Yemen: The Huthi Phenomenon |date=17 September 2010 |access-date=22 February 2013 |archive-date=6 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120106115042/http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2010/RAND_MG962.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Saleh's government used Al-Qaeda in its wars against the insurgent [[Houthis]] clan.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/yemens-forever-war-the-houthi-rebellion |title=Yemen's Forever War: The Houthi Rebellion |publisher=Washington Institute |access-date=22 February 2013 |archive-date=15 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170515133444/http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/yemens-forever-war-the-houthi-rebellion |url-status=live }}</ref>

Some news reports have suggested that, on orders from U.S. President [[Barack Obama]], U.S. warplanes fired [[cruise missile]]s at what officials in Washington claimed were Al Qaeda training camps in the provinces of [[Sana'a Governorate|Sana'a]] and [[Abyan]] on 17 December 2009.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/cruise-missiles-strike-yemen/story?id=9375236 |title=Obama Ordered U.S. Military Strike on Yemen Terrorists |work=ABC News |date=18 December 2009 |author1=Ross, Brian |author2=Esposito, Richard |author3=Cole, Matthew |location=New York |display-authors=etal |access-date=28 June 2020 |archive-date=22 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190522101214/https://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/cruise-missiles-strike-yemen/story?id=9375236 |url-status=live }}</ref> Instead of hitting Al-Qaeda operatives, it hit a village killing 55 civilians.<ref name="foreignpolicy.com">{{cite news |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/11/05/losing_yemen?page=0,1 |title=Losing Yemen: How this forgotten corner of the Arabian Peninsula became the most dangerous country in the world |work=Foreign Policy |location=Washington DC |date=5 November 2012 |access-date=22 February 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130530041122/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/11/05/losing_yemen?page=0,1 |archive-date=30 May 2013 }}</ref> Officials in Yemen said that the attacks claimed the lives of more than 60 civilians, 28 of them children. Another airstrike was carried out on 24 December.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.inteldaily.com/news/173/ARTICLE/13254/2009-12-30.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100101224326/http://www.inteldaily.com/news/173/ARTICLE/13254/2009-12-30.html |archive-date=1 January 2010 |title=In wake of airline incident: Drumbeat for US war in Yemen |work=The Intelligence Daily |date=30 December 2009}}</ref>

The U.S. launched a series of drone attacks in Yemen to curb a perceived growing terror threat due to political chaos in Yemen.<ref>{{cite news |author=Hakim Almasmari |url=http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/us-makes-a-drone-attack-a-day-in-yemen |title=US makes a drone attack a day in Yemen |work=The National |location=Abu Dhabi |date=31 January 2013 |access-date=22 February 2013 |archive-date=15 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130215183313/http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/us-makes-a-drone-attack-a-day-in-yemen |url-status=live }}</ref> Since December 2009, U.S. strikes in Yemen have been carried out by the U.S. military with intelligence support from CIA.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303848104576384051572679110 |title=CIA Plans Drone Strikes in Yemen |author1=Siobhan Gorman |author2=Adam Entous |newspaper=Wall Street Journal |location=New York |date=14 June 2011 |access-date=22 February 2013 |archive-date=29 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150429082342/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303848104576384051572679110 |url-status=live }}</ref> The drone strikes are protested by human-rights groups who say they kill innocent civilians and that the U.S. military and CIA drone strikes lack sufficient congressional oversight, including the choice of human targets suspected of being threats to America.<ref>{{cite news |title=U.S. Relaxes Drone Rules |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304723304577366251852418174 |newspaper=Wall Street Journal |author1=Adam Entous |author2=Siobhan Gorman |author3=Julian E. Barnes |location=New York |date=26 April 2012 |access-date=3 August 2017 |archive-date=10 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230310180100/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304723304577366251852418174 |url-status=live }}</ref> Controversy over U.S. policy for drone attacks mushroomed after a September 2011 drone strike in Yemen killed Anwar al-Awlaki and [[Samir Khan]], both U.S. citizens.<ref>{{cite news |title=Memo on Drone Strikes Draws Scrutiny |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324900204578286432096035960 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130206012249/http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324900204578286432096035960.html |archive-date=6 February 2013 |newspaper=Wall Street Journal |location=New York |date=5 February 2013}} {{subscription required}}</ref> Another drone strike in October 2011 killed Anwar's teenage son, [[Abdulrahman al-Awlaki]].

In 2010 the Obama administration policy allowed targeting of people whose names are not known. The U.S. government increased military aid to $140 million in 2010.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/11/world/middleeast/11prexy.html |title=Obama Plays Down Military Role in Yemen |first=Sarah |last=Wheaton |newspaper=New York Times |date=10 January 2010 |access-date=10 January 2010 |archive-date=14 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100114004455/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/11/world/middleeast/11prexy.html |url-status=live }}</ref> U.S. drone strikes continued after the ousting of President Saleh.<ref>Andrew Katz: [https://world.time.com/2013/12/20/u-s-officials-drone-strike-that-hit-yemen-wedding-convoy-killed-militants-not-civilians/ U.S. Officials: Drone Strike That Hit Yemen Wedding Convoy Killed Militants, Not Civilians], 20 December 2013.</ref>
{{Further|al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen}}

=== Government instability 2011–present ===
{{Main|Yemeni Crisis (2011–present)}}

The '''Yemeni Crisis''' began with the [[Yemeni Revolution|2011–12 revolution]] against President [[Ali Abdullah Saleh]], who had led [[Yemen]] for more than two decades.<ref name="crisis">{{cite news|agency=Yahoo! News|url=https://news.yahoo.com/yemens-crisis-reflects-arc-arab-spring-revolts-115411382.html|title=Yemen's crisis reflects arc of Arab Spring revolts|first=Hamza|last=Hendawi|date=12 October 2014|access-date=8 February 2015|archive-date=9 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209051159/http://news.yahoo.com/yemens-crisis-reflects-arc-arab-spring-revolts-115411382.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="nyt">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/07/world/middleeast/yemen-rebels-take-over-a-struggling-country.html|agency=The New York Times|title=In Yemen, Hard Times Remain a Constant as Rebels Take Charge|first=Mona|last=al-Naggar|work=The New York Times |date=6 February 2015|access-date=6 February 2015|archive-date=7 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150207101125/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/07/world/middleeast/yemen-rebels-take-over-a-struggling-country.html|url-status=live}}</ref> After Saleh left office in early 2012 as part of a mediated agreement between the [[government of Yemen|Yemeni government]] and opposition groups, the government led by Saleh's former vice president, [[Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi]], struggled to unite the fractious political landscape of the country and fend off threats both from [[Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula]] and [[Houthis|Houthi militants]] that had been waging a protracted [[Houthi insurgency in Yemen|insurgency in the north]] for years.<ref name="meet">{{cite news|agency=BuzzFeed|url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/gregorydjohnsen/meet-the-group-that-now-rules-yemen#.rxPB6yvew|title=Meet The Group That Now Rules Yemen|date=6 February 2015|access-date=6 February 2015|archive-date=6 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206213006/http://www.buzzfeed.com/gregorydjohnsen/meet-the-group-that-now-rules-yemen#.rxPB6yvew|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/analysis/2013/12/08/Al-Qaeda-thrives-in-Yemen-amid-weak-security-stalled-dialogue.html|agency=Al Arabiya|title=Al-Qaeda thrives in Yemen amid weak security, stalled dialogue|date=6 February 2015|access-date=6 February 2015|archive-date=9 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209030748/http://english.alarabiya.net/en/perspective/analysis/2013/12/08/Al-Qaeda-thrives-in-Yemen-amid-weak-security-stalled-dialogue.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2014, Houthi fighters [[Battle of Sana'a (2014)|swept into the capital of Sana'a]] and forced Hadi to negotiate a "unity government" with other political factions. The rebels continued to apply pressure on the weakened government until, after his presidential palace and private residence came under attack from the militant group, Hadi resigned along with his ministers in January 2015. The following month, the Houthis [[2014–15 Yemeni coup d'état|declared themselves in control of the government]], dissolving [[House of Representatives (Yemen)|Parliament]] and installing an interim [[Revolutionary Committee (Yemen)|Revolutionary Committee]] led by [[Mohammed Ali al-Houthi]], a cousin of Houthi leader [[Abdul-Malik al-Houthi]].<ref name="takeover">{{cite news|url=http://www.columbian.com/news/2015/feb/06/yemen-shiite-rebels-takeover-country/|agency=The Columbian|title=Yemen's Shiite rebels announce takeover of country|date=6 February 2015|access-date=6 February 2015|first=Ahmed|last=al-Haj|archive-date=24 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180724154358/http://www.columbian.com/news/2015/feb/06/yemen-shiite-rebels-takeover-country/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="installs">{{cite news|url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/houthi-militia-installs-presidential-council-run-yemen-1600545027|agency=Middle East Eye|title=Houthi militia installs 'presidential council' to run Yemen|date=6 February 2015|access-date=6 February 2015|archive-date=6 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206074533/http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/houthi-militia-installs-presidential-council-run-yemen-1600545027|url-status=live}}</ref> However, Hadi escaped to [[Aden]], where he declared he remains Yemen's legitimate president, proclaimed the country's temporary capital, and called on loyal government officials and members of the military to rally to him.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.aa.com.tr/en/politics/481862--yemens-hadi-denies-aden-secession|agency=Anadolu Agency|title=Yemen's Hadi denies Aden secession|date=21 March 2015|access-date=22 March 2015|archive-date=20 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150620115707/http://www.aa.com.tr/en/politics/481862--yemens-hadi-denies-aden-secession|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e0340c8c-bd9f-11e4-8cf3-00144feab7de.html#axzz3V8LWgg3o|agency=Financial Times|title=UN and Gulf back Yemeni president Hadi amid fears of civil war|date=26 February 2015|access-date=22 March 2015|first=Simeon|last=Kerr|archive-date=2 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150302103759/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e0340c8c-bd9f-11e4-8cf3-00144feab7de.html#axzz3V8LWgg3o|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== 2011 revolution ====
{{Main|2011 Yemeni revolution}}
[[File:Yemen protest.jpg|thumb|Protest in Sana'a, 3 February 2011]]
The 2011 Yemeni revolution followed other [[Arab Spring]] mass protests in early 2011. The uprising was initially against unemployment, economic conditions, and corruption, as well as against the government's proposals to modify the [[constitution of Yemen]] so that Saleh's son could inherit the presidency.

In March 2011, police snipers opened fire on the pro-democracy camp in Sana'a, killing more than 50 people. In May, dozens were killed in clashes between troops and tribal fighters in Sana'a. By this point, Saleh began to lose international support. In October 2011, Yemeni human rights activist [[Tawakul Karman]] won the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] and the [[UN Security Council]] condemned the violence and called for a transfer of power. On 23 November 2011, Saleh flew to Riyadh, in neighbouring Saudi Arabia, to sign the [[Gulf Co-operation Council]] plan for political transition, which he had previously spurned. Upon signing the document, he agreed to legally transfer the office and powers of the presidency to his deputy, Vice President [[Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi]].

Hadi took office for a two-year term upon winning the uncontested presidential elections in February 2012, in which he was the only candidate standing.<ref name="Lewis 2012">{{cite journal |last=Lewis |first=Alexandra |title=Changing Seasons: The Arab Spring's Position Within the Political Evolution of the Yemeni State |journal=Post-war Reconstruction and Development Unit Working Paper Series |date=May 2012 |series=3 |url=http://www.york.ac.uk/media/politics/prdu/documents/publications/PRDU%20Working%20Paper%203%20May%5B1%5D.pdf}}{{dead link|date=December 2013}}</ref> A unity government – including a prime minister from the opposition – was formed. Al-Hadi would oversee the drafting of a new constitution, followed by parliamentary and presidential elections in 2014.{{update inline|date=April 2015}}

==== 2012 ====
Saleh returned in February 2012. In the face of objections from thousands of street protesters, parliament granted him full immunity from prosecution. Saleh's son, General [[Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh]] continues to exercise a strong hold on sections of the military and security forces.

AQAP claimed responsibility for the February 2012 suicide attack on the presidential palace which killed 26 Republican Guards on the day that President Hadi was sworn in. AQAP was also behind the suicide bombing which killed 96 soldiers in Sana'a three months later. In September 2012, a car bomb attack in Sana'a killed 11 people, a day after a local al-Qaeda leader [[Said al-Shihri]] was reported killed in the south.

By 2012, there has been a "small contingent of U.S. special-operations troops" – in addition to CIA and "unofficially acknowledged" U.S. military presence – in response to increasing terror attacks by AQAP on Yemeni citizens.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2123810,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120906231921/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2123810,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 6, 2012 |title=The End of Al-Qaeda? |first=Bobby |last=Ghosh |magazine=Time |location=New York |date=17 September 2012 |access-date=24 September 2012}}</ref> Many analysts have pointed out the former Yemeni government role in cultivating terrorist activity in the country.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/08/29/whose_side_is_yemen_on?page=0,1 |title=Whose Side Is Yemen On? |work=Foreign Policy |location=Washington, D.C. |date=29 August 2012 |access-date=22 February 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130530044140/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/08/29/whose_side_is_yemen_on?page=0,1 |archive-date=30 May 2013 }}</ref> Following the election of new president [[Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi]], the Yemeni military was able to push [[Ansar al-Sharia (Yemen)|Ansar al-Sharia]] back and recapture the [[Shabwah Governorate]].

==== Houthi takeover, Civil War and Saudi intervention ====
[[File:Yemeni Civil War.svg|thumb|Current (November 2021) political and military control in ongoing [[Yemeni Civil War (2014–present)]]<br>
{{legend|#f98787|Controlled by the [[Cabinet of Yemen|Government of Yemen]] (under the [[Presidential Leadership Council]] since April 2022) and [[Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen|allies]]}}
{{legend|#cae7c4|Controlled by [[Houthi movement|Houthis]]-led [[Supreme Political Council]]}}
{{legend|#ffffff|Controlled by [[Ansar al-Sharia (Yemen)|Ansar al-Sharia]], [[Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula]] and [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]]}}
{{legend|#d7e074|Controlled by [[Southern Transitional Council]]}}|350px]]
{{Main|Houthi takeover in Yemen|Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)|Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen}}In 2014, the [[Houthi movement]], which had been waging an [[Houthi insurgency in Yemen|insurgency against the Yemeni government]] since 2004, began a [[Houthi takeover in Yemen|gradual takeover of Yemen]], defeating government forces in the [[Battle of Amran]] and the [[Battle of Sana'a (2014)]]. Their advance continued throughout Yemen, prompting the start of the [[Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen]]. The Houthis attacked Aden on 25 March 2015, beginning the [[Battle of Aden (2015)]]. Despite Saudi airstrikes, the Houthis managed to take advance into the Tawahi, Khormaksar, and Crater districts. The tide turned on 14 July, when an anti-Houthi counteroffensive managed to trap the Houthis on the peninsula. By 6 August 2015, the Hadi government had captured 75% of Taiz, and the [[Lahij insurgency]] had expelled Houthis from the [[Lahij Governorate]]. Hadi fortunes dissipated on 16 August, when Houthi forces successfully counterattacked and forced the Hadi forces to retreat from Al-Salih Gardens and the Al-Dabab Mountain region. Hadi forces attributed this reverse to a lack of military equipment.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/politics/after-losses-houthis-make-gains-in-yemen-s-taiz/16054|title=After losses, Houthis make gains in Yemen's Taiz|website=www.aa.com.tr|access-date=2019-01-31|archive-date=2018-07-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722213557/https://www.aa.com.tr/en/politics/after-losses-houthis-make-gains-in-yemen-s-taiz/16054|url-status=live}}</ref> In Hadramaut, [[Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula]] (AQAP) managed to take over Mukalla after winning the [[Battle of Mukalla (2015)]], and in December 2015 they [[Fall of Zinjibar and Jaar|took over Zinjibar and Jaar]].

2016 saw the Hadi government defeat Houthi forces in the [[Battle of Port Midi]], and retake Mukalla from AQAP in the [[Battle of Mukalla (2016)]]. In January 2017, the [[United States]] carried out the [[Raid on Yakla]], in a failed attempt to obtain new intelligence regarding AQAP.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thehill.com/policy/international/middle-east-north-africa/321471-yemen-seal-raid-yielded-no-significant-intel|title=Yemen SEAL raid yielded no significant intel: report|last=Hensch|first=Mark|date=2017-02-27|website=TheHill|language=en|access-date=2019-01-31|archive-date=2019-01-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190131201306/https://thehill.com/policy/international/middle-east-north-africa/321471-yemen-seal-raid-yielded-no-significant-intel|url-status=live}}</ref> In December, the Hadi Government began the [[Al Hudaydah offensive]]. In June 2018, the Hadi Government began an attack on the city of Hudaydah itself, starting the [[Battle of Al Hudaydah]], which is considered the largest battle in the war since the start of the Saudi intervention.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-idUSKBN1JA0N2|title=Civilians flee bombardment as Arab states pound Yemen port|date=2018-06-14|work=Reuters|access-date=2019-01-31|language=en|archive-date=2019-01-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190131145443/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-idUSKBN1JA0N2|url-status=live}}</ref>

In December 2017, former president and strongman  Ali Abdullah Saleh was killed. He had been an ally of the Houthis since 2014 until  just before his death.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen's former leader, killed in Sanaa |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-42225574 |work=BBC News |date=4 December 2017 |access-date=6 October 2022 |archive-date=8 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408044810/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-42225574 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The war in Yemen also resulted in cholera and famine. (See [[Famine in Yemen (2016–present)]] and [[2016–18 Yemen cholera outbreak]])

After losing the support of the Saudi-led coalition, Yemen's President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi resigned and Presidential Leadership Council took power in April 2022.<ref>{{cite news |title=Yemen's President Hadi has effectively been sacked by Saudi Arabia |url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220420-yemens-president-hadi-has-effectively-been-sacked-by-saudi-arabia/ |work=Middle East Monitor |date=20 April 2022 |access-date=6 October 2022 |archive-date=9 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221009072559/https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220420-yemens-president-hadi-has-effectively-been-sacked-by-saudi-arabia/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

== See also ==
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
*[[History of Asia]]
*[[History of the Middle East]]
*[[List of rulers of Saba and Himyar]]
*[[Imams of Yemen]]
*[[List of presidents of Yemen]]
*[[Politics of Yemen]]
*[[South Arabia]]
*[[South Yemen]]
*[[Timeline of Yemeni history]]
*{{div col end}}

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== References ==
*Original text from [https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35836.htm U.S. State Dept. Country Study]
*(1): DAUM, W. (ed.): ''Yemen. 3000 years of art and civilisation in Arabia Felix''., Innsbruck / Frankfurt am Main / Amsterdam [1988]. pp. 53–4.
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060823035154/http://www.utcyemen.com/UTC_history.htm |title= History of Yemen |date=2006-08-23}}
*[http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/04/wap/ht04wap.htm   Timeline of Art History of Arabia including Yemen (The Metropolitan Museum of Art). ]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140707020418/http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/197802/a.dam.at.marib.htm A Dam at Marib]
*[http://www.derjemen.de/50368995620f4a811/503689956210fe324/534321971b0a80538/index.php Das Fenster zum Jemen (German)]
*{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205195337/http://www.i3mainz.fh-mainz.de/dipl/d5_10/Geschichte.htm |title=Geschichte des Jemen (German) |date=2012-02-05}}
*{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080212020702/http://www.al-bab.com/yemen/hist/hist.htm |title=History of Yemen |date=2008-02-12}}

== Further reading ==
*Alessandro de Maigret. ''Arabia Felix'', translated Rebecca Thompson. London: Stacey International, 2002. {{ISBN|1-900988-07-0}}
*[[Andrey Korotayev]]. [https://www.academia.edu/32711023/ANCIENT_YEMEN_Oxford_University_Press_1995_ ''Ancient Yemen''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995]. {{ISBN|0-19-922237-1}} [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0199222371].

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140707020418/http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/197802/a.dam.at.marib.htm A Dam at Marib]
*{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040913083237/http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5302.htm |title=state.gov |date=2004-09-13}}
*{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080212020702/http://www.al-bab.com/yemen/hist/hist.htm |title=History of Yemen |date=2008-02-12}}
*{{webarchive |url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20020930171208/http://www.geocities.com/baja/dunes/3147/ |title=Yemenite Virtual Museum |date=2002-09-30}} – excellent site with many pictures.
*[http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Asia-and-Oceania/Yemen-HISTORY.html Encyclopedia of the Nations, Asia and Oceania, Yemen]

{{Yemen topics}}
{{PDRY topics}}
{{History of Asia}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Yemen}}
[[Category:History of Yemen| ]]