Al-Mutawakkil Yahya Sharaf ad-Din

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Al-Mutawakkil Yahya Sharaf ad-Din (25 February 1473 – 27 March 1555) was an

Zaidi state in Yemen
. His period as imam covered the period from 1506 to 1555, though his political power ended in about 1547.

Construction of a new Zaidi realm

Yahya Sharaf ad-Din bin Shams ad-Din bin Ahmad was a grandson of the Imam

Mohammad Ezzuddin
for further information.

Ottoman intervention

After three decades of struggles, al-Mutawakkil Yahya Sharaf ad-Din was able to impose his authority over the most of the Zaidi communities in Yemen, together with several

Arabia. An Ottoman expedition established a small enclave in Zabid in 1539, but their little enclave was contained by the imam's forces for eight years. However, dissension within the imam's immediate family played into the Turks' hands. His ablest son, al-Mutahhar, even urged the Ottoman commander in Zabid to attack the lands of the imam.[2]

Withdrawing from rulership

In 1547, when a new Turkish military onslaught began, al-Mutawakkil Yahya Sharaf ad-Din had to ask his son al-Mutahhar for support. From that date, Al-Mutahhar took over from his ageing father and struck coins in his own name. The Turkish advance could not be stopped, however. Udzimir Pasha took San'a through treachery in the same year and 1,200 inhabitants were massacred whom were mostly sadah or lords people who claimed they're Hashemites .[3] Al-Mutahhar continued the anti-Ottoman struggle in the highlands. As for al-Mutwakkil Yahya Sharaf ad-Din, although deprived of power, he retained much influence within the Zaidi community. His attitude to the encroaching Turks was ambivalent. The old imam died in 1555 in Zafir.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ R.B. Serjeant & R. Lewcock, San'a'; An Arabian Islamic City. London 1983, p. 69.
  2. ^ Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. VII, Leiden 1993, p. 779.
  3. ^ R.B Serjeant & R. Lewcock 1983, p. 70.
  4. ^ Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. VII, Leiden 1993, p. 779. Other sources say that the imam died in 1557/58.
Preceded by
Zaydi Imam of Yemen

1506–1555 		Succeeded by
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