Al-Waziri coup
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al-Waziri coup | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Alwazirs | Hamidaddins | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Abdullah bin Ahmad al-Wazir |
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Casualties and losses | |||||||
5,000 dead[1] |
The al-Waziri coup (
Background
On 30 October 1918, amidst the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, Imam Yahya Muhammad Hamid ad-Din of the al-Qasimi dynasty declared northern Yemen an independent state. In 1926, Imam Yahya declared himself king of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen, becoming a temporal as well as a (Zaydi) spiritual leader, and won international recognition for the state.
In the 1920s, Yahya had expanded Yemeni power to the north into southern Tihamah and southern 'Asir, but collided with the rising influence of the Saudi king of
Assassination and coup attempt
The al-Waziri clan sought to seize power from the ruling dynasty.[2] On 17 February 1948, tribesmen opposed to Imam Yahya ambushed his car south of Sanaa, at Sawad Hizyaz. The imam, his grandson, and two soldiers were killed; 50 bullets were said to have been found the imam's body. The leader of the ambush, Ali Nasir al-Qardaei, was from the Murad tribe, and had previously been imprisoned by the imam.[3][4] The al-Waziris then installed their own imam, Abdullah bin Ahmad al-Wazir, to run the kingdom. His rule lasted only for a few weeks.
Upon the assassination of Imam Yahya, his son Ahmad bin Yahya traveled through North Yemen, in an attempt to rally the tribes behind him,[2] winning support as the new Imam of Yemen. These tribesmen then surrounded Sana'a. As a result, Ahmad was able to regain control of the city, but the price he paid was giving the tribes leave to sack the capital.[2] The Sack of Sana'a lasted for seven days, and as many as 250,000 tribesmen were thought to have participated.[3] When Ahmad took power, the al-Waziri ruler Abdullah was deposed and beheaded.
Aftermath
Imam Yahya was succeeded by his son Ahmad bin Yahya, while the al-Waziris were deposed. Ahmad's reign was marked by growing development and openness, and renewed friction with the United Kingdom over the British presence in the south. This stood in the way of his aspirations for the creation of Greater Yemen. In March 1955, a coup by a group of officers and two of Ahmad's brothers briefly deposed the king, but this was quickly suppressed.
After Ahmad's death in 1962, Crown Prince
See also
References
- ^ a b c "CSP - Major Episodes of Political Violence, 1946-2012". Archived from the original on 21 January 2014. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
- ^ a b c Petersen J.E. Tribes and Politics in Yemen. Arabian Peninsula Background Note, No. APBN-007. Published on www.JEPeterson.net, December 2008. [1]
- ^ a b Mackintosh-Smith, Tim (2000). Yemen: The Unknown Arabia. New York: The Overlook Press. pp. 93–99.
- ^ Ali Al-Sakani, Casey Coombs (22 October 2020). "Marib: A Yemeni Government Stronghold Increasingly Vulnerable to Houthi Advances". Sana'a Center For Strategic Studies. Retrieved 13 February 2023.