Imams of Yemen
Monarch of Yemen | |
---|---|
Details | |
First monarch | al-Hadi ila'l-Haqq Yahya |
Last monarch | Muhammad al-Badr |
Formation | c. 897 |
Abolition | 1 December 1970 |
Residence | Dar al-Hajar, Sanaa, Yemen |
Pretender(s) | Ageel bin Muhammad al-Badr |
The Imams of Yemen, later also titled the Kings of Yemen, were religiously consecrated leaders (
History
Establishment
The imams based their legitimacy on descent from the Islamic prophet Muhammad, mostly via al-Qasim ar-Rassi (d. 860). After him, the medieval imams are sometimes known as the Rassids. The first of the ruling line, his grandson al-Hadi ila'l-Haqq Yahya, was born in Medina. His fame as an intellectual as well as a leader of note, led to his invitation to Yemen. He was summoned to govern the highland tribes in 893 and again in 896–897. Al-Hadi introduced a multitude of policies and practices that evolved into the particular Yemenite Zaidiyyah brand. The efforts of al-Hadi eventually became the basic guidelines for the religious as well as political characteristics of Yemeni Zaydism. Al-Hadi, however, was not able to consolidate his rule in all of Yemen. He could not even create an enduring state in the highlands, due to the strong localism persisting in the region. There were revolts as well as segments of the population that did not accept his and his successors' pretensions to religio-political rule.[2]
Although he did not succeed in establishing any permanent administrative infrastructure, al-Hadi's descendants, and other
Yemen throughout most of that period was only rarely a unified political entity; in fact, what has included within its frontiers varied widely, and it has not been governed consistently or uniformly by any single set of rulers except for brief periods. It existed as a part of a number of different political systems/ruling dynasties between the ninth and sixteenth centuries, after which it became a part of the Ottoman Empire.
Rivalries with other dynasties
After Imam al-Hadi's death in 911, his sons took over the imamate in turn, although it was not hereditary but rather elective among the descendants of Muhammad. From the eleventh to the early seventeenth centuries, however, the imams were usually not chosen from the sons of the former imam, but the title rather circulated among the various Rassid branches. Meanwhile, a multitude of smaller dynasties and families established themselves in the highlands, as well as in the Tihamah (the low coastal plain) where the imams rarely gained influence. Among the better known of these are the Yu'firids (847–997), the Najahids (1021–1158), the Sulayhids (1047–1138), the Zuray'ids (1080–1174), and the Hatimids (1098–1174).[5] It was during this period, when the Fatimid Caliphate was influential, that a portion of the population was converted to Isma'ilism.
Beginning with the conquest of Yemen by the family of
During most of this period, the dynasties and their rulers were primarily engaged in familial, regional, and occasionally sectarian disputes. Ironically, the Sunni Rasulids, who eventually concentrated their rule in southern Yemen for precisely that reason, were the dynasty under which the region experienced the greatest economic growth and political stability.[7]
For part of the medieval era the Zaydiyyah imams were eclipsed by the lowland dynasties, and for long periods there would be no imam at all (especially in 1066–1138 and 1171–1187). From the end of the thirteenth century the political fortunes of the Zaydiyya imams revived somewhat. They were able to hold their own against the Rasulids and Tahirids and sometimes expand their territory. Often however, and especially after 1436, the imamate was split between several contenders.
Comparatively little is known about the medieval Zaydi imams and their efforts to establish themselves and develop some form of administration (including tax collection), or their success in promoting Zaydi goals during this period. From the available evidence, there was very little continuity and a great deal of competition among the Zaydi families and clans. For example, in a presumably representative two-hundred-year period from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries, there appear to have been more than twenty different candidates for the imamate, representing more than ten distinct clans.[8]
The Qasimid state
Eventually, the Europeans entered the
The power of the
Modern history
For the next 44 years
The first five years of President Al-Sallal's rule, from 1962 to 1967, comprised the first chapter in the history of North Yemen. Marked by the revolution that began it, this period witnessed a lengthy
By 1967 the war had reached a stalemate, and the republicans had split into opposing factions concerning relations with Egypt and Saudi Arabia. In late 1967 Al-Sallal's government was overthrown and he was replaced as president by
In June 1974 military officers led by Colonel Ibrahim al-Hamdi staged a bloodless coup, claiming that the government of Al-Iryani had become ineffective. The constitution was suspended, and executive power was vested in a command council, dominated by the military. Al-Hamdi chaired the council and attempted to strengthen and restructure politics in North Yemen. Al-Hamdi was assassinated in 1977, and his successor, former Chief of Staff Ahmed Hussein al-Ghashmi, was killed in June 1978.[15] The lengthy tenure of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who ruled North Yemen from 1978 until it merged with South Yemen in 1990, proved more stable. Saleh strengthened the political system, while an influx of foreign aid and the discovery of oil in North Yemen held out the prospect of economic expansion and development.
List of imams
There is no uncontroversial list of imams of Yemen, since many imams were not universally recognized, and sometimes eclipsed by the rule of lowland dynasties or by the Turks. The following list is fairly inclusive.[16][17][18][19]
- al-Hadi ila'l-Haqq Yahya bin al-Husayn bin al-Qasim ar-Rassi 897–911
- al-Murtada Muhammad 911–913, d. 922 (son)
- an-Nasir Ahmad 913–934 or 937 (brother)
- al-Muntakhab al-Hasan 934–936 or 939 (son)
- al-Mukhtar al-Qasim 936–956 (brother)
- al-Mansur Yahya 934–976 (brother)
- ad-Da'i Yusuf 977–999 (son)
- al-Mansur al-Qasim al-Iyyani bin Ali 999–1002
- ad-Da'i Yusuf 1002–1012 (second term)
- al-Mahdi al-Husayn 1003–1013 (son of al-Mansur al-Qasim)
- al-Mu'ayyad Ahmad bin al-Husayn 1013–1020
- Abu Talib Yahya 1020–1033
- al-Mu’id li-Din Illah1027–1030
- Abu Hashim al-Hasan 1031–1040
- Abu'l-Fath an-Nasir ad-Dailami bin al-Husayn 1038–1053
- al-Muhtasib al-Mujahid Hamzah 1060–1067 (son of Abu Hashim al-Hasan)
- al-Mutawakkil Ahmad bin Sulayman1138–1171 (descended from an-Nasir Ahmad)
- al-Mansur Abdallah bin Hamzah 1187–1217 (descended from al-Muhtasib al-Mujahid Hamzah)
- an-Nasir Muhammad 1217–1226 (son)
- al-Hadi Yahya bin Muhsin 1217–1239
- al-Mahdi Ahmad bin al-Husayn 1248–1258
- al-Hasan bin Wahhas 1258–1260, d. 1285
- Yahya bin Muhammad as-Siraji 1261–1262, d. 1296
- al-Mansur al-Hasan bin Badr ad-Din 1262–1271 (son of a cousin of al-Hadi Yahya)
- al-Mahdi Ibrahim bin Ahmad Taj ad-Din 1272–1276, d. 1284 (nephew)
- al-Mutawakkil al-Mutahhar bin Yahya bin al-Murtada 1276–1298
- al-Mahdi Muhammad 1301–1328 (son)
- al-Mu'ayyad Yahya bin Hamzah 1328–1346
- an-Nasir Ali bin Salah 1328–1329 (grandson of al-Mahdi Ibrahim)
- Ahmad bin Ali al-Fathi 1329–1349
- al-Wathiq al-Mutahhar 1349 (son of al-Mahdi Muhammad)
- al-Mahdi Ali bin Muhammad 1349–1372
- al-Nasir Muhammad Salah al-Din 1372–1391 (son)
- al-Mansur Ali 1391–1436 (son)
- al-Mahdi Ahmad bin Yahya bin al-Murtada 1391–1392, d. 1436
- al-Hadi Ali bin al-Muayyad 1393–1432
- al-Mahdi Salah ad-Din bin Ali 1436–1445
- al-Mansur an-Nasir bin Muhammad 1436–1462 (great-great-grandson of al-Mutawakkil al-Mutahhar bin Yahya)
- al-Mutawakkil al-Mutahhar bin Muhammad 1436–1474
- al-Mu’ayyad Muhammad1462–1503 (son of al-Mansur an-Nasir)
- an-Nasir Muhammad bin Yusuf 1474–1488
- al-Hadi Izz ad-Dinbin al-Hasan 1474–1495 (grandson of al-Hadi Ali)
- al-Mansur Muhammad bin Ali al-Washali 1475–1504
- an-Nasir al-Hasan 1495–1523 (son of al-Hadi Izz-ad-Din)
- al-Mutawakkil Yahya Sharaf ad-Din bin Shams-ad-Din 1506–1555 (grandson of al-Mahdi Ahmad)
- al-Mutahhar 1547–1572 (son)
- an-Nasir al-Hasan bin Ali 1579–1585
- al-Mansur al-Qasim bin Muhammad 1597–1620
- al-Mu'ayyad Muhammad I 1620–1644 (son)
- al-Mutawakkil Isma'il 1644–1676 (brother)
- al-Mahdi Ahmad bin al-Hasan 1676–1681 (nephew)
- al-Mu'ayyad Muhammad II 1681–1686 (son of al-Mutawakkil Isma'il)
- al-Mahdi Muhammad 1687–1718 (son of al-Mahdi Ahmad)
- al-Mansur al-Husayn I bin al-Qasim 1716–1720 (grandson of al-Mu'ayyad Muhammad I)
- al-Mutawakkil al-Qasim bin al-Hasan 1716–1727 (grandson of al-Mahdi Ahmad)
- An-Nasir Muhammad (Zaidi imam) bin Ishaq 1723, d. 1754 (grandson of al-Mahdi Ahmad)
- al-Mansur al-Husayn II 1727–1748 (son of al-Mutawakkil al-Qasim)
- al-Mahdi Abbas 1748–1775 (son)
- al-Mansur Ali I 1775–1809 (son)
- al-Mutawakkil Ahmad 1809–1816 (son)
- al-Mahdi Abdallah 1816–1835 (son)
- al-Mansur Ali II 1835–1837, d. 1871 (son)
- an-Nasir Abdallah bin al-Hasan bin Ahmad 1837–1840 (great-grandson of al-Mahdi Abbas)
- al-Hadi Muhammad 1840–1844 (son of al-Mutawakkil Ahmad)
- al-Mansur Ali II 1844–1845 (second term)
- al-Mutawakkil Muhammad bin Yahya 1845–1849 (grandson of al-Mansur Ali I)
- al-Mansur Ali II 1849–1850 (third term)
- al-Mansur Ahmad bin Hashim 1849–1853
- al-Mu'ayyad Abbas bin Abd ar-Rahman 1850
- al-Mansur Ali II 1851 (fourth term)
- al-Hadi Ghalib 1851–1852, d. 1885 (son of al-Mutawakkil Muhammad)
- al-Mansur Muhammad bin Abdallah 1853–1890
- al-Mutawakkil al-Muhsin bin Ahmad 1855–1878
- al-Hadi Ghalib 1858–1872 (second term)
- al-Mansur al-Husayn III bin Muhammad bin al-Hadi 1859–1863, d. 1888
- al-Hadi Sharaf ad-Din bin Muhammad bin Abd ar-Rahman 1878–1890
- al-Mansur Muhammad bin Yahya Hamid ad-Din 1890–1904
- al-Mutawakkil Yahya Muhammad Hamid ad-Din 1904–1948 (son)
- an-Nasir Ahmad bin Yahya 1948–1962 (son of al-Mutawakkil Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din)
- al-Mansur Muhammad al-Badr 1962, d. 1996 (son)
For continuation of leadership after 1962, see
Beliefs
Unlike many of the Imamis (
See also
- Abolished monarchy
- President of Yemen Arab Republic
- Prime Minister of Yemen Arab Republic
- List of leaders of South Yemen
- List of Shia dynasties
- Islamic history of Yemen
- Yemeni Zaidi State
References
- General
- Harris, Walter B. (1893). A Journey Through the Yemen and Some General Remarks Upon That Country. Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons. pp. 374–375. OCLC 5044217.
- Imam Zaid bin Ali Cultural Foundation, مؤسسة الإمام زيد بن علي الثقافية :: استعراض الكتاب (in Arabic).
- Specific
- ^ Jane Hathaway, A Tale of Two Factions; Myth, Memory, and Identity in Ottoman Egypt and Yemen. New York 2003, pp. 79–81.
- ^ Cornelis van Arendonk, Les débuts de l'imamat zaidite au Yemen. Leiden 1960
- ^ D. Thomas Gochenour, "Towards a sociology of the Islamization of Yemen", in B.R. Pridham (ed.), Contemporary Yemen: Politics and historical background, Beckenham 1984, pp. 8–9.
- ^ Enzyklopädie des Islam, Vol. III, Leiden 1936, p. 1216
- ^ H.C. Kay, Yaman: Its early medieval history. London 1892, https://archive.org/stream/yamanitsearlymed00umaruoft/yamanitsearlymed00umaruoft_djvu.txt
- ^ For the chronology of these, see Peter Truhart, Regents of nations, Vol. 3, München 2003, pp. 1090–1091.
- ^ Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. VIII, Leiden 1995, pp. 455–457.
- ^ Robert W. Stookey, Yemen: The politics of the Yemen Arab Republic, Boulder 1978, p. 125.
- ^ For their genealogy, see Robert W. Stookey, Yemen: The politics of the Yemen Arab Republic, Boulder 1978, p. 144.
- ^ Robert L. Playfair, A History of Arabia Felix or Yemen. Bombay 1859, pp. 127–134.
- ^ Vincent Steven Wilhite, Guerilla war, counterinsurgency, and state formation in Ottoman Yemen, PhD Thesis, Ohio State University 2003, p. 130.
- ^ Paul Dresch, A history of modern Yemen, pp. 28–95, http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/samples/cam031/00029266.pdf
- ^ "North Yemen Civil War (1962–1970)".
- ^ "History of Yemen – Key Figures in Yemen's history". Archived from the original on 24 June 2011.
- ^ Robert W. Stookey, Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Boulder 1978, gives a general outline of the history up to the late 1970s.
- ^ Ayman Fu'ad Sayyid, Masadir ta'rikh al-Yaman fial 'asr al-islami. al Qahira 1974, pp. 404–16
- ^ R.B. Serjeant & Ronald Lewcock (eds.), San'a': An Arabic Islamic City. London 1983, pp. 72–95
- ^ الأئمة الزيديون في اليمن (in Arabic)
- ^ الأئمة الزيدية من 898 م إلى 1962م (in Arabic)
- ISBN 0871966298
Further reading
- A.M.H.J. Stokvis, Manuel d'histoire, de généalogie et de chronologie de tous les états du globe, Vol I-III. Leiden 1888–93.
- Peter Truhart, Regents of Nations. München 2003
- E. de Zambaur, Manuel de généalogie et de chronologie de l'histoire de l'islam. Hannover 1927.