Mahdids
The Mahdids (
who briefly held power in the period between 1159 and 1174.Conquest of the Tihama
Their name is derived from their first ruler Ali bin Mahdi who was born in
Mahdid rule
Ali bin Mahdi was succeeded by his son Mahdi bin Ali, possibly co-ruling with his younger brother Abd an-Nabi. The sons of Ali consolidated the power relations in the Tihama. An advantageous peace was concluded with the Zurayids of Aden. At the same time the Mahdids attacked other areas in the south such as Lahij and Abyan in order to gain plunder. Mahdi bin Ali died in 1163 and his brother Abd an-Nabi gained full control. He was reputed as an exceedingly strict lord who imposed death penalty for anyone opposing his teachings, and for wine drinking, singing and illicit sexual intercourse (although other sources suggest that he was himself a drunkard and womanizer). He upheld egalitarian principles of common property within the community. Muslim historians usually denounce him as a half-crazed robber with world-ruling ambitions.[2]
Ayyubid conquest
Abd an-Nabi carried on the expansive policy of the dynasty, attacking the
The Mahdids were, after the
References
- ^ Robert W. Stookey, Yemen; The politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Boulder 1978, p. 98; H.C. Kay, Yaman: Its early medieval history, London 1892, pp. 128–9, 317.
- ^ Encyclopaedia of Islam, Brill Online 2013, http://www.encquran.brill.nl/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/mahdids-COM_0620?s.num=0
- ^ Robert W. Stookey, Yemen: The politics of the Yemen Arab Republic, Boulder 1978, p. 102.
- ^ G. Rex Smith "Politische Geschichte des islamischen Jemen bis zur ersten türkischen Invasion", p. 142.
Literature
- Smith, G. Rex (1987). "Politische Geschichte des islamischen Jemen bis zur ersten türkischen Invasion (1 bis 945 Hidschra = 633 bis 1538 n. Chr.)" [Political History of Islamic Yemen until the First Turkish Invasion (1 to 945 AH = 633 to 1538 AD)]. In Daum, Werner (ed.). Jemen. 3000 Jahre Kunst und Kultur des glücklichen Arabien [Yemen. 3000 Years of Art and Civilisation in Arabia Felix]. Innsbruck: Pinguin. pp. 136–154. ISBN 3-7016-2251-5.
- G. Rex Smith, The Ayyubids and early Rasulids in the Yemen, Vols. I-II, London: Gibb Memorial Trust 1974–1978.