Sulayhid dynasty

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Sulayhid
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Sulayhid dynasty
بَنُو صُلَيْح (in Arabic)
1047–1138
Capital
Common languages
Arabic
Religion
Ismaili Shia Islam
GovernmentSultanate
Sultan 
• 1047–1066 (first)
Ali al-Sulayhi
• 1067/1081–1086
Al-Mukarram Ahmad
• 1086–1138
Arwa al-Sulayhi
Historical eraEarly Middle Ages
• Established
1047
• Disestablished
1138
CurrencyDinar
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Najahids
Rassids
Zurayids
Hamdanids (Yemen)
Najahids
Sulaymanids

The Sulayhid dynasty (

Hafizi Ismaili sect that the other Ismaili dynasties such as the Zurayids and the Hamdanids
adhered to.

Origins

The Sulayhids are from the

Arab Yemeni clan of Banu Salouh, descended from the al-Hajour tribe, descended from the Hashid tribe, descended from the Hamdanids.[3]

Rise

The first

Yu'firid dynasty
in 916, after Ibn al-Fadl's death in 915.

In spite of this setback the mission of the Fatimids continued. The Fatimid da'i (leader) in Yemen, Sulayman az-Zawahi, befriended a young man from the

Ta'izz) and at-Ta'kar (close to Ibb
).

Al-Mukarram Ahmad

Ali as-Sulayhi was assassinated at the hands of relatives of the Najahids whom he had previously defeated; the date is variously given as 1067 or 1081. He was succeeded on the throne by his son al-Mukarram Ahmad. The beginning of his rule is not satisfactory documented, but the area controlled by the Sulayhids was severely diminished, possibly to the San'a area. After some years, al-Mukarram Ahmad was able to rescue his mother Asma bint Shihab who had been captured by the Najahids, and the Sulayhid armies regained much territory. He could certainly not prevent the Najahids from keeping outside his power in the Tihamah, but the Sulayhids nevertheless remained the most powerful regime in Yemen.

In Aden the Zurayids, another Ismaili dynasty, came to power in 1083, at first as Sulayhid tributaries. The reign of al-Mukarram Ahmad ended in 1086 when he turned over governance to his wife Arwa. He may nevertheless have exerted some influence from behind during the next few years. He died in the fortress of Ashyah in 1091.[6]

Queen Arwa

The Queen Arwa Mosque in Jibla, amid the Sarat Mountains of Yemen

Arwa al-Sulayhi (r. 1086-1138) had borne al-Mukarram Ahmad four children, but none of these took an active part in politics. The new queen was recognized by the Fatimids of Egypt as the suzerain over the various Yemeni kings. She established her capital in Jibla rather than Sana'a in about 1087.[7] Queen Arwa was known as an outstanding ruler, indeed one of the most renowned ruling queens of the Islamic world. She governed with the help of a succession of strong henchmen. The first was Saba' bin Ahmad, a distant cousin of the Sulayhids who formally married queen Arwa.[8] The marriage, however, was probably not consummated. He fought vigorously against the Najahids in the lowland and died in 1098. After his demise San'a was lost to the Sulayhids.[9] The second was Al-Mufaddal bin Abi'l-Barakat (d. 1111) who governed from at-Ta'kar, a massive mountain fortress south of the capital Jibla, and was likewise active in the field against the Najahids. The third was Ibn Najib ad-Dawla who arrived in Yemen in 1119 from Egypt, being dispatched by the Fatimid caliph there. He managed to pacify much of southern Yemen and push back the Najahids. As he saw the queen too old to rule over the territories, Ibn Najib attempted a coup in 1125. However, he was bested and sent back to Egypt in a wooden cage, and died on the way. The last years of queen Arwa's reign are ill-documented. With her death in 1138, there was no-one left of the dynasty, and the Sulayhid era came to an end.[10]

Rulers

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Clive K. Smith (1981) The Suleihid dynasty in the Yemen, Asian Affairs, 12:1, p.21
  2. ^ Contemporary Yemen: politics and historical background, By B. R. Pridham, pg.14
  3. .
  4. ^ The sources differ on his date of death, see G. Rex Smith Politische Geschichte des islamischen Jemen bis zur ersten türkischen Invasion, p. 139.
  5. ^ . Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  6. ^ H.C. Kay, Yaman: Its early medieval history, London 1892, p. 254.
  7. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/572336/Sulayhid-dynasty
  8. ^ His grandfather al-Muzaffar bin Ali was the brother of Muhammad bin Ali, the father of the founder Ali as-Sulayhi; see H.C. Kay, Yaman: Its early medieval history, London 1892, p. 304.
  9. ^ R. B. Sergeant and Ronald Lewcock (eds), Sana: An Arabian Islamic city. London: World of Islam Festival Trust, 1983, p. 59
  10. ^ Encyclopaedia of Islam, Brill Online 2013, http://www.encquran.brill.nl/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/sulayhids-COM_1112

References

Further reading