Tahirid Sultanate
(Redirected from
Tahirids (Yemen)
)
Not to be confused with 
ArabicReligion Sunni Islam Government Sultanate Sultan Historical era Early modern period 1454 1517 Currency Dinar
Today part of
• Established
• Disestablished
| Preceded by | Succeeded by | ||||
|
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The Tahirid Sultanate (
Mamluks of Egypt
after only 63 years in power.
Founding of dynasty
The Tahir were Yemeni
Rasulid Dynasty (1229–1454) and were frequently called in to quell rebellions towards the close of the dynasty. A daughter of the clan was married to a son of the sultan an-Nasir Ahmad. After the death of the latter in 1424 a period of upheavals and dynastic instability plagued Yemen. The Rasulid dynastic collapse gave the Tahir clan a chance to gain power. Lahij, north of Aden, was taken over by them in 1443, and in 1454, the important port of Aden was swiftly taken by the brothers Amir and Ali bin Tahir and thereby detached from the Rasulids.[1] The last sultan, al-Mas'ud Abu al-Qasim, gave up any hope of maintaining his throne and withdrew to Mecca in the same year. The eldest of the brothers, Amir bin Tahir, took the titles sultan and king (malik) with the regnal name Salah ad-Din al-Malik az-Zafir Amir (r. 1454–1460). The sultans used to spend the summers in Juban and al-Miqranah, with good access to the southern highlands, using Zabid in the lowland as their winter capital. In that way, Zabid regained the position as one of the centres of learning and culture in the Arab world.[citation needed
]
Economically, the city nevertheless seems to have declined by the late 15th century.[2]
Tahirid rule
The Tahirids tried to imitate the former line, the
San'a temporarily in 1461. However, the city was soon taken back by the Zaydiyya. Subsequent expeditions to San'a were unsuccessful, and the old sultan Amir was killed with many followers when fighting the Zaydis in 1466.[4]
In the early sixteenth century sultan az-Zafir Amir II (1489–1517) resumed expansion to the north into Zaydiyya territory and managed to take San'a again in 1504. However, he was soon distracted by enemies on other fronts.
Invasion and defeat
The Tahirids had to contend with a number of acute external threats. The
Zaila on the African coast, he attacked the Tahirid sultan with muskets and artillery, hitherto not used in warfare in Yemen. After winning a number of battles, the Mamluks appropriated the Tahirid treasure house in al-Miqranah. Az-Zafir Amir II fled to the central highlands where he was again defeated. The sultan tried to flee to the strong fortress Dhu Marmar but was captured and beheaded near San'a on 15 May.[5] The entire Tahirid realm fell under the Mamluks with the exception of Aden which held out under the Tahirid governor Amir Murjan.[6]
Aftermath
The Mamluk fleet withdrew after setting up a tributary regime in
Sulaiman Pasha al-Khadim, since he was cornered at Aden by the Zaydiyya imam al-Mutawakkil Yahya Sharaf ad-Din. Sulaiman Pasha pretended to agree to assist and sailed to Aden. However, he sent his men ashore, arrested Amir bin Da'ud and his principal grandees, and hanged them from the yardarms of the ships on 3 August 1538. Shortly afterward, Mamluk governance in Yemen was eliminated and Turkish rule commenced.[7]
List of sultans
- Az-Zafir Amir I bin Tahir (1454–1460)
- Al-Mujahid Ali bin Tahir (1460–1479), brother
- Al-Mansur Abd al-Wahhab bin Da'ud bin Tahir (1479–1489), nephew
- Az-Zafir Amir II bin Abd al-Wahhab (1489–1517), son
Leaders against the Mamluks
- Ahmad bin Amir (1517–1518), son
- Amir bin Abd al-Malik (1518–1519), nephew of al-Mansur Abd al-Wahhab
- Ahmad bin Muhammad (1519–1520), grandson of az-Zafir Amir I
- Abd al-Malik bin Muhammad (1520–1527), nephew of Amir bin Abd al-Malik
- Amir bin Da'ud (1527?–1538), possibly grandnephew of al-Mansur Abd al-Wahhab
See also
- List of Sunni Muslim dynasties
- History of Yemen
- Islamic history of Yemen
- Imams of Yemen
References
- ^ Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. X, Leiden 2000, p. 106.
- ^ Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. X, Leiden 2000, p. 106.
- ^ Encyklopädie des Islam, III, Leiden 1936, p. 1217
- ^ R.B. Serjeant & R. Lewcock, San'a'; An Arabian Islamic City, London 1983, p. 67; Lein O. Schuman, Political History of the Yemen at the Beginning of the 16th Century. Groningen 1960, p. 52–3.
- ^ R.B. Serjeant & R. Lewcock, San'a'; An Arabian Islamic City, London 1983, pp. 68–9.
- ^ Robert W. Stookey, Yemen: The politics of the Yemen Arab Republic, Boulder 1978, pp. 129–31.
- ^ Robert W. Stookey, ibid, pp, 132–3.
Further reading
- Venetia Porter, The history and monuments of the Tahirid Dynasty of Yemen 858-923/1454-1517, PhD Thesis, Durham University, 1992, http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/5867/1/5867_3282-vol1.PDF?UkUDh:CyT