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Rulership in
Yemen
The folks of Sheba were one of the oldest nations of
the pure Arabs, who lived in Yemen. Excavations at "Or" brought to
light their existence twenty five centuries B.C. Their civilization
flourished, and their domain spread eleven centuries B.C.
It is possible to divide their ages according to the
following estimation:
- The centuries before 650 B.C., during which their
kings were called "Makrib Sheba". Their capital was "Sarwah", also
known as "Khriba", whose ruins lie in a spot, a day’s walk from
the western side of "Ma’rib". During this period, they started
building the "Dam of Ma’rib" which had great importance in the
history of Yemen. Sheba was also said to have had so great a
domain that they had colonies inside and outside
Arabia.
- From 650 B.C. until 115 B.C. During this era,
they gave up the name "Makrib" and assumed the designation of
"Kings of Sheba". They also made Ma’rib their capital instead of
Sarwah. The ruins of Ma’rib lie at a distance of sixty miles east
of San‘a.
- From 115 B.C. until 300 A.D. During this period,
the tribe of Himyar conquered the kingdom of Sheba and took Redan
for capital instead of Ma’rib. Later on, Redan was called "Zifar".
Its ruins still lie on Mudawwar Mountain near the town of "Yarim".
During this period, they began to decline and fall. Their trade
failed to a very great extent, firstly, because of the Nabetean
domain over the north of Hijaz; secondly, because of the Roman
superiority over the naval trade routes after the Roman conquest
of Egypt, Syria and the north of Hijaz; and thirdly, because of
the inter-tribal warfare. Thanks to the three above-mentioned
factors, families of Qahtan were disunited and scattered
out.
- From 300 A.D. until Islam dawned on Yemen. This
period witnessed a lot of disorder and turmoil. The great many and
civil wars rendered the people of Yemen liable to foreign
subjection and hence loss of independence. During this era, the
Romans conquered ‘Adn and even helped the Abyssinians (Ethiopians)
to occupy Yemen for the first time in 340 A.D., making use of the
constant intra-tribal conflict of Hamdan and Himyar. The
Abyssinian (Ethiopian) occupation of Yemen lasted until 378 A.D.,
whereafter Yemen regained its independence. Later on, cracks began
to show in Ma’rib Dam which led to the Great Flood (450 or 451
A.D.) mentioned in the Noble Qur’ân. This was a great event which
caused the fall of the entire Yemeni civilization and the
dispersal of the nations living therein.
In 523, Dhu Nawas, a Jew, despatched a great
campaign against the Christians of Najran in order to force them to
convert into Judaism. Having refused to do so, they were thrown
alive into a big ditch where a great fire had been set. The Qur’ân
referred to this event:
"Cursed were the
people of the ditch." [Al-Qur'an
85:4]
This aroused great wrath among the Christians, and
especially the Roman emperors, who not only instigated the
Abyssinians (Ethiopians) against Arabs but also assembled a large
fleet which helped the Abyssinian (Ethiopian) army, of seventy
thousand warriors, to effect a second conquest of Yemen in 525 A.D.,
under the leadership of Eriat, who was granted rulership over Yemen,
a position he held until he was assassinated by one of his army
leaders, Abraha, who, after reconciliation with the king of
Abyssinia, took rulership over Yemen and, later on, deployed his
soldiers to demolish Al-Ka‘bah, and , hence, he and his soldiers
came to be known as the "Men of the Elephant".
After the "Elephant" incident, the people of Yemen,
under the leadership of Ma‘dikarib bin Saif Dhu Yazin Al-Himyari,
and through Persian assistance, revolted against the Abyssinian
(Ethiopian) invaders, restored independence and appointed Ma‘dikarib
as their king. However, Ma‘dikarib was assassinated by an Abyssinian
(Ethiopian) he used to have him around for service and protection.
The family of Dhu Yazin was thus deprived of royalty forever. Kisra,
the Persian king, appointed a Persian ruler over San‘a and thus made
Yemen a Persian colony. Persian rulers maintained rulership of Yemen
until Badhan, the last of them, embraced Islam in 638 A.D., thus
terminating the Persian domain over Yemen.
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