Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in southern Arabia, the country includes the Socotra Archipelago and borders Saudi Arabia to the north, Oman to the northeast, the Arabian Sea to the east, the Gulf of Aden to the south, and the Red Sea to the west. It also shares maritime borders with Djibouti, Eritrea, and Somalia across the Horn of Africa. Covering 455,503 square kilometres (175,871 sq mi), with a coastline of approximately 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi), Yemen is the second-largest country on the Arabian Peninsula by both area and population. Sanaa is its constitutional capital and largest city. Yemen's population is estimated at 34.7 million, predominantly Muslim Arabs.
Owing to its geographic location, Yemen has been at the crossroads of many civilisations for over 7,000 years. The Sabaeans formed a thriving commercial kingdom that influenced parts of modern Ethiopia and Eritrea. In AD 275, it was succeeded by the Himyarite Kingdom, which spanned much of Yemen's present-day territory and was heavily influenced by Judaism. Christianity arrived in the fourth century, followed by the rapid spread of Islam in the seventh century. From its conversion to Islam, Yemen became a centre of Islamic learning, and Yemenite troops played a crucial role in early Islamic conquests. For centuries, Yemen was a primary producer of coffee, exported through the port of Mokha. Various dynasties emerged between the ninth and sixteenth centuries. During the 19th century, the country was divided between the Ottoman and British empires. After World War I, the Kingdom of Yemen was established, which in 1962 became the Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen) following the North Yemen civil war. In 1967, the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (South Yemen) gained independence from the British Aden Protectorate, becoming the first and only communist state in the Middle East. In 1990, the two Yemeni states united to form the modern Republic of Yemen, with Ali Abdullah Saleh serving as the first president until his resignation in 2012 in the wake of the Arab Spring.
Since 2011, Yemen has been enduring a political crisis, marked by street protests against poverty, unemployment, corruption, and President Saleh's plan to amend Yemen's constitution. By 2015, the country became engulfed in an ongoing civil war with multiple entities vying for governance, including the Presidential Leadership Council of the internationally recognised government and the Houthi movement's Supreme Political Council. This conflict has led to a severe humanitarian crisis.
Yemen is one of the least developed countries in the world, facing significant obstacles to sustainable development, and is one of the poorest countries in the Middle East and North Africa. In 2019, the United Nations reported that Yemen had the highest number of people in need of humanitarian aid, amounting to about 24 million individuals, or nearly 75% of its population. It is a member of the Arab League, the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
Etymology
The term Yamnat was first mentioned in the Old South Arabian inscriptions on the title of Shammar Yahri'sh, a king of Himyar. The term probably referred to the southwestern coastline of the Arabian Peninsula and the southern coastline between Aden and Hadhramaut.
One etymology derives Yemen from ymnt, meaning literally "the South", as Arabic derives cardinal directions based on orientation towards the east, hence the underlying linguistic root is ymn (𐩺𐩣𐩬 in the South Arabian alphabet) meaning "right". Other sources claim that Yemen is related to yamn or yumn, meaning "blessed", as the country is fertile, in contrast to the rest of Arabia.
History
Ancient history
With its long sea border between eastern and western civilisations, Yemen has long existed at a crossroads of cultures with a strategic location in terms of trade on the west of the Arabian Peninsula. Large settlements existed in the mountains of northern Yemen since 5000 BC. The four major kingdoms in South Arabia were Saba, Hadhramaut, Qataban, and Ma'in.
Sabaʾ (Arabic: سَـبَـأ) is thought to be biblical Sheba and was the most prominent federation. Sabaean rulers adopted a title generally thought to mean unifier, as the role of the Mukarrib was to bring the various tribes under their kingdom. Saba built the Great Dam of Marib around 940 BC.
By the third century BC, Qataban, Hadhramaut, and Ma'in became independent from Saba. Ma'in stretched to Dedan, with their capital at Baraqish. The Sabaeans regained their hegemony in South Arabia, by establishing control over Ma'in, after the collapse of Qataban in 50 BC.
Aelius Gallus led a military campaign against the Sabaeans. A Roman army of 10,000 men was defeated before reaching Marib. The Romans took six months to reach Marib and 60 days to return to Egypt.
The country fell into chaos, with Hamdan and Himyar claiming kingship, assuming the title King of Sheba and Dhu Raydan. Dhu Raydan allied themselves with Aksum against the Sabaeans. The chief of Bakil and king of Saba and Dhu Raydan, El Sharih Yahdhib, launched successful campaigns against the Himyarites and Aksum. Sanaa came into prominence during his reign, as he built the Ghumdan Palace as his place of residence.
The Himyarites annexed Sanaa from Hamdan around 100 AD. Hashdi tribesmen rebelled and regained Sanaa around 180. Shammar Yahri'sh had conquered Hadhramaut, Najran, and Tihamah by 275, thus unifying Yemen and consolidating Himyarite rule. The Himyarites rejected polytheism and adhered to monotheistic Rahmanism.
By 515, Himyar became increasingly divided along religious lines and civil turmoil led to an Aksumite intervention. The last Himyarite king Ma'adikarib Ya'fur was supported by Aksum against his Jewish rivals. Ma'adikarib was Christian and launched a campaign against the Persia-allied Lakhmids in southern Iraq, with Arabs allied to Byzantium supporting.
After the death of Ma'adikarib Ya'fur around 521, a Himyarite Jewish warlord called Dhu Nuwas rose to power. Emperor Justinian I wanted the Himyarites to attack Persia. The Romans were successful in religiously converting and culturally influencing Aksum.
Yazid bin Kabshat, a Kendite prince, rebelled against Abraha and his Arab Christian allies. A truce was reached when the Great Dam of Marib was damaged. After Abraha died around 570, the Sassanids annexed Yemen. Under their rule, Yemen, except for Aden and Sanaa, enjoyed significant autonomy. The annexation ended ancient South Arabian civilisation, with the country being fractured between clans, until the arrival of Islam.
Islamic era
Muhammad sent his cousin Ali to Sanaa and its surroundings around 630. At the time, Yemen was the most advanced region in Arabia. The Banu Hamdan confederation was among the first to accept Islam. Muhammad sent Muadh ibn Jabal to Al-Janad in present-day Taiz, and dispatched letters to various tribal leaders. Major tribes, including Himyar, sent delegations to Medina during the "year of delegations" around 630–631. Several Yemenis accepted Islam before 630, such as Ammar ibn Yasir, Al-Ala'a Al-Hadrami, Miqdad ibn Aswad, Abu Musa Ashaari, and Sharhabeel ibn Hasana. A self-proclaimed prophet of Rahman, 'Abhala ibn Ka'ab Al-Ansi, expelled the remaining Persians. He was assassinated by a Yemeni of Persian origin called Fayruz al-Daylami. Christians, who were mainly staying in Najran along with Jews, agreed to pay jizyah (Arabic: جِـزْيَـة), although some Jews converted to Islam, such as Wahb ibn Munabbih and Ka'ab al-Ahbar.
Yemen was stable during the Rashidun Caliphate. Yemeni tribes played a pivotal role in the Islamic expansion into Egypt, Iraq, Persia, the Levant, Anatolia, North Africa, Sicily, and Andalusia. Yemeni tribes who settled in Syria contributed significantly to the solidification of Umayyad rule, especially during the reign of Marwan I. Powerful Yemenite tribes such as the Kinda were on his side during the Battle of Marj Rahit.
Muhammad ibn Abdullah ibn Ziyad founded the Ziyadid dynasty in Tihamah around 818. The state stretched from Haly (in present-day Saudi Arabia) to Aden. They nominally recognised the Abbasid Caliphate but ruled independently from Zabid. By virtue of its location, they developed a special relationship with Abyssinia. The chief of the Dahlak islands exported slaves, as well as amber and leopard hides, to the ruler of Yemen. They controlled only a small portion of the coastal strip in Tihamah along the Red Sea, and never exercised control over the highlands and Hadhramaut. A Himyarite clan called the Yufirids established their rule over the highlands from Saada to Taiz, while Hadhramaut was an Ibadi stronghold and rejected all allegiance to the Abbasids in Baghdad.
The first Zaidi imam, Yahya ibn al-Husayn, arrived in Yemen in 893. He was a religious cleric and judge who was invited to come to Saada from Medina to arbitrate tribal disputes. Yahya persuaded local tribesmen to follow his teachings. The sect slowly spread across the highlands, as the tribes of Hashid and Bakil, later known as "the twin wings of the imamate", accepted his authority. He founded the Zaidi imamate in 897. Yahya established his influence in Saada and Najran. He also tried to capture Sanaa from the Yufirids in 901 but failed miserably.
The Sulayhid dynasty was founded in the northern highlands around 1040; at the time, Yemen was ruled by different local dynasties. In 1060, Ali ibn Muhammad Al-Sulayhi conquered Zabid and killed its ruler Al-Najah, founder of the Najahid dynasty. Hadhramaut fell into Sulayhid hands after their capture of Aden in 1162.
By 1063, Ali had subjugated Greater Yemen. He then marched toward the Hejaz and occupied Makkah. Ali was married to Asma bint Shihab, who governed Yemen with her husband.
Ali al-Sulayhi was killed by Najah's sons on his way to Mecca in 1084. His son Ahmed Al-Mukarram led an army to Zabid and killed 8,000 of its inhabitants. He later installed the Zurayids to govern Aden. Al-Mukarram, who had been injured, retired in 1087 and handed over power to his wife Arwa al-Sulayhi. Queen Arwa moved the seat of the Sulayhid dynasty from Sanaa to Jibla, a small town in central Yemen near Ibb. She sent Ismaili missionaries to India, where a significant Ismaili community was formed that exists to this day.
Queen Arwa continued to rule until her death in 1138. She is remembered as a great and much-loved sovereign, as attested in Yemeni historiography, literature, and popular lore, where she is referred to as Balqis al-sughra (lit. 'the junior queen of Sheba'). Shortly after Arwa's death, the country was split between five competing petty dynasties along religious lines. The Ayyubid dynasty overthrew the Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt. A few years after their rise to power, Saladin dispatched his brother Turan Shah to conquer Yemen in 1174.
Turan Shah conquered Zabid from the Mahdids in 1174, then marched toward Aden in June and captured it from the Zurayids. The Hamdanid sultans of Sanaa resisted the Ayyubid in 1175, and the Ayyubids did not manage to secure Sanaa until 1189. The Ayyubid rule was stable in southern and central Yemen, where they succeeded in eliminating the ministates of that region, while Ismaili and Zaidi tribesmen continued to hold out in several fortresses.
The Ayyubids failed to capture the Zaydi stronghold in northern Yemen. In 1191, Zaydis of Shibam Kawkaban rebelled and killed 700 Ayyubid soldiers. Imam Abdullah bin Hamza proclaimed the imamate in 1197 and fought al-Mu'izz Ismail, the Ayyubid Sultan of Yemen. Imam Abdullah was defeated at first but was able to conquer Sanaa and Dhamar in 1198, and al-Mu'izz Ismail was assassinated in 1202.
Abdullah bin Hamza carried on the struggle against the Ayyubid until his death in 1217. After his demise, the Zaidi community was split between two rival imams. The Zaydis were dispersed, and a truce was signed with the Ayyubid in 1219. The Ayyubid army was defeated in Dhamar in 1226. Ayyubid Sultan Mas'ud Yusuf left for Mecca in 1228, never to return. Other sources suggest that he was forced to leave for Egypt instead in 1223.
The Rasulid dynasty was established in 1229 by Umar ibn Ali, who was appointed deputy governor by the Ayyubids in 1223. When the last Ayyubid ruler left Yemen in 1229, Umar stayed in the country as caretaker. He subsequently declared himself an independent king by assuming the title "al-Malik Al-Mansur" (the king assisted by Allah).
Umar first established himself at Zabid, then moved into the mountainous interior, taking the important highland centre Sanaa. However, the Rasulid capitals were Zabid and Taiz. He was assassinated by his nephew in 1249. Omar's son Yusuf defeated the faction led by his father's assassins and crushed several counterattacks by the Zaydi imams who still held on in the northern highland. Mainly because of the victories he scored over his rivals, he assumed the honorific title "al-Muzaffar" (the victorious).
After the fall of Baghdad to the Mongols in 1258, al-Muzaffar Yusuf I appropriated the title of caliph. He chose the city of Taiz to become the political capital of the kingdom because of its strategic location and proximity to Aden. The Rasulid sultans built numerous Madrasas to solidify the Shafi'i school of thought, which was successful. Under their rule, Taiz and Zabid became major international centres of Islamic learning. The kings were educated men in their own right, who not only had important libraries but also wrote treatises on a wide array of subjects, ranging from astrology and medicine to agriculture and genealogy.
They had a difficult relationship with the Mamluks of Egypt because the latter considered them a vassal state. Their competition centred over the Hejaz and the right to provide kiswa of the Ka'aba in Mecca. The dynasty became increasingly threatened by disgruntled family members over the problem of succession, combined with periodic tribal revolts, as they were locked in a war of attrition with the Zaydi imams in the northern highlands. During the last 12 years of Rasulid rule, the country was torn between several contenders for the kingdom. The weakening of the Rasulid provided an opportunity for the Banu Taher clan to take over and establish themselves as the new rulers of Yemen in 1454 AD.
The Tahirids were a local clan based in Rada'a. They built schools, mosques, and irrigation channels, as well as water cisterns and bridges in Zabid, Aden, Rada'a, and Juban. Their best-known monument is the Amiriya Madrasa in Rada' District, which was built in 1504. The Tahirids were too weak either to contain the Zaydi imams or to defend themselves against foreign attacks.