Home Region:  Arabia (Southwest Asia)

Yemen - Era of Warlords

1038 CE 1174 CE

D G SC WF HS EQ 2020  ye_warlords / YeWarLd



Preceding Entity: Add one more here.
822 CE 1037 CE Yemen Ziyad Dynasty (ye_ziyad_dyn)    [continuity]

Succeeding Entity:
No Polity found. Add one here.

The Era of the Warlords was a quasi-polity that existed in Tihama coastal plains between 1067 and 1091 CE, primarily characterized by a two-power tension between the Najahid dynasty and the Sulayhid dynasty. The Najahid dynasty was founded by two former slaves of the predated Ziyadid dynasty, while the Sulyahids occupied the highlands until their ruler ‘Ali bin Mahdi brought a denouement to the Najahid power in the mid-12th century. [1] In 1086 CE, Mukarram of the Sulyahids instituted a new coinage called “Maliki Dinars.” [2] When the Najahid rulers were driven out into refuge, many plotted their return to take back their territory in Tihama, but were defeated at the end. [3]
No population estimates could be found in the consulted literature; however, the polity territory was estimated to be between 250,000 and 350,000 square kilometers. [4]
The settlement hierarchy was between three- and five-tiered with a capital followed by towns and villages. The administrative levels were between four and five, with the political organization headed by a king and queen and followed by court and provincial governments. [5]

[1]: (McLaughlin 2007, 159) Daniel McLaughlin. 2007. Yemen. Bradt Travel Guides Ltd. Chalfont St Peter

[2]: (van Donzel 1994, 427) E J van Donzel. 1994. Islamic Desk Reference. BRILL. Leiden.

[3]: (Margariti 2013, 216) Roxani Margariti. An Ocean of Islamds: Islands, Insularity, and Historiography of the Indian Ocean. Peter N Miller ed. 2013. The Sea: Thalassography and Historiography. University of Michigan Press. Ann Arbor.

[4]: (Stookey 1978, 99) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[5]: (Stookey 1978, 65-74) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

General Variables
Social Complexity Variables
Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)
Religion Tolerance Coding in Progress.
Human Sacrifice Coding in Progress.
Crisis Consequences Coding in Progress.
Power Transitions Coding in Progress.

NGA Settlements:

Year Range Yemen - Era of Warlords (ye_warlords) was in:
 (1038 CE 1174 CE)   Yemeni Coastal Plain
Home NGA: Yemeni Coastal Plain

General Variables
Identity and Location
Utm Zone:
38 P

Original Name:
Era of the War Lords

Quasi-Polity. The 12th century was characterized by decentralization. [1] An "era of the ’war lords’" existed "until Rasulid times." [2]

[1]: (Stookey 1978, 76) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[2]: (Stookey 1978, 45) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.


Capital:
Sanaa

Sulayhids: Queen Arwa moved the court from Sanaa to Dhu Jibla. [1] Sa’da was the capital of the Zaidi Imamate until it was destroyed 943-977 CE. [2]
Language

[1]: (Stookey 1978, 68) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[2]: (Stookey 1978, 97) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

Capital:
Dhu Jibla

Sulayhids: Queen Arwa moved the court from Sanaa to Dhu Jibla. [1] Sa’da was the capital of the Zaidi Imamate until it was destroyed 943-977 CE. [2]
Language

[1]: (Stookey 1978, 68) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[2]: (Stookey 1978, 97) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.


Temporal Bounds
Peak Years:
[1067 CE ➜ 1091 CE]
 

Sulayhids: under al-Mukarram "the kingdom reached its maximum geographic extent and the apogee of its influence abroad." [1]
The 12th century was characterized by decentralization. [2]

[1]: (Stookey 1978, 66-67) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[2]: (Stookey 1978, 76) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.


Duration:
[1038 CE ➜ 1174 CE]
 

"Following the end of the Ziyadid dynasty in the early 11th century, two former slaves of the kingdom founded the Najahid dynasty. Control of the Tihama swayed back and forth between the Najahid rulers and the Sulayhid power of the highlands. In the mid 12th century, ’Ali bin Mahdi finally brought about the end of the Najahid dynasty." [1]
An "era of the ’war lords’" existed "until Rasulid times." [2]
"The Sulayhids [like Charlemagne] revived an ancient empire by their talents, basing their work on lofty political and religious principle. The latter, however, did not coincide with the aspirations of many of their subjects. Nor do the Sulayhids seem to have had a clear concept of Yemen as an economic unit to be strengthened and articulated." [3]
"Sulayhids: Shi’i dynasty which ruled over Yemen as nominal vassals of the Fatimids from 1047 till 1138. It was founded by ’Ali b. Muhammad, who chased the Abyssinian slave dynasty of the Najahids from Zabid, fought the Zaydi Imam al-Qasim b. ’Ali and took San’a’ in 1063, Zabid in 1064 and Aden in 1065. He restored order in Mecca and appointed Abu Hashim Muhammad (r. 1063-1094) as Sharif. He was killed by the Najahid Sa’id b. Najah (d. 1088) in 1067. His son al-Mukarram (r. 1067-1091) again conquered Zabid from the Najahids and rescued his other Asma’ bint Shihab (d. 1086). In the same year 1086 he instituted a new coinage called ’Maliki Dinars’, but left state affairs to his wife al-Sayyida Arwa (b. 1052, r. 1084-1138), who transferred her residence from San’a’ to Dhu Jibla in winter, making the castle of Ta’kar, where the treasures of the Sulayhids were stored, her residence in summer. In 1119 the Fatimid Caliph al-’Amir sent Ibn Najib al-Dawla as an emissary to Yemen. He reduced the smaller principalities to obedience but Queen Arwa was able to resist his endeavours. At her death the Sulayhid dynasty came to an end, and power passed to the Zuray’ids, who were to hold it until the arrival of the Ayyubid Turan-Shah in 1174." [4]
Sulayhids: Queen Arwa died aged 92 in 1137 CE. [5]
"the rise and fall of the Najahid princes of Zabid (1020s-1150s), a city that was one of the early recipients of Abyssinian slaves through Dahlak, illustrates the closeness of ties between the Yemeni coast and its opposite shores across the Red Sea, as well as the multifaceted impact of slavery networks in this region. ... On losing their city to the rising Sulayhid power of the Yemeni highlands, the defeated Najahid rulers, who were of Abyssinian slave origin, took refuge in Dahlak, where they plotted their return. In preparation for storming the Najahid city, the Sulayhid leader, al-Mukarram, instructed his troops to refrain from killing black Africans in Zabid, and instead to subject them first to a linguistic test; if when asked to pronounce the Arabic phoneme ’z,’ they produced a ’z’, then they were fair game, their accent having just betrayed them as pure Abyssinians and presumably part of what was percieved as a foreign Abyssinian cadre ruling the city; but if they pronounced the phoneme in the standard peninsular Arabic way, they were to be considered Arabs and spared, because ’Arab men in these coastal regions have children with black slaves and black skin is shared by free and slave alike.’" [6]

[1]: (McLaughlin 2007, 159) Daniel McLaughlin. 2007. Yemen. Bradt Travel Guides Ltd. Chalfont St Peter

[2]: (Stookey 1978, 45) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[3]: (Stookey 1978, 77) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[4]: (van Donzel 1994, 427) E J van Donzel. 1994. Islamic Desk Reference. BRILL. Leiden.

[5]: (Stookey 1978, 69) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[6]: (Margariti 2013, 216) Roxani Margariti. An Ocean of Islamds: Islands, Insularity, and Historiography of the Indian Ocean. Peter N Miller ed. 2013. The Sea: Thalassography and Historiography. University of Michigan Press. Ann Arbor.


Political and Cultural Relations
Suprapolity Relations:
nominal allegiance to [---]

Sulayhids: In 1110 CE the Fatimids in Egypt "sent an Armenian commander, Ibn Najib al-Dawla, as a da’i to reign in the chaotic situation in Yemen. Soon the local tribes revolted against him and the authority of the queen was much constrained by him." [1]
"The Sulayhids ruled in Yemen as adherents of Ismailism and as nominal vassals of the Fatimids." [2]

[1]: (Hamdani 2006, 777) Hamdani, Abbas. Sulayhids. Josef W Meri ed. 2006. Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia. Volume 1, A - K, Index. Routledge. Abingdon.

[2]: (Bosworth 2014) Clifford Edmund Bosworth. 2014. The New Islamic Dynasties. Edinburgh University Press. Edinburgh.


Succeeding Entity:
EgAyyub

Relationship to Preceding Entity:
continuity

Preceding Entity:
822 CE 1037 CE Yemen Ziyad Dynasty (ye_ziyad_dyn)    [continuity]  
 

Degree of Centralization:
uncoded

"From the foregoing brief account, it may be seen that in one sense there was a Yemeni polity during these troubled centuries. At no time did the values and objectives of would-be rulers and of the population at large agree. Tribes, dynasties, and religious leaders nevertheless acted frequently, if intermittently, over most of Yemen’s territory ... The ad hoc, evanescent coalitions formed are characteristic of a segmental pattern of authority, and thus of weakness of the political system as a whole. Some dynasties - the Sulayhids, the Zuray’ids, the Najab - succeeded in assembling substantial material resources, and were wealthy by the standards of the time; but they failed in the essential task of mobilizing the human energies needed to build and defend a viable Yemeni state. This consequent debility made Yemen an attractive target for foreign ambitions, and the country was in fact to become a family colony of the Ayyubids." [1]

[1]: (Stookey 1978, 99) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.


Language
Linguistic Family:
Afro-Asiatic

Language:
Arabic

Religion
Religion Genus:
Ismaili

Religion Family:
Shia

Religion:
Islam

Alternate Religion:
Uncoded


Social Complexity Variables
Social Scale
Polity Territory:
[250,000 to 350,000] km2

in squared kilometers
"In 429/1038, at a pilgrimage at Mecca, [’Ali ibn Muhammad ibn ’Ali of the Sulayhi family] gathered enough followers to declare his mission on behalf of the Fatimids and to embark on a campaign of conquests that culminated in the taking of San’a’ in 439/1047 from the Yu’firids." Sulayhids had conquered all of Yemen by 1063 CE. [1]
In 1063 CE the Sulayhids had unified Yemen "within the extent of the pre-Islamic Himyarite state". [2]
Sulayhids: under al-Mukarram "the kingdom reached its maximum geographic extent and the apogee of its influence abroad." [3] Al-Mukarram extended the rule to Hadramaut. Dhofar and Hijaz were "under Sulayhid political suzerainty." [4]
Sulayhids: lost the region of Saba in 1097 CE. [5]
"From the foregoing brief account, it may be seen that in one sense there was a Yemeni polity during these troubled centuries. At no time did the values and objectives of would-be rulers and of the population at large agree. Tribes, dynasties, and religious leaders nevertheless acted frequently, if intermittently, over most of Yemen’s territory ... The ad hoc, evanescent coalitions formed are characteristic of a segmental pattern of authority, and thus of weakness of the political system as a whole. Some dynasties - the Sulayhids, the Zuray’ids, the Najab - succeeded in assembling substantial material resources, and were wealthy by the standards of the time; but they failed in the essential task of mobilizing the human energies needed to build and defend a viable Yemeni state. This consequent debility made Yemen an attractive target for foreign ambitions, and the country was in fact to become a family colony of the Ayyubids." [6]

[1]: (Hamdani 2006, 776-777) Hamdani, Abbas. Sulayhids. Josef W Meri ed. 2006. Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia. Volume 1, A - K, Index. Routledge. Abingdon.

[2]: (Stookey 1978, 62) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[3]: (Stookey 1978, 66-67) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[4]: (Stookey 1978, 67) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[5]: (Stookey 1978, 71) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[6]: (Stookey 1978, 99) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.


Hierarchical Complexity
Settlement Hierarchy:
[3 to 5]

levels. Capital, provincial capital, town, village.


Religious Level:
[3 to 4]

levels.
Sulayhids: "’Ali and al-Mukarram had been, by appointment of the Fatimid caliph, commanders of their armed forces, chiefs of the civil administration, and heads of the state religion." [1]
Fatimid Egypt: "an autonomous da’wa was set up under the Sulayhid sovereigns." [2]
1. Da’i.
"The term as it had applied to Mansur al-Yaman and ’Ali al-Sulayhi implied the concentration in one person of all powers, spiritual and temporal, exercised in the name of the Fatimids. The title was now becoming diluted, and prominent members of several governing families bore it". [3]
2. al-hujjaQueen Arwa of the Sulayhids conducted missionary efforts with the title al-hujja "a rank in the Fatimid hierarchy second only to that of da’i and to that of the caliph’s chief doorkeeper." [4]
34."a specialized professional class, the ulama, grew up to preserve, perfect, and administer" the Islamic jurisprudence. [5]
"In eleventh-century Yemen the ulama fostered a modicum of social integration which might not otherwise have existed in the absence of central political authority, and where local power was the object of chronic contention among petty notables." [6]
Sulayhids were founded by a Sunni of the Shafi’i rite who was taught Ismaili doctrine as a boy. [6] Fatimids were Shia?
Ali al-Sulayhi led the pligrimage to Mecca between 1031-1046 CE. In 1046 CE obtained permission from Fatimids to create a regime in Yemen. [7]

[1]: (Stookey 1978, 69) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[2]: (Hamdani 2006, 776-777) Hamdani, Abbas. Sulayhids. Josef W Meri ed. 2006. Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia. Volume 1, A - K, Index. Routledge. Abingdon.

[3]: (Stookey 1978, 71-72) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[4]: (Stookey 1978, 72) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[5]: (Stookey 1978, 58) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[6]: (Stookey 1978, 59) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[7]: (Stookey 1978, 60) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.


Administrative Level:
[4 to 5]

levels.
1. King and Queen
The founder of the state consulted and at times deferred to his queen, Asma; their son al-Mukarram continued to rely on her counsel during the years between his father’s demise and her death (1067-1074)." [1] Queen Arwa who was married to al-Mukarram in 1065 CE also was influential from 1074 CE. [2]
2. ViceroySulayhids: when the king was absent he could have a viceroy, such as his heir, rule in his place. [3]
_Court government [4] _
2. Chief minister first appointed by Queen Arwa 1097 CEIndividual’s role was "commander of the army and head of administration." Queen Arwa "relied heavily on his advice, and channeled her orders through him." [5]
3. Lower administratorThe Sulayhids had administrators. [6]
_Provincial government_
2. GovernorsAli al-Sulayhi moved defeated princes into palaces in Sanaa and replaced them with governors "often his own close relatives, whose administration he supervised personally and minutely, without the intermediary of a chief minister (an office which became customary in both the Abbasid and Fatimid courts, to the detriment of royal authority)." [7]
Amirs? Sulayhid queen not in full control: "another Amir, al-Mufaddal al-Himyari, who guarded her treasure at the fortress of Ta’kar but was also responsible for creating man enemies against her by his constant warfare." [6]
3. Assistant to the governor
3. Civil administrator
3. Revenue collectorSulayhids had officials. Provincial administration had an executive (civil administrator, revenue collection) and judicial branch and an assistant to the governor, all appointed by the king (3 officials in total below the governor). There also was a chief secretary to the governor. [8] 4.

Sulayhids: In 1110 CE the Fatimids in Egypt "sent an Armenian commander, Ibn Najib al-Dawla, as a da’i to reign in the chaotic situation in Yemen. Soon the local tribes revolted against him and the authority of the queen was much constrained by him." [6]
In the early 12th century "Another administrator was appointed at this time from the Sulayhid family, ’Ali ibn ’Abd Allah, with the title of Fakhr al-khilafa. The queen, however, relied on the Da’wa under Yahya ibn Lamak and its military arm, Sultan al-Khattab ibn al-Hasan al-Hamdani, the baron of Jurayb in the Hajur district. He is also called a da’j, for many works of the Yemeni da’wa were authored by him. He became the queen’s defender of faith and the protector of her realm. He never attained the position of a Da’i mutlaq under the queen as a Hujja, which went to his mentor - the Da’i Dhu’ayb ibn Musa al-Wadi’i - on Da’i Yahya’s death in 520/1126." [6]
Najahids: "Whether specimens of the 438 Rayy issue could have reached the Yemen by the following year, there to serve as models for the Najahid coinage, seems to me highly questionable, although there is evidence, architectural and epigraphic, to support the theory of a strong cultural link between Iran and the Yemen in the 11th century a.d. 17 What matters is that at this moment in history the title of Sultan could have been used only with reference to the head of state, the immediate deputy of the Caliph in the country of province concerned. At Zabid in 440 this authority was none other than Najah. The appearance of the title Sultan on coins 3 and 4 therefore reinforces the theory that coins of the ruler named al-Muzaffar must be Najahid, even if the name Najah does not figure on them." [9]
"Even before al-Mukarram’s death, the Fatimid court had sent a chief justice to Yemen, Lamak bin Malik, who remained in the office until his death in 1116; his son Yahya succeeded him for the remainder of Arwa’s reign. The judge’s responsibility extended to advising the queen on the management of the Ismaili missionary effort in Yemen itself and to the east in Oman, the Persian Gulf, and India." [5]

[1]: (Stookey 1978, 67) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[2]: (Stookey 1978, 68) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[3]: (Stookey 1978, 65) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[4]: (Stookey 1978, 74) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[5]: (Stookey 1978, 72) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[6]: (Hamdani 2006, 777) Hamdani, Abbas. Sulayhids. Josef W Meri ed. 2006. Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia. Volume 1, A - K, Index. Routledge. Abingdon.

[7]: (Stookey 1978, 62-63) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[8]: (Stookey 1978, 63) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[9]: (? 1990, 190) Nicholas M Lowick. Joe Cribb. ed. 1990. Coinage and History of the Islamic World. Variorum Reprints.


Professions
Professional Soldier:
present

The Sulayhids used African mercenaries. [1]

[1]: (Stookey 1978, 66) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.


Professional Priesthood:
present

"a specialized professional class, the ulama, grew up to preserve, perfect, and administer" Islamic jurisprudence. [1]

[1]: (Stookey 1978, 58) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.


Professional Military Officer:
present

In the Sulayhid state: "The queen was supported by two military chiefs - Amir Abu Himyar Saba ibn Ahmad of the Sulayhid family and Amir Abu l-Rabi’ ’Amir ibn Sulayman of the Zawahi family - both in constant conflict with each other, thus weakening the Sulayhid state." [1]

[1]: (Hamdani 2006, 777) Hamdani, Abbas. Sulayhids. Josef W Meri ed. 2006. Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia. Volume 1, A - K, Index. Routledge. Abingdon.


Bureaucracy Characteristics
Specialized Government Building:
present

Najahid dynasty: mints for coinage. [1]

[1]: (? 1990, 190) Nicholas M Lowick. Joe Cribb. ed. 1990. Coinage and History of the Islamic World. Variorum Reprints.


Full Time Bureaucrat:
present

The Sulayhids had administrators. [1]

[1]: (Hamdani 2006, 777) Hamdani, Abbas. Sulayhids. Josef W Meri ed. 2006. Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia. Volume 1, A - K, Index. Routledge. Abingdon.


Law
Judge:
present

Sulayhids: provincial administration included a chief judge. [1]
"When al-Mukarram died in 477/1084, the queen faced a rivalry between the two Qadis - ’Imran ibn al-Fadl and Lamak ibn Malik. Imran was stationed in San’a’ and was the commander-in-chief of the Sulayhid army." [2]
"Evidence that the magistrates who judged the citizens and counseled them were following sound doctrine was a psychologically necessary reassurance. Within a few centuries after the rise of Islam the rules were compiled into voluminous compendia of law by various schools of jurists working for the most part independently of the secular authorities." [3]
"a specialized professional class, the ulama, grew up to preserve, perfect, and administer" the Islamic jurisprudence. [3]

[1]: (Stookey 1978, 63) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[2]: (Hamdani 2006, 777) Hamdani, Abbas. Sulayhids. Josef W Meri ed. 2006. Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia. Volume 1, A - K, Index. Routledge. Abingdon.

[3]: (Stookey 1978, 58) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.


Formal Legal Code:
present

"Evidence that the magistrates who judged the citizens and counselled them were following sound doctrine was a psychologically necessary reassurance. Within a few centuries after the rise of Islam the rules were compiled into voluminous compendia of law by various schools of jurists working for the most part independently of the secular authorities." [1]

[1]: (Stookey 1978, 58) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.


Specialized Buildings: polity owned
Market:
present

Sulayhids: government was able to take action to lower prices in the markets. [1]

[1]: (Stookey 1978, 74) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.


Irrigation System:
present

Zaidi Imamate: had "land irrigated from wells or impoundments." [1]

[1]: (Stookey 1978, 88) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.


Food Storage Site:
present

Transport Infrastructure
Special-purpose Sites
Information / Writing System
Written Record:
present

Script:
present

Arabic


Phonetic Alphabetic Writing:
present

Arabic.


Non Phonetic Writing:
absent

Arabic.


Information / Kinds of Written Documents
Scientific Literature:
present

Mention of doctors and licenses. [1]

[1]: (Stookey 1978, 58) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.


Sacred Text:
present

Koran.


Religious Literature:
present

Men "learned in Islamic theology and jurisprudence". [1]

[1]: (Stookey 1978, 58) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.


Practical Literature:
present

Marriage contracts. [1]

[1]: (Stookey 1978, 71) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.


Lists Tables and Classification:
present

Used by government administrators.


History:
present

Yemeni chroniclers. [1] Queen Arwa was a "fine writer" said to be "versed in the chronicles, poetry, and history". [2]

[1]: (Stookey 1978, 58) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[2]: (Stookey 1978, 68) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.


Fiction:
present

Queen Arwa was a "fine writer" said to be "versed in the chronicles, poetry, and history". [1]

[1]: (Stookey 1978, 68) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.


Calendar:
present

Islamic calendar.


Information / Money
Indigenous Coin:
present

"Whether specimens of the 438 Rayy issue could have reached the Yemen by the following year, there to serve as models for the Najahid coinage, seems to me highly questionable, although there is evidence, architectural and epigraphic, to support the theory of a strong cultural link between Iran and the Yemen in the 11th century a.d." [1]

[1]: (? 1990, 190) Nicholas M Lowick. Joe Cribb. ed. 1990. Coinage and History of the Islamic World. Variorum Reprints.


Foreign Coin:
present

Sulayhids: governors received gifts of money ’dinars’ from the king. [1]

[1]: (Stookey 1978, 63) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.


Article:
present

Zaidi Imamate: took revenue in kind or in money. [1]

[1]: (Stookey 1978, 88) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.


Information / Postal System
Courier:
present

Sulayhids: Al-Mukarram remained in "close correspondence" with Abbasid caliph al-Mustansir. [1] Sulayhids: Ambassadors. [2]

[1]: (Stookey 1978, 67) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[2]: (Stookey 1978, 74) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.


Information / Measurement System

Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)
Fortifications
Wooden Palisade:
present

Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate [1] which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.

[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy


Stone Walls Non Mortared:
unknown

Stone Walls Mortared:
present

Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate [1] which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE. Yemeni forts and walls. [2]

[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy

[2]: (Stookey 1978, 73) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.


Settlements in a Defensive Position:
present

Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate [1] which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.

[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy


Modern Fortification:
absent

Gunpowder artillery not in use until the 14th century. [1]

[1]: (Baily 2001) Jonathan B A Bailey. Canon. Richard Holmes. Hew Strachan. Chris Bellamy. Hugh Bicheno. eds. 2001. The Oxford Companion to Military History. Oxford University Press.


Moat:
present

Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate [1] which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.

[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy


Fortified Camp:
unknown

Earth Rampart:
present

Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate [1] which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.

[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy


Ditch:
present

Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate [1] which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.

[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy


Complex Fortification:
unknown

Long Wall:
unknown

Military use of Metals
Steel:
present

Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate [1] which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.

[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy


Iron:
present

Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate [1] which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.

[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy


Copper:
present

Bronze:
present

Projectiles
Tension Siege Engine:
present

Torsion engines in use in Arabic warfare in this period. [1] [2]

[1]: (Kennedy 2001, 184

[2]: Kelly DeVries, ’siege engines’ in The Oxford Companion to Military History, Eds. Holmes, Singleton, and Jones Oxford University Press: 2001)


Sling Siege Engine:
absent

First known use of the counter-weight trebuchet 1165 CE at Byzantine siege of Zevgminon. [1] Abbasids had the manjaniq, a swing beam engine similar to the Western Trebuchet. [2] but the Manjaniq was man-powered not gravity powered. [3]

[1]: (Turnball 2002) Turnball, S. 2002. Siege Weapons of the Far East (1): AD 612-1300. Osprey Publishing.

[2]: (Kennedy 2001, 184) Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy

[3]: (Nicolle 2003, 14) Nicolle, David. 2003. Medieval Siege Weapons (2): Byzantium, the Islamic World and India AD 476-1526. Osprey Publishing.


Sling:
unknown

Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate [1] which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.

[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy


Self Bow:
unknown

Javelin:
present

The Sulayhids used African mercenaries [1] Sudanic cavalry used double-bladed lances, spears and javelins. [2]

[1]: (Stookey 1978, 66) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[2]: Jacquelin A Blair. Nicholas Roumas. Fernando Martell advised by Jeffrey L Forgeng. 2011. The Progression of Arms and Armor from Ancient Greece to the European Renaissance across Eurasia and Africa. Worcester Polytechnic Institute.


Handheld Firearm:
absent

Not in use until the 15th century. [1]

[1]: (Wood 2001) Stephen Wood. Matchlock. Richard Holmes. Hew Strachan. Chris Bellamy. Hugh Bicheno. eds. 2001. The Oxford Companion to Military History. Oxford University Press.


Gunpowder Siege Artillery:
absent

Not in use until the 14th century. [1]

[1]: (Baily 2001) Jonathan B A Bailey. Canon. Richard Holmes. Hew Strachan. Chris Bellamy. Hugh Bicheno. eds. 2001. The Oxford Companion to Military History. Oxford University Press.


Crossbow:
present

Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate [1] which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.

[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy


Composite Bow:
present

Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate [1] which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.

[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy


Atlatl:
absent

New World weapon.


Handheld weapons
War Club:
present

Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate [1] which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.

[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy


Sword:
present

Swords. [1] The Sulayhids used African mercenaries [2] and Sudanic warriors traditionally used the sword. [3] Code also can be inferred from Abbasid Caliphate [4] which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.

[1]: (Stookey 1978, 68) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[2]: (Stookey 1978, 66) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[3]: Jacquelin A Blair. Nicholas Roumas. Fernando Martell advised by Jeffrey L Forgeng. 2011. The Progression of Arms and Armor from Ancient Greece to the European Renaissance across Eurasia and Africa. Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

[4]: (Nicolle 1982, 20) Nicolle, D. 1982. The Armies of Islam, 7th-11th Centuries. Osprey Publishing.


Spear:
present

Spears. [1] The Sulayhids used African mercenaries [2] Sudanic cavalry used double-bladed lances, spears and javelins. [3]

[1]: (Stookey 1978, 68) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[2]: (Stookey 1978, 66) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[3]: Jacquelin A Blair. Nicholas Roumas. Fernando Martell advised by Jeffrey L Forgeng. 2011. The Progression of Arms and Armor from Ancient Greece to the European Renaissance across Eurasia and Africa. Worcester Polytechnic Institute.


Polearm:
present

The Sulayhids used African mercenaries [1] Sudanic cavalry used double-bladed lances, spears and javelins. [2] Code also can be inferred from Abbasid Caliphate [3] which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.

[1]: (Stookey 1978, 66) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[2]: Jacquelin A Blair. Nicholas Roumas. Fernando Martell advised by Jeffrey L Forgeng. 2011. The Progression of Arms and Armor from Ancient Greece to the European Renaissance across Eurasia and Africa. Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

[3]: (Nicolle 1982, 20) Nicolle, D. 1982. The Armies of Islam, 7th-11th Centuries. Osprey Publishing.


Dagger:
present

Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate [1] which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.

[1]: (Nicolle 1982, 20) Nicolle, D. 1982. The Armies of Islam, 7th-11th Centuries. Osprey Publishing.


Battle Axe:
unknown

Animals used in warfare
Horse:
present

The Sulayhids used African mercenaries [1] and Sudanic warriors had cavalry. [2] Code also can be inferred from Abbasid Caliphate [3] which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.

[1]: (Stookey 1978, 66) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[2]: Jacquelin A Blair. Nicholas Roumas. Fernando Martell advised by Jeffrey L Forgeng. 2011. The Progression of Arms and Armor from Ancient Greece to the European Renaissance across Eurasia and Africa. Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

[3]: (Nicolle 1982, 20) Nicolle, D. 1982. The Armies of Islam, 7th-11th Centuries. Osprey Publishing.


Elephant:
absent

Inferred from the absence of elephants in previous and subsequent polities in the Yemeni Coastal Plain.


Donkey:
present

Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate [1] which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.

[1]: (Nicolle 1982, 20) Nicolle, D. 1982. The Armies of Islam, 7th-11th Centuries. Osprey Publishing.


Camel:
present

Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate [1] which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.

[1]: (Nicolle 1982, 20) Nicolle, D. 1982. The Armies of Islam, 7th-11th Centuries. Osprey Publishing.


Armor
Wood Bark Etc:
present

Used for shields. Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate [1] which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.

[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy


Shield:
present

Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate [1] which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.

[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy


Scaled Armor:
present

Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate [1] which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.

[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy


Plate Armor:
absent

Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate [1] which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.

[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy


Limb Protection:
present

Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate [1] which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.

[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy


Leather Cloth:
present

Used for shields. Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate [1] which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE. The Sulayhids used African mercenaries [2] and Central Sudanic Bornu horseback warriors often wore quilted armour and chainmail and a iron cap-helmet. [3]

[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy

[2]: (Stookey 1978, 66) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[3]: Jacquelin A Blair. Nicholas Roumas. Fernando Martell advised by Jeffrey L Forgeng. 2011. The Progression of Arms and Armor from Ancient Greece to the European Renaissance across Eurasia and Africa. Worcester Polytechnic Institute.


Laminar Armor:
present

Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate [1] which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.

[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy


Helmet:
present

Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate [1] which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE. The Sulayhids used African mercenaries [2] and Central Sudanic Bornu horseback warriors often wore quilted armour and chainmail and a iron cap-helmet. [3]

[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy

[2]: (Stookey 1978, 66) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[3]: Jacquelin A Blair. Nicholas Roumas. Fernando Martell advised by Jeffrey L Forgeng. 2011. The Progression of Arms and Armor from Ancient Greece to the European Renaissance across Eurasia and Africa. Worcester Polytechnic Institute.


Chainmail:
present

Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate [1] which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE. The Sulayhids used African mercenaries [2] and Central Sudanic Bornu horseback warriors often wore quilted armour and chainmail and a iron cap-helmet. [3]

[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy

[2]: (Stookey 1978, 66) Robert W Stookey. 1978. Yemen: The Politics of the Yemen Arab Republic. Westview Press. Boulder.

[3]: Jacquelin A Blair. Nicholas Roumas. Fernando Martell advised by Jeffrey L Forgeng. 2011. The Progression of Arms and Armor from Ancient Greece to the European Renaissance across Eurasia and Africa. Worcester Polytechnic Institute.


Breastplate:
present

Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate [1] which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.

[1]: Hugh N Kennedy. 2001. The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State. Routledge. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/SGPPFNAZ/q/kennedy


Naval technology
Specialized Military Vessel:
unknown

Small Vessels Canoes Etc:
present

Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate [1] which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE.

[1]: (Gabrieli 1964, 57-65) Francesco Gabrieli. 1964. Greeks and Arabs in the Central Mediterranean Area. Papers 18. Dumbarton Oaks.


Merchant Ships Pressed Into Service:
present

Code inferred from Abbasid Caliphate [1] which occupied Yemen between 751-868 CE. Greek fire was being used: "by the year 850 even crew members of Arab trading vessels in the Indian Ocean would use it to protect their ships against pirates". [2]

[1]: (Gabrieli 1964, 57-65) Francesco Gabrieli. 1964. Greeks and Arabs in the Central Mediterranean Area. Papers 18. Dumbarton Oaks.

[2]: Z Bilkadi. 1984. Bitumen: A History. Saudi Aramco World. November/December. pp 2-9. https://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/198406/bitumen.-.a.history.htm



Human Sacrifice Data
Human Sacrifice is the deliberate and ritualized killing of a person to please or placate supernatural entities (including gods, spirits, and ancestors) or gain other supernatural benefits.
Coding in Progress.
Coding in Progress.
Power Transitions
Coding in Progress.