Dhu Yazan

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The Dhu Yazan (Arabic: ذي يزن) also known as Al-Yazanin were a prominent Arab tribal clan and elite ruling family of Yemen that were affiliated with the Sabaean Kingdom and later on, the Himyarite Kingdom. They were ultimately deprived from their elite status and ruling by the Sasanian Empire, which controlled Yemen from 570 CE until 678 CE. The Arabian genealogists and historians trace their lineage to a man named 'Amir ibn Aslam who was given the title Dhu Yazan and was a contemporary of the Himyarite ruler Abu Karib, although the Dhu Yazan clan has existed way back during the time of Dhamar Ali Yuhabirr.[1][2]

History[edit]

The Dhi Yazan clan aided the Sabaeans against the Kingdom of Hadhramaut in the late 3rd century. As a revenge attack, several Hadhrami rebels bombarded the city of 'Abadan, which was where the Dhu Yazan clan lived.[3][4] Later in the 4th century, they formed a military force which served under the king Tharan Yuha'nim.[5] The king's son, Malikikarib Yuha'min, married a woman from the Dhu Yazan clan.[6] Members of the clan also raided a city at Al Mahrah Governorate in the year 515.[7]

Dhu Yazan were prominent allies of Dhu Nuwas, helping him in his persecution of Christians in Najran and the war against the Aksumite Empire.[8][9] Later, a portion of the Yazanites which included Sumyafa' Ashwa were ordered to fortify the fortress at Hisn al-Ghurab by Dhu Nuwas. After the Aksumites had invaded Himyar, Sumyafa' Ashwa and the Yazanites under him came out from hiding and made peace with the king Kaleb.[10] The latter would hire Sumyafa' Ashwa as his viceroy and the vassal ruler of Himyar.

In 570 CE, the Yazanite prince Ma'adi Yakrib ibn Abi Murrah requested help from the Sasanian Empire to end the Aksumite rule over Yemen.[11][12][13] The Sasanians agreed, and the Aksumite ruler Masruq ibn Abraha was defeated and then killed in battle, afterwards Ma'adi Yakrib was made the vassal ruler of Himyar for the Sasanian Empire.[14] But Ma'adi Yakrib was assassinated by his own servants, afterwards the Sasanian Empire sent a Persian governor to rule Yemen.[11][15] The Dhu Yazan family was completely deprived from ruling.[11]

Religion[edit]

As early as the late 4th century, the Dhu Yazan family supposedly converted to Judaism.[16]

Notable members[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "ميفعة موطن اليزنيين ومنها الملك سيف بن ذو يزن الحميري". يمرس. Retrieved 2024-04-21.
  2. ^ "هذا نسب اليزنيين وهذه بدايتهم ومواطنهم". baawdhah.ahlamontada.com (in Arabic). Retrieved 2024-04-21.
  3. ^ "DASI: Digital Archive for the Study of pre-Islamic Arabia -Ir 32 Schreyer-Geukens; ZI 87". dasi.cnr.it. Retrieved 2024-04-21.
  4. ^ Bafaqih, M. A. (1979). "New Light on the Yazanite Dynasty". Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies. 9: 5–9. ISSN 0308-8421. JSTOR 41223210.
  5. ^ "DASI: Digital Archive for the Study of pre-Islamic Arabic -ʿAbadān 1". dasi.cnr.it. Retrieved 2024-04-21.
  6. ^ "Tarfat al-Ashab fi Ma'rifat al-Anjal - Al-Rasouli - Part 1 - Page 55".
  7. ^ "DASI: Digital Archive for the Study of pre-Islamic Arabia -BR-Yanbuq 47". dasi.cnr.it. Retrieved 2024-04-21.
  8. ^ "DASI: Digital Archive for the Study of pre-Islamic Arabian - Ry 508". dasi.cnr.it. Retrieved 2024-04-21.
  9. ^ "DASI: Digital Archive for the Study of pre-Islamic Arabia -Ja 1028". dasi.cnr.it. Retrieved 2024-04-21.
  10. ^ "DASI: Digital Archive for the Study of pre-Islamic Arabia -CIH 621 Ry 342; RES 2633; RES 5091". dasi.cnr.it. Retrieved 2024-04-21.
  11. ^ a b c Mubarakpuri, Saifur Rahman (2008). The Sealed Nectar: Biography of the Noble Prophet. Dar-us-Salam Publications. ISBN 978-9960899558.
  12. ^ Bowersock, Glen Warren (2013). The throne of Adulis: Red Sea wars on the eve of Islam. Emblems of antiquity. Oxford New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-973932-5.
  13. ^ Zakeri, Mohsen (1995). Sasanid soldiers in early muslim society: the origins of 'Ayyaran and Futuwwa. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. ISBN 978-3-447-03652-8.
  14. ^ al-Ṭabarī, Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr (1999-11-04). The History of al-Ṭabarī Vol. 5: The Sāsānids, the Byzantines, the Lakmids, and Yemen. SUNY Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-4356-9.
  15. ^ Bosworth, C.E. ""Abnā", Encyclopedia Iranica". iranicaonline.org. Retrieved 2024-04-21.
  16. ^ Nucʻubiże, Šalva; Nucʻubiże, Tʻamar; Horn, Cornelia B.; Grigoriĭ; Ostrovsky, Alexey, eds. (2014). Georgian Christian thought and its cultural context: memorial volume for the 125th Anniversary of Shalva Nutsubidze (1888-1969). Texts and studies in Eastern Christianity. Leiden ; Boston: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-26337-6.
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