Arwa bint Ahmad

Arwa bint Ahmad ( Arabic أروى بنت أحمد, DMG Arwā bint Aḥmad ; * 1050 ; † 1138 ) - as-Saiyida al-hurray (السيدة الحرة, DMG as-saiyida al-ḥurra 'the free [independent, noble] mistress') - was a famous Yemenite queen (malika) from the Muslim dynasty of the Sulaihids (1086–1138).

Arwa bint Ahmad was the wife of al-Mukarram Ahmad (1069-1086), the descendant and successor of the Sulayhid ruler Ali as-Sulaihi (1047-1067). As a dowry, she received the city of Aden from her husband . The income from this city flowed to her. The marriage produced four children. After the death of her husband, she continued the Sulaihid dynasty. Besides the legendary Queen of Sheba, Arwa is the only known regent in Yemen . It took over the affairs of state between 1074 and 1086 - which has not been properly documented historically. She emerged as a very energetic regent who defended the limits of her empire in the battles with the Najahids in the Tihama . Under her the capital of the Sulaihids was moved from Sanaa to Djibla , from where a glamorous epoch was ushered in. For lack of living descendants, the Sulaihid dynasty died out with the death of Arwa bint Ahmad (in 1138 at the old age of 88 years and fifty years of reign).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ G. Rex Smith Political History of Islamic Yemen up to the First Turkish Invasion, pp. 136–154 (p. 140)

literature

• G. Rex Smith: Political History of Islamic Yemen up to the First Turkish Invasion . In: Werner Daum: Yemen . Umschau-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1987, ISBN 3-7016-2251-5 , pp. 136-154.