South arabia

In contrast to northern Arabia , southern Arabia is usually used to describe those parts of the Arabian Peninsula that lie south of central Arabia (inner-Arabia) or Saudi Arabia . The region is bounded in the east and south by the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean.

A corresponding subdivision into Western Arabia (Hejaz and Asir on the Red Sea ) and Eastern Arabia (" pirate coast " on the Arab-Persian Gulf ) is used less often, one speaks more of the Hejaz and the Gulf States , since Western Arabia also includes the entire Maghrib (Far West) and Eastern Arabia are equated with Mashrik (Arab East). South Arabia makes up the southern part of Mashreq.

In a narrower sense, only Yemen in the south-west is referred to as southern Arabia, only northern Yemen was spared from foreign and colonial powers except for an ancient Ethiopian interim period and a later loose Ottoman suzerainty. At the time of British colonial rule, South Yemen even had two short-lived protectorates with South Arabia in the state name, the South Arab Federation and the Protectorate of South Arabia . In a broader sense, however, Oman in the southeast also belongs to South Arabia and sometimes even the formerly Arab regions of Ethiopia or Somalia , Eritrea and Djibouti on the Horn of Africa, which lie opposite the Arabian Peninsula .

Historically, both before and after Islamization , the regions developed differently from the north, but were always connected by caravan routes . Along with Damascus and Jericho, the Yemeni capital Sanaa is one of the three oldest permanently inhabited cities in the world. The region at the starting point of the Frankincense Route was home to the Sabeans , Mineans and Himyars . Besides the kingdom of Saba , Ausan , Hadramaut and Mahra were independent for a long time.

Southern Arabs

Thereafter, the term southern Arabs, represented by the Yemeni tribe of the Qais, was used as a term for opponents of the Umayyad dynasty. In contrast to loyal “Northern Arabs”, the Southern Arabs also invoked a descent from the pre-Abrahamic patriarch Qahtan (Kahtan). The name Qahtan is still more widespread as a family name and first name in Yemen than in any other Arab country. The country name Yaman (Yemen) is said to have been derived from a South Arabian king named Ayman bin Yaarub bin Qahtan.

The conflict between northern and southern Arabs had continued into the once Muslim Spain (al-Andalus) in the Far West ( Magreb ), see History of Spain # Emirate of Córdoba .

In Libya claiming Berber Hawwara (east of Tripoli) and Mazata a lineage ( Ansippung ) of Yemeni tribes.