Sasanian reconquest of Yemen

Last updated
Sasanian reconquest of Yemen
Part of the Aksumite–Persian wars
Date575 or 578
Location
Result

Persian victory

  • Habash rule ceased in the Arabian peninsula Until 1022 C.E
  • Yemeni rule as vassals of the Sasanians established
Belligerents
Sasanian Empire Kingdom of Aksum
Commanders and leaders
Vahrez
Strength
4,000 Unknown

The Sasanian reconquest of Yemen took place in 575 or 578 [1] after Aksumite men killed Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan after a reign of some four years and took control of Yemen. The rising took place when the protecting Persian garrison withdrew from Yemen. The Sasanians, this time with a force of 4,000 men, managed to reconquer Yemen and install Sayf’s son, Maʿdī Kareb as ruler. [2]

A pre-Islamic Arabian poet, Umayya bin Abi al-Salt, has praised the victory of the Persians in one of his poems. His poem is recorded in Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani's Kitab al-Aghani . [3]

A Persian military force now remained in Yemen for over fifty years, with a Persian governor at Maʿdī Kareb’s side. The names of the successive Persian governors are as follows, according to Tabari (there is some variation in the sources over the names): [2]

The Persian garrison of soldiers and officials settled down in Sana'a and its vicinity and intermarried with the local Arab population, and it was the sons of these Persian fathers and Arab mothers, with their descendants, who became known as the abnāʾ. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mardaites</span> Early Christian group

The Mardaites or al-Jarajima were early Christians following either Miaphysitism or Monothelitism in the Nur Mountains. Little is known about their ethnicity, but it has been speculated that they might have been Persians or Armenians, yet other sources claim them to have been native to the Levant or possibly even from the Arabian peninsula. Their other Arabic name, al-Jarājimah, suggests that some were natives of the town Jurjum in Cilicia; the word marada in Arabic is the plural of mared, which could mean a giant, a supernatural being like Jinn, a high mountain or a rebel. Whether their name was due to their existence outside of legitimate political authority or their residence in the mountains is not known. They were joined later by various escaped slaves and peasants during their insurgency and were said to have claimed territory from "the Holy City" to the "Black Mountain".

Wahrez was a Sasanian general of Daylamite origin, first mentioned in the prelude to the Iberian War and then during the Aksumite–Persian wars.

Marzbān, or Marzpān were a class of margraves, warden of the marches, and by extension military commanders, in charge of border provinces of the Parthian Empire and mostly Sasanian Empire of Iran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mazun (Sasanian province)</span> Province of the Sasanian Empire

Mazun was a Sasanian province in Late Antiquity, which corresponded to modern-day Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and the northern half of Oman. The province served as a Sasanian outpost and played an important role in the Sasanian efforts to gain control over the Indian Ocean trade, and to establish their dominance in the wealthy regions of Hadramaut and Yemen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan</span> Himyarite semi-legendary king

Ma'adi Yakrib ibn Abi Murrah, more commonly known by the Arabian legends as Abu Murrah Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan al-Himyari or just Sayf ibn Ziyazin was a semi-legendary Himyarite king who lived between 516 and 578 known for ending Aksumite rule over South Arabia with the help of the Sasanian Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aswaran</span> Military unit

The Aswārān, also spelled Asbārān and Savaran, was a cavalry force that formed the backbone of the army of the Sasanian Empire. They were provided by the aristocracy, were heavily armored, and ranged from archers to cataphracts.

Bādhān was a Persian abna' leader and the Sasanian governor of Yemen during the reign of Khosrow II. He became a Muslim and a companion of Islamic prophet Muhammad upon witnessing a prophecy of his come true in real time.

<i>Azadan</i> Class of Iranian nobles

The Azadan were a class of Iranian nobles. They are probably identical to the eleutheroi mentioned in Greek sources to refer to a group of Parthian nobles. According to the 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian Josephus, the Parthian army led by prince Pacorus I during the invasion of Judea consisted of members of the eleutheroi. The Kingdom of Armenia adopted the same hierarchy as that of the Parthians, which included the azadan class, which was used to label the Armenian middle and lower nobility. The name of the Georgian nobility, Aznauri, also corresponded to that of azadan. A class of azadan are also attested in Sogdia, an Iranian civilization located in Central Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aksumite–Persian wars</span> Armed conflict of the 6th century CE

The Aksumite–Persian wars were a protracted series of armed engagements between the Sasanian Persian Empire and the Aksumite Empire for control over South Arabia in the 6th century CE. After a decisive victory at the Battle of Hadhramaut in 570, the Sasanian forces marched on and besieged Sana'a, following which the Aksumites were largely expelled from the Arabian Peninsula, however they still had direct control of Najran. The Persians instated the former Himyarite king Sayf ibn Dhī Yazan as the governor of the new Sasanian province of Yemen. However, Yazan was murdered by his Ethiopian servants four years into his reign, after which the Aksumites re-established their power in the region. Following the death of Yazan, the Sasanian army mounted a second invasion and re-conquered Yemen by 575–578, marking the end of Axumite rule in Arabia. After Sasanian control was firmly established in the region, the Persian military general Wahrez was installed as the direct governor of Yemen.

The Siege of Sana'a is a battle fought in the 6th century by the Kingdom of Aksum and the Sasanian Empire.It took place when the Sasanian under general Vahrez besieged the Aksumite city of Sana'a in 570.

The Asawira were a military unit of the Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphate. The unit consisted of Iranian noblemen who were originally part of the aswaran unit of the Sasanian army. It was disbanded in 703 by al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf.

Siyah, known in Arabic sources as Siyah al-Uswari was an Iranian nobleman, who served as the commander of a faction of the Sasanian asbaran unit, but later defected to the Rashidun Caliphate, where he continued serving as the commander of the asbaran.

Firuz Husayn was an Iranian aristocrat, who was a key figure in the rebellion of Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath, which lasted from 700 to 703.

Shiruya al-Uswari was an Iranian nobleman, who was part of the Sasanian asvaran unit, but later defected together with a faction of the unit to the Rashidun Caliphate, where the unit became known as the Asawira. He settled in Basra, and married a Sasanian princess called Marjana, whom he built a palace for on a canal in Basra

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garamig ud Nodardashiragan</span> Province of the Sasanian Empire

Garamig ud Nodardashiragan was a late Sasanian province in present-day northern Iraq. The province was a combination of two provinces, Garamig and Nodardashiragan. The province is first mentioned in the Nestorian hyparchies in 410. The main cities of the province were Kirkuk and Irbil, which served as the seats of Nestorian metropolitans. The province was conquered in 637 during the Arab conquest of Iran.

Faylakan was a Persian nobleman who served as the governor of the Sasanian province of Meshan. In 637, he was defeated and killed during the Arab invasion of Iran.

Gond-i Shahanshah, also known by its Arabicized form of Jund-i Shahanshah, was the name of the 4,000 Daylamite elite unit of the Sasanian king. They originally lived in Daylam, but were resettled in Ctesiphon by Khosrow II, probably some time after 600. After the Sasanian Empire suffered a major defeat in 636 to the Arabs at the battle of al-Qadisiyyah, the Gond-i Shahanshah defected to the Arabs, converted to Islam, and settled in Kufa, where they had their own quarter.

Al-Abnāʾ was a term that was used in South Arabia to refer to a community of people who were descended from intermarriages between Persian soldiers and local Arab women, particularly in the context of the Aksumite–Persian wars in the 6th century. The Persian army had been garrisoned in Sanaa and throughout Yemen after the region was re-conquered by the Persia-based Sasanian Empire in the 570s, indefinitely ending the rule of the Ethiopia-based Aksumite Empire in the Arabian Peninsula. Following the rise of Muhammad in the 7th century, most of the al-Abnāʾ community adopted Islam and subsequently played an active role in the early Muslim conquests.

Yemen was a province of the Sasanian Empire in Late Antiquity in southwestern Arabia.

Sarhang is a title and/or military rank of Iranian origin, a compound of sar and hang. In modern usage in Iran, sarhang is the equivalent of colonel.

References

  1. electricpulp.com. "ABNĀʾ – Encyclopaedia Iranica". www.iranicaonline.org. Retrieved 2018-04-13.
  2. 1 2 3 4 electricpulp.com. "ABNĀʾ – Encyclopaedia Iranica". www.iranicaonline.org. Retrieved 2018-04-13.
  3. Zakeri, Mohsen (1995). Sasanid Soldiers in Early Muslim Society: The Origins of 'Ayyārān and Futuwwa. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. p. 98. ISBN   9783447036528.

Sources