HISTORY OF
YEMEN
INTRODUCTION
PRE - ISLAMIC HISTORY
HISTORY IN THE AGE OF ISLAM
YEMEN UNDER THE COLONIALISM
THE MODERN HISTORY OF YEMEN
YEMEN ARABIC REPUBLIC (YAR)
SOUTH YEMEN
THE ROAD TO UNITY
AFTER 1994
INTRODUCTION
 There
are different theories about the source of Yemen's Arabic name,
Al Yaman. The early Muslims living around Mecca divided their
lands into those lying northward, or shaman, and those lying to
the south, or yamanan. So possibly the name suggests the
geographic location of Yemen on the southernmost tip of Arabian
Peninsula.
In the Arab tradition and for Yemenis, the word Yemen derives
from the expression "Al-Yumn" which means grace and blessing.
Southern Arabia, especially Yemen is often referred to as
Arabia Felix, or the Happy Arabia. This name is a Latin
translation from Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a 1st century
AD book by an anonymous Greek writer, who coined the original
phrase “Eudaemon Arabia” when describing the port of Aden.
The expression Arabia Felix, or the Happy Arabia, was used
already in the ancient world, in the time of the Queen of Sheba
(10 centuries BC) which was surrounded by a sense of mystery and
the air of unimaginable wealth and luxury. Her country on the
shores of the Red Sea was fortunate not only because of the
trade route passing through it, but also because of the climate
considered favorable by the standards of Arabian Peninsula – the
“green Yemen”.
Yemen is one of the oldest inhabited regions in the world and
Yemeni tradition and folklore abound with biblical references.
As an example, Shem, the son of Noah is supposed to be the
founder of the city of Sana’a. While the historical accuracy of
such stories might be questioned, what is certain is that
history in Yemen dates from the very dawn of humankind.
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PRE - ISLAMIC HISTORY
 The
ancient history of Yemen can be divided into two main periods.
The first begins in the first millennium BC with the rise of the
frankincense trade and ends with the decline of the eastern
cultural centers towards the end of the pre-Christian era when
the land route was loosing its importance and was finally
replaced by a sea trade route in the western part of the Red
Sea.
It is not possible to state exactly when the civilization of
Yemen first flourished. The earliest reliable information proves
the existence of a highly developed culture in the tenth century
BC. This was the kingdom of Saba, which was the centre and heart
of ancient Yemen, the greatest and most important political unit
of that era that existed 14 centuries, from 10th century BC. The
capital of the kingdom was Marib, the most famous ancient city
of Yemen. The city had a strategically important position on the
edge of the great desert and controlled the frankincense route
which ran from the Indian Ocean through Arabia to the
Mediterranean. Frankincense and myrrh were one of the most
desirable and the most expensive of incense materials in the
Middle East and the Mediterranean lands. The substance with its
heavy perfume was used in temples, on ritual occasions, at
mummifications ceremonies, public festivals as well as for
medicinal purposes. Such trade was possible with the
domestication of the camels in the last centuries of the second
millennium BC, which were than used for long journeys.
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HISTORY IN THE AGE OF ISLAM
 Major
events in this period of almost 1500 years were the result of
outside influences. The interest of foreign powers in
southwestern Arabia during all the phases of its history was not
so much a matter of ruling the country itself as the controlling
the trade routes which led through and around the Yemen. Yemen
was the key to the Red Sea and it had a strategic position that
the rulers of Cairo, Alexandria and Constantinople all wanted to
posses. The history of Yemen, therefore, is often more than a
piece of regional history of the Middle East; it is a part of
the world-wide struggle for power, influence and trade.
In 632 AD, the year that the Prophet Mohammed died and the rule
of the first orthodox caliphs began, the Yemenis sent 20 000
troops to serve in the army of the Caliph Abu Bakr and to bring
Islam into the area now occupied by Syria and Iraq. Next year,
Yemen year was divided into three provinces: San’a, Al-Janad and
Hadramawt.
Further developments within the Islamic Empire diminished the
importance of Yemen especially when the empire’s capital was
mowed away from the Arabian Peninsula. Soon after the Umayyad
caliphate was founded in 661 AD, the capital was moved to
Damascus. When the Abbasid caliphs seized the power in 750 AD
they moved the capital to Baghdad and in 812 AD made Yemen one
of their provinces. As a result, in Yemen, at the southern edge
of the Islamic Empire, numerous small, short-lived,
semi-independent states and kingdoms were established.
Two events were of great importance for Yemen and still affect
the Yemen today: the conversion of Yemenis to Islam in 628 AD
and the foundation of the Zaidi Imamate in 897 by the Imam
Yahya.
Najahids and Sulayhids (1046-1138)
Najahids and Sulayhids were two dynasties controlling the
southwestern part of the present Yemen. After the decline of the
Ziyadids (818-1018) who ruled the southern Tihama region, and
established Zabid, the most important Sunni teaching centre, the
Ethiopian slave Najah rose, took the power in Zabid and
established the dynasty with the same name.
After Rasulids the power over Yemen was overtaken by Tahirids
from Lahij who ruled the southwestern part of the country from
1454-1526. In the Hadramawt area, a new dynasty, the Kathiris
rose to power in 15 century and existed till the revolution in
1967. At that time the dynasty was much weakened by Quaytis, the
western tribe that Kathirids brought to the region to serve as
soldiers but they subsequently took power of most of the region.
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YEMEN UNDER THE COLONIALISM
The Portuguese
In Europe, changes within and outside marked the end of the
Middle Ages and the beginning of modern history: the fall of
Constantinople in 1453, the discovery of America and in the same
year, 1492, the driving out the Boabdil from Granada and the
completion of Reconquistada, the discovery of printing,
Renaissance, and the Reformation. While the Spaniards and the
English were concentrating on the Americas, Vasco de Gama
succeeded in sailing around the Great Hope in 1497. This was the
beginning of Portuguese rule in Indian Ocean. De Gama landed as
a conqueror in Mozambique, some years later in 1502 he occupied
Mombasa and Lamu on the coast of Africa and Goa, Diu and Cochin
in India.
First Turkish occupation (1538-1636)
Within a few years the Turks had succeeded in occupying many
places in Southern Yemen and the Tihama. By this time their only
remaining opponent was the Imam. Imam Yahya leaded the vigorous
resistance against the Turks and that was the time that
defensive works give the today appearance of towns Kawkaban and
Thula. These two fortresses could never be conquered. Soon both
sides came to a sort of unofficial arrangement whereby the Imam
retained the actual control between Kawkaban, Thula and Hajja as
far as the Tihama, and the Turks controlled the lower part of
Yemen, the lowlands and Tihama.
Al Qasim, later called “the great” proclaimed himself an Imam
in 1597. He was very politically and militarily skilled and he
fought against the Yemeni rulers imposed by Turks. The battles
mainly took places in traditional Zaydi regions: Kawkaban, At
Tawilah, Hajjah, Huth, Sa’adah and Shahara, the eagle’s nest in
the north. Shahara usually served as a base of resistance from
where the Zaydi rulers lead the resistance. The Turks were
defeated and they left the country in 1636.
The coffee trade and its consequences
The course of 17th and 18th centuries was determined not so
much by political events as by the new economic importance of
the world markets which Yemen gained through the coffee trade.
For about two centuries coffee was the most important product on
world markets and Yemen had the trading monopoly of coffee.
The Turkish occupation exterminated all political rivals of the
Imams, and by this time, after the Turks had been driven out,
the next Imam Al Mutawakkil was the sole ruler of northern,
central and southern Yemen. His long rule (1644-1676) is
considered a period of order, justice and prosperity, but most
importantly it offered him the opportunity to include Hadramawt
in the state of Yemen once more for the first time in many
years. Following Imams could barely keep the control in the big
state, where every tribe wanted to rule itself. As the most
significant event was the revolt of prince in Lahij during the
period 1728-1731 when Lahij became independent from the Imamate.
The modern division of Yemen can be traced back to this event,
which also made the British occupation of Aden in 1839 much
easier.
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THE MODERN HISTORY OF YEMEN
 The
modern history of Yemen began with the desire of foreign powers
– the Turks in the north and the British in the south – to
control the crucial trade routes that passed through the area.
When World War I spread to Arabia, Britain became worried for
its base in Aden and tried to use the skilled fighters of the
Yemeni tribes against Turkish garrisons. Imam Yahya saw the
perfect opportunity to drive the ancient Turkish enemy out of
the country and united the tribes. Working with the tribes the
British colonel Lawrence of Arabia disrupted the Hejaz railway,
essential for Turkish supplies and the Turkish expeditionary
force was almost exterminated by Imam Yahya. Turkish garrisons
were stormed despite dreadful losses and the occupants
slaughtered.
Britain repaid Yahya’s support when the treaty of Sevres in
1920 recognized him as King of Yemen. However nothing changed
for the North Yemenis who wanted far more contact with the
outside world. But Imam Yahya had secured his power by keeping
Yemen in a state of extreme isolation and backwardeness. Forces
of the opposition soon arose in Yemen, with the aim of ending
Yahya’s despotic rule. Young intellectuals, tradesmen and
important local figures were striving for political reform but
most of these rebels were arrested and imprisoned. The original
underground groups, Hai’at an-Nidal, the Free Yemeni Party and
the Gamiyat al-Islah didn’t combine to form the Free Yemeni
Movement until 1944. A rebellion against the Imamate began on 4
June 1944 when four prominent Yemenis fled from persecution in
Aden. Imam Yahya didn’t agree with the terms of the opponents
and wanted to smash the opposition. However, in 1946 one of the
Imam’s sons joined the rebels in Aden; he became the leading
figure of the resistance. The Free Yemenis decided to
assassinate Yahya, what they realized in 1948.
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YEMEN ARABIC REPUBLIC (YAR)
The 1962 revolution started in Tahrir square in Sana’a. Imam
Badr meanwhile escaped from the prison to the north of the
country. He raised the tribal and Saudi Arabian help and fought
a civil war that lasted almost eight years and divided the
country, the tribes, clans and families. Republicans were
supported by Egyptians who supplied them with weapons and help,
but this new occupation force was opposed by many Republicans.
These soon provoked a quiet revolution and the country got a new
government. In the winter of 1967 the Royalists surrounded
Sana’a for 70 days. The battle of Sana’a was won by soviet
weapons and because of the death-defying courage of militia and
people of Sana’a. However, one men proved the key to the
survival of liberal government, Qassem Munassar, tribal general
of the Royalists and one of their best men, turned Republican in
1968 with his Beni Husheich tribe and 60 000 allied warriors.
The crowd of arguing princes in the Royalist headquarters
destroyed the tribe’s belief in a reformed Imamate and tribal
leaders killed the Munassar on 29.6. 1969. Imam Al Badr had left
Yemen in March 1969 and gone into exile to Saudi Arabia.
Agreement was achieved between Royalists and Republicans and
after this the kingdom of Saudi Arabia recognized the Arab
Republic of Yemen without conditions on 23.7.1970. This ended
nearly 8 years of conflict between these neighboring states with
widely different social systems.
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SOUTH YEMEN
In 1839 the fleet of British ships appeared off Aden. Supported
by cannon fire, the British easily overcame the minimal
fortifications in Aden and took control. From this day the
British ruled the southern Arabian coast with a firm hand, later
expanding their control over the entire hinterland. British were
the thorn in the side of the Turks in North Yemen, particularly
after the Suez Canal opened in 1869. Imam Yahya, too, wanted
South Yemen. However, divisions among Imams, fighting between
Turks and Yemenis and the growing resistance of the Yemenis to
both Turks and Imams put all the aces in the British hand. When
the Free Yemenis marched on Sana’a in 1948 a common nationalist
impulse went through all the country. But the revolution failed
and the disappointed South Yemenis returned to fatalism. The
next step toward freedom of South Yemen came when Aden’s trade
unions united to form the Aden Trade Union Congress (ATUC) in
1956. From 1961 onwards, the ATUC would play a leading role in
the development of independence organizations such as the
National Liberation Front (NLF) and the Nasserite Front for the
Liberation of South Yemen (FLOSY).
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THE ROAD TO UNITY
The North Yemen was experiencing the turbulences too. The peace
making President Al Iryani was pressured by Saudi Arabia, the
conservative tribes and the army to resign on 12. June 1974. The
following day, Colonel Ibrahim Mohammed al-Hamdi formed a
governing council of seven members and took control over the
country. A number of parliamentary and democratic elements built
up by Al Iryani were dissolved.
In the months, leading up to the first free elections on the
Arabian Peninsula it was clear that this process was unlikely to
proceed smoothly. The election date was postponed more than once
making it obvious to observers that many intractable political
problems lay ahead. The considerable economic problems facing
the country required swift and resolute handling together with a
united political front. Disputes arose between supporters of the
former government of South Yemen – now the Social Democrats
under the leadership of Vice-president Ali al Beedh – and
supporters of President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his People’s
Congress. Added to this were tensions caused by the powerful
fundamentalist Islah party, a growing force in Yemeni politics.
A return to the bloody violence of 1970’s seemed likely.
Civil war returns
The military units of the south and the north clashed early in
1994. International pressure and influence were brought to bear
which led to a signed peace agreement, but within few weeks it
fell apart and the conflict escalated. The fighting was mostly
in what had been South Yemen and North Yemen contingents entered
Aden by July. The former South Yemen president fled together
with 7000 followers to Oman. The civil war ended but peace did
not follow. In October 1994 Saudi Arabia and Yemen found
themselves in conflict, but Yemen stabilized internally mainly
because of the growing strength of the Islah party.
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AFTER 1994
The war succeeded in reinforcing Yemeni unity instead of
tearing the country apart. Immediately after the war northern
religious extremists damaged different southern sites, from
mosques and shrines, to hotels and restaurants serving alcohol,
but such incidents soon ended. President Saleh declared a
general amnesty to all secessionists dropping their arms,
excluding only a 16- strong clique of leaders.
Most of the parties now support national unity even if they
disagree on other issues. The second parliamentary elections, in
1997, went so smoothly that many western observers left the
country before the results were in.
The main problem seems to be public dissatisfaction with the
ineffectiveness of the government and the slow pace of economic
development. Some issues of tribes in Marib and Al-Jawf
governorates remain unsolved, but despite these difficulties,
Yemen seems more stable then ever.
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