The farming towns and villages of the Wadi Hanifa (Hajr, Manfuha, al-Dir'iyya, al-Uyayna), al-Kharj with its springs, al-Hariq and al-Hawta in the south, and the villages of al-Washm and Sudayr to the north-west, on wells and floodwater under the Tuwayq escarpment.
Their settled people, the Banu Hanifa above all, have lived here since before Islam. The Zaydi Ukhaydirid emirs ruled from al-Kharj from 866 to after 1051; after them the Banu Kilab took the country (Madelung). In 1332 Ibn Battuta found Hajr under an emir, Tufayl ibn Ghanim, with a mostly Banu Hanifa population. For 1200 no ruler is known: the towns govern themselves under their headmen, paying the Bedouin for protection.
Who holds it
- Title
- Headmen of the oasis towns
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not pinned
- Family
- Banu Hanifa (at Hajr in 1332) and other settled Arabs
- Confidence
- low
No ruler of al-Yamama is named for the twelfth century in the sources read.
Overlord
No overlord can be shown on 1 January 1200: the Banu Kilab took the country after the Ukhaydirids (Madelung, undated); the Uyunid Muhammad ibn Ahmad of Qatif is said to bring Najd under his influence only after 599 (1202).
What it holds
- Hajr, Manfuha, al-Dir'iyya and al-Uyayna in the Wadi Hanifa
- al-Kharj and its springs
- al-Hariq and al-Hawta
- the villages of al-Washm and Sudayr
How things stand that morning
Self-governing oasis towns; no overlord can be shown.
Wealth
Dates, grain, alfalfa; caravans to al-Hasa and the pilgrim road.
Military
Townsmen behind mud walls and towers; no standing force recorded.
Customs
Town and village headmen of the lineages; each town with its wells, palms and fields; Bedouin protection bought with dues.
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- 599-605 AH (1202-1209), not in 1200Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Uyuni, master of Qatif and Awal and (from 599) al-Hasa, is said to bring Najd under his influence.Depends on: His victory over his cousins at al-Hasa (Persia map) and the caliph's backing. Stopped by: His defeat or death; resistance of the Najd towns and Bedouin.
Where the sources disagree
- English Wikipedia (Uyunid dynasty) says Muhammad ibn Ahmad 'extended the state to Najd' in 587-605; Arabic Wikipedia puts his subjection of Najd in the part of his reign after he took al-Hasa (599-605 AH, 1202-1209), and the Persia map shows the Uyunid state divided in 1200. On 1 January 1200 no Uyunid rule over al-Yamama can be shown.
Evidence: Nothing dated near 1200; the picture joins tenth-century, eleventh-century and fourteenth-century evidence.
On the map: The block covers the oasis districts and the Tuwayq between them; the oases themselves are small.
Sources and studies
- Al-Yamama (English Wikipedia, citing al-Hamdani and Nasir Khusraw via Smith 2002)
- Hajr (English Wikipedia, citing Ibn Battuta via Majallat al-Faisal 2004, and Firro 2018)
- Ukhaidhirids (English Wikipedia, citing Madelung, 'al-Ukhaydir', EI2 X, 792)
- Uyunid dynasty (English Wikipedia, citing Khulusi 1975) and OMNIA Persia map records irq-realm-uyunids, irq-uyuni-muhammad
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.