Bakil, the larger half of Hamdan, holds the plateau north and north-east of Sana'a (Arhab, Nihm, the Dhibin country where the imam will later build Zafar) and the tribes of the Jawf (Dhu Muhammad and Dhu Husayn), where the imam made his first summons in 1187.
Self-governing under their shaykhs; their leaders in 1200 are not named in the sources reached.
Who holds it
- Name
- Not named in the sources reached
- Title
- Shaykhs of Bakil
- Since
- Not pinned
- Confidence
- low
Overlord
The imam al-Mansur Abd Allah by allegiance.
What it holds
- Arhab
- Nihm
- The Dhibin country
- The Jawf (Dhu Muhammad, Dhu Husayn)
How things stand that morning
Self-governing, in the imam's camp.
Customs
Customary law and shaykhly arbitration; hijras under tribal protection; Zaydi in faith.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: General tribal geography; no names for 1200.
On the map: Rough; the Jawf's tribes and Nihm drawn together.
Primary sources for Zaydi imamate
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- History of Yemen, Umara al-Yamani (Umara ibn Ali al-Hakami) (1168 to 1174, at Cairo). The history of Yemen's dynasties to the eve of the Ayyubid conquest: the Ziyadids and Najahids of Zabid, the Sulayhids and their queen Arwa, the Zuray'ids of Aden, the Hamdanid sultans of San'a and the Mahdids of Zabid, with Umara's own career as a Yemeni envoy to Fatimid Cairo. Read online
- History of the Observant Traveller (A Traveller in Thirteenth-Century Arabia), Ibn al-Mujawir (Jamal al-Din Yusuf ibn Ya'qub) (about 1226 to 1232). A merchant-traveller's description of western and southern Arabia a generation after 1200: Mecca and the Hijaz ports, the Red Sea crossing, Zabid and the Tihama, Aden with its customs and tariffs, the Hadramawt coast, Dhofar and Oman, Socotra, and the opposite African shore at Zeila and the Dahlak islands. Read online
Sources and studies
- 'Al-Mansur Abdallah', English Wikipedia
- 'Mansur-billah, Abdullah b. Hamza', TDV Islam Ansiklopedisi (Turkish Diyanet encyclopedia), via kureansiklopedi.com
- General tribal geography of Yemen (the classic source is al-Hamdani's tenth-century Sifat Jazirat al-Arab, not consulted directly here)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.