The valley of Bayhan, once the heart of the ancient kingdom of Qataban, whose capital Timna (Hajar Kuhlan) has long been a ruin.
In 1200 the valley's villages and the herders round it belong to tribes of the Madhhij family (the Murad and the Banu al-Harith are named in this country in earlier centuries); no lord is recorded for 1200.
Who holds it
- Name
- Not known for 1199-1200
- Title
- Tribal shaykhs
- Since
- Not known
- Confidence
- low
Overlord
None attested. Ma'rib and the highlands to the west are on the Yemen records.
What it holds
- The irrigated floor of Wadi Bayhan and the desert edge to the east
Allies and rivals
Not recorded.
How things stand that morning
Self-governing tribes; no Ayyubid or Zaydi hold attested.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Archaeology of the ancient valley; nothing recorded for 1200.
On the map: Outline of the valley and its desert edge.
Primary sources for The Bedouin
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 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
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.