The mountain country north of Abyan and east of Lahij, the Sarw Himyar of the early geographers, is held by the Yafi' tribes, who count themselves Himyar.
They govern themselves under their shaykhs and come down to the markets of Lahij and Abyan. No record of them in 1199-1200 was found; they stand here for the Himyar tribes of the south named in the brief.
Who holds it
- Name
- Not named
- Title
- Shaykhs of Yafi'
- Since
- Not pinned
- Confidence
- low
Overlord
None in practice; the masters of Aden claim the hills.
What it holds
- The Yafi' mountains
How things stand that morning
Self-governing.
Customs
Customary law; terraced farming and herding.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: General tribal geography.
On the map: Rough.
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.