Ayyubid Yemen under al-Mu'izz Isma'il

Who rules

Name

Isma'il ibn Tughtekin ibn Ayyub, kunya Abu al-Fida (al-Mu'izz Isma'il)

Title

al-Malik al-Mu'izz, ruler of Yemen; on his coins of 594-597 'sultan of the Muslims' (sultan al-muslimin)

Since

Shawwal 593 (September 1197), on the death of his father Tughtekin (19 Shawwal 593, about early September 1197)

Born

Not pinned (a young man in 1197)

Family

Ayyubid: son of Sayf al-Islam Tughtekin, Saladin's brother; nephew of al-Malik al-Adil; first cousin of al-Afdal and of the late al-Aziz Uthman

Confidence

high

Accession and death dates from English Wikipedia (after Ibn Wasil, Ibn Khallikan, al-Khazraji and others) and dorar.net; titles and coin dates from al-Shamiri (2018); his conduct at Aden from a dated Geniza letter.

Overlord

Nominally the Ayyubid family (that winter the boy sultan al-Mansur Muhammad sits in Cairo under the regency of al-Afdal, who is on his way back from the failed siege of Damascus with al-Adil following him, as the Latin East map has it) and the Abbasid caliph al-Nasir li-Din Allah, whose name stands on his coins. His coins name no Ayyubid sultan of Egypt: in practice he answers to no one.

What the realm holds

• Zabid, his residence, with the Tihama from Harad to the Bab al-Mandab (Wadi Mawr, Surdud, Siham, Rima and Zabid; al-Mahjam, Hays, Mawza', the harbours of Ghulayfiqa and Mocha)
• Ta'izz with its citadel and the mint he founded; al-Janad
• Ibb, Jibla and the Mikhlaf Ja'far; Yarim and the road north
• Aden with its customs and mint; Lahij and Abyan (under a governor, name not pinned)
• Sana'a (retaken from the imam in 1198-99; coins struck there in 595)
• Dhamar (fought over in 1198; holder on 1 January 1200 not pinned)
• Overlordship of the Sulaymani sharifs of the northern Tihama (since 1174)

How it was acquired

Inherited from his father in Shawwal 593 (September 1197). The Ayyubid conquest of Yemen dates from 569 (1173-74) under Turanshah; Sana'a was taken from the Hamdanids by Tughtekin in 585 (1189), lost to the imam in 1197 and again late in 594 or early 595 (1198), and retaken by an Ayyubid force in 1198-99.

Allies and rivals

Enemies: the Zaydi imam al-Mansur Abd Allah ibn Hamza with the tribes of Hamdan and Khawlan, and the Hamdanid sultan Ali ibn Hatim, who pledged to the imam in 593 (1197). Vassals: the Sulaymani sharifs of the Mikhlaf. Neutral or hostile: the Tayyibi Ismaili da'i in Haraz. Kin: the Ayyubids of Egypt and Syria; his uncle al-Adil, master of Egypt from 1200, will denounce his Umayyad claim. Inside the realm: his father's mamluks and the Kurdish emirs, who have rebelled before (some held Sana'a against him) and will kill him in 1202.

The realm that morning

Al-Mu'izz Isma'il holds the Tihama from Harad to the Bab al-Mandab, the southern highlands (Ta'izz, al-Janad, Ibb, Jibla, Yarim), Aden with Lahij and Abyan, and Sana'a. Dhamar is not pinned. North of Sana'a the Zaydi imam holds Thula (since 1198), Sa'da and the Jawf; the Hamdanid sultan holds out in his fortresses (Kawkaban most likely); the new Tayyibi da'i Ali ibn Hatim al-Hamidi rules Haraz from al-Hutayb; Najran and the eastern tribes (Murad, Khawlan al-Tiyal, Yafi') obey no one.

No truce with the imam is recorded before 1205. The Friday sermon (khutba) and the coinage (sikka) are in the name of the Abbasid caliph al-Nasir li-Din Allah, with al-Mu'izz as sultan; the Jews of Yemen have been Muslims by force since 1198.

Wealth

The customs (furda) of Aden on the India and Red Sea trade: the Geniza letter of 1198 lists pepper, cinnamon, copper and camphor; the Karim merchants' convoys; in 1198 al-Mu'izz ordered 15 per 100 on all goods entering and leaving, and a third of the poll tax (jizya) from foreign Jewish merchants (the Princeton catalogue reads the letter as saying the 15 per 100 levy was later withdrawn). The land tax and harvests of the Tihama wadis (dates, sorghum, cotton, indigo) and the terraced highlands round Ta'izz, Ibb and Jibla. Mints at Ta'izz, Zabid, Aden and Sana'a (Aden the only gold mint under his father and Turanshah).

Military

An army of Kurdish and Turkish (Ghuzz) emirs and mamluks inherited from Tughtekin, with Arab levies; the citadel of Ta'izz (al-Qahira), the walls of Zabid, the forts of Aden, the garrison of Sana'a and many highland castles (al-Dumluwa, al-Ta'kar, Sabir). Record: beat the imam and Ali ibn Hatim at Hadur in 1197; lost Sana'a twice to the imam and was beaten at Dhamar in 1198, then retook Sana'a; the Diyanet encyclopedia has him attack the imam's headquarters in 597 (1200-1201) with 6,000 of the imam's men killed. In 1197 the commanders Haku (or Jakk) ibn Muhammad and Shams al-Khawass went over to the imam.

No figures for his own army.

Threats

• The Zaydi imam and the tribes of Hamdan and Khawlan on the northern frontier
• His father's mamluks and the Kurdish emirs: they will kill him in Rajab 598 (April 1202)
• His uncle al-Adil, who rejects his pretensions and will be master of Egypt within weeks
• Revolt of the tribes of the Tihama and the eastern highlands

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.

In 1200

1. Late January to 9 February 1200Al-Adil routs al-Afdal near Bilbeis and enters Cairo on 9 February 1200; later in 1200 he makes himself sultan (the Latin East map, after Abu al-Fida). Al-Mu'izz loses any regent in Cairo who might restrain or support him.Depends on: The war between al-Adil and al-Afdal in Egypt. Stopped by: An al-Afdal victory.
2. Shawwal 596 (about 14 July to 12 August 1200) after Ibn Hatim; Jumada II 597 (about 8 March to 6 April 1201) after al-KhazrajiAl-Mu'izz proclaims himself caliph as al-Imam al-Hadi bi-Nur Allah, amir al-mu'minin, claims Umayyad descent, drops the Abbasid caliph from the khutba, puts on green and preaches the Friday sermon himself; coins with the style 'al-Imam al-Hadi ila al-Haqq ... Isma'il ibn Tughtakin al-Umawi' are struck at Ta'izz in 597. Al-Adil publicly denies any Ayyubid descent from the Umayyads.Depends on: His own resolve and the acquiescence of the emirs and the Shafi'i scholars of Zabid. Stopped by: An earlier coup by the emirs, pressure from al-Adil, or a check in the war with the imam.
3. 597 (October 1200 to September 1201)He attacks the imam's headquarters and drives him north (Diyanet encyclopedia).Depends on: The emirs' loyalty and a free hand in the south. Stopped by: Mutiny, or an Ayyubid defeat in the field.

Later, on the likely course

1. 18 Rajab 598 (about 12 April 1202); one account gives 17 January 1202Killed in battle at the gate of Zabid by Kurdish emirs (among them Shams al-Din ibn al-Daqiq) joined by his father's mamluks; Zabid is sacked; his young brother al-Nasir Ayyub is made sultan with the mamluk Sayf al-Din Sunqur as atabeg.Depends on: The continued alienation of the emirs. Stopped by: Reconciliation with the emirs or their destruction.

Places of note

• Zabid, residence of al-Mu'izz: His usual residence and mint; he founded a madrasa here; killed at its gate in 1202.
• Ta'izz, citadel and mint: The Ayyubid capital since 1175; al-Mu'izz founded its mint; his caliphal coins were struck here in 597.
• Aden, port, customs and mint: Customs of the India trade; al-Mu'izz was here in August 1198 when the Jews were forced to convert.
• Sana'a, garrison and mint: Retaken from the imam in 1198-99; coins of al-Mu'izz struck here in 595.

Where the sources disagree

• Date of the caliphal claim: Ibn Hatim gives Shawwal 596 (July-August 1200), al-Khazraji Jumada II 597 (March 1201); the coins of Ta'izz with the caliphal style are dated 597, and all coins of 594-597 from Ta'izz, Zabid, Aden and Sana'a otherwise name the Abbasid caliph al-Nasir (al-Shamiri 2018, who prefers 597). So on 1 January 1200 the claim has not been made. But the Geniza letter on the forced conversions (August 1198 in Goitein's dating, 1199 in the Princeton catalogue) already calls him 'the caliph', and the chronicles say he first claimed divinity in the headings of his letters. Suggested ruling: on 1 January 1200 the khutba and coinage are still Abbasid, his grandiose style is notorious, and the formal claim is the likely course of 1200.
• Death date: 18 Rajab 598 (dorar.net; English Wikipedia's article on him) against 17 January 1202 (English Wikipedia's article on Tughtekin). Both are after 1 January 1200.
• Hajji Khalifa gives his accession as 592; Tughtekin's death on 19 Shawwal 593 makes 593 right.
• Tughtekin died at al-Mansura (English article on Isma'il) or at Zabid (English article on Tughtekin).
• Bayt al-Faqih, named in the brief, is later: it grew round the tomb of the jurist Ahmad ibn Musa ibn Ujayl (died 1291). In 1200 its ground is ordinary Ayyubid Tihama between Zabid and Wadi Siham; it appears here only as an anchor.
• The English article on Isma'il says the imam was 'killed' when the commander Jakk deserted him in 594; the imam lived until 1217, so this must mean he fled or was routed.

Evidence: Dated coins (al-Shamiri 2018), a contemporary Geniza letter, and chronicle dates relayed by English Wikipedia, the Diyanet encyclopedia and Arabic reference sites. Ibn Hatim's Simt, al-Khazraji's Pearl-Strings (vol. I) and Smith's study could not be read here, so the governors and emirs of 1199-1200 are mostly not pinned.

On the map: The outer limits of Ayyubid control in the western hill country (Raymah, Wusab, Hufash, Milhan, Hajja) and the eastern plateau (Rada', Juban, al-Bayda) are not pinned; the drawing follows the main towns and roads. The northern Tihama boundary with the Sulaymani Mikhlaf is put just north of Harad.

Primary sources for this realm

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.

• The Complete History, Izz al-Din Ibn al-Athir (about 1200 to 1231, at Mosul). The widest Muslim narrative for the years 596 to 597 AH (1199 to 1201): al-Adil's entry into Cairo and his taking of the sultanate from his nephew al-Mansur Muhammad early in 1200, the quarrels of the Ayyubid princes at Damascus, Aleppo and Hama, the Nile failure and the great famine of Egypt, Mosul under Nur al-Din Arslan Shah and the Jazira under Gokbori and the Artuqids, Baghdad under the caliph al-Nasir, the Khwarazmshah Tekish's death in 1200 and Muhammad's accession, the Ghurid wars in Khurasan, the Eldiguzids and Georgia, the Almohads in the west, and the Seljuks of Rum in passing. Read online
• The Dispeller of Anxieties, on the History of the Ayyubids, Jamal al-Din Ibn Wasil (about 1272 to 1285, at Hama). The fullest Ayyubid dynastic history, written at Hama with access to the family's own tradition and to Ibn al-Athir, Ibn Abi Tayy and Sibt ibn al-Jawzi. Read online
• The Road to Knowledge of the Dynasties of Kings, Taqi al-Din al-Maqrizi (about 1400 to 1440, at Cairo). A late compilation, but for Ayyubid Egypt it keeps lost material: for 596 to 598 AH it records al-Adil's entry into Cairo, the removal of the boy al-Mansur Muhammad, the oath to al-Kamil as heir, the appointments at Cairo, the low Niles of 1199 and 1200 and the famine and plague of 1200 to 1202 with grain prices, the reports of cannibalism and the death tolls, together with Yemen, the Hijaz and the Mecca emirate. Read online
• 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
• The Cairo Geniza Documents (about 950 to 1250 for the bulk of the historical documents). Letters, court records, accounts and lists from the Ben Ezra synagogue in Fustat that show the working of the trade that bound Egypt to Ifriqiya, Sicily, al-Andalus, Aden and India. 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
• Dictionary of Countries, Yaqut al-Hamawi (1224 to 1228, at Aleppo). An alphabetical gazetteer of every place Yaqut had read of or seen: he travelled as a bookseller's agent through Syria, Iraq, Persia, Khurasan and Khwarazm (about 1213 to 1220) and settled in Aleppo. Read online
• The History of the Observant Traveller: the pages on Zeila, Berbera, Mogadishu and Dahlak, Ibn al-Mujawir (Yusuf ibn Yaqub ibn al-Mujawir) (about 1221 to 1230). The closest description of the Horn's ports to 1200, written about twenty-five years later by a trader and official who worked the Aden trade: Zeila and its traffic in slaves, ivory and the goods of the Ethiopian interior; the Barbar (Somali) coast with Berbera and Mogadishu, and the sea route from Aden to Mogadishu and on to Kilwa with its sailing seasons; the Dahlak islands with their own sultan and his dues; Socotra; and the customs and prices of Aden under the Ayyubids of Yemen. Read online