The Zaydi imamate of al-Mansur Abd Allah ibn Hamza

Who rules

Name

Abd Allah ibn Hamza ibn Sulayman

Title

Imam, with the regnal name al-Mansur bi-llah

Since

Da'wa (summons) in al-Jawf in 583 (1187); recognised as imam in Dhu al-Qa'da 593 (September-October 1197), the month after Tughtekin's death; a public pledge in the Friday mosque on 13 Rabi I 594 (about 24 January 1198) in one tradition

Born

21 Rabi II 561 (24 February 1166) at Ayshan in the Hamdan country; aged 33

Family

A Hasanid descendant of the Prophet (sayyid) through al-Muhtasib al-Mujahid Hamza (killed 1066), of the house of the Zaydi imams

Confidence

high

English Wikipedia and the Turkish Diyanet encyclopedia (TDV), which differ in places.

Overlord

None. He claims the obedience of all Muslims as imam.

What the realm holds

• Sa'da, the Zaydi capital, and the Khawlan country round it (seat since 585/1189)
• Al-Jawf, where he first made his summons in 583 (1187)
• Thula, the fortified town north-west of Sana'a, held since his retreat of 1198
• The allegiance of the tribes of Hamdan (Hashid and Bakil) in shifting measure, and of the Hamdanid sultan Ali ibn Hatim
• The Zaydi sanctuary settlements (hijra) and their scholars, including (still at peace with him) the Mutarrifiyya of Waqash and Sinaa

How it was acquired

Recognised by the Zaydi scholars and tribes; his summons of 583 (1187) and imamate of 593 (1197). His holdings rest on tribal allegiance and the hijras, not on conquest.

Allies and rivals

Allies: the Hamdanid sultan Ali ibn Hatim and his brother Bishr (pledged 593/1197); the tribes of Khawlan, Hashid and Bakil when they choose. Enemy: al-Mu'izz Isma'il and his Kurdish and Turkish emirs. Doctrinal rivals: the Mutarrifiyya (a Zaydi school with its own hijras, not yet condemned); the Tayyibi Ismailis of Haraz, against whom the Zaydi imams had long fought. Abroad: Zaydi communities in Gilan and Daylam, to whom he sent missionaries (da'i) and where the khutba was later read in his name (date not pinned).

The realm that morning

The imam holds Sa'da, the Jawf and Thula, with the Khawlan and much of Hamdan behind him; Sana'a is back in Ayyubid hands since 1198-99 and Dhamar is not pinned. The war with al-Mu'izz continues without a recorded truce. The fortress of Zafar in Dhibin is not yet his (he repairs and occupies it in 600/1203-4).

Wealth

Religious dues (zakat and the fifth) and the gifts of the tribes; the harvests of the Sa'da basin and the Jawf; the market of Sa'da (iron and leather). His mint at Kawkaban comes only in 1215-17; whether he struck coins in 1200 is not pinned.

Military

Tribal levies of Hamdan (Hashid and Bakil), Khawlan and their allies, with deserters from the Ayyubid army (in 1197 Haku ibn Muhammad and Shams al-Khawass); fortified towns at Sa'da and Thula. Record: beaten at Hadur (1197), took Sana'a twice and beat an Ayyubid army at Dhamar (1198), lost Sana'a again. No figures.

Threats

• An Ayyubid offensive from Sana'a (he will be attacked in 597/1200-1201)
• The changing loyalties of the tribes
• Rival Zaydi scholars and the Mutarrifiyya

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. 597 (October 1200 to September 1201)Al-Mu'izz attacks his headquarters and drives him north (Diyanet encyclopedia).Depends on: Al-Mu'izz keeping his army together. Stopped by: A mutiny in the Ayyubid army or a Zaydi victory.

Later, on the likely course

1. 598 (1201-1202)Qatada ibn Idris, now master of Mecca, pledges allegiance and has the khutba read in his name (Diyanet encyclopedia; the Hejaz is on the hij map).Depends on: Qatada taking Mecca. Stopped by: Qatada's failure in the Hejaz.
2. 600 (1203-4)He repairs and occupies the fortress of Zafar in Dhibin, his later seat and burial place.Depends on: Security in the Hamdan country. Stopped by: Ayyubid pressure.

Places of note

• Sa'da: Zaydi capital, the imam's headquarters since 1189.
• Thula: Fortified town; the imam's refuge after losing Sana'a in 1198.

Where the sources disagree

• English Wikipedia dates his imamate to September-October 1197; the Diyanet encyclopedia puts his proclamation as imam in 583 (1187) and records a public pledge on 13 Rabi I 594 (January 1198).
• English Wikipedia says an Ayyubid force retook Sana'a in 1198 and he withdrew to Thula; the Diyanet encyclopedia records only his return to Sana'a and the taking of Dhamar late in 594 or early in 595. The coins of al-Mu'izz struck at Sana'a in 595 support an Ayyubid recapture before October 1199.
• The Mutarrifiyya persecution often told of him belongs to 603-611 (1206-1215), not to 1200.

Evidence: His life is well recorded in the Zaydi sources (his Sira), relayed here through English Wikipedia and the Diyanet encyclopedia; the exact line of his control in the winter of 1199-1200 is not pinned.

On the map: Drawn as the block of tribal country that followed the imam; his hold on Hashid and Bakil was by allegiance, not garrisons, and changed from season to season. Najran is left to its own tribes.

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.

• 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