Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen
Encyclopedia
The Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen (Arabic
: المملكة المتوكلية اليمنية []), sometimes spelled Mutawakelite Kingdom of Yemen, also known as the Kingdom of Yemen or (retrospectively) as North Yemen, was a country from 1918 to 1962 in the northern part of what is now Yemen
. Its capital was at Taiz.
Religious leaders of the Zaydi sect
of Shi'ite
Islam
expelled forces of the Ottoman Empire
from what is now northern Yemen by the middle of the 17th century but, within a century, the unity of Yemen was fractured due to the difficulty of governing Yemen's mountainous terrain
. In 1849, the Ottoman Empire occupied the coastal Tihamah
region and pressured the Zaydi imam to sign a treaty recognizing Ottoman suzerainty and allowing for a small Ottoman force to be stationed in Sanaa. However, the Ottomans were slow to gain control over Yemen and never managed to eliminate all resistance from local Zaydis. In 1913, shortly before World War I
, the Ottoman Empire was forced to cede some power formally to highland
Zaydis.
On 30 October 1918, following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire
, Imam Yahya Muhammad
of the al-Qasimi dynasty
declared northern Yemen an independent state
. In 1926, Imam Yahya declared himself king of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen, becoming a temporal as well as a (Zaydi) spiritual leader
, and won international recognition
for the state.
In the 1920s, Yahya had expanded Yemeni power to the north into southern Tihamah
and southern 'Asir but collided with the rising influence of the Saudi
king of Nejd and Hejaz, Abdul Aziz ibn Sa'ud. In the early 1930s, Saudi forces retook much of these gains before withdrawing from some of the area, including the southern Tihamah city of Al Hudaydah
. The present-day boundary with Saudi Arabia
was established by the 20 May 1934 Treaty of Taif, following the Saudi-Yemeni War
of 1934. Yahya's non-recognition of his kingdom's southern boundary with the British
Aden Protectorate
(later the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen
) that had been negotiated by his Ottoman predecessors resulted in occasional clashes with the British.
Yemen became a founding member of the Arab League
in 1945 and the United Nations
on 30 September 1947.
Imam Yahya died during a coup
in 1948 and was succeeded by a firm heir. Yahya's son, Ahmad bin Yahya
, regained power several months later. His reign was marked by growing development, openness and renewed friction with the United Kingdom
over the British presence in the south that stood in the way of his aspirations for the creation of Greater Yemen
. In March 1955, a coup by a group of officers and two of Ahmad's brothers briefly deposed the king but was quickly suppressed.
Imam Ahmad faced growing pressures to support the Arab nationalist objectives of Egypt
ian President Gamal Abdul Nasser and, in April 1956, he signed a mutual defense pact with Egypt. In 1958, Yemen joined the United Arab Republic
(Egypt and Syria
) in a loose confederation known as the United Arab States
but it was dissolved in September 1961 and relations between the United Arab Republic (Egypt) and Yemen subsequently deteriorated.
Ahmad died in September 1962, and was succeeded by his son, the Crown Prince Muhammad al-Badr
; however, Muhammad al-Badr's reign was brief. Egyptian-trained military officers inspired by Nasser and led by the commander of the royal guard, Abdullah as-Sallal
, deposed him the same year of his coronation, took control of Sana'a, and created the Yemen Arab Republic
(YAR). Egypt assisted the YAR with troops and supplies to combat forces loyal to the Imamate, while Saudi Arabia
and Jordan
supported Badr's royalist forces opposing the newly formed republic sparking the North Yemen Civil War
. Conflict continued periodically until 1967 when Egyptian troops were withdrawn. By 1968, following a final royalist siege of Sana'a, most of the opposing leaders reached a reconciliation; Saudi Arabia recognized the Republic in 1970.
The YAR united with the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen
(South Yemen) on May 22, 1990, to form the Republic of Yemen.
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
: المملكة المتوكلية اليمنية []), sometimes spelled Mutawakelite Kingdom of Yemen, also known as the Kingdom of Yemen or (retrospectively) as North Yemen, was a country from 1918 to 1962 in the northern part of what is now Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
. Its capital was at Taiz.
Religious leaders of the Zaydi sect
Sect
A sect is a group with distinctive religious, political or philosophical beliefs. Although in past it was mostly used to refer to religious groups, it has since expanded and in modern culture can refer to any organization that breaks away from a larger one to follow a different set of rules and...
of Shi'ite
Shi'a Islam
Shia Islam is the second largest denomination of Islam. The followers of Shia Islam are called Shi'ites or Shias. "Shia" is the short form of the historic phrase Shīʻatu ʻAlī , meaning "followers of Ali", "faction of Ali", or "party of Ali".Like other schools of thought in Islam, Shia Islam is...
Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
expelled forces of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
from what is now northern Yemen by the middle of the 17th century but, within a century, the unity of Yemen was fractured due to the difficulty of governing Yemen's mountainous terrain
Topography
Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...
. In 1849, the Ottoman Empire occupied the coastal Tihamah
Tihamah
Tihamah or Tihama is a narrow coastal region of Arabia on the Red Sea. It is currently divided between Saudi Arabia and Yemen. In a broad sense, Tihamah refers to the entire coastline from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Bab el Mandeb Strait but it more often refers only to its southern half, starting...
region and pressured the Zaydi imam to sign a treaty recognizing Ottoman suzerainty and allowing for a small Ottoman force to be stationed in Sanaa. However, the Ottomans were slow to gain control over Yemen and never managed to eliminate all resistance from local Zaydis. In 1913, shortly before World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the Ottoman Empire was forced to cede some power formally to highland
Highland (geography)
The term highland or upland is used to denote any mountainous region or elevated mountainous plateau. Generally speaking, the term upland tends to be used for ranges of hills, typically up to 500-600m, and highland for ranges of low mountains.The Scottish Highlands refers to the mountainous...
Zaydis.
On 30 October 1918, following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, Imam Yahya Muhammad
Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din
Yahya Muhammad Hamidaddin became Imam of the Zaydis in 1904 and Imam of Yemen in 1918. His name in full was Amir al-Mumenin al-Mutawakkil 'Ala Allah Rab ul-Alamin Imam Yahya bin al-Mansur Bi'llah Muhammad Hamidaddin, Imam and Commander of the Faithful.Yahya Muhammad Hamidaddin was born on Friday...
of the al-Qasimi dynasty
Dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family. Historians traditionally consider many sovereign states' history within a framework of successive dynasties, e.g., China, Ancient Egypt and the Persian Empire...
declared northern Yemen an independent state
Sovereign state
A sovereign state, or simply, state, is a state with a defined territory on which it exercises internal and external sovereignty, a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also normally understood to be a state which is neither...
. In 1926, Imam Yahya declared himself king of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen, becoming a temporal as well as a (Zaydi) spiritual leader
Spiritual leader
Spiritual leader is a form of title that is used to refer to religious leaders.In Buddhism, spiritual leaders are usually the people who have attained high level of spiritual awareness. Those spiritual teachers can guide people on their path toward spiritual awakening.Spiritual Leader may be a...
, and won international recognition
Diplomatic recognition
Diplomatic recognition in international law is a unilateral political act with domestic and international legal consequences, whereby a state acknowledges an act or status of another state or government in control of a state...
for the state.
In the 1920s, Yahya had expanded Yemeni power to the north into southern Tihamah
Tihamah
Tihamah or Tihama is a narrow coastal region of Arabia on the Red Sea. It is currently divided between Saudi Arabia and Yemen. In a broad sense, Tihamah refers to the entire coastline from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Bab el Mandeb Strait but it more often refers only to its southern half, starting...
and southern 'Asir but collided with the rising influence of the Saudi
House of Saud
The House of Saud , also called the Al Saud, is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia and one of the wealthiest and most powerful dynasties in the world. The family holds thousands of members...
king of Nejd and Hejaz, Abdul Aziz ibn Sa'ud. In the early 1930s, Saudi forces retook much of these gains before withdrawing from some of the area, including the southern Tihamah city of Al Hudaydah
Al Hudaydah
Al Hudaydah is the fourth largest city in Yemen with a population of 400,000 people, and the centre of Al Hudaydah Governorate.-Overview:...
. The present-day boundary with Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
was established by the 20 May 1934 Treaty of Taif, following the Saudi-Yemeni War
Saudi-Yemeni War
- The conflict :Ibn Saud, the founder of Saudi Arabia, had been named King of the Nejd when the British partitioned the Arabian peninsula following the breakup of the Ottoman Empire. Ibn Saud, by war and alliance, won control of much more, and in 1932 proclaimed the merger of the Nejd and Hejaz...
of 1934. Yahya's non-recognition of his kingdom's southern boundary with the British
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
Aden Protectorate
Aden Protectorate
The Aden Protectorate was a British protectorate in southern Arabia which evolved in the hinterland of Aden following the acquisition of that port by Britain in 1839 as an anti-piracy station, and it continued until the 1960s. For administrative purposes it was divided into the Western...
(later the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen
People's Democratic Republic of Yemen
The People's Democratic Republic of Yemen — also referred to as South Yemen, Democratic Yemen or Yemen — was a socialist republic in the present-day southern and eastern Provinces of Yemen...
) that had been negotiated by his Ottoman predecessors resulted in occasional clashes with the British.
Yemen became a founding member of the Arab League
Arab League
The Arab League , officially called the League of Arab States , is a regional organisation of Arab states in North and Northeast Africa, and Southwest Asia . It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan , Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a...
in 1945 and the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
on 30 September 1947.
Imam Yahya died during a coup
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
in 1948 and was succeeded by a firm heir. Yahya's son, Ahmad bin Yahya
Ahmad bin Yahya
Ahmad bin Yahya Hamidaddin was the penultimate king of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen from 1948 to 1962. His full name and title was H.M. al-Nasir-li-din Allah Ahmad bin al-Mutawakkil 'Ala Allah Yahya, Imam and Commander of the Faithful, and King of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of the Yemen...
, regained power several months later. His reign was marked by growing development, openness and renewed friction with the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
over the British presence in the south that stood in the way of his aspirations for the creation of Greater Yemen
Greater Yemen
Greater Yemen is a geographic term denoting the present territory of the Republic of Yemen as well as the Saudi regions of 'Asir, Najran Province, Jizan Province, the adjacent islands in the Red Sea and the adjacent parts of Tihamah and sometimes the Omani province of Dhofar.Greater Yemen is also...
. In March 1955, a coup by a group of officers and two of Ahmad's brothers briefly deposed the king but was quickly suppressed.
Imam Ahmad faced growing pressures to support the Arab nationalist objectives of Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian President Gamal Abdul Nasser and, in April 1956, he signed a mutual defense pact with Egypt. In 1958, Yemen joined the United Arab Republic
United Arab Republic
The United Arab Republic , often abbreviated as the U.A.R., was a sovereign union between Egypt and Syria. The union began in 1958 and existed until 1961, when Syria seceded from the union. Egypt continued to be known officially as the "United Arab Republic" until 1971. The President was Gamal...
(Egypt and Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
) in a loose confederation known as the United Arab States
United Arab States
The United Arab States was a short-lived confederation of the United Arab Republic and North Yemen from 1958–1961.The United Arab Republic was a sovereign state formed by the union of Egypt and Syria in 1958...
but it was dissolved in September 1961 and relations between the United Arab Republic (Egypt) and Yemen subsequently deteriorated.
Ahmad died in September 1962, and was succeeded by his son, the Crown Prince Muhammad al-Badr
Muhammad al-Badr
H.M. Muhammad Al-Badr was the last king of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen and leader of the monarchist regions during the North Yemen Civil War...
; however, Muhammad al-Badr's reign was brief. Egyptian-trained military officers inspired by Nasser and led by the commander of the royal guard, Abdullah as-Sallal
Abdullah as-Sallal
Abdullah al-Sallal was the leader of the North Yemeni Revolution of 1962. He served as the first President of the Yemen Arab Republic from 27 September 1962 to 5 November 1967....
, deposed him the same year of his coronation, took control of Sana'a, and created the Yemen Arab Republic
Yemen Arab Republic
The Yemen Arab Republic , also known as North Yemen or Yemen , was a country from 1962 to 1990 in the western part of what is now Yemen...
(YAR). Egypt assisted the YAR with troops and supplies to combat forces loyal to the Imamate, while Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
and Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
supported Badr's royalist forces opposing the newly formed republic sparking the North Yemen Civil War
North Yemen Civil War
The North Yemen Civil War was fought in North Yemen between royalists of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen and factions of the Yemen Arab Republic from 1962 to 1970. The war began with a coup d'état carried out by the republican leader, Abdullah as-Sallal, which dethroned the newly crowned Imam...
. Conflict continued periodically until 1967 when Egyptian troops were withdrawn. By 1968, following a final royalist siege of Sana'a, most of the opposing leaders reached a reconciliation; Saudi Arabia recognized the Republic in 1970.
The YAR united with the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen
People's Democratic Republic of Yemen
The People's Democratic Republic of Yemen — also referred to as South Yemen, Democratic Yemen or Yemen — was a socialist republic in the present-day southern and eastern Provinces of Yemen...
(South Yemen) on May 22, 1990, to form the Republic of Yemen.
See also
- History of YemenHistory of YemenYemen is one of the oldest centers of civilization in the Near East. Its relatively fertile land and adequate rainfall in a moister climate helped sustain a stable population, a feature recognized by the ancient Greek geographer Ptolemy, who described Yemen as Eudaimon Arabia meaning "fortunate...
- Imams of YemenImams of YemenThe Imams of Yemen and later the Kings of Yemen were religiously consecrated leaders belonging to the Zaidiyyah branch of Shia Islam. They established a blend of religious and secular rule in parts of Yemen from 897. Their imamate endured under varying circumstances until the republican revolution...
- List of Kings of Yemen
- List of Shi'a Muslim dynasties
- Yemen Arab RepublicYemen Arab RepublicThe Yemen Arab Republic , also known as North Yemen or Yemen , was a country from 1962 to 1990 in the western part of what is now Yemen...
