Qasimid State Arabic:الدولة القاسمية | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1597–1849 | |||||||||||||||
 Qasimid State under the rule of Al-Mutawakkil Isma'il (1675) | |||||||||||||||
| Capital | Sanaa | ||||||||||||||
| Religion | Zaidi Islam Sunni Islam(1830s–1849)[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Government | Imamate | ||||||||||||||
| Imam | |||||||||||||||
• 1597–1620 | Al-Mansur al-Qasim | ||||||||||||||
• 1620–1640 | Al-Mu'ayyad Muhammad | ||||||||||||||
• 1640–1676 | Al-Mutawakkil Isma'il | ||||||||||||||
• 1676–1681 | Al-Mahdi Ahmad | ||||||||||||||
• 1681–1686 | al-Mu'ayyad Muhammad II | ||||||||||||||
• 1689–1718 | Al-Mahdi Muhammad | ||||||||||||||
• 1716–1727 | Al-Mutawakkil al-Qasim | ||||||||||||||
• 1727–1748 | Al-Mansur al-Husayn II | ||||||||||||||
• 1748–1775 | Al-Mahdi Abbas | ||||||||||||||
• 1775–1809 | Al-Mansur Ali I | ||||||||||||||
| Historical era | Early modern | ||||||||||||||
• Proclamation | 1597 | ||||||||||||||
• Takeover of Sanaa | 1628 | ||||||||||||||
• Secession of Lahej | 1740 | ||||||||||||||
• Loss of coastal territories | 1803 | ||||||||||||||
• Reincorporation into Ottoman Empire | 1849 | ||||||||||||||
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| Today part of |  Yemen Saudi Arabia Oman | ||||||||||||||
| Part ofa series on the |
| History of Yemen |
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TheQasimid State (Arabic:الدولة القاسمية), also known as theZaidi Imamate, was aZaidi-ruled independent state in theGreater Yemen region, which was founded byImamal-Mansur al-Qasim in 1597, absorbed much of theOttoman-ruledYemen Eyalet by 1628, and then completely expelled the Ottomans from Yemen by 1638. The Qasimid State continued to exist into 18th and 19th century, but gradually fractured into separate small states. The most notable of those states was theSultanate of Lahej; most of those states (except Lahej) were submitted by the Ottomans and incorporated into the restored Ottoman province of Yemen Eyalet in 1849.
TheZaydi tribesmen in the northern highlands, particularly those ofHashid andBakil, constantly resisted Turkish rule inArabia.[2] Justifying their presence in Yemen as a triumph for Islam, the Ottomans accused theZaydis of beinginfidels.[3] Hassan Pasha was appointed governor ofYemen, which enjoyed a period of relative peace from 1585 to 1597. Pupils ofal-Mansur al-Qasim suggested that he claim the imamate and fight the Turks. He declined at first but was infuriated by the promotion of theHanafi school ofjurisprudence at the expense ofZaydi Islam.
Al-Mansur al-Qasim proclaimed the Imamate in September 1597, which was the same year the Ottoman authorities inauguratedal-Bakiriyya Mosque.[4] By 1608, Imamal-Mansur (the victorious) regained control over the highlands and signed a 10-year truce with the Ottomans.[5] When Imam al-Mansur al-Qasim died in 1620 his sonAl-Mu'ayyad Muhammad succeeded him and confirmed the truce with the Ottomans. In 1627, the Ottomans lostAden andLahej. 'Abdin Pasha was ordered to suppress the rebels but failed and had to retreat toMocha.[4] AfterAl-Mu'ayyad Muhammad expelled the Ottomans fromSana'a in 1628, onlyZabid andMocha remained under Ottoman possession.Al-Mu'ayyad Muhammad capturedZabid in 1634 and allowed the Ottomans to leaveMocha peacefully.[6] The reasons behindAl-Mu'ayyad Muhammad's success were the tribes' possession of firearms and the fact that they were unified behind him.[7]
In 1632 CE,Al-Mu'ayyad Muhammad sent an expeditionary force of 1000 men to conquerMecca.[8] The army entered the city in triumph and killed its governor.[8] The Ottomans were not ready to loseMecca after Yemen, so they sent an army fromEgypt to fight the Yemenites.[8] Seeing that the Turkish army was too numerous to overcome, the Yemeni army retreated to a valley outsideMecca.[9] Ottoman troops attacked the Yemenis by hiding at the wells that supplied them with water. This plan proceeded successfully, causing the Yemenis over 200 casualties, most from thirst.[9] The tribesmen eventually surrendered and returned to Yemen.[10]
By 1636, the Zaydi tribesmen had driven the Ottomans out of the country completely.[11]
Al-Mu'ayyad Muhammad died in 1644. He was succeeded byAl-Mutawakkil Isma'il, another son ofal-Mansur al-Qasim, who conquered Yemen in its entirety, fromAsir in the north toDhofar in the east.[12][13][14][15]
DuringAl-Mutawakkil Isma'il reign and that of his successor,Al-Mahdi Ahmad (1676–1681), the Imamate implemented some of the harshest discriminatory laws (ghiyar) against the Jews of Yemen, which culminated in theexpulsion of all Jews to a hot and arid region in theTihama coastal plain. TheQasimid state was the strongestZaydi state to ever exist.
At the death of the imam in 1681, his son Muhammad was prevented from assuming the imamate due to counter-claims by relatives in Rada,Shaharah,Sa'dah and Mansura. Through mediation of theUlama (religious scholars), one of these,al-Mu'ayyad Muhammad II, took power.
Al-Mu'ayyad Muhammad II was not a warlike leader, but rather anascetic and deeply religious personality who was devoted to learning. The well-known scholar and writerMuhammad ash-Shawkani considered him one of the most righteous imams. He died in 1686 in Hamman Ali in the Anis region, possibly from poisoning. The deceased imam was buried in Jabal Dawran, at the side of his father.[16] Seven contenders claimed the succession after him in a period of only three years; of these,al-Mahdi Muhammad finally gained power in 1689 after a violent struggle.[17][18]
The imamate did not follow a cohesive mechanism for succession, and family quarrels and tribal insubordination led to the political decline of the Qasimi dynasty in the 18th century.[19]
In 1728 or 1731, the chief representative ofLahej declared himself an independentSultan in defiance of the Qasimid Dynasty and conqueredAden thus establishing theSultanate of Lahej. In 1740, the 'Abdali sultan ofLahej became completely independent.[20] It became independent thanks to the fracturing of the Zaidi State in north Yemen.[21] The Sultanate of Lahej became an independent entity, from 1728 to 1839.
The rising power of the fervently IslamistWahhabi movement on the Arabian Peninsula cost the Zaidi state its coastal possessions after 1803 CE. The imam was able to regain them temporarily in 1818, but new intervention by the Ottoman viceroy of Egypt in 1833 again wrested the coast from the ruler in Sana'a. After 1835, the imamate changed hands with great frequency and some imams were assassinated. After 1849, the Zaidi polity descended into chaos that lasted for decades.[22]
During that period, Yemen was the sole coffee producer in the world.[23] The country established diplomatic relations with theSafavid dynasty ofPersia, the Ottomans ofHejaz, theMughal Empire in India and Ethiopia. TheFasilides of Ethiopia sent three diplomatic missions to Yemen, but the relations did not develop into a political alliance asFasilides had hoped, due to the rise of powerful feudalists in the country.[24] In the first half of the 18th century, the Europeans broke Yemen's monopoly on coffee by smuggling out coffee trees and cultivating them in their own colonies in the East Indies, East Africa, the West Indies and Latin America.[25]
When al-Shawkānī died in 1834, the Qāsimī Imāms had fully embraced Sunnī traditionism.
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Wahab, R. A. (1911). "Yemen". InChisholm, Hugh (ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 913.