Qasimid State الدولة القاسمية (Arabic)
1597–1849
Qasimid State in 1800 with depiction of Rassid coin
Capital	Sanaa
Religion	HadawiZaidi Islam Sunni traditionist Zaidism(19th century)[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
Preceded by Succeeded by Yemen Eyalet Sultanate of Lahej Yemen Vilayet Principality of Najran Other Zaidi sultanates
Today part of	Yemen Saudi Arabia Oman

TheQasimid State (Arabic:الدولة القاسمية), also known as theImamate of Yemen, was a state inSouth Arabia which was ruled by theImams of Yemen. It was founded by Imamal-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.

Zaydi tribes in thenorthern highlands, particularly theHashid andBakil, constantly resistedOttoman imperial rule.^[2] Justifying their presence as the triumph ofIslam, the Ottomans accused the Zaydis of beinginfidels.^[3] Hassan Pasha was appointed the governor of theYemen Eyalet, 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 Ottomans. He declined at first, but was infuriated by the promotion of theHanafi school in place of Zaydifiqh (jurisprudence).

Al-Mansur al-Qasim proclaimed the Imamate in September 1597, which was the same year the Ottoman authorities inauguratedal-Bakiriyya Mosque.^[4] By 1608, Imam al-Mansur had regained control over the highlands and signed a ten-year truce with the Ottomans.^[5] When al-Mansur al-Qasim died in 1620, his sonal-Mu'ayyad Muhammad succeeded him and reconfirmed 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 toMokha.^[4]

After al-Mu'ayyad Muhammad expelled the Ottomans fromSana'a in 1628, onlyZabid and Mokha remained under Ottoman control. He capturedZabid in 1634 and allowed the Ottomans to leave Mokha peacefully.^[6] The reasons behind his success were the tribes' possession offirearms and the fact that they were unified behind him.^[7]

In 1632, 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 lose Mecca, so they sent an army fromLower Egypt to fight the Yemenis.^[8] Seeing that the Ottoman military was too numerous to overcome, the Yemenis retreated to a valley outside Mecca.^[9] Ottoman troops attacked the Yemenis by hiding at the wells that supplied them with water. This plan succeeded, inflicting 200 casualties, most from thirst.^[9] The tribesmen eventually surrendered and returned to Yemen.^[10]

By 1636, the Zaydis 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 of al-Mansur al-Qasim, who conquered Yemen in its entirety, fromAsir in the north toẒafār in the east.^{[12][13][14][15]}

During al-Mutawakkil Isma'il reign and that of his successor, al-Mahdi Ahmad (1676–1681), the Imamate implemented some of the harshestsumptuary laws (ghiyar) against the Jews of Yemen, which culminated in theMawza Exile to a hot and arid region in theTihamah. The Qasimid state was the strongest Zaydi state that ever existed.

Upon 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 writeral-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, alongside his father.^[16] Seven contenders claimed the succession after him in only three years; of these,al-Mahdi Muhammad finally gained power in 1689 after a violent struggle.^[17][18]

A broadertheological and political shift took place during this period. Increasing interactions withHanafi andShafi'i schools of Sunni Islam led to an ideological shift in the prevalent form of Zaydism. While the rulers ostensibly conformed to Hadawi law (thus the "imamate"), the doctrines had to be modified to allow hereditary, as opposed to traditional merit-based, selection of imams.^[19] This transition did not happen abruptly, but through a long-lasting process that had its roots in the fifteenth century. This process was termed "Traditionism" by scholarBernard Haykel.^[20]) Traditionism saw the gradual merging of Zaydi doctrine with elements of Shafi'i thought. By the mid-eighteenth century, the rulers of the Qasimid State had become dynastic, a more formal statebureaucracy was established, and the traditional Zaydi notion ofkhurūj (revolt against unjust rule) was deemed unacceptable.^[21][22] Under the newly bureaucratic system, education and courts became morecentralized; a variety of new offices such aschamberlains were created; and there was a move away from a tribal military to one that was mainly composed ofslaves.^[21]

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.^[23]

In 1728 or 1731, the chief representative ofLahij declared himself an independentsultan in defiance of the Qasimid Dynasty and conqueredAden, thus establishing theSultanate of Lahej. In 1740, the 'Abdali sultan of Lahij became completely independent.^[24] It became independent thanks to the fracturing of the Zaidi state in northern Yemen.^[25] The Sultanate of Lahej became an independent entity, from 1728 to 1839.

The rising power of the ferventWahhabi movement cost the Zaidi state its coastal possessions after 1803. The imam was able to regain them temporarily in 1818, but new intervention byMuhammad Ali 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.^[26]

During that period, Yemen was the sole coffee producer in the world.^[27] The country established diplomatic relations with theSafavid dynasty ofPersia, theOttomans of Hejaz, 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.^[28] 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.^[29]

• Islamic history of Yemen

• Haider, Najam (2021)."Zaydism"(PDF).Handbook of Islamic Sects and Movements.Brill Publishing. pp. 204–234.doi:10.1163/9789004435544_013.ISBN 978-90-04-43554-4.
• Haykel, Bernard (2003).Revival and Reform in Islam: The Legacy of Muhammad al-Shawkānī. New York: Cambridge University Press.ISBN 0-521-81628-9.
• Madelung, W. (2002)."Zaydiyya". InBearman, P. J.;Bianquis, Th.;Bosworth, C. E.;van Donzel, E. &Heinrichs, W. P. (eds.).The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition.Volume XI: W–Z. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 477–481.doi:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_1385.ISBN 978-90-04-12756-2.

•  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.

• 1590s establishments in Asia
• 1840s disestablishments in Asia
• Yemeni monarchy
• 16th century in Yemen
• 17th century in Yemen
• 18th century in Yemen
• 19th century in Yemen
• Zaydism in Yemen
• Former theocracies
• Former monarchies of West Asia
• States and territories disestablished in 1849

• CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list
• CS1 Arabic-language sources (ar)
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles containing Arabic-language text
• Pages using multiple image with auto scaled images
• Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference
• Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica
• Yemen articles missing geocoordinate data
• All articles needing coordinates
• Articles missing coordinates without coordinates on Wikidata