932-1871 - Kingdom of the Imams
In 932 the Yemen threw off its allegiance and became independent, its rulers assuming the style and title of Imam. The tribes inhabiting this district were, and always had been, largely influenced by the Yemenite faction, and like them in their belief of the Shiite sect, holding that the claim of the Sultans to the caliphate was irregular and illegal. The name of the first of his dynasty was Asad ibn Yafur. The throne of Yemen was hereditary in the family of the Imams of Sanaa; they were of the Zeidee [Zaydi] Shia Islam sect, and assumed the title of Ameer-el-M'aoomineen, or 'prince of the faithful,' and were recognised in their own dominions as the spiritual as well as temporal heads of their religion. For several centuries they stamped their own coin, and hoisted their own flag - the double-bladed sword of Ali on a red ground.
In AD 1417 the governor of Sanaa rebelled, and attempted to reduce the tribe of Beni Tahir; but he had scarcely entered their territory when he was defeated by the Imam. The latter then took up his residence at Sanaa, where he built a sumptuous palace, part of which still exists in the more modern edifice of the Bostan-el Metawakkil. Hassan Ismail, brother of Melek Nasr ibn Ahmed, taking advantage of the absence of the latter in AD 1419, declared himself Imam of Yemen. He was speedily, however, put down by his brother, who, to punish him for his rebellion, put out his eyes. In the following year AD 1420, the Imam built a village on the sea coast, which he called El-Fandar, and the sirdars of Siud presented him with four large vessels. Melek Nasr died at his castle of Kerawer in AD 1424, and his son Abdulla succeeded him, under the title of El-Melek Munsoor. His reign was short and inglorious : avarice was his ruling passion, and even his mother-in-law was deprived of her patrimony to satisfy his cupidity. He died suddenly in Zebeed, in AD 1426, and was succeeded by his brother Melek-el-Ashraf, Ismail ibn Ahmed.
No sooner had Melek-el-Ashraf ascended the throne in AD 1426, than he caused the murder of several chieftains of note, amongst whom was Noor-ed-Deen ibn El-Hoosain ibn Saba. The uncle of the sovereign, Dthahir ibn Yehia ibn Ismail, assembled a force at Dimlooha, to avenge the death of his friend. With this he attacked his nephew's army, and, having utterly defeated it, took that prince prisoner. and confined him in a dungeon, whence he never came out alive. His death is said to have taken place about six months after his incarceration.
In 1630 the Turks were compelled to evacuate Yemen, which fell again into the hands of the Imams, and a descendant of the family of Barakat, who claimed descent from Ali, the son-in-law of Mahomed, was placed on the throne.
While the dynasty of the Imams existed, their sway extended over a much greater space, sometimes, indeed, over the whole of Yemen. Gradually it was encroached upon by the Sheikhs who had been subject or tributary to them, and by the Turks. A bad system of government prepared the way for intestine strife : on the death of each sovereign the succession was disputed, and the unsuccessful candidate seldom failed to retain some part of the territory and alienate many of the subjects of the legitimate prince; until at length the very shadow of regular Government has passed away, and this, the garden of Arabia, was abandoned to anarchy and confusion. The city of Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, is situated in a deep valley, about twenty or thirty miles in length, and six or seven in breadth, and four thousand feet above the level of the sea. According to the estimate of 1856, the city contained about 40,000 inhabitants, of whom 22,000 were Mahomedans, and 18,000 Jews. The Jews subsisted chiefly by the manufacture of gold and silver ornaments, gunpowder, and spirituous liquors; many also work as common laborers. They were in the utmost poverty, and suffer greatly from the fanatical persecution of their Mahomedan neighbours.
Yemen, 3,000,000 inhabitants in the mid-19th Century, was governed by the hereditary caliph or imam of Yemen, who recognised the supremacy of the Turkish caliphate, and resided at Sana. In 1818, the viceroy of Egypt subjected Yemen, which contains Mocha, on the straits of Babelmandel. The tribute which he obtains from it was 2000 hundred weight of coffee. All the Mocha coffee grown in the world came from the Yemen, and was so called because the entire crop was formerly shipped from Mocha. Coffee can probably be grown successfully in any of the mountainous parts of the Yemen, but its cultivation was confined to a few widely scattered districts and the acreage was relatively small. This was due to the fact that the Yemen Arab never used coffee himself, contrary to general opinion and the reports of some travelers, but raised it almost wholly for export.
By the middle of the 19th Century the inhabitants had refused to recognise any longer the government of their legitimate sovereign : for about a year after the last Imam was deposed, robbery and bloodshed reigned unchecked in the city ; but at last the merchants agreed to elect one of their own body as governor. His authority was respected within the walls, but outside the city he is powerless for good or for evil. The Imam Ghalib was reinstated in the government of his own kingdom, but his power was merely nominal in 1853.
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