South Arabia

South Arabia () is a historical region that consists of the southern region of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia, mainly centered in what is now the Republic of Yemen, yet it has also historically included Najran, Jizan, Al-Bahah, and 'Asir, which are presently in Saudi Arabia, and the Dhofar of present-day Oman.

South Arabia is inhabited by people possessing distinctive linguistic and ethnic affinities, as well as traditions and culture, transcending recent political boundaries. There are two indigenous language groups: the now extinct Old South Arabian languages and the unrelated Modern South Arabian languages, both members of the Semitic family.

Etymology

The term ''Yamnat'' was mentioned in Old South Arabian inscriptions on the title of one of the kings of the second Himyarite Kingdom known as Shammar Yahrʽish II. The term was probably referring to the southwestern coastline of the Arabian peninsula and the southern coastline between Aden and Hadramout. One etymology derives Yemen from , meaning "South", and significantly plays on the notion of the land to the right ( 𐩺𐩣𐩬). Other sources claim that Yemen is related to ''yamn'' or ''yumn'', meaning "felicity" or "blessed", as much of the country is fertile. The Romans called it '' Arabia Felix'' (fertile Arabia), as opposed to '' Arabia Deserta'' (deserted Arabia).
Classical Latin and Greek writers used the name "India" to refer to South Arabia (ancient Yemen). The use of the term "India" arose from the fact that the Persians called the Abyssinians whom they came into contact in South Arabia by the name of the Cushitic people who lived next to them, ''i.e.'', Indians. Southern Arabia was part of Indian Ocean trade routes for millennia. With the advent of the Omani Empire, ties were strengthened between India and the Eastern Coast of Africa and Madagascar.

History

Three thousand years ago, several ancient states occupied the region of South Arabia, being M'ain, Qataban, Hadhramaut, and Saba. In these ancient times South Arabia claimed several notable features: the famous dam at Marib, the cosmopolitan incense trade, as well as the legendary Queen of Sheba. Two thousand years ago the Himyarites became the masters of South Arabia, dominating the region for several centuries. The Ethiopian Kingdom of Aksum invaded South Arabia first in the 3rd–4th centuries, then later in the 6th under King Kaleb who subjugated the region, c. 520. They were displaced by Persian forces of the Sassanid dynasty, c.575, who also arrived by sea. A half-century later, in the year 6 A.H. (628), the region converted to Islam.

Ancient South Arabia

Ancient kingdoms and appellations:
* Saba'
* Ma'īn
* Qatabān
* Ḥaḑramawt
* Awsān
* Himyar
* Arabia Felix (the term the Romans used to refer to South Arabia)
Pre-Islamic foreign occupiers:
* Axum (3rd–4th, 6th centuries)
* Sasanian Empire Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Malik b. Hishām, ''al-Sīra al-Nabawiyya''. 3rd edition. 4 vols. (Beirut: Dār Ṣādir, 2010), 1:60-66; Fred M. Donner, ''Muhammad and The Believers: At the Origins of Islam'' (Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2012), 34; G.W. Bowersock, ''The Throne of Adulis: Red Sea Wars on the Eve of Islam'' (Oxford University Press, 2013), 117. (6th–7th centuries).

South Arabian Islamic dynasties

* Umayyad 661–750
* Abbasid 750–897
* Ziyadid 819–1022
* Zaydi Imams 897-1962
* Najahid 1022-1158
* Sulaihid 1047–1138
* Zurayid 1083-1193
* Ayyubid 1174–1228
* Rasulid 1229–1454
* Tahiride 1454–1526

South Arabia in the early modern and colonial eras

* Northern
** Yemen Eyalet, Ottoman Empire (1517–1635)
** Yemen Vilayet, Ottoman Empire (1849–, 1872–1918)
** Idrisid Emirate (1906–1934)
* Southern
** Aden city
*** Aden Province (1839–1937)
*** Colony of Aden (1937–1963)
** Regional
*** Aden Protectorate (1874–1959)
*** Federation of Arab Emirates of the South (1959–1962)
*** Federation of South Arabia (1962–1967)
*** Protectorate of South Arabia (1963–1967)

South Arabia in recent history

Independent Yemen:
* Unified
** Republic of Yemen (1990–present)
* Northern
** Idrisid Emirate (1906–1934)
** Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen (1918–1962)
** Yemen Arab Republic (1962–1990)
* Southern
** Qu'aiti Sultanate (1858–1967)
** People's Republic of South Yemen (1967–1970)
** People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (1970–1990)
* Other articles
** Yemenite Reunification (1990)
** North Yemen & South Yemen
** Democratic Republic of Yemen (1994)
** Greater Yemen
** Houthi insurgency in Yemen (2015)

South Arabia outside the Republic of Yemen

* Najran, Jizan, 'Asir, Al-Bahah in Saudi Arabia
* Dhofar in Oman

See also

* Greater Yemen

References

See also

* List of Yemen-related topics

Official Website of the Al-Quaiti Royal Family of Hadhramaut

External links

{{Authority control

Arabian Peninsula
History of the Arabian Peninsula
Geography of Western Asia
Geography of Yemen
Yemen
Historical regions
Historical regions in Saudi Arabia
Divided regions