Al-Malik al-Muzaffar Shams al-Din Yusuf ibn 'Umar (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: الملك المظفر شمس الدين يوسف بن عمر) more commonly known as Al-Muzaffar Yusuf I, was the second Sultan of Yemen of the

Rasulid dynasty The Rasulids () or the Rasulid dynasty was a Sunni Yemeni dynasty of Oghuz Turkic origin who ruled Yemen from 1229 to 1454. Origin The Rasulids take their name from a messenger under the Abbasids, Muhammad bin Harun, who was nicknamed "Rasu ...

from 1249 until his death in 1295.

Early life

Al-Muzaffar Yusuf was born in 1222 in

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

Umar ibn Ali Umar ibn Ali (), was one of the children of Ali ibn Abi Talib who accompanied his brother, Husayn ibn Ali, to Karbala and was killed on the day of Ashura. There is a disagreement about whether his name was Umar or Amr al-Asghar (). It is said ...

, who was appointed as the

Emir Emir (; ' (), also Romanization of Arabic, transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic language, Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocratic, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person po ...

of Mecca by the

Ayyubid The Ayyubid dynasty (), also known as the Ayyubid Sultanate, was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultan of Egypt, Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid Caliphate of Egyp ...

Emir of Yemen,

Al-Mas'ud Yusuf Al-Malik al-Mas‘ūd Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Abū al-Muẓaffar Yūsuf ibn Muḥammad (‎; 1201–1229) was the sixth and final Ayyubid The Ayyubid dynasty (), also known as the Ayyubid Sultanate, was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultan o ...

. Al-Mas'ud called Umar back to Yemen in 1228 and made him his deputy. Al-Mas'ud left Yemen in 1229 for

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

and gave the Emirship of Yemen to Umar. In 1235, Caliph

Al-Mustansir I Abu Ja'far al-Mansur ibn al-Zahir (17 February 1192 – 2 December 1242), commonly known as al-Mustansir I, was the 36th Abbasid caliph, ruling from 1226 to 1242. He succeeded al-Zahir as caliph in the year 1226, and was the penultimate caliph t ...

sent a diploma of recognition to Umar who proclaimed himself as the Sultan of Yemen and established the

Zabid Zabid () (also spelled Zabīd, Zabeed and Zebid) is a town with an urban population of around 52,590 people, located on Yemen's western coastal plain. It is one of the oldest towns in Yemen, and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993. Ho ...

as ''Al-Malik al-Mansur''. Umar was assassinated in 1249 by his own guards in Zabid and was succeeded by his son Yusuf as ''Al-Malik al-Muzaffar''.

Reign

Under al-Malik al-Muzaffar Yusuf I, the Sultanate of Yemen reached its apogee. He also made Yemen an influential maritime power, establishing trade with

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

. Yusuf confirmed Rasulid rule over the

Tihamah Tihamah or Tihama ( ') is the Red Sea coastal plain of the Arabian Peninsula from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Bab el Mandeb. Etymology Tihāmat is the Proto-Semitic language's term for 'sea'. Tiamat (or Tehom, in masculine form) was the ancient M ...

lowland and the southern highlands.

Sanaa Sanaa, officially the Sanaa Municipality, is the ''de jure'' capital and largest city of Yemen. The city is the capital of the Sanaa Governorate, but is not part of the governorate, as it forms a separate administrative unit. At an elevation ...

, one of the traditional centres of the

Zaydi Imams Zaydism () is a branch of Shia Islam that emerged in the eighth century following Zayd ibn Ali's unsuccessful rebellion against the Umayyad Caliphate. Zaydism is one of the three main branches of Shi'ism, with the other two being Twelverism a ...

, was temporarily occupied, and the imams were defeated on several occasions. The cool mountainous city

Taiz Taiz () is a city in southwestern Yemen. It is located in the Yemeni highlands, near the port city of Mocha on the Red Sea, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is the capital of Taiz Governorate. As of 2023, the city has an estimated p ...

became the base of the dynasty together with Zabid. After the Fall of Baghdad in 1258 to the

Mongols Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China ( Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family o ...

, al-Malik al-Muzaffar Yusuf appropriated the title of caliph as he held partial control over the holy city of

. Having reigned for 46 years, Yusuf died in 1295, leaving power to his son

Umar II Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan (; February 720) was the eighth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 717 until his death in 720. He is credited to have instituted significant reforms to the Umayyad central government, by making it much more efficient and ...

who assumed the title ''Al-Malik al-Ashraf''.

References

{{reflist 1222 births 1295 deaths Rasulid dynasty