The al-Waziri coup ( ), also known as the Yahya clan coup, was a violent dynasty overthrow attempt in the

Kingdom of Yemen The Kingdom of Yemen (), officially the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen () and also known simply as Yemen or, retrospectively, as North Yemen, was a state that existed between 1918 and 1970 in the northwestern part of the modern country of Yemen ...

in 1948, which caused around 5,000 fatalities. During the coup attempt, Imam Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din, the ruler of the kingdom, was assassinated and the rival

Sayyid ''Sayyid'' is an honorific title of Hasanid and Husaynid lineage, recognized as descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his daughter Fatima and Ali's sons Hasan ibn Ali, Hasan and Husayn ibn Ali, Husayn. The title may also refer ...

family, the al-Wazirs, seized power for several weeks. Backed by the al-Saud family of

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

, the Hamidaddins restored their rule. After the al-Wazirs were deposed, Imam Yahya's monarchy was restored with his son,

Ahmad bin Yahya Ahmad bin Yahya Hamidaddin (; June 18, 1891 – September 19, 1962) was the penultimate king of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen, who reigned from 1948 to 1962. His full name and title was Majesty, H.M. al-Nasir-li-Dinullah Ahmad bin al-Mutawak ...

, ascending the throne.

Background

On 30 October 1918, amidst the

dissolution of the Ottoman Empire The dissolution of the Ottoman Empire (1908–1922) was a period of history of the Ottoman Empire beginning with the Young Turk Revolution and ultimately ending with the empire's dissolution and the founding of the modern state of Turkey. The ...

, Imam Yahya Muhammad Hamid ad-Din of the al-Qasimi dynasty declared northern Yemen an independent state. In 1926, Imam Yahya declared himself king of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen, becoming a temporal as well as a (

Zaydi 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 ...

) spiritual leader, and won international recognition for the state. In the 1920s, Yahya had expanded Yemeni power to the north into southern Tihamah and southern 'Asir, but collided with the rising influence of the Saudi king of Hejaz and Nejd, Abdul Aziz ibn Sa'ud. In the early 1930s, Saudi forces retook much of these gains in the Saudi–Yemeni War of 1934, before withdrawing from some of the area, including the southern

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 ...

city of

Al Hudaydah Hodeidah (), also transliterated as Hodeda, Hodeida, Hudaida or al-Hudaydah, is the fourth-largest city in Yemen and its Hudaydah Port, principal port on the Red Sea and it is the centre of Al Hudaydah Governorate. As of 2023, it had an estimate ...

. The present-day boundary with Saudi Arabia was established by the 20 May 1934 Treaty of Taif, following the 1934 war. Yahya's non-recognition of his kingdom's southern boundary with the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Aden Protectorate The Aden Protectorate ( ') was a British protectorate in southern Arabia. The protectorate evolved in the hinterland of the port of Aden and in the Hadhramaut after the conquest of Aden by the Bombay Presidency of British India in January ...

(later

South Yemen South Yemen, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, abbreviated to Democratic Yemen, was a country in South Arabia that existed in what is now southeast Yemen from 1967 until Yemeni unification, its unification with the Yemen A ...

), which had been negotiated by his Ottoman predecessors, resulted in occasional clashes with the British.

Assassination and coup attempt

The al-Waziri clan sought to seize power from the ruling dynasty.Petersen J.E. ''Tribes and Politics in Yemen.'' Arabian Peninsula Background Note, No. APBN-007. Published on www.JEPeterson.net, December 2008

/ref> On 17 February 1948, tribesmen opposed to Imam Yahya ambushed his car south of Sanaa, at Sawad Hizyaz. The imam, his grandson, and two soldiers were killed; 50 bullets were said to have been found the imam's body. The leader of the ambush, Ali Nasser Al-Qardai, Ali Nasir al-Qardaei, was from the Murad tribe, and had previously been imprisoned by the imam. The al-Waziris then installed their own imam, Abdullah bin Ahmad al-Wazir, to run the kingdom. His rule lasted only for a few weeks. Upon the assassination of Imam Yahya, his son

traveled through North Yemen, in an attempt to rally the tribes behind him, winning support as the new Imam of Yemen. These tribesmen then surrounded Sana'a. As a result, Ahmad was able to regain control of the city, but the price he paid was giving the tribes leave to sack the capital. The Sack of Sana'a lasted for seven days, and as many as 250,000 tribesmen were thought to have participated. When Ahmad took power, the al-Waziri ruler Abdullah was deposed and beheaded.

Aftermath

Imam Yahya was succeeded by his son

, while the al-Waziris were deposed. Ahmad's reign was marked by growing development and openness, and renewed friction with the United Kingdom over the British presence in the south. This stood in the way of his aspirations for the creation of Greater Yemen. In March 1955, a coup by a group of officers and two of Ahmad's brothers briefly deposed the king, but this was quickly suppressed. After Ahmad's death in 1962, Crown Prince Muhammad al-Badr was declared king. However, the Hamidaddin dynasty was overthrown the same year in a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

by revolutionary republican army officers led by Abdullah al-Sallal. This escalated into a long civil war between the deposed royalists, supported by Saudi Arabia, and the free officers who had declared the establishment of the

Yemen Arab Republic The Yemen Arab Republic (YAR; ', ), commonly known as North Yemen or Yemen (Sanaʽa), was a country that existed from 1962 until its Yemeni unification, unification with the South Yemen, People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (commonly known as ...

(YAR), and who were actively supported by Nasserist

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alwaziri coup Rebellions in Yemen Kingdom of Yemen Political history of Yemen 1948 in Asia Conflicts in 1948 1940s coups d'état and coup attempts Attempted coups d'état in Asia 20th-century mass murder in Yemen Mass murder in 1948 Ambushes in Asia Looting in Asia Military coups in Yemen

Background

Assassination and coup attempt

Aftermath

See also

References