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 Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast an ...

, yet it has also historically included

Najran Najran ( ar, نجران '), is a city in southwestern Saudi Arabia near the border with Yemen. It is the capital of Najran Province. Designated as a new town, Najran is one of the fastest-growing cities in the kingdom; its population has risen f ...

, Jizan, Al-Bahah, and 'Asir, which are presently in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries by area, fifth-largest country in Asia ...

, 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 The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...

), as opposed to '' Arabia Deserta'' (deserted Arabia). Classical Latin and

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

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 Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

. 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 The Kingdom of Aksum ( gez, መንግሥተ አክሱም, ), also known as the Kingdom of Axum or the Aksumite Empire, was a kingdom centered in Northeast Africa and South Arabia from Classical antiquity to the Middle Ages. Based primarily in wh ...

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

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkme ...

n forces of the

Sassanid The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Name ...

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' The Sabaeans or Sabeans (Sabaean:, ; ar, ٱلسَّبَئِيُّوْن, ''as-Sabaʾiyyūn''; he, סְבָאִים, Səḇāʾīm) were an ancient group of South Arabians. They spoke the Sabaean language, one of the Old South Arabian langua ...

* 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 The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...

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 The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttal ...

750–897 * Ziyadid 819–1022 * Zaydi Imams 897-1962 * Najahid 1022-1158 *

Sulaihid The Sulayhid dynasty ( ar, بَنُو صُلَيْح, Banū Ṣulayḥ, lit=Children of Sulayh) was an Ismaili Shi'ite Arab dynasty established in 1047 by Ali ibn Muhammad al-Sulayhi that ruled most of historical Yemen at its peak. The Sulay ...

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 The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

(1517–1635) ** Yemen Vilayet,

(1849–, 1872–1918) ** Idrisid Emirate (1906–1934) * Southern ** Aden city ***

Aden Province The Chief Commissioner's Province of Aden was the administrative status under which the former Aden Settlement (1839–1932) was placed from 1932 to 1937. Under that new status, the Viceroy of India assumed direct control over Aden, which had h ...

(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 Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast and sha ...

(1990–present) * Northern ** Idrisid Emirate (1906–1934) **

Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen The Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen ( ar, المملكة المتوكلية اليمنية '), also known as the Kingdom of Yemen or simply as Yemen, or, retrospectively, as North Yemen, was a state that existed between 1918 and 1962 in the nor ...

(1918–1962) ** Yemen Arab Republic (1962–1990) * Southern **

Qu'aiti Sultanate Qu'aiti, ar, ٱلْقُعَيْطِي '), officially the Qu'aiti State of Shihr and Mukalla ( ar, ٱلدَّوْلَة ٱلْقُعَيْطِيَّة ٱلْحَضْرَمِيَّة, Ad-Dawlah Al-Quʿayṭiyyah Al-Ḥaḍramiyyah or the Qu'aiti ...

(1858–1967) ** People's Republic of South Yemen (1967–1970) **

People's Democratic Republic of Yemen South Yemen ( ar, اليمن الجنوبي, al-Yaman al-Janubiyy), officially the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (, ), also referred to as Democratic Yemen (, ) or Yemen (Aden) (, ), was a communist state that existed from 1967 to 19 ...

(1970–1990) * Other articles ** Yemenite Reunification (1990) ** North Yemen &

South Yemen South Yemen ( ar, اليمن الجنوبي, al-Yaman al-Janubiyy), officially the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (, ), also referred to as Democratic Yemen (, ) or Yemen (Aden) (, ), was a communist state that existed from 1967 to 19 ...

Democratic Republic of Yemen The Democratic Republic of Yemen ( '), colloquially known as South Yemen, was a breakaway state that fought against Yemen Arab Republic in the 1994 Yemeni Civil War. It was declared in May 1994 and covered all of the former South Yemen. Th ...

(1994) ** Greater Yemen ** Houthi insurgency in Yemen (2015)

South Arabia outside the Republic of Yemen

, Jizan, 'Asir, Al-Bahah in

* Dhofar in Oman

References

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