'Dynastic Claims of the Imam of Sana'a to the Aden Protectorate' [‎98r] (9/12)

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in supersession of the Zaidi Imams of Sada, whose family was thus finally extinguished,
and made Sanaa his capital.
25. From A.D. 1630 onwards these new Imams continued in sway of the whole
of Yemen until 1728, when one Ahmed, a brother of the then Imam, declared himself
independent in Taiz. Subsequently, in 1758, one Sheikh Abdul Rub declared himself
independent chief of Hujairia and Kataba, while 2 years afterwards the principality of
Abu Arish also became independent of the sovereign of Yemen.
26. *The Sharifs of Abu Arish. from A.D. 1760 forward continued extending
their rule in the Tihama, until the whole of the coast of Yemen from Kunhda to Bait
el Fakih was occupied by them by about A.D. 1790. Thus, when Abu Nookta, the
Chief of Asir, with his Wahabi hordes, attacked Yemen, Sharif Hamood of Abu Arish
was ruling the whole of Tihama up to Bait el Fakih.
27. From 1805 to 1815 Yemen was a scene of frequent invasions from the
Assiris and the Wahabites of Nejd, in consequence of which Sharif Hamood was com
pelled to change sides on various occasions, according to circumstances. He is seen,
sometimes negotiating with the Imam of Sanaa, at others with the Assiris and the
Wahabites, and at times even with Mohamed Ali Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. and his son Ibrahim Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. ,
who had beeen appointed by the Porte for the punishment of the Wahabites, whose
power was absolutely shattered by them, first in 1815 and then finally broken in 1818.
28. At the time that the siege of Deria, the Wahabi stronghold, was protracted
in the summer of 1818, Ibrahim Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. had sent to Egypt for further reinforcements.
These reinforcements to the number of 2,500 men under the command of Khalil Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
did not arrive until Deria had fallen. Consequently, they were not required for any
further use, but Mohammed Ali Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. ordered them to be employed against the Sharif
of Abu Arish, who was now governing nearly the whole of Tihama, and a part of the
other provinces of Yemen as well as Kunfida, Loheiya, and several other coastal towns
fell into the hands of Mohammed Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , who subsequently arranged to hand them
over to the Imam of Sanaa under a compact that the latter should remit to the Turkish
Viceroy of Egypt annually the sum of one lakh One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees of dollars.
29. But soon after this compact not only the Sharifs of Abu Arish regained
possession of all the provinces wrested from them by Mohammed Ali Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , but the
Imam lost a large portion of his other dominions, including Taiz, Jiblah and Es-Shimlah,
which were seized by the Dhoo Mohamed and Dhoo Husain tribes. Mokha, however,
still remained in the Imamic possession.
30. During the year 1831, when the Turkish Viceroy of Egypt, Mohammed Ali
Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , revolted against the Sultan of Turkey and invaded Syria, his army in the Hedjaz
mutinied, and a section of it under a Turkish officer, Turkchi Bilrnas, started on an
ambitious career of the conquest of the Yemen coast, which, according to the compact
of 1816 mentioned above was considered to be nominally under the suzerainty of the
Viceroy of Egypt at that time. He entered Mokha in the year 1832 but had to
surrender it, next year, to the Assiri invader Ali Ibn Meythel, who in his turn was
obliged to restore it to the authority of the Egyptian Viceroy, whose armv under
Ibrahim Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. ultimately succeeded in reducing all the Tihama in 1833.
31. Early in the year 1840, however, the Egyptian troops evacuated Yemen,
chiefly under the influence of the vigorous intervention of the European powers in the
struggle between Mohammed Ali Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. and the Porte at the end of the Svrian campaign
of 1839.
32. tlmmediately after this evacuation Sharif Husain of Abu Arish reoccupied
all the Tihama up to Mokha and our treaty with him dated the 1st of September, 1840
shows that he was in effective occupation of the country and its principal port in 1840
He even succeeded in wresting Taiz from the Imam in 1844 and Tbb and Jiblah
in 1845. In 1843 he had already been given the title of Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. bv the Sultan of
Turkey whose name was now mentioned in the Khutba of Juma prayers, and formally
invested with the Government of Tihama on the condition that he should pay 70.000
dollars annually to the Imperial Ottoman Treasury. The struggles between the Imam
of Sanaa and the Sharif of Abu Arish for the possession of Tihama which occurred
between A.D 1840 and 1849 are too numerous to be related here, but the nett
result of these desultory fights was that the Sharif, in spite of occasional reverses,
continued to reign supreme in Tihama till the final occupation of it bv the Turks in
April, 1849
* The following accounts are based on “ Nafeh el Ud,” a manuscript history of Sharif Hamood, by
Ahmed ibn el Hassan, El Bahkali and Playfair’s “ History of Yemen.”
+ The following accounts are founded on the manuscript history named “ Dhahb el Matbuk ”
by Ahmed bin Zaid and Playfair “ History of Yemen.”