AbrahaAbraha (Ge’ez: አብርሃ) (also spelled Abreha, died after 570 CE), also known as Abrahah al-Ashram (أَبْرَهَة ٱلْأَشْرَم), was an Aksumite general, then the viceroy of South Arabia for the Kingdom of Aksum, and later declared himself an independent King of Himyar, even though he ruled much as a viceroy, relied heavily upon Axumite backing, and ran his kingdom with Axumite customs and religion. Abraha ruled parts of southern Arabia including much of what is now Yemen from around 531–547 CE to around 555–570 CE.
SanaaSanaa (صَنْعَاء, Ṣanʿāʾ sʕɑnʕaːʔ, Yemeni Arabic: ˈsʕɑnʕɑ; Old South Arabian: 𐩮𐩬𐩲𐩥 Ṣnʿw), also spelled Sanaʽa and Sana, is the capital and largest city in Yemen and the centre of Sanaa Governorate. The city is not part of the Governorate, but forms the separate administrative district of ʾAmānat al-ʿĀṣimah (أَمَانَة ٱلْعَاصِمَة). According to the Yemeni constitution, Sanaa is the capital of the country, although the seat of the Yemeni government moved to Aden, the former capital of South Yemen in the aftermath of the Houthi occupation.
QahtaniteThe terms Qahtanite and Qahtani (قَحْطَانِي; transliterated: Qaḥṭānī) refer to Arabs who originate from South Arabia. The term "Qahtan" is mentioned in multiple ancient Arabian inscriptions found in Yemen. Arab traditions believe that they are the original Arabs. According to Arab tradition, the Qahtanites are from South Arabia, unlike the Adnanites who are from the north of Arabia descended from Ishmael through Adnan. Arab tradition maintains that a semi-legendary ancestral figure named Qahtan and his 24 sons are the progenitors of Yemen who controlled the Arabian Peninsula known as Qahtani.
KahlanKahlan (كهلان) was one of the main tribal confederations of Saba' in Ancient Yemen. They are descended from Kahlan bin Saba bin Yishjab bin Yarub bin Qahtan. By the 2nd century BC Saba' was declining gradually and its southern neighbor Himyar was able to settle many nomadic tribes that were allied to Himyar and create a stronger Himyarite nation in the lowlands. Eventually Saba' was incorporated into Himyar and resistance was reduced to the Kahlan tribes who were overpowered by Himyar and forced out of Highlands in Yemen.
Sasanian EmpireThe Sasanian Empire (səˈsɑːniən,_səˈseɪniən), officially known as Eranshahr ("Land/Empire of the Iranians"), was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th–8th centuries AD. Named after the House of Sasan, it endured for over four centuries, from 224 to 651 AD, making it the longest-lived Persian imperial dynasty. The Sasanian Empire succeeded the Parthian Empire, and re-established the Persians as a major power in late antiquity alongside its neighbouring arch-rival, the Roman Empire (after 395 the Byzantine Empire).
AzdThe Azd (أَزْد), or Al-Azd (ٱلْأَزْد), are a tribe of Sabaean Arabs. Genetic studies and research indicate that Azdite tribes belong to a genealogy that hails from the far north of the Arabian Peninsula, specifically from the Fertile Crescent region. Pre-Islamic inscriptions, specifically Sabaic inscriptions from Sha'r Awtar's reign (210-230 CE), indicate that the land of Azd extended west of Bīsha, in the south-western heights of Saudi Arabia, straddling the regions of al-Bāḥa and ʿAsīr.
TayyThe Tayy (طيء/ALA-LC: Ṭayyi’), also known as Ṭayyi, Tayyaye, or Taiyaye, are a large and ancient Arab tribe, among whose descendants today are the tribes of Bani Sakher and Shammar. The nisba (patronymic) of Tayy is aṭ-Ṭāʾī (ٱلطَّائِي). In the second century CE, they migrated to the northern Arabian ranges of the Shammar and Salma Mountains, which then collectively became known as the Jabal Tayy, and later Jabal Shammar. The latter continues to be the traditional homeland of the tribe until the present day.
QatabanQataban (Qatabanian: , romanized: , ) was an ancient South Semitic-speaking kingdom of South Arabia (ancient Yemen) that existed from the early 1st millennium BCE to the late 1st or 2nd centuries CE. It was one of the six ancient South Arabian kingdoms of ancient Yemen, along with Sabaʾ, Maʿīn, Ḥaḍramawt, Ḥimyar and Awsān. Qatabān was centred around the Wādī Bayhān, and its capital was the city of Timnaʿ. The neighbours of Qatabān were Sabaʾ to the northwest and west, Awsān to the south, and Ḥaḍramawt to the east.
ShammarThe tribe of Shammar (Šammar) is a tribal Arab Qahtan confederation, descended from the Yemeni tribe of Tayy as they originated in Yemen before migrating into present-day Saudi Arabia. It is the biggest branch of the Tayy tribe, and one of the largest and most influential Arab tribes. The historical and traditional seat of the tribe's leadership is in the city of Ha'il in what was the Emirate of Jabal Shammar in Saudi Arabia.
Umayyad dynastyThe Umayyad dynasty (Banū Umayya) or Umayyads (al-Umawiyyūn) was an Arab clan within the Quraysh tribe who were the ruling family of the Caliphate between 661 and 750 and later of al-Andalus between 756 and 1031. In the pre-Islamic period, they were a prominent clan of the Meccan tribe of Quraysh, descended from Umayya ibn Abd Shams. Despite staunch opposition to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the Umayyads embraced Islam before the latter's death in 632.
