The Battle of Hadhramaut took place in 570 between the armies of the

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 ...

under the command of

Spahbed ''Spāhbed'' (also spelled ''spahbod'' and ''spahbad'') is a Middle Persian title meaning "army chief" used chiefly in the Sasanian Empire. Originally there was a single ''spāhbed'', called the , who functioned as the generalissimo of the Sasani ...

Vahrez Wahrez (born Boe or Bōē) was a Sasanian general of Daylamite origin, first mentioned in the prelude to the Iberian War and then during the Aksumite–Persian wars. Name He was born Boe (Middle Persian: ''Bōē'', fa, بویه ''Bōyah/Büyah' ...

and

Aksumite 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 wha ...

forces under King

Masruq ibn Abraha Masrūq ibn Abraha ( ar, مسروق بن أبرهة) was the Ethiopian ruler of Yemen under the Axumite Empire, as recorded in Arabic and Islamic traditions. He succeeded his father, Abraha Abraha ( Ge’ez: አብርሃ) (also spelled Abreha, ...

. The

army was defeated by the Sassanids and Masruq was killed. The Abyssinian occupation of Yemen continued until about 570, when a Yemeni national reaction was provoked against

. The leader of this patriotic movement was a scion of the

Himyarite The Himyarite Kingdom ( ar, مملكة حِمْيَر, Mamlakat Ḥimyar, he, ממלכת חִמְיָר), or Himyar ( ar, حِمْيَر, ''Ḥimyar'', / 𐩹𐩧𐩺𐩵𐩬) ( fl. 110 BCE–520s CE), historically referred to as the Homerit ...

royal line,

Sayf ibn Dhi-Yazan Abū Murra Sayf bin Dhī Yazan al-Ḥimyarī ( ar, سيف بن ذي يزن) was a semi-legendary Himyarite king of Yemen who lived between 516 and 578 CE, known for ending Axumite rule over Southern Arabia with the help of the Sassanid Empire. ...

. He first tried vainly to get help from the Byzantines and

Lakhmids The Lakhmids ( ar, اللخميون, translit=al-Laḫmiyyūn) referred to in Arabic as al-Manādhirah (, romanized as: ) or Banu Lakhm (, romanized as: ) was an Arab kingdom in Southern Iraq and Eastern Arabia, with al-Hirah as their capital ...

, but then began direct negotiations with the Sassanid king

Khosrau I Khosrow I (also spelled Khosrau, Khusro or Chosroes; pal, 𐭧𐭥𐭮𐭫𐭥𐭣𐭩; New Persian: []), traditionally known by his epithet of Anushirvan ( [] "the Immortal Soul"), was the Sasanian Empire, Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from ...

. The king was reluctant to intervene in a region so distant from Persia, but in the end agreed to send a force of eight hundred cavalrymen of

Dailamite The Daylamites or Dailamites (Middle Persian: ''Daylamīgān''; fa, دیلمیان ''Deylamiyān'') were an Iranian people inhabiting the Daylam—the mountainous regions of northern Iran on the southwest coast of the Caspian Sea, now comprisin ...

origin, in one version men of good birth who had been consigned to prison but were now given a chance to redeem themselves by achieving victory. The force sailed around the coasts of the

Arabian peninsula 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 ...

; and, although two of the eight ships were wrecked, the rest landed in

Hadramaut Hadhramaut ( ar, حَضْرَمَوْتُ \ حَضْرَمُوتُ, Ḥaḍramawt / Ḥaḍramūt; Hadramautic: 𐩢𐩳𐩧𐩣𐩩, ''Ḥḍrmt'') is a region in South Arabia, comprising eastern Yemen, parts of western Oman and southern Saud ...

. Under their leader

, they defeated and killed Masruq and marched into the Yemeni capital of Sanaa.

References

{{coord missing, Yemen 570

Hadhramaut Hadhramaut ( ar, حَضْرَمَوْتُ \ حَضْرَمُوتُ, Ḥaḍramawt / Ḥaḍramūt; Hadramautic: 𐩢𐩳𐩧𐩣𐩩, ''Ḥḍrmt'') is a region in South Arabia, comprising eastern Yemen, parts of western Oman and southern Sau ...

Aksumite Empire 6th century in Asia

Abyssinian–Persian wars 6th century in Iran