Hassan Yuha'min (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: حسان يهأمن), full name Hassan Yuha'min ibn Abi Karib As'ad al-Himyari, was a

Himyarite Himyar was a polity in the southern highlands of Yemen, as well as the name of the region which it claimed. Until 110 BCE, it was integrated into the Qataban, Qatabanian kingdom, afterwards being recognized as an independent kingdom. According ...

king who ruled in the 5th century CE. Originally, he ruled as part of a co-regency with his father,

Abu Karib Abū Karib As’ad al-Kāmil (), called "Abū Karīb", sometimes rendered as As'ad Abū Karīb, full name: Abu Karib As'ad ibn Hassān Maliki Karib Yuha'min, was king ( Tubba', ) of the Himyarite Kingdom (modern day Yemen). He ruled Yemen from 39 ...

before ruling alongside his brother

Sharhabil Ya'fur Sharhabil Ya'fur (Arabic: شرحبيل يعفر), also known as 'Amr ibn Tubba' al-Himyari, was a Himyarite king who ruled in the 5th century CE. His rule was unique, as he was the only ruler descended from Dhamar Ali Yahbur II who ruled by himself ...

. Hassan Yuha'min has been featured in many Arabian legends, and is well-remembered for his rule.

Reign

Around 400 CE, Hassan Yuha'min entered power as part of a co-regency with his father

and his uncle Dhara' Amar Ayman. His uncle died in 410 CE, leaving him and his father left in power. Around 433 CE, Hassan Yuha'min was mentioned in an inscription dating to that period alongside four other kings,

, Ma'dikarib and Marthad. After the death of

in 420 CE, Hassan Yuha'min became sole ruler alongside his brother, Sharhabil Ya'fur. However, his name later disappears from inscriptions after that period of time, and only the name of Sharhabil Ya'fur is present in these inscriptions which leads to a theory that Sharhabil had murdered his brother and taken the throne for himself. The historian

Muhammad ibn Habib al-Baghdadi Muhammad ibn Habib al-Baghdadi (Arabic: محمد بن حبيب البغدادي), full name Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Habib ibn Umayyah ibn 'Amr al-Hashimi, was a ninth-century historian, writer and linguist who lived in Baghdad, Iraq. Career Al- ...

mentions that Hassan Yuha'min was one of the nobles of pre-Islamic Arabia who was assassinated.

Personality

The Arab historians mainly had a favourable opinion of Hassan Yuha'min, describing him a courageous and a just leader. However,

Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani Ali ibn al-Husayn al-Iṣfahānī (), also known as Abul-Faraj, (full form: Abū al-Faraj ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥaytham al-Umawī al-Iṣfahānī) (897–967Common Era, CE / 284–356Islamic calendar, AH) w ...

narrated that Hassan Yuha'min was very stubborn and immature, with an extremely oppressive rule which lead to his own assassination at the hands of his brother, Sharhabil Ya'fur.

Military campaigns

During his time as co-regent, Hassan Yuha'min and his father both participated in conquests throughout South Arabia in order to control the trade routes; including the land of the tribe of the Ma'adite Arabs in the region of

Najd Najd is a Historical region, historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes most of the central region of Saudi Arabia. It is roughly bounded by the Hejaz region to the west, the Nafud desert in Al-Jawf Province, al-Jawf to the north, ...

. Hassan Yuha'min also annihilated a

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( ; , singular ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Sy ...

tribe known as the Jadis during this period of co-regency; he did this after the king of an allied tribe was killed by members of the Jadis. The result of this campaign ended up in the massacre of the adults of the Jadis, while the children were enslaved and their village at

Al-Yamama Al-Yamama () is a historical region in south-eastern Najd in modern-day Saudi Arabia. Only a handful of centralized states ever arose in the Yamama, but it figured prominently in early Islamic history, becoming a central theater in the Ridd ...

completely destroyed.

In the Arab folklore

Ibn Hisham Abu Muhammad Abd al-Malik ibn Hisham ibn Ayyub al-Himyari (; died 7 May 833), known simply as Ibn Hisham, was a 9th-century Abbasid historian and scholar. He grew up in Basra, in modern-day Iraq and later moved to Egypt. Life Ibn Hisham has ...

Tabari Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr ibn Yazīd al-Ṭabarī (; 839–923 CE / 224–310 AH), commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Sunni Muslim scholar, polymath, historian, exegete, jurist, and theologian from Amol, Tabaristan, present-day ...

and Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani related that Hassan Yuha'min had led the

tribes of Yemen The Tribes of Yemen are those residing within the borders of the Yemen, Republic of Yemen. While there are no official statistics, some studies suggest that tribes make up about 85% of the population, which was 25,408,288 as of February 2013. Es ...

in a massive conquest to expand Himyarite rule to other countries. When they had reached

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, the leaders of the tribes were displeased and tired, so they begged Hassan to allow them to return but he refused. Sick of Hassan's rule, they came to his brother 'Amr (Sharhabil Ya'fur) and offered to pledge allegiance to him as a king, if he killed his brother. 'Amr agreed to the deed despite the pleas from a noble elder named Dhu Ru'ayn to not do the deed. Contemporary historians suggest that this story, while mainly legendary, may have preserved a historical fact that Hassan was assassinated by his own brother.

References

{{reflist Kings of Himyar Yemenite Jews Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown Middle Eastern kings 5th-century Arab people

Reign

Personality

Military campaigns

In the Arab folklore

See also

References