emirate · Arabia and the Gulf

Idrisid Emirate of Asir

1906 CE – 1934 CE · capital Sabya

A Sufi-led emirate on the Red Sea coast of Arabia that rebelled against the Ottomans, allied with Italy and Britain, and was absorbed by Saudi Arabia.

Origins

Muhammad ibn Ali al-Idrisi, great-grandson of the Moroccan Sufi teacher Ahmad ibn Idris, settled at Sabya in the coastal Tihama of Asir. Building on his religious prestige, he rallied the tribes against the Ottoman Empire's Yemen Vilayet around 1906-1910 and established an independent emirate.

Rule and society

The Idrisi ruled as a religious reformer and tribal leader, enforcing Islamic law and suppressing feuds. During the Italo-Turkish War Italy supplied him with arms, and in 1915 he signed a treaty with Britain against the Ottomans. After the war Britain handed him the port of Hodeidah in 1921, putting him at odds with Imam Yahya's Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen.

Decline and legacy

After Muhammad's death in 1923, succession quarrels weakened the emirate and Yahya took Hodeidah. In 1926 Hasan al-Idrisi accepted a Saudi protectorate; Ibn Saud annexed the territory in 1930, and after a failed revolt and the Saudi-Yemeni war of 1934 it was absorbed into Saudi Arabia.

Lineage

Ottoman Empire 1299 CE – 1922 CEIdrisid Emirate of AsirSaudi Arabia 1932 CE – present

Connections (2)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Idrisid Emirate of Asir. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/idrisid-emirate-of-asir
MLA
“Idrisid Emirate of Asir.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/idrisid-emirate-of-asir. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Idrisid Emirate of Asir.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/idrisid-emirate-of-asir.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Idrisid Emirate of Asir’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/idrisid-emirate-of-asir (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻