emirate · Arabia and the Gulf

Ukhaydirid Emirate

866 CE – 1050 CE (approx.) · capital al-Khidrima

An Alid dynasty that ruled the oases of al-Yamama in central Arabia for nearly two centuries.

Origins

Around 866 Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Ukhaydir, a descendant of al-Hasan ibn Ali, fled the Hejaz after a failed revolt and took control of al-Yamama in Najd. He founded a dynasty with its seat at al-Khidrima, in the region of modern al-Kharj south of Riyadh.

Rule and society

The Ukhaydirids governed farming oases and the Bedouin tribes around them. Later sources describe them as Zaydi Shi'is. Their land lay on pilgrimage and trade routes between Iraq, Bahrain and the Hejaz, and the Persian traveller Nasir Khusraw, who passed in the 1050s, mentions the fortified seat of its Alid emirs.

Decline and legacy

The rise of the Qarmatians of Bahrain to the east reduced the emirate to a client. It faded in the mid-11th century, with little recorded about its end, and al-Yamama fell under local tribal chiefs.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Connections (1)

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

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻