emirate · Arabia and the Gulf

Yufirid dynasty

847 CE – 997 CE (approx.) · capital Shibam Kawkaban

A highland Yemeni dynasty of the Himyarite tribe of Hiwal that held Sanaa and Shibam for over a century under nominal Abbasid rule.

Origins

Yu'fir ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Hiwali, from a Himyarite family, seized the highland fortress of Shibam Kawkaban around 847 and soon controlled Sanaa, ousting Abbasid governors while still naming the caliph in Friday prayers.

Rule and society

The Yufirids ruled a tribal highland state from Shibam and Sanaa, a rival to the Ziyadid dynasty in the coastal Tihama. They faced the arrival of the Zaydi imam al-Hadi in the north in 897 and the Isma'ili missionaries Ali ibn al-Fadl and Ibn Hawshab, who briefly captured Sanaa. As'ad ibn Ibrahim recovered the city and dominated highland politics in the early 10th century.

Decline and legacy

After As'ad's death in 944 the dynasty weakened through family feuds and tribal revolts. By about 997 it had lost Sanaa, and the highlands were contested between Zaydi imams, local chiefs and later the Sulayhid dynasty.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Connections (1)

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

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻