Sayyid Power and Non-Sayyid Elites in the Sharaf al-Din Imamate (912–80 AH/1506–73 AD)
Files
Publication date
2026-05-01
Authors
Pukhovaia, Ekaterina
Editors
Advisors
Supervisors
Document Type
Article
Metadata
Show full item recordCollections
License
taverne
Abstract
This article argues that elite support was crucial to sayyid rulers (imams) in Yemen. Such support allowed these rulers to ensure hereditary transfer of power while circumventing tenets of Zaydi political thought that did not permit a ruler to name successors. By analyzing previously unstudied documents regarding succession from the period of rule of Imam Yahya Sharaf al-Din (d. 1557) in Yemen, the article reconstructs the outlines of the Sharaf al-Din state and the elites involved in maintaining it. Based on this analysis, the article uncovers the role of non-sayyid elites in an early-modern attempt to secure dynastic transmission of power in Zaydi Yemen.
Keywords
imamate, sayyids, succession, tribal elites, Zaydi Yemen, Taverne, Geography, Planning and Development, Development, Political Science and International Relations
Citation
Pukhovaia, E 2026, 'Sayyid Power and Non-Sayyid Elites in the Sharaf al-Din Imamate (912–80 AH/1506–73 AD)', Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, vol. 46, no. 1, pp. 143-153. https://doi.org/10.1215/1089201X-12354705