Lower Yafa

Lower Yafa, Lower Yafa'i (Arabic: يافع السفلى‎ Yāfi‘ as-Suflá), or the Sultanate of Lower Yafa (Arabic: سلطنة يافع السفلى‎ Salṭanat Yāfi‘ as-Suflá), was a state in the British Aden Protectorate.

Sultanate of Lower Yafa
Arabic: يافع السفلى‎ Yāfi‘ as-Suflá
State of the Federation of South Arabia
ca. 1800–1967
Flag

Map of the Federation of South Arabia
CapitalJaʿār
 • TypeSultanate
Historical era20th century
• Established
ca. 1800
• Disestablished
1967
Succeeded by
South Yemen

Lower Yafa was ruled by the Al Afifi dynasty and its capital was at Jaar. This former sultanate is now part of the Republic of Yemen.

History

Yafa and the Himyarite Empire

Yafa was the seat of the ancient Himyarite dynasty, which lasted from 110 BCE to 632 CE when it was fully integrated into the Rashidun Caliphate.

The Yafai tribe was traditionally divided into 10 branches or sheikhdoms of which 5 are in Lower Yafa and the other 5 are in Upper Yafa. These sheikhdoms are broken down to many smaller branches and extended families.

Modern times

A treaty of Protection was signed between the British and the Sultan of Lower Yafa in 1895.[1]

Lower Yafa included some fertile areas of Abyan belonging to the sheikhdoms of Al Saadi, Yaher, Kalad, Thi Nakheb, and Yazidi. Its capital was the former residence of the Banū Afīf Sultans.[2] There was a second capital in Al Qara where a picturesque palace, the mountain retreat of the Sultan, was located.[3]

The Lower Yafa Sultanate was a founding member of the Federation of Arab Emirates of the South in 1959 and its successor, the Federation of South Arabia, in 1963. Its last sultan, Mahmūd ibn Aidrūs Al Afīfi, was deposed and his state abolished in 1967 upon the founding of the People's Republic of South Yemen. Eventually South Yemen united with North Yemen in 1990 to form the Republic of Yemen.[4]

Rulers

Afif, 1681 - 1700.

Qahtan ibn Afif, 1700. - 1720.

Sayf ibn Qahtan al-Afifi, 1720. - 1740.

Ma`awda ibn Sayf al-Afifi, 1740. - 1760.

Ghalib ibn Ma`awda al-Afifi, 1760. - 1780

Abd al-Karim ibn Ghalib al-Afifi, 1780. - 1800.

Ali I ibn Ghalib al-Afifi, 1800 - 1841.

Ahmad ibn Ali al-Afifi, 1841. - 1873 (1st time).

Ali II ibn Ahmad al-Afifi, 1873. - 1885.

Muhsin I ibn Ahmad al-Afifi, 1885. - 1891.

Ahmad ibn Ali al-Afifi, 1891 - 1893 (2nd time).

Abu Bakr ibn Sha'if al-Afifi, 1893 - 1899.

Abd Allah ibn Muhsin al-Afifi, 1899. - 1916.

Muhsin II ibn Ali al-Afifi, 1916. - 1925.

Aydarus ibn Muhsin al-Afifi, 1925. - 1958.

Regent, 1947. - 1949. .... -

Mahmud ibn Aydarus al-Afifi, 1958. - 1967.

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See also

References
  1. The British-Yemeni Society, Passage to Yafa’ (1891–1967) Archived 2013-07-21 at the Wayback Machine
  2. R.J. Gavin, Aden Under British Rule: 1839-1967. London: C. Hurst & Company, 1975
  3. Frank Edwards, The Gaysh: A History of the Aden Protectorate Levies 1927-61, and the Federal Regular Army of South Arabia 1961-67, Helion & Co Ltd, 2004, p. 16 ISBN 978-1874622963
  4. Paul Dresch, A History of Modern Yemen. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2000

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