The Banu al-Ahdal and the Ashraf of Rasulid Yemen (Seventh–Ninth/Thirteenth–Fifteenth Centuries)

Abstract This article examines the rise of the Banu al-Ahdal, a prominent family of Yemeni ashraf, within the context of the Rasulid sultanate (626–858/1229–1454). Drawing on Yemeni narratives from the seventh–ninth/thirteenth–fifteenth centuries, particularly the Tuhfat al-zaman by al-Husayn al-Ahdal (d. 855/1451), the study analyzes how the Banu al-Ahdal were portrayed and positioned within the complex landscape of Yemeni scholarly and blessed families. The research demonstrates that from the second half of the eighth/fourteenth century onward, new narratives emerged framing the Banu al-Ahdal's rise to prominence within the Yemeni aristocratic environment. However, despite their elevated social standing and laudatory historical accounts, the Banu al-Ahdal never achieved primacy among Yemen's scholarly elites during this period, a pattern consistent with other families of ashraf in the sultanate. This case study challenges conventional understandings of ashraf as long-established elites in medieval Yemen. It reveals that in the predominantly Sunni region of Tihama and Lower Yemen, ashraf did not constitute the most elite families during the late medieval period. The findings call for a reevaluation of the ashraf's historical role in Yemen, suggesting a need for new periodization of their ascendancy to prominence and a more nuanced consideration of regional contexts in understanding their social and political position.