Al-Himyari seizes Mirbat and Zafar and founds al-Ahmadiyya

استيلاء الحميري على مرباط وظفار وبناء الأحمدية

c. 1212 CE · 609 AH

Mahmud ibn Muhammad al-Himyari seized the city of Mirbat, Zafar and other places in Hadramawt. He began with a ship that he hired out to merchants at sea, then served as minister to the lord of Mirbat, a man of generosity, courage and good conduct. When that lord died, al-Himyari ruled the city in his place, and people obeyed him out of affection for his generosity and conduct. In the year 619 he laid waste to Mirbat and Zafar and built a new city on the coast near Mirbat, beside a large spring of sweet water that he channelled into it; he walled and ditched the city, fortified it and named it al-Ahmadiyya. He loved poetry and gave generous rewards for it ¹.