Shammar Yahri'sh

Shammar Yahr'ish al-Himyari
King of Saba', Dhu Raydan, Hadramawt and Yamnat
The Namara inscription which has Shammar's name inscribed on it
Reign	275–312 CE
Predecessor	Yasir Yuha'nim
Successor	Yasir Yuha'nim
Died	c. 312 Yemen
Names Shammar Yahr'ish ibn Yasser Yuha'nim
Father	Yasir Yuha'nim
Religion	South Arabian polytheism

Shammar Yahr'ish al-Himyari, full name Shammar Yahr'ish ibn Yasir Yuha'nim al-Manou (Himyaritic: 𐩦𐩣𐩧 𐩺𐩠𐩲𐩧𐩦 𐩨𐩬 𐩺𐩪𐩧 𐩺𐩠𐩬𐩲𐩣, romanized: Šammar Yuharʿiš bin Yāsir Yuhanʿim Menou) was a Himyarite king.[1][2] He was the first to have the title “King of Saba', Dhu Raydan, Hadramawt and Yamnat” and he united most of Yemen during his rule.

Biography

Not much is known about the life of Shammar Yahr'ish. He was from the tribe of Himyar. In the year 275 CE, Shammar Yahr'ish was first mentioned in inscriptions.[3] In the same year, he conquered the cities of Najran and Ma'rib. By 280 CE, he had united most of Yemen under his rule.[4] Later in 296 CE, he assumed the title King of Saba', Dhu Raydan, Hadramawt and Yamnat. Subsequent rulers would hold the same titles until the reign of Malikikarib Yuhamin. He strove for diplomatic relations with contemporary kingdoms such as the Roman Empire, the Sasanian Empire and the ruling Arab tribes of al-Azd and Tanukh. The Lakhmid ruler Imru al-Qays I ibn Amr claimed to have defeated Shammar Yahr'ish in 328 CE at the borders of Najran, and the victory over Shammar is mentioned on Imru al-Qays' stone epitaph.[5] The last inscription of Shammar Yahr'ish is dated to 312 CE.[6]

Diplomacy

In 309 CE, Shammar Yahr'ish sent a diplomatic delegation to the cities of Ctesiphon and Seleucia, two cities which were under the control of the Sasanian ruler Bahram II.[7] Another delegation also reached the kingdom of Imru al-Qays I ibn Amr in the land of al-Hirah. The king of the Kindites, Malik ibn Muawiyah, also pledged allegiance to Shammar Yahr'ish.[8] In 311 AD, another diplomatic delegation was sent to the Roman Empire.^[citation needed]

In Arabian folklore

Shammar Yahr'ish is glorified in the Arabian folklore regarding him. He is believed to have conquered the Levant region and even reached as far as the Northeastern Asian territories.[9] The name of the city of Samarkand in Uzbekistan is said to have been formed by a composite of two words: Shammar-Kand, which means "Shammar Destroyed" (after he supposedly conquered it).[10] Later scholars have debunked all these stories, citing them as mere mythology.[11][12][13]

See also

• Shammar tribe
• Himyarite Kingdom
• List of rulers of Saba' and Himyar

References

1. خربوطلي, شكران (2015-01-01). شبه جزيرة العرب و الصراع الدولي عليها منذ القرن الرابع حتى ظهور الإسلام (in Arabic). Al Manhal. ISBN 9796500164830.
2. محمد يحيى الحداد ، مكتبة الإرشاد ، اليمن (2008-01-01). التاريخ العام لليمن ( ثلاثة مجلدات ) ، محمد يحيى الحداد ، مكتبة الإرشاد ، اليمن ، نسخة مفهرسة وقابلة للبحث.
3. "DASI: Digital Archive for the Study of pre-islamic arabian Inscriptions: Epigraph details". dasi.cnr.it. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
4. Neuwirth, Angelika; Sinai, Nicolai; Marx, Michael (2010). The Qur'an in context historical and literary investigations into the Qur'anic milieu. Leiden: Brill. p. 53. ISBN 9789047430322. Alt URL
5. نافع, محمد مبروك (2022-07-24). عصر ما قبل الإسلام (in Arabic). Hindawi Foundation. ISBN 978-1-5273-1402-3.
6. "DASI: Digital Archive for the Study of pre-islamic arabian Inscriptions: Epigraph details". dasi.cnr.it. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
7. Overlaet, Bruno (November 2009). "A Himyarite diplomatic mission to the Sasanian court of Bahram II depicted at Bishapur". Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy. 20 (2): 218–221. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0471.2009.00313.x.
8. "DASI: Digital Archive for the Study of pre-islamic arabian Inscriptions: Epigraph details". dasi.cnr.it. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
9. Ibn Ishaq; Guillaume (1955). The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Isḥāq's sīrat. London. p. 694. ISBN 0195778286.
10. Mackintosh-Smith, Tim (2019). Arabs : a 3,000-year history of peoples, tribes and empires. New Haven ; London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-18235-4.
11. الدواداري, أبي بكر ابن عبد الله/ابن أيبك (2023-01-01). كنز الدرر وجامع الغرر 1-4 ج1 (in Arabic). Dar Al Kotob Al Ilmiyah دار الكتب العلمية. ISBN 978-2-7451-8823-6.
12. "مفاتيح العلوم - الخوارزمي، أبو عبد الله - مکتبة مدرسة الفقاهة". ar.lib.eshia.ir (in Arabic). Retrieved 2024-03-21.
13. الاصفهاني،, حمزة (1844). كتاب تاريخ سني ملوك الأرض والأنبياء (in Arabic). In commissis apud Leopoldum Voss.