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'{{Short description|6th-century conflict between the Sassanid and Aksumite empires}} {{Infobox military conflict | image = Balami - Tarikhnama - The arrow of old Wahraz kills Masruq, the Ethiopian King of Yemen (cropped).jpg | image_size = 300px | caption = [[Persian miniature]] from ''[[Tarikh-i Bal'ami]]'' depicting the Sassanid military general [[Wahrez]] killing the Ethiopian Aksumite king [[Masruq ibn Abraha]] with an arrow | conflict = Aksumite–Persian wars | date = 570–578 | place = [[South Arabia|Southern Arabia]] (modern-day [[Yemen]]) | latitude = | longitude = | territory = [[Sasanian Yemen|Yemen is annexed]] by the Sassanid Empire | result = Sasanian victory | combatant1 = [[Sasanian Empire]] | combatant2 = [[Kingdom of Aksum]] | commander1 = [[Khosrow I]]<br/>[[Sayf ibn Dhi-Yazan]]{{KIA}}<br />[[Wahrez]]<br />Nawzadh{{KIA}}<br />Ma'd-Karib | commander2 = [[Masruq ibn Abraha]]{{KIA}}<br />[[Alla Amidas]] | units1 = 16,000 [[History of infantry|infantry]] (modern estimates) 800 [[cavalry]] (Tabari) | units2 = 6,000–10,000 troops | campaignbox = {{Campaignbox Ethiopian-Persian Wars}} }} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}} {{Use Oxford spelling|date=November 2021}} The '''Aksumite–Persian wars''' were a protracted series of armed engagements between the [[Sasanian Empire|Sasanian Persian Empire]] and the [[Kingdom of Aksum|Aksumite Empire]] for control over [[South Arabia]] (modern-day [[Yemen]]) in the 6th century CE. After a decisive victory at the [[Battle of Hadhramaut]] in 570, the [[Military of the Sasanian Empire|Sasanian military]] marched on and [[Siege of Sanaa (570)|besieged Sana'a]], following which the Aksumites were largely expelled from the [[Arabian Peninsula]], however they still had direct control of [[Najran]]. The Persians instated the former Himyarite king [[Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan|Sayf ibn Dhī Yazan]] as the governor of the new [[Sasanian Yemen|Sasanian province of Yemen]]. However, Yazan was murdered by his Ethiopian servants four years into his reign, after which the Aksumites re-established their power in the region. Following the death of Yazan, the Sasanian army mounted a second invasion and [[Sasanian reconquest of Yemen|re-conquered Yemen by 575–578]], marking the end of Axumite rule in Arabia. After Sasanian control was firmly established in the region, the Persian military general [[Wahrez]] was installed as the direct governor of Yemen. == Context == {{Unreferenced section|date=November 2021}} Around 520 CE, [[Kaleb of Axum|Kaleb of Aksum]] sent a military expedition to [[History of Yemen|Yemen]] to fight against [[Dhu Nuwas]], a [[Jews|Jewish]] ruler of the [[Himyarite Kingdom]] who had gained notoriety for his ongoing persecution of the [[Christian community of Najran|Christian community in Najran]]. Following the successful Aksumite invasion, Nuwas was deposed and executed, and Kaleb appointed a [[Christians|Christian]] Himyarite native, [[Sumyafa Ashwa|Sumūyafa Ashwa]], as his viceroy. However, around 525, Ashwa was deposed by the Aksumite general [[Abraha]], who declared himself as the king of the new Himyarite–Aksumite Kingdom. After Abraha's death, his son [[Masruq ibn Abraha]] continued the Aksumite vice-royalty in Yemen and resumed payment of [[tribute]] to the [[Kingdom of Aksum]]; he ended the joint Himyarite–Aksumite Kingdom and annexed it to the Aksumite kingdom. Following these events, Masuq's half-brother [[Maʽd-Karib]] revolted against him. After being denied aid by [[Justin II]] of the [[Byzantine Empire]], Maʽd-Karib sought help from [[Khosrow I]] of the [[Sasanian Empire|Sasanian Persian Empire]]. == Course of conflict == In response to [[Maʽd-Karib]]'s request, [[Khosrow I]] sent the Sasanian military general [[Wahrez]] and his son [[Nawzadh]] to [[History of Yemen|Aksumite-ruled Yemen]] at the head of a small expeditionary force of 800 [[Daylamites|Dailamite]] cavalrymen in 570 CE.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/abna-term|title=ABNĀʾ – Encyclopaedia Iranica|last=electricpulp.com|website=www.iranicaonline.org|language=en|access-date=2018-04-13}}</ref><ref name="iranicaonline.org">{{Cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/abna-term|title = Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica}}</ref> The [[Military of the Sasanian Empire|Sasanian military]], onboard eight ships, sailed around the coasts of the [[Arabian Peninsula]]; although two of the ships were wrecked, the rest successfully docked in the [[Hadhramaut]] region of [[South Arabia|southern Arabia]].<ref name="books.google.dk"/> The strength of the Sasanian expeditionary force is variously given as 3,600 or 7,500 ([[Ibn Qutaybah]]), or 800 ([[al-Tabari]]). Modern estimates place the Sasanian force's numbers at 16,000 men. The Persians sailed from the port of [[Al-Ubulla|Obolla]], seized the [[Bahrain|Bahrain Islands]], and subsequently moved on [[Sohar]], the portside capital of [[History of Oman|historical Oman]]; they then captured [[Dhofar Governorate|Dhofar]] and the remainder of Hadhramaut before landing at [[Aden]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Miles |first1=Samuel Barrett |title=The Countries and Tribes of the Persian Gulf |url=https://archive.org/details/countriestribeso01mileuoft |date=1919 |publisher=Harrison and sons |page=[https://archive.org/details/countriestribeso01mileuoft/page/26 26]-29 |language=en}}</ref> During the initial invasion, Nawzadh was killed by Aksumite forces.<ref name="books.google.dk">{{Google books |id=p2UHIQ9WyJ4C |page=240 |title=The History of Al-Tabari: The Sasanids, the Lakhmids, and Yemen }}</ref> This event led Wahrez to pursue a vendetta against the Ethiopian ruler of Yemen, [[Masruq ibn Abraha]], who was personally executed by Wahrez at the [[Battle of Hadhramaut]]. The decisive Persian victory at Hadhramaut marked the beginning of the Aksumite retreat and the subsequent [[Siege of Sanaa (570)|besieging of Sanaʽa by the Persians]]. [[File:Khosrau I Textile.jpg|thumb|[[Fresco]] of the Sasanian emperor [[Khosrow I]]'s war against the Aksumite king [[Masruq ibn Abraha]] in [[History of Yemen|Yemen]]]] Following the capture of Sanaʽa by Sasanian forces, Wahrez reinstated the former [[Himyarite Kingdom|Himyarite]] king [[Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan|Sayf ibn Dhī Yazan]] to his throne as a vassal of the [[Sasanian Empire|Sasanian Persian Empire]].<ref name="iranicaonline.org" /> Al-Tabari reports that the defining factor of the Persian victory over the Aksumites was the ''[[panjagan]],'' a military technology used by the Sasanian military with which the locals were unfamiliar. After the conquest of Yemen and subsequent expulsion of the Ethiopian presence there, Wahrez returned to [[Iran|Persia]] with a large amount of [[Booty (loot)|booty]].<ref>{{Google books |id=0OrCo4VyvGkC |page=100 |title=Muhammad and the Origins of Islam }}</ref> == Ethiopian uprising and second Persian invasion == By 575–578 CE, the Himyarite vassal king Yazan was murdered by his Ethiopian servants, following which the Aksumites returned and re-established their power in the region. In response, the Sasanian military [[Sasanian reconquest of Yemen|invaded Yemen a second time]], headed by a force of 4000 men and led by Wahrez. [[Sasanian Yemen|Yemen was then annexed by the Sasanian Empire as a province]], and Wahrez was installed as its direct governor by the [[List of monarchs of the Sasanian Empire|Sasanian emperor]] Khosrow I.<ref name="iranicaonline.org">{{Cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/abna-term|title = Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica}}</ref> [[Greater Yemen]] remained under firm Sasanian control until the rise of the [[Islam|Islamic]] prophet [[Muhammad]] in the early 7th century. ==See also== *[[Al-Abna'|Al-Abnaʽ]], obsolete term used to refer to the descendants of [[Iranian peoples|Persian]] military officers and soldiers who intermarried with local [[Arabs|Arab]] women during and after the Aksumite–Persian wars. *[[Muslim conquest of Persia]], 7th-century invasion of Iran by the [[Rashidun Caliphate]]. ==References== {{reflist}} == Sources == {{refbegin}} * {{cite encyclopedia | title = Abnāʾ | last = Bosworth | first = C. E. | authorlink = | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/abna-term | editor-last = | editor-first = | editor-link = | encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. I, Fasc. 3 | pages = 226–228 | location = | publisher = | year = 1983 | isbn = }} *{{cite book |authorlink=Glen Bowersock |first=Glen W. |last=Bowersock |title=The Throne of Adulis: Red Sea Wars on the Eve of Islam |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-19-973932-5}} * {{cite encyclopedia | title = Arabia, ii. The Sasanians and Arabia | last = Potts | first = Daniel T. | authorlink = | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/arabia-ii-sasanians-and-arabia | editor-last = | editor-first = | editor-link = | encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia Iranica | pages = | location = | publisher = | year = 2012 | isbn =}} * {{cite book|last= Zakeri|first= Mohsen|title=Sāsānid Soldiers in Early Muslim Society: The Origins of ʿAyyārān and Futuwwa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VfYnu5F20coC|year=1995|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz|location=Wiesbaden|isbn=978-3-447-03652-8}} {{refend}} {{Sasanian Empire}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Aksumite-Persian wars}} [[Category:6th-century conflicts]] [[Category:Abyssinian–Persian wars]] [[Category:South Arabia]]'