Yemini Persians

The Himyarites established their capital at Dhafar (now just a small village in the Ibb region) in the 5th century, and gradually absorbed the Sabaean kingdom. They traded from the port of al-Muza on the Red Sea. Dhu Nuwas, a Himyarite king, changed the state religion to Judaism in the beginning of the 6th century and began to massacre the Christians. Outraged, the Christian King of Axum with the encouragement of the Byzantine Emperor Justin I invaded and annexed Yemen. About forty years later, Yemen fell to Persia.

Persian period

The Persian King of Kings sent troops under the command of Wahriz, who helped the semi-legendary Saif ibn Di Yazan to drive the Abyssinians out of Yemen. Southern Arabia became a Persian dominion under a Yemenite vassal and thus came within the sphere of influence of the Sassanid Empire. Later another army was sent to Yemen, and in 597/8 Southern Arabia became a province of the Sassanid Empire under a Persian satrap. This development was a consequence of the expansionary policy persued by the Sassanian king Khosrau II Parviz (590-628), whose aim was to secure Persian border areas such as Yemen. Following the death of Khosrau II in 628, then the Persian governor in Southern Arabia, Badhan, converted to Islam and Yemen followed the new religion. (1).