Rasulid Dynasty in Yemen

Timeline

1. 1371–1376Zabid · YemenSultan al-Afdal spent nearly every summer at the date-harvest festival (sabt al-subut) in Zabid, presiding over scholarly activities. He compiled a hexaglot dictionary in Arabic, Persian, Turkic, Greek, Armenian, and Mongol, as well as an astrological agricultural almanac. Overwintering in Aden, he reformed taxation, bestowed robes of honor on captains, and abolished recently imposed exactions, winning merchants' praise.
2. 1377Zabid · YemenAl-Afdal al-Abbas died and his son al-Ashraf Isma'il I succeeded him as the seventh Rasulid sultan. The transfer of power was completed peacefully within the dynasty's framework, but local notables and slave-soldier factions had begun intervening in succession disputes, foreshadowing the rise of the Tahirid family in the later 15th century.
3. 1377–1380Yemen · YemenIsma'il I continued his father's tradition of cultural patronage, participating in or presiding over the Yemeni history work Fākihat al-zaman. He meanwhile faced Zaydi tribal raids and interference by local strongmen; the dynasty's control over the northern highlands weakened somewhat, but the Tihama plain and Aden's port trade remained prosperous.