Abstract
This contribution focuses on the beginnings of the tribal federation called Khawlān in the north of what today is Yemen. Al-Hamdānī, the Yemeni philosopher, genealogist and astronomer writes about these beginnings in two of his works; a passage from Nashwān’s ‘Shams al-‘ulūm’ will complete the picture. At first, a son of Khawlan migrates from Ma’rib to Ṣirwāḥ, in the territory of another group called Khawlān. From there, a grandson of the first migrant goes on to the region of Ṣa‘da, where he forms a federation with another tribal group. Both settle in the plain of Ṣa‘da or in the mountainous region west of it. To accomplish that, they have to wage war against Hamdān who are the original settlers there.
These are the basic facts deducible from the texts. Khawlān really comes into view when the tribal groups wage war. The groups of the original migrants and their allies are not related. Religion plays no part in the occurrences put forward in the texts. As far as possible, these narrations are interpreted and brought into relation to the tribal situation of Yemen at the time.
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