Beihan

Beihan ( _ar. بيحان), also known as Bayhan al Qisab (Arabic: بيحان القصاب), is a city in western Yemen, which has about 100.000 inhabitants according to the census of 2005 conducted by the Yemeni government. It was the capital city of Emirate of Beihan in past. Beihan today represents an administrative province belongs to Shabwah Governorate.

Geographically, Beihan is a valley connected between al-Baidha in the north-west, Ma'rib in the east and Ataq in the south. It is a fertile valley irrigated by water streams fall from the northern mountains as well as from the digged wells. The main cultivated crops are dates, cereals and citrus and people depend on livestocks to a large extent to survive. Nonetheless, people increasingly adopt trade and exchange commerce; in addition to incorporate to the government business.

Socially, Beihan comprises different societal composition. The main is the tribe of Masabin and tribe of Belharith; in addition to a lesser number of Sada and Ashraf (the two latters claim they descended from the prophet Muhammad) also majority of the population, consists of non-tribal large families who have lived in Bayhan for hundreds of years. Historically, the paramount sheikh of Masabin tribe, Ahmed Saif and later his son Abdelqader, used to be the real rulers of the region and their ancestors before them. This status, for political reasons related to the British policy in the south Arabia, was changed. The consequences of such policy resulted in placing sheriff Hussein firmly in power for the first time in 1943 until the independence in 1967. The elimination of sheikhs Ahmed Saif and his son Abdeqader by assassination in order to pave the way for the implementation of the above mentioned British policy still has tragidic resonance amongst Masabin tribesmen. However, with the Marxist regime seized power in south Arabia in 1967 all notables flew outside the country, mainly to Saudi Arabia, which lasted until the aftermath of 1994 that resulted in defeating the Yemeni Socialist Party in the civil war. Beihan now is a part of the central Yemeni government and represented in the parliament by one MP.

See also

* Emirate of Beihan
* Timna (The historical name of Beihan)