Ta'izz

Taizz lies in the Yemeni highlands at the foot of Jabal Sabir, a short ride from the port of Aden. The second Rasulid sultan, al-Muzaffar, moved his capital here from Sanaa in 1288, and under the dynasty, which ruled until 1454, the city had its golden age: the sultans spent lavishly on palaces, mosques and madrasas, and it became a centre for the study of Shafi'i law. Ibn Battuta, who came in 1332, called it one of the finest and largest towns in Yemen. He described three quarters: the king's residence, the military station of 'Udayna, and al-Mahalib, which held the commoners and the main market.

The Tahirids inherited the Rasulid lands, and in 1517 the Zaidi imam al-Mutawakkil Yahya Sharaf al-Din took Taizz with Mamluk help. After Hadım Süleyman Pasha stormed Aden in 1538, the Ottomans took the highlands, and Taizz fell to them about 1547. The Zaidi imams kept rising against them: al-Mutahhar bin Yahya seized Taizz and Aden, and in 1569 Osman Pasha besieged the fortress of al-Qahira without taking it, before Sinan Pasha recaptured the city.