Southern Arabia in the context of Old South Arabian languages

The Ayyubid dynasty (Arabic: الأيوبيون, romanized: al-Ayyūbīyūn), also known as the Ayyubid Sultanate, was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. A Sunni Muslim of Kurdish origin, Saladin had originally served the Zengid ruler Nur al-Din, leading the latter's army against the Crusaders in Fatimid Egypt, where he was made vizier. Following the death of his Zengid suzerain Nur al-Din in 1174, Saladin was proclaimed as the first Sultan of Egypt by the Abbasid Caliphate, and rapidly expanded the new sultanate beyond Egypt to encompass most of Syria, in addition to Hijaz, Yemen, northern Nubia, Tripolitania and Upper Mesopotamia. Saladin's military campaigns set the general borders and sphere of influence of the sultanate of Egypt for the almost 350 years of its existence. Most of the Crusader states fell to Saladin after his victory at the Battle of Hattin in 1187, but the Crusaders reconquered the Syrian coastlands in the 1190s.

After Saladin's death in 1193, his sons contested control of the sultanate, but Saladin's brother al-Adil ultimately became sultan in 1200. All of the later Ayyubid sultans of Egypt were his descendants. In the 1230s, the emirs of Syria attempted to assert their independence from Egypt and the Ayyubid realm remained divided until Sultan as-Salih Ayyub restored its unity by subduing most of Syria, except Aleppo, by 1247. By then, local Muslim dynasties had driven out the Ayyubids from Yemen, the Hejaz, and parts of Mesopotamia. After his death in 1249, as-Salih Ayyub was succeeded in Egypt by his son al-Mu'azzam Turanshah. However, the latter was soon overthrown by his Mamluk generals who had repelled a Crusader invasion of the Nile Delta. This effectively ended Ayyubid power in Egypt. Attempts by the emirs of Syria, led by an-Nasir Yusuf of Aleppo, to wrest back Egypt failed. In 1260, the Mongols sacked Aleppo and conquered the Ayyubids' remaining territories soon after. The Mamluks, who expelled the Mongols, maintained the Ayyubid principality of Hama until deposing its last ruler in 1341.

The Indian Ocean slave trade, sometimes known as the East African slave trade, involved the capture and transportation of predominately sub-Saharan African slaves along the coasts, such as the Swahili Coast and the Horn of Africa, and through the Indian Ocean. Affected areas included East Africa, Southern Arabia, the west coast of India, Indian ocean islands (including Madagascar) and southeast Asia including Java.

The source of slaves was primarily in sub-Saharan Africa, but also included North Africa and the Middle East, Indian Ocean islands, as well as South Asia. While the slave trade in the Indian Ocean started 4,000 years ago, it expanded significantly in late antiquity (1st century CE) with the rise of Byzantine and Sassanid trading enterprises. Muslim slave trading started in the 7th century, with the volume of trade fluctuating with the rise and fall of local powers. Beginning in the 16th century, slaves were traded to the Americas, including Caribbean colonies, as Northern, Western, and Southern European powers became involved in the slave trade. Trade declined with the abolition of slavery in the 19th century.

The Adnanites (Arabic: عَدْنَانِيُّون, romanized: ʿadnāniyyūn) were a tribal confederation of the Ishmaelite Arabs who originate from the Hejaz. They trace their lineage back to Ishmael, son of the Islamic prophet and patriarch Abraham and his wife Hagar, through Adnan. The Islamic prophet Muhammad belonged to the Quraysh tribe of the 'Adnanites'.

According to the Arab tradition, the Adnanites are the Northern Arabs, unlike the Qahtanite Arabs of southern Arabia, who are descended from Qahtan, son of the Islamic prophet Hūdʿ.

The Second Aliyah (Hebrew: העלייה השנייה, romanized: HaAliyah HaShniya) was an aliyah (Jewish immigration to the Land of Israel) that took place between 1904 and 1914, during which approximately 35,000 Jews, mostly from Russia, with some from Yemen, immigrated into Ottoman Palestine.

The Second Aliyah was a small part of the greater emigration of Jews from Eastern Europe which lasted from the 1870s until the 1920s. During this time, over two million Jews emigrated from Eastern Europe. The majority of these emigrants settled in the United States where there was the greatest economic opportunity. Others settled in South America, Australia, and South Africa.

Khat (Catha edulis), also known as Bushman's tea, especially in South Africa, is a flowering plant native to eastern and southeastern Africa. It has a history of cultivation originating in the Harar area (present day eastern Ethiopia) and subsequently introduced at different times to countries nearby in East Africa and Southern Arabia, most notably Yemen. Cultivated by farmers, its leaves are sold on the market to be chewed as a recreational stimulant. The world's largest consumers are Eastern Africans, particularly Somalis, and nearby Yemen, with the largest producers/exporters being Ethiopia and Kenya.

Khat contains the alkaloid cathinone, a stimulant which causes greater sociability, excitement, mild loss of appetite and mild euphoria. Among communities from the areas where the plant is native, khat-chewing has historical relevance (as a social custom, especially among men) dating back thousands of years, analogous—but slightly different—to the use of coca leaves in South America's Andes Mountains or the betel nut preparations in South Asia.

Lahej (Arabic: لحج Laḥij), the Sultanate of Lahej (Arabic: سلطنة لحج Salṭanat Laḥij), or, sometimes, the Abdali Sultanate (Arabic: سلطنة العبدلي Salṭanat al-'Abdalī), was a Sheikdom based in Lahij in Southern Arabia. The Sultanate became self-ruling in 1728 and gained independence in 1740. In 1839, the Sultanate became part of the Aden Protectorate of the British Empire, though nominally the 'Abdali Sultan retained his status. The Aden Protectorate was briefly ruled again by the Ottomans during World War I, but regained by the British after the Ottoman defeat in World War I and absorbed into Federation of South Arabia in 1963. The 'Abdali dynasty was officially abolished in 1967, with the proclamation of South Yemen.