Ahmad bin Yahya

Ahmad ibn Yahya (Arabic: أحمد بن يحيى حميد الدين, Aḥmad ibn Yahya Hamid DMG ad -Din, * 1891, † September 18, 1962 in Dar Al- Bashair, Bir Al- Azab, Sanaa ) was the penultimate king of the Zaydi in North Yemen ( 1948-1962 ).

After the assassination of his father Yahya Muhammad Hamid ad-Din in February 1948, Ahmad allied with the tribes of the North Yemen against the rebels and captured with these in March 1948 the capital Sanaa. This led to heavy looting in the city. The coup leaders and the rulers appointed by them al - Wazir were executed.

Also, Ahmad maintained the introduced by his father isolation of the country. The general backwardness led to the decline of agriculture and the outbreak of famine. Nevertheless, began using the UN a slow modernization of infrastructure, education and health. The absolutist government of Ahmad led in 1955 to a revolt of his brother Saif ad-Din Abdallah, who even temporarily at his residence besieged Ahmad in Taiz. Also known as Crown Prince Muhammad al- Badr, during a curative stay of Ahmad abroad, to accelerate the modernization with the help of Soviet and Chinese advisers sought, these efforts of Ahmad were suppressed. However, he was severely wounded in an assassination attempt in March 1961, the government transferred now his son Muhammad al- Badr, who after the death of Ahmad (19 September 1962), also King of North Yemen.