WI: Ethiopia vassalizes South Arabia, again?

[GauchoBadger]

A rather simple scenario.
So, with a PoD after 1000, that is, after Queen Gudit's purported "reign of terror", how can Ethiopia oversee stable enough growth to politically and economically vassalize the tribes of Yemen on the other side of the Red Sea, like Axum had done centuries before?
How does a new period of Ethiopian suzerainty over Yemen affect Mamluk Egypt, considering that the Negus now has practically a monopoly over trade with India?
If Ethiopia has significant control over the Straits of Aden up towards the Ottoman conquest of Egypt, how would Turco-Ethiopian relations develop?

 

[EnvarKadri]

A rather simple scenario.
So, with a PoD after 1000, that is, after Queen Gudit's purported "reign of terror", how can Ethiopia oversee stable enough growth to politically and economically vassalize the tribes of Yemen on the other side of the Red Sea, like Axum had done centuries before?
How does a new period of Ethiopian suzerainty over Yemen affect Mamluk Egypt, considering that the Negus now has practically a monopoly over trade with India?
If Ethiopia has significant control over the Straits of Aden up towards the Ottoman conquest of Egypt, how would Turco-Ethiopian relations develop?

With Yemen you mean the Zaidi plus Aden? Its the idea some sort of Shia-Ethiopian christian "alliance"? Like the Zaidi prefering Ethiopia over some nearby sunni power?

 

[GauchoBadger]

With Yemen you mean the Zaidi plus Aden? Its the idea some sort of Shia-Ethiopian christian "alliance"? Like the Zaidi prefering Ethiopia over some nearby sunni power?

That could work.

 

[LostInNewDelhi]

The Zaidis, with their center in Sa'ada, are far enough inland that they don't really need protection and are too hard to conquer. Until the Ottomans (and even during early Ottoman rule) conquerors from outside focused more on coastal Yemen and had difficulty breaking into the desert interior. This is part of the reason why the Zaidi imamate lasted a millennium (I'm considering the Kingdom of North Yemen to be the last stage of the Imamate).

The Ismailis, on the other hand, are a much more natural ally. Mostly located in the coast and western highlands, they were just fine with collaborating with Sunni courts in order to ensure their safety and collaborate against mutual enemies (usually the Zaidis). They also have the force of numbers to act as an intermediary for Ethiopian authority, and their mercantile/missionary links to Indian Ismailis present a chance for profit. Maybe the Ethiopians can agree to keep the Yemen-India pilgrimage route open and safe so long as the traffic makes a stopover at Ethiopian ports or something.

The problem is that with a POD within or immediately after the 1000s, Yemen will still have to deal with the 1100s Ayyubid invasion. Ethiopia might be evicted in the short term but can probably regain their losses after Turanshah, the first Ayyubid viceroy of Yemen, dies. OTL, firm Ayyubid control of even the accessible coast sorta died with him.

 

[OurSacredWar]

A rather simple scenario.
So, with a PoD after 1000, that is, after Queen Gudit's purported "reign of terror", how can Ethiopia oversee stable enough growth to politically and economically vassalize the tribes of Yemen on the other side of the Red Sea, like Axum had done centuries before?
How does a new period of Ethiopian suzerainty over Yemen affect Mamluk Egypt, considering that the Negus now has practically a monopoly over trade with India?
If Ethiopia has significant control over the Straits of Aden up towards the Ottoman conquest of Egypt, how would Turco-Ethiopian relations develop?

Could happen if Amda Tseyon is much more successful in his expansion campaigns, preventing the remnants of the Walashma Dynasty from fleeing Ifat to establish the Adal Sultanate who are a major obstacle to Ethiopian expansion later on - taking control of the Muslim-dominated trade routes in the Ethiopian hinterlands would also help Ethiopia. It paves the way for a more stable Ethiopia to emerge, perhaps one with an actually permanent capital based either in Amhara or Shewa province where the same urbanization process that Zagwean Ethiopia followed is re-sparked around TTL's capital. By the 15th Century, Ethiopia is stable and strong enough to focus on its ambitions around the Red Sea which begins to become an Ethiopian lake as this Ethiopia successfully comes into control of the trade coming from the Indian Ocean. It could go on to vassalize and maybe even annex Yemen but I doubt Ethiopia will be able to hold onto it for long.

Relations with Egypt and later on, Turkey, probably aren't the best if they aren't out right hostile towards one another - the Turks might attempt to conquer Ethiopia earlier and fail as they did IOTL.