Banu Ukhaidhir

An Alid dynasty, they were descendants of Muhammad through his daughter Fatima and his grandson Al-Hasan, and at least one contemporary traveler[1] describes them as having been Shi'ites of the Zaydi persuasion.

[4] Al-Yamamah at the time was nominally part of the Abbasid Caliphate, but the central government had largely neglected the area for years due to its remoteness.

When Muhammad arrived in al-Yamamah, he likely gained the support of the Banu Hanifa, the largest tribe in the area, and created an independent amirate.

Descriptions of the extent of the amirate by medieval Muslim historians vary; one source states that it controlled only al-Khidhrimah and its outskirts, while another claims that it ruled over a territory that extended as far north as Qurran.

Muhammad has been blamed for this period of hardship due to his oppressive rule,[8] although it has been noted that reports of mass emigration from al-Yamamah began years before his arrival.