Sharifate of Medina

It was established during the dissolution of the Abbasid empire in the mid-tenth century, and was ruled by a series of sharifs of the Banu Muhanna dynasty, descendants of Muhammad via Ali ibn Abi Talib and his son Husayn.

[3] By the early 10th century, Abbasid control appears to have been nominal at best, and the sources are unclear as to who held power; Medina is reported to have been ruled by the Ja'farids (the Alids' rivals, descendants of Ali's brother Ja'far ibn Abi Talib) at some point.

[4] Unable to ensure the safety of the Hejaz, in 935 and again in 942 the Abbasids handed over jurisdiction for Mecca and Medina to the autonomous Ikhshidid dynasty of Egypt.

[9] The two emirates were also exposed to the rivalries of the great powers of the Muslim world, who by turns wooed and pressured the sharifs to recognize their suzerainty, and exploited dynastic rivalries or used direct military force to impose their preferred candidates as emirs;[10] the sharifs of Medina were adherents of Twelver Shi'ism (as those of Mecca were Zaydi Shi'a),[11] and usually recognized the suzerainty of the Isma'ili Shi'a Fatimid caliphs and mentioned them in the Friday sermon.

[19] Qasim' son and successor, Salim, in turn had to confront the attacks of Qatada ibn Idris, who deposed Mukaththir in 1203 and assumed control of Mecca.

[22][23] Shihah's son, Jammaz, continued the attempts to annex Mecca, but was only briefly successful, occupying the city for 40 days in 1271 and a few months in 1288.

In this they were aided by dynastic disputes among the Banu Muhanna; by the 14th century, Cairo had arrogated the right to appoint the emir, while the latter was downgraded to the status of a mere Mamluk functionary.

[26] Both Mansur and his son and successor, Badr al-Din Kubaysh, lost control of Medina to rival brothers, nephews, or cousin during their absence, and were able to recover it only through Mamluk intercession.

[27] Mansur's descendants remained in power after, with the exception of Wudayy ibn Jammaz's rule in 1336–1343, and a period when the family was ousted from Medina in 1350–1357/8.