[4] During the reign of Kavadh's son, Khosrau I, the Yemenites had requested assistance against Axum dominance, who had occupied their country.
Sayf ibn Dhi-Yazan, the son of Dhu Yazan, went to Khosrau and offered him all of Yemen if his army would defeat the Axumites.
[5] Khosrau then sent Wahrez and his son Nawzadh to Yemen at the head of a small expeditionary force, numbering around 800, of low-ranking Azatan (Azadan) nobility.
[7] During the fighting, Nawzadh was killed,[1] which made Wahrez furious at Masruq ibn Abraha, the Axumite ruler of Yemen.
and probably a ballista equipped with heavy darts), a piece of military technology with which the local peoples were utterly unfamiliar.