Taizz(Taiz)-yemen

Huge anti-Saleh protest in Taiz, June 3: http://tumblr.com/xvn2tvo1fk #YF

Ta'izz (Arabic: تعز Taʿizz‎), or Taiz, is a city in the Yemeni Highlands, near the famous Mocha port on the Red Sea, lying at an elevation of about 1,400 metres above sea level, with 460,000 inhabitants (2003 estimate). It is the capital of Ta'izz Governorate. It also contains the ancient Jewish Sharab.

Ta'izz has a dramatic setting where the roads run up and down the mountain sides. Above the city rises the 3,006 metres high Sabir mountain.

The name of the city appeared first at the 6th century of Hijra, 12th CE, when Turan Shah, the brother of Salah ad-Din, arrived in Yemen in the year 1173 CE. Ta'izz was refortified by Salah ad-Din’s brother, Taktakeen, the Ayyubid.

The second Rasulid King, Almaddhafar (1288 CE), established Ta'izz as the second capital of the Rasulid Dynasty after Zabid. Ibn Battutah visited Taiz in the fourteenth century and described it as one of the largest and most beautiful cities of Yemen.

Ta'izz remained a walled city until 1948 when Imam Ahmed made it the second capital of Yemen, allowing for expansion beyond its fortified wall.

Chronology

1175: Ta'izz is made capital of Yemen as it was incorporated into dominions of the Ayyubid dynasty by Turanshah.

1500 (approximately): The capital is moved to Sana'a by the ruler of the Taharid dynasty.

1516: Ta'izz comes under Ottoman control.

1918: The Ottomans lose Ta'iz to the new independent Yemen.

1948: Ta'izz becomes the administrative capital of Yemen, as it is made the residence of the imam.

1962: State administrations move back to Sana'a.

1960s: The first purified water system of Yemen is opened in Ta'izz