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“And now, at the end of our labors, let us thank Almaqah for granting us victory, and all those who fought with us. Know now that your struggles have not been in vain, and that through your sacrifice you have begun a glorious new era of peace and prosperity.” – Yazil Il Watar, upon defeating the last of his rivals.

Yazil Il Watar and his son's victories over the Hadramawt and Ma'in armies had crushed any hope the allied tribes had of quickly driving the Sabaeans out of Qataban, and forced them to focus on defending themselves. They were granted a brief respite during the summer, as the climate and Yazil's weary and depleted troops made it impossible for him to continue his campaign immediately. During that summer, an attempt was made on Yazil's life, but he managed to avoid the assasin, and by the time autumn came, Qataban was firmly under his control, and he had retrained and gathered more men to his cause. Yazil then marched on the Hadramawt, whom he judged to be the stronger of his two remaining foes.



The Hadrami Malek, Luhay'ath, was a noble man, who fervently believed in the justness of his cause, however, his abilities did not match his ambitions. He was a well spoken, but dull man, and his health was often poor.



Regardless, he had under his command an impressive force of nearly eight and a half thousand men, and many of them were well trained urban militia. By comparison, most of Yazil's six thousand were tribal levies, with a small number of Ethiopian mercenaries. The Hadramawt capital of Sabata was a caravan city, and had little to nothing in the way of defenses. Nonetheless, convinced of his superior forces, Luhay'ath refused to surrender, and so Yazil was forced to march on the city.



Rather than face Yazil in open battle outside the city, Luhay'ath positioned his men in defense of the city streets, leaving only a small force of archers to slow Yazil's advance, which were swiftly dispatched.



Yazil's men harassed the Hadramis, but refused to engage them in the city streets, always falling back at the last moment. Luhay'ath grew impatient, and eventually rode out personally with his cavalry, hoping to lure Yazil into a battle inside the city.



Yazil, sieving this opportunity, surrounded Luhay'ath, and, after a brutal melee, the Hadramawt Malek fell in battle, and his remaining men fled to the city center.



Despite losing their king and over half their men, the militia in the town square fought a bitter struggle, killing many of Yazil's men before falling themselves. Thus, Yazil was able to take Sabata and the lands of Hadramawt.



Though Yazil plundered the city, he showed more mercy to the Hadramawt than he had to the Qataban. Rather than enslaving them, he moved half of the population of Sabata to Tamane. His plan was to intermingle the divided tribes, making it harder for them to organize an ethnic revolt, and easier for the Saba to build a common culture.



With the defeat of the Hadramis, only Nasha Karab, the king of Ma'in, remained independent. Having already been defeated once by Yazil's son, he saw no point in continuing to resist Yazil alone. He was willing to nominally recognize Yazil's claim as the Mukarrib, and marry his daughter, Na'amat, to Yakrib, in return for maintaining his independence. Yazil reluctantly accepted the offer. Defeating the Hadramis had cost him more than expected, both in terms of gold, and in lives, and he knew that it would take some time for his forces to recuperate. In addition, a truce would allow him an opportunity to more fully secure his conquests.



This peace wasn't lasting, however. Barely a year later, Nasha Karab died under suspicious circumstances, and his son, Il Sharih, took the Ma'in throne. Sharih was viewed by Yazil as a conniving and untrustworthy character, and his actions now proved his suspicions.



Sharih began hiring large numbers of Ethiopian mercenaries, and openly mocked Yazil's authority. Yazil decided to strike first with what limited troops he had, rather then try to out-recruit Sharih. Thus, in the fall of the third year of his reign, he marched on the city of Carna.



Carna was a smaller city than Tamane or Sabata had been, and like them, it had little in the way of defenses. Il Sharih saw little point in fighting in the city where he would not be able to take real advantage of his superior numbers, and so, as Yazil approached the city, Il Sharih marched out to meet them.



Yazil was taken by surprise by this move. He had assumed that Il Sharih was a coward as well as a traitor, but clearly he was made of sterner stuff than he had anticipated. Because of this, Yazil decided to hold back, and take up a defensive position.



Sharih's men advanced and skirmished with the Saba, trying to pull them forward, but Yazil's men pulled back, forcing the enemy to divide their forces. Sharih himself charged and engaged Yazil, but was forced to pull back.



The battle became utter chaos, but eventually Yazil's guerrilla tactics whittled down the Minaeans to the point where they were being pushed back. Sensing the tide change, Yazil blew his great horn, and his men suddenly turned to face their pursuers. At the same time, Yazil's cavalry, who had mainly held back during the battle, charged straight towards the gate of the city.



At this, the enemy fell apart, and in the confusion, Il Sharih fell from his horse and was trampled by his own men. With no defense left, Carna quickly fell, and Yazil emerged victorious, and with it, the struggle for supremacy among the kingdoms of Southern Arabia came to an end.



The battle for Carna had been the most difficult struggle of the entire war. Over half of Yazil's men fell in battle in order to overcome such difficult odds, and that he had emerged victorious seemed completely miraculous. The people of Carna prostrated themselves before him and begged for mercy, which he granted them. He had seen enough death, and felt that a magnanimous gesture would discourage further rebellion. And so it was, at the beginning of the fourth year of his reign, that Yazil Il Watar became the undisputed Mukarrib of the Yemeni kingdoms.