Aksumite–Persian wars participant Sasanian Empire
Context
Around 520 CE, Kaleb of Aksum sent a military expedition to Yemen to fight against Dhu Nuwas, a Jewish ruler of the Himyarite Kingdom who had gained notoriety for his ongoing persecution of the Christian community in Najran. Following the successful Aksumite invasion, Nuwas was deposed and executed, and Kaleb appointed a Christian Himyarite native, Sumūyafa Ashwa, as his viceroy. However, around 525, Ashwa was deposed by the Aksumite general Abraha, who declared himself as the king of the new Himyarite–Aksumite Kingdom.
After Abraha's death, his son Masruq ibn Abraha continued the Aksumite vice-royalty in Yemen and resumed payment of tribute to the Kingdom of Aksum; he ended the joint Himyarite–Aksumite Kingdom and annexed it to the Aksumite kingdom. Following these events, Masuq's half-brother Maʽd-Karib revolted against him. After being denied aid by Justin II of the Byzantine Empire, Maʽd-Karib sought help from Khosrow I of the Sasanian Persian Empire.Course of conflict
In response to Maʽd-Karib's request, Khosrow I sent the Sasanian military general Wahrez and his son Nawzadh to Aksumite-ruled Yemen at the head of a small expeditionary force of 800 Dailamite cavalrymen in 570 CE. The Sasanian military, onboard eight ships, sailed around the coasts of the Arabian Peninsula; although two of the ships were wrecked, the rest successfully docked in the Hadhramaut region of southern Arabia. The strength of the Sasanian expeditionary force is variously given as 3,600 or 7,500 (Ibn Qutaybah), or 800 (al-Tabari). Modern estimates place the Sasanian force's numbers at 16,000 men. The Persians sailed from the port of Obolla, seized the Bahrain Islands, and subsequently moved on Sohar, the portside capital of historical Oman; they then captured Dhofar and the remainder of Hadhramaut before landing at Aden.During the initial invasion, Nawzadh was killed by Aksumite forces. This event led Wahrez to pursue a vendetta against the Ethiopian ruler of Yemen, Masruq ibn Abraha, who was personally executed by Wahrez at the Battle of Hadhramaut. The decisive Persian victory at Hadhramaut marked the beginning of the Aksumite retreat and the subsequent besieging of Sanaʽa by the Persians.