Ali Nasser Al-Qardai Explained

Ali Nasser Al-Qardai
Native Name:علي ناصر القردعي
Birth Date:1885
Birth Place:Rahabah, Yemen Vilayet, Ottoman Empire
Death Place:Sanaa, North Yemen
Occupation:Poet, revolutionary and tribal leader
Known For:Assassination of Imam Yahya
Chief of Murad Tribes
Movement:Free Yemeni Movement

Ali Nasser Al-Qardai (:1885–1948) was a Yemeni poet, revolutionary and tribal leader.[1] He is best known for his assassination of the then ruling king of Yemen, Imam Yahya, during the Alwaziri coup.

Biography

Ali was born in 1885 in Al-Rahaba district, Marib Governorate (then under Ottoman rule).[2] [3] He received no formal education. Instead, he hired a private teacher. In 1925, he succeeded his father as chief of Murad tribes. Al-Qardai opposed Imam Yahya and criticized his rule using poetry. After Imam failed to buy his loyalty and influence his tribes, he sent a military campaign to arrest him in 1929.[4] Tribes led by Ali resisted the campaign, but he and his brother Ahmed were imprisoned two years later. His brother was sentenced to death, and he was imprisoned until he escaped in 1936.[5]

In 1940, he joined the Free Yemeni Movement that planned the Alwaziri coup. He was tasked with assassinating Imam Yahya. On 17 February 1948, Al-Qardai shot and killed the Imam in an ambush outside of Sana'a.[6] The coup failed and was quelled by the son of Imam Yahya, Ahmed bin Yahya. Al-Qardai was arrested in Khawlan. He was beheaded and his head was hung for two months at the gate of Sana'a.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Who is Ali Nasser Al-Qarda'ee, the man Yemenis around the country are remembering on February 17th? . 14 February 2023 . Almasdar Online.
  2. Web site: 26 November 2005 . الشيخ الشهيد / علي ناصر القردعي . Martyr Sheikh / Ali Nasser Al-Qardai . 14 February 2023 . Marebpress . ar.
  3. Web site: 1 October 2019 . الشهيد علي ناصر القردعي..الثائر الذي ألقى الطاغية صريعاً – سبتمبر نت . 14 February 2023 . ar.
  4. Web site: 7 April 2017 . علي ناصر القردعي . Ali Nasser Al-Qardai . 14 February 2023 . 14october . https://web.archive.org/web/20170407054122/http://www.14october.com/news.aspx?newsno=132299 . 7 April 2017 . ar.
  5. Web site: علي ناصر القردعي: الثائر الاستثنائي . 14 February 2023 . نشوان نيوز . ar.
  6. Book: الفضيل, د زيد . الحركة الثقافية في اليمن . 12 December 2012 . دار سيبويه للطباعة والنشر والتوزيع . ar.