Historia Jemanae sub Hasano Pascha

Historia Jemanae sub Hasano Pascha (History of Yemen under Hasan Pasha) is the translation into Latin, and a critical edition, of an Arabic history of the reign of Ottoman governor Hasan Pasha in Yemen in the 16th century, written by his contemporary, ʻAmir ibn Muhammad al-Ruʻami (or al-Du'ami). The original work in Arabic is entitled al-Rawd al-hasan fi akhbar sayir mawlana sahib al-sa'adah al-Basha Hasan fi ayyam wilayatih bi-iqlim Yaman (Agreeable gardens or the sojourn of Lord Hasan Pasha during his governorship of Yemen). The work was translated by Antonius Rutgers (1805-84), a Dutch biblical scholar and professor of oriental languages. Hasan Pasha was one of the most successful Ottoman governors of Yemen. His mission was to restore Yemen to firm Ottoman control and maintain peace against rebellious local rulers, which he accomplished during his 24-year rule (1580-1604). The events of the period are chronicled by the historian al-Ruʻami, about whom little else is known. He was clearly a partisan of Hasan Pasha and never missed an opportunity to praise him with the highest honorifics. Antonius Rutgers based his translation on a manuscript now at the University of Leiden. His work is annotated with historical, linguistic, and cultural commentary. He also supplied many examples of al-Ruʻami's original Arabic text. The book contains an index containing lengthy descriptions of locations mentioned in the text. Rutgers taught theology and oriental languages at the University of Leiden and elsewhere, and is considered the founder of Sanskrit studies in the Netherlands.