Centers of international trade:

The way international trade worked was there were 2 centers of civilization

• There were Europe and Africas that were connected to the Arab region from one side. These regions were connected through Syria.

• On the other side there were India and China. But they couldn’t connect directly to Syria. So, they were connected to the coast of Yemen.

So the 4 major markets of the world were connected through these 2 ports – Syria and Yemen. These 2 ports became central and the road connecting these 2 ports was used to transport goods and services. The 4 major markets could’ve also connected by sea but the pathways through the sea were very treacherous.

The Saba Empire:

This route was called the Saba empire (also called Sabean empire in academics). This empire had 2 strengths – one was the trade route and the second was that they had an incredible irrigation system. They had built huge dams and they had a lot of successful agriculture across the coast of Yemen. Hence, not only were they trading other nations goods but they were also exporting their own goods.

Massive flood and the collapse of Saba Empire:

Around the year of 450 AD, there was a massive flood and the dams broke. The empire got paralyzed – most of the region was flooded, there was a huge economic catastrophe, the ports were destroyed, the trade routes collapsed and a lot of the Yemenis that lived in the region spread out to all over Arabia. 

Aws and Khazraj (the tribes that lived in Yathrib (later called Madina) when Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) moved to Yathrib) were also expatriates from that region.

Such levels of massive displacement happen even today when there’s a flood in a region.

After the massive flood, the Saba Empire was not the central power that they once were and the market that they controlled was also no longer under their direct control.