Mawza Exile

The Mawzaʿ Exile (Hebrew: גלות מוזע, romanized: gāluṯ mawzaʻ; 1679–1680) is an event experienced by Yemenite Jews, in which Jews living in nearly all cities and towns throughout Yemen were banished by decree of the ruler, al-Mahdi Ahmad, and sent to a dry and barren region of the country named Mawzaʿ. Only a few communities, inhabitants who lived in the far eastern quarters of Yemen (now Nihm, al-Jawf, and Khawlan in the east) were spared this fate by their mawali (Muslim patrons), who refused to obey the king's orders. Many would die along the route and while confined to the hot and arid conditions of this forbidding terrain. After one year in exile, the exiles were called back to perform their usual tasks and labors for their Muslim counterparts, who had been deprived of goods and services on account of their exile.