Much of the modern historiography of medieval South Arabia has focused on its invasion by a succession of foreign states and the consolidation of their power over the main centers of their dominion. This paper instead explores the impact of the Rasulids and Mamluks on a region located in the central highlands of Yemen, which remained on the periphery and served as a place of resistance to their expansion. Located approximately 100 kilometers south of Sanaa, the local tribes of the Dhamar Basin were subdued during the Ayyubid conquest of the late 12th century, but a mere two decades later they began to fight back with the help of Zaydi tribesmen from the north who had already established a hijra in the area two centuries earlier. This response set the stage for the next century and a half during which this region serves as a frontier where the Zaydis, Rasulids, and local tribes contest for political dominance as recorded in state chronicles. During this period, Rasulid administrative documents from the late 13th and early 14th century, including a cursory inventory of the wares and their prices at the Dhamar urban market as well as a map depicting local towns and landforms, demonstrate their interest and attempts at integrating the basin more closely into their economy and area of taxation. Yet, at the same time, the architectural record exposes the nearly total absence of Rasulid public works in the Dhamar Basin, unlike their lavish building practices in other regions under their rule, further revealing their minimal commitment or ability to establish a durable physical and ideological presence there. By the middle of the 14th century, the Rasulids permanently lose their influence in the region, although their local political successors, the Tahirids, reopen this arena for warfare a century later. Finally, even briefer than the rule of the Ayyubids, the Mamluks restart the cycle of foreign conquest and invade the Yemeni highlands in 1515. Despite the fact that only two years later they lose their power to the Ottomans precluding any attempt to more permanently take control over Yemen, their introduction of firearms to the region has significant consequences.