Region in Saudi Arabia along the Red Sea, bordered on the north by Hejaz and the south by Yemen. The name Asir means "the Unreachable"; it is a mountainous region with a tradition of regional autonomy. In the 1830,s an emirate, nominally under Yemenite suzereinty, was created in Asir by Ahmad al-Idris, a Sayyid (descendent of Muhammad) from Morocco. Ahmad, who was on pilgrimage to Mecca, settled in the city of Sabija and declared himself both Emir and Imam of Asir.