In the time of Muhammad, the Yemeni lands included the large tribal confederations Himyar, Madh'hij, Kindah, Hashid, Bakil, and Azd. An aristocratic group of Persian origins, Abna, dominated Sana'a. After the dissolution of Persian rule in South Arabia, the Abna turned to the emerging Islamic state in order to find support against local Arab rebels. Islam was introduced by functionaries of Muhammad, but the extent of conversion is not known. The land remained much like it had been in pre-Islamic times, and the new religion became another factor in the internal conflicts that afflicted Yemeni society since old. A certain al-Aswad al-Ansi proclaimed himself prophet in 632 and found some support among the Yemenis. He was, however, killed by the Abna and defecting members of his own faction in the same year.