Seiyun is first mentioned in the beginning of the 4th-century, which dates back to the reign of King Dhamar who ruled at the beginning of the 4th-century the area around Hadhramaut Valley and known for destroying sixty thousand columns in the area. Destruction of the columns confirms that the Hadhramaut region was undergoing an economic prosperity owing from spread of grape cultivation in large areas under the climatic conditions different from the current circumstances.

Seiyun during the Islamic period emerged as a village in the era of the Rashidun Caliphate. It was administratively followed by the city of Tarim. This was the case during the Umayyad period as well. In 708, it became administratively affiliated with the city of Shibam. The son of Haritha led the revolution in 1179 but it gained its autonomy only in the year 1501 when it became the capital of the valley in the era of Badr Abu Tuwairq (1501-1556), where an administrative unit consisting of a sultanate that extended from Ain Ba to the west of the city of Dhofar was founded. In the 18th-century, Yafa conquered the cities of Hadhramaut and took over many parts of Seiyun, where the state was established. In 1852, it became the capital of the State of Kathiri (Aden-Kathiri) which was within the British Aden Protectorate (1869 - 1963). Its fortified fortress, the Sultan's Palace, was the seat of Sultan al-Kathiri. Postage stamps from the Sultanate were sometimes inscribed "Kathiri State of Seiyun." After the independence from British colonialism, Seiyun became the capital of the Southern district in the fifth province of Hadhramaut.[1]