In considerable territory of eastern and southern Arabia, before the rise of Islam, the elite of the Kingdom of Himyar converted to Judaism. This kingdom was powerful, twice succeeding in repelling domination by Ethiopia, and preventing the anti-Jewish Byzantines from passing through its territory to India to conduct trade. This Jewish kingdom came to an end with a final war with Ethiopia that resulted in its destruction.And all this, of course, has almost nothing to do with the cuneiform tablet used to illustrate the article. The tablet is from the recently published collection of cuneiform texts written by Judean exiles in Babylonia (on which, more here and follow the links back), but it was written many centuries earlier than the kingdoms discussed in the article and the writers did not have their own kingdom. They were in the thrall of the Neo-Babylonian kingdom that exiled them there.
A more well-known example of a Jewish Diaspora kingdom is the Khazars. Located in Eastern Europe, this kingdom’s leaders converted to Judaism and adopted the hallmarks of Jewish civilization.
The kingdom flourished from 650 CE to 1016 CE, but was eventually overrun by enemies and scattered. The Khazars were known as brave warriors and ignited the imagination of medieval Hebrew poet Judah Halevi, whose philosophical work, The Kuzari, uses the adoption of Judaism by the Khazar king as a launching point to delve into an analysis and understanding of Judaism, revelation and prophecy.
Least known, however, is the kingdom of Mar Zutra, that rose to brief prominence in the period after the redaction and editing of the Talmud.
As for the article, which deals with three Jewish kingdoms from late antiquity: more on the Himyar kingdom is here, here, and here; and more on the Khazars is here and links. I can't find any past posts on the "least known" kingdom of Mar Zutra. And as for the political conclusions of the article, I leave it to you to do with them what you will.
