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Jabalah Ibn Al-Aiham
Jabala ibn al-Ayham ( ar, جبلة بن الأيهم) was the last ruler, or phylarch, of the Ghassanid dynasty in Syria in the 7th century. He commanded Arab Christian tribal contingents on behalf of the Byzantine Empire against Arab Muslim forces during the Muslim conquest of Syria in the 630s. In the battles of Dumat al-Jandal in northern Arabia and the decisive battle of Yarmuk in southern Syria in 636, his forces were defeated. He supposedly converted to Islam, before breaking ties with the faith in protest to indignities he consequently suffered related to Islamic egalitarian principles. Afterward, he left Syria permanently, taking refuge with his tribesmen in Byzantine Anatolia. Historians are divided on the historicity of Jabala due the lack of contemporary source material, with some arguing his personality was essentially a literary device of later Islamic writers. Sources There are no contemporary sources about Jabala, with the narratives of his life derived from Abbasid ...
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Phylarch
A phylarch ( el, φύλαρχος, la, phylarchus) is a Greek title meaning "ruler of a tribe", from ''phyle'', "tribe" + ''archein'' "to rule". In Classical Athens, a phylarch was the elected commander of the cavalry provided by each of the city's ten tribes. In the later Roman Empire of the 4th to 7th centuries, the title was given to the leading princes of the Empire's Arab allies in the East (essentially the equivalent to "sheikh"), both those settled within the Empire and outside. From ca. 530 to ca. 585, the individual phylarchs were subordinated to a supreme phylarch from the Ghassanid dynasty. In Thomas More's ''Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...'' (1516), leaders of Utopian cities are called phylarchs. References {{Reflist Ancient Athenian title ...
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Al-Baladhuri
ʾAḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Jābir al-Balādhurī ( ar, أحمد بن يحيى بن جابر البلاذري) was a 9th-century Muslim historian. One of the eminent Middle Eastern historians of his age, he spent most of his life in Baghdad and enjoyed great influence at the court of the caliph al-Mutawakkil. He travelled in Syria and Iraq, compiling information for his major works. His full name was Ahmad Bin Yahya Bin Jabir Al-Baladhuri ( ar, أحمد بن يحيى بن جابر البلاذري), Balazry Ahmad Bin Yahya Bin Jabir Abul Hasan or Abi al-Hassan Baladhuri. Biography Al-Baladhuri's ethnicity has been described as Arab and Persian, although his sympathies seem to have been strongly with the Arabs, for Masudi refers to one of his works in which he rejects Baladhuri's condemnation of non-Arab nationalism Shu'ubiyya. He lived at the court of the caliphs al-Mutawakkil and Al-Musta'in and was tutor to the son of al-Mutazz. He died in 892 as the result of a drug called ...
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Walter Kaegi
Walter Emil Kaegi (8 november 1937, New Albany, Indiana - February 24, 2022) was a historian and scholar of Byzantine history, professor of history at the University of Chicago, and a Voting Member of The Oriental Institute. He received his B.A. from Haverford College in 1959 and his PhD from Harvard University in 1965. He was known for his researches on the period from the 4th through 11th centuries with a special interest in the advance of Islam, interactions with religion and thought, and military subjects. Kaegi is also distinguished for analyzing the Late Roman period in European and Mediterranean context, and has written extensively on Roman, Vandal, Byzantine and Muslim occupation of North Africa. He was known also as the co-founder of the Byzantine Studies Conference and the editor of the journal '' Byzantinische Forschungen''. Bibliography 1970s-1980s *''Byzantium and the Decline of Rome''. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1968; reprinted, 1970. *''Byzantine ...
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Al-Istakhri
Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Farisi al-Istakhri () (also ''Estakhri'', fa, استخری, i.e. from the Iranian city of Istakhr, b. - d. 346 AH/AD 957) was a 10th-century travel-author and geographer who wrote valuable accounts in Arabic of the many Muslim territories he visited during the Abbasid era of the Islamic Golden Age. There is no consensus regarding his origin. Some sources describe him as Persian, while others state he was Arab. IV:222b-223b. The ''Encyclopedia Iranica'' states: "Biographical data are very meager. From his ''nesbas'' (attributive names) he appears to have been a native of Eṣṭaḵr in Fārs, but it is not known whether he was Persian". VIII(6):646-647 (I have used the updated online version). Istakhri's account of windmills is the earliest known. Istakhri met the celebrated traveller-geographer Ibn Hawqal, while travelling, and Ibn Hawqal incorporated the work of Istakhri in his book ''Kitab al-Surat al-Ard''. Works Istakhri's two surviv ...
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Raqqa
Raqqa ( ar, ٱلرَّقَّة, ar-Raqqah, also and ) (Kurdish languages, Kurdish: Reqa/ ڕەقە) is a city in Syria on the northeast bank of the Euphrates River, about east of Aleppo. It is located east of the Tabqa Dam, Syria's largest dam. The Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine city and bishopric Callinicum (formerly a Latin and now a Maronite Catholic titular see) was the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate between 796 and 809, under the reign of Harun al-Rashid. It was also the capital of the Territory of the Islamic State, Islamic State from 2014 to 2017. With a population of 531,952 based on the 2021 official census, Raqqa is the sixth largest city in Syria. During the Syrian Civil War, the city was captured in 2013 by the Syrian opposition and then by the Islamic State. ISIS made the city its capital in 2014. As a result, the city was hit by airstrikes from the Syrian government, Russia, the United States, and Military intervention against ISIL, several other countries. Mos ...
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Umar
ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate on 23 August 634. Umar was a senior companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was also an expert Muslim jurist known for his pious and just nature, which earned him the epithet ''al-Fārūq'' ("the one who distinguishes (between right and wrong)"). Umar initially opposed Muhammad, his distant Qurayshite kinsman and later son-in-law. Following his conversion to Islam in 616, he became the first Muslim to openly pray at the Kaaba. Umar participated in almost all battles and expeditions under Muhammad, who bestowed the title ''al-Fārūq'' ('the Distinguisher') upon Umar, for his judgements. After Muhammad's death in June 632, Umar pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr () as the first caliph and served as the closest adviser t ...
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Hajj
The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by all adult Muslims who are physically and financially capable of undertaking the journey, and of supporting their family during their absence from home. In Islamic terminology, Hajj is a pilgrimage made to the Kaaba, the "House of God", in the sacred city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. It is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, alongside Shahadah (oath to God), Salat (prayer), Zakat (almsgiving) and Sawm (fasting of Ramadan). The Hajj is a demonstration of the solidarity of the Muslim people, and their submission to God ( Allah). The word Hajj means "to attend a journey", which connotes both the outward act of a journey and the inward act of intentions. The rites of pilgrimage are performed over five to six ...
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Medina
Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, and the capital of the Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province of Saudi Arabia. , the estimated population of the city is 1,488,782, making it the List of cities and towns in Saudi Arabia, fourth-most populous city in the country. Located at the core of the Medina Province in the western reaches of the country, the city is distributed over , of which constitutes the city's urban area, while the rest is occupied by the Hijaz Mountains, Hejaz Mountains, empty valleys, Agriculture in Saudi Arabia, agricultural spaces and older dormant volcanoes. Medina is generally considered to be the "cradle of Islamic culture and civilization". The city is considered to be the second-holiest of three key cities in Islamic tradition, with Mecca and ...
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Heraclius
Heraclius ( grc-gre, Ἡράκλειος, Hērákleios; c. 575 – 11 February 641), was List of Byzantine emperors, Eastern Roman emperor from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the Exarchate of Africa, exarch of Africa, led a revolt against the unpopular usurper Phocas. Heraclius's reign was marked by several military campaigns. The year Heraclius came to power, the empire was threatened on multiple frontiers. Heraclius immediately took charge of the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628. The first battles of the campaign ended in defeat for the Byzantines; the Persian army fought their way to the Bosphorus but Constantinople was protected by impenetrable walls and a strong navy, and Heraclius was able to avoid total defeat. Soon after, he initiated reforms to rebuild and strengthen the military. Heraclius drove the Persians out of Asia Minor and pushed deep into their territory, defeating them decisively in 627 at the ...
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Bali (tribe)
Balī () is an Arab tribe present in northwestern Saudi Arabia, Jordan and historically in Egypt and Sudan and a major component of the Quda'a tribal grouping. In the pre-Islamic period, the southern branches of the tribe inhabited northwestern Arabia and developed close ties with Jewish communities resident in its oases, while the northern branch established itself in Transjordan and served as auxiliaries of the Byzantine Empire. With the advent of Islam, Bali townspeople in Medina embraced the new religion and several were slain fighting the Quraysh of Mecca. The Bali played a prominent role in the Muslim conquest of Egypt and a large part of the tribe was transferred to the region. They initially had their settlements in Middle Egypt but ultimately migrated to the Sudan during Mamluk rule and significantly contributed to the region's Arabization and Islamization. The tribe remained active in Arabia as late as World War I and the border wars between the Emirate of Transjordan and ...
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Balqayn
Banū al-Qayn () (also spelled Banūʾl Qayn, Balqayn or al-Qayn ibn Jasr) were an Arab tribe that was active between the early Roman Empire, Roman era in the Near East through the early Islamic era (7th–8th centuries CE), as far as the historical record is concerned. Origins According to traditional Arab genealogy, the Banu al-Qayn was founded by a certain al-Nu'man ibn Jasr, who was known as ''al-Qayn'' (the iron smith).Watt, p. 820. However, according to all historical indications, the tribe was strictly Bedouin and its tribesmen did not involve themselves in metalwork. The Banu al-Qayn formed part of the Quda'a, a large tribal confederation. History According to historian Irfan Shahid, "it is almost certain" that the Banu al-Qayn, along with the Judham and Amila tribes, "functioned as military units in the Roman Empire, Roman period, forming part of the Nabataeans, Nabatean confederacy".Shahid, p. 390. Moreover, Shahid argues the Banu al-Qayn dated back to the biblical era and ...
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