Kamal-ud-din Bihzad - Construction of the fort of Kharnaq

Al-Hirah ( ar, الحيرة, translit=al-Ḥīra Middle Persian: ''Hērt'' ) was an ancient city in Mesopotamia located south of what is now Kufa in south-central Iraq.

History

Kingdom of the Lakhmids

Al-Hirah was a significant city in pre-

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

ic Arab history. Al-Hirah (4th-7th centuries) served as the capital of the Lakhmids, an Arab

vassal kingdom A vassal state is any state that has a mutual obligation to a superior state or empire, in a status similar to that of a vassal in the feudal system in medieval Europe. Vassal states were common among the empires of the Near East, dating back to t ...

of the

Sasanian Empire The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...

, whom it helped in containing the nomadic Arabs to the south. The Lakhmid rulers of al-Hirah were recognized by Shapur II (309-379), the tenth Sasanian emperor. A particular Mār 'Abdīšo' was born in Maysan and moved to Ḥīrā after studying elsewhere under Mār 'Abdā. There he gained widespread respect as he built a monastery and lived a pious life. The Sasanian emperor Bahram V won the throne with support of

al-Mundhir I ibn al-Nu'man Al-Mundhir ibn al-Nuʿmān ( ar, المنذر بن النعمان) was the seventh Lakhmid king (418-461). His mother's name was Hind bint Zayd- Manāt ibn Zayd-Allah al- Ghassani, and his father was al-Nu'man I. Biography Yazdegerd I, who had ...

, king of Ḥīrā, in 420. He was amazed and showed great respect as he encountered the saint near the village of Bēṯ 'Arbī on his way back from the imperial capital Seleucia-Ctesiphon. From c. 527, al-Hirah was opposed by the

Ghassanids The Ghassanids ( ar, الغساسنة, translit=al-Ġasāsina, also Banu Ghassān (, romanized as: ), also called the Jafnids, were an Arab tribe which founded a kingdom. They emigrated from southern Arabia in the early 3rd century to the Levan ...

, a Byzantine-sponsored Arab state in Syria and Palestine. The two powers engaged in a long conflict of their own that functioned as a proxy war for the Byzantine and Sasanian Empires. In 531, the Sasanians defeated the Byzantine general Belisarius at the

Battle of Callinicum The Battle of Callinicum took place on Easter Saturday, 19 April 531 AD, between an army of the Byzantine Empire under Belisarius and a Sasanian cavalry force commanded by Azarethes. After being defeated at the Battle of Dara, the Sasanians move ...

south of

Edessa Edessa (; grc, Ἔδεσσα, Édessa) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, founded during the Hellenistic period by King Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Seleucid Empire. It later became capital of the Kingdom of Osroene ...

(now in southeastern Turkey), with the help of al-Hirah. In 602,

Khosrow II Khosrow II (spelled Chosroes II in classical sources; pal, 𐭧𐭥𐭮𐭫𐭥𐭣𐭩, Husrō), also known as Khosrow Parviz (New Persian: , "Khosrow the Victorious"), is considered to be the last great Sasanian king (shah) of Iran, ruling fr ...

deposed al-Nu'man III ibn al-Mundhir and annexed al-Hirah.

Ecclesiastical history

Hirta was the seat of a bishopric of the

Church of the East The Church of the East ( syc, ܥܕܬܐ ܕܡܕܢܚܐ, ''ʿĒḏtā d-Maḏenḥā'') or the East Syriac Church, also called the Church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the Persian Church, the Assyrian Church, the Babylonian Church or the Nestorian C ...

from the 4th century until the 11th century. It belonged to the

Patriarchal Province of Seleucia-Ctesiphon The Patriarchal Province of Seleucia-Ctesiphon was an ecclesiastical province of the Church of the East, with see in Seleucia-Ctesiphon. It was attested between the fifth and thirteenth centuries. As its name entails, it was the province of the ...

. Today, Hirta is a titular Catholic diocese in Iraq.

Conquered by the Arabs

Following the

Battle of Hira The Battle of Hira ( ar, معركة الحيرة) was fought between the Sasanian Empire and the Rashidun Caliphate in 633. It was one of the early battles of the Muslim conquest of Persia, and the loss of the frontier city on the Euphrates River ...

, the city was recaptured by an army of the

Hira Arab Bakr tribe Hira may refer to: Places *Cave of Hira, a cave associated with Muhammad *Al-Hirah, an ancient Arab city in Iraq ** Battle of Hira, 633AD, between the Sassanians and the Rashidun Caliphate *Hira Mountains, Japan *Hira, New Zealand, settlement nort ...

under the command of Abu Bakr in May 633.Decline and fall of Sassanian Empire: The Sassanian Parthian Confederacy and the Arab conquest of Iran.

References

Sources

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External links

* {{Authority control

Hirah Al-Hirah ( ar, الحيرة, translit=al-Ḥīra Middle Persian: ''Hērt'' ) was an ancient city in Mesopotamia located south of what is now Kufa in south-central Iraq. History Kingdom of the Lakhmids Al-Hirah was a significant city in pre- I ...