''Al-Abnāʾ'' () was a term that was used in
pre-Islamic and
early Islamic Yemen to refer to the descendants of
Iranian
Iranian may refer to:
* Iran, a sovereign state
* Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran
* Iranian lan ...
soldiers who had
intermarried with local
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
women in
southern Arabia
South Arabia () is a historical region that consists of the southern region of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia, mainly centered in what is now the Republic of Yemen, yet it has also historically included Najran, Jizan, Al-Bahah, and 'Asi ...
after its conquest by the
Sasanian Iranian Empire. Sasanian Iranian troops were garrisoned in
Sanaʽa
Sanaa ( ar, صَنْعَاء, ' , Yemeni Arabic: ; Old South Arabian: 𐩮𐩬𐩲𐩥 ''Ṣnʿw''), also spelled Sana'a or Sana, is the capital and largest city in Yemen and the centre of Sanaa Governorate. The city is not part of the Gove ...
and its surrounding regions following the Sasanian Iranian reconquest of Yemen from the
Aksumite Ethiopian Empire in the 570s CE. Their leaders largely converted to
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
following the rise of
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mon ...
and were active in the
early Muslim conflicts.
Etymology
According to a commentary on a poem ''
Kitab al-Aghani'' by the 10th-century
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
historian
Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani, these people were up until this time referred to as ''banū al-aḥrār'' (, ) in
Sanaʽa
Sanaa ( ar, صَنْعَاء, ' , Yemeni Arabic: ; Old South Arabian: 𐩮𐩬𐩲𐩥 ''Ṣnʿw''), also spelled Sana'a or Sana, is the capital and largest city in Yemen and the centre of Sanaa Governorate. The city is not part of the Gove ...
and as ''al-abnāʾ'' (, ) in the rest of
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast and ...
. The names were defined as such due to a narration that told of a strong storm that hit ancient Yemen and revealed a stone inscription that stated, "Who rules
Dhamar?
Himyar the Good. Who rules Dhamar? The evil
Abyssinians. Who rules Dhamar? The free
Persians
The Persians are an Iranian ethnic group who comprise over half of the population of Iran. They share a common cultural system and are native speakers of the Persian language as well as of the languages that are closely related to Persian. ...
." A similar stone inscription was said to have been found underneath the
Kaaba
The Kaaba (, ), also spelled Ka'bah or Kabah, sometimes referred to as al-Kaʿbah al-Musharrafah ( ar, ٱلْكَعْبَة ٱلْمُشَرَّفَة, lit=Honored Ka'bah, links=no, translit=al-Kaʿbah al-Musharrafah), is a building at the c ...
in
pre-Islamic times.
History
The known history of the Al-Abnāʾ people covers their time between the
Aksumite–Persian wars
The Aksumite–Persian wars were a protracted series of armed engagements between the Sasanian Empire, Sasanian Persian Empire and the Kingdom of Aksum, Aksumite Empire for control over the waning Himyarite Kingdom in South Arabia, southern Ara ...
in the 6th century and the rise of
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
in the 7th century. It is unknown whether the community had maintained the practices of
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheisti ...
from
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, or if they had been influenced by
South Arabian paganism and
local Christianity. The 9th/10th-century
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
scholar
al-Tabari
( ar, أبو جعفر محمد بن جرير بن يزيد الطبري), more commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Muslim historian and scholar from Amol, Tabaristan. Among the most prominent figures of the Islamic Golden Age, al-Tabari ...
states that Khurrah Khosraw, the fourth
Sasanian governor of Yemen, was replaced by the governor
Badhan during the reign of
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 ...
due to the former's excessive assimilation with the local
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
society.
The authority of the Sasanian governors of Yemen was reduced during the
Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628
The Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 was the final and most devastating of the series of wars fought between the Byzantine / Roman Empire and the Sasanian Empire of Iran. The previous war between the two powers had ended in 591 after ...
; this conflict had coincided with the rise of Islam. The Sasanian leaders in Yemen, including Badhan,
Fayruz al-Daylami
Abū ʿAbd Allāh Fayrūz al-Daylamī ( ar, فيروز الديلمي, Persian: فیروز دیلمی, ''Firuz the Daylamite'') was a Persian companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He belonged to the descendants ('' abna) of Persians that ...
and
Wahb ibn Munabbih, responded favourably to the diplomatic missions sent by
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mon ...
, and had formally converted to Islam by 631. Following Badhan's death, his son Shahr replaced him as governor but was killed by the rebellious
Al-Aswad Al-Ansi, who had claimed prophethood during the
Ridda wars. Al-Aswad was later killed by Fayruz, who assumed his position as governor of Yemen. After that, Ghayth ibn Abd Yaghuth rebels, this time against al-abna' themselves, seeking their expulsion from the
Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plat ...
. Dādawayh (), an al-abna' leader, was killed, while Fayruz al-Daylami and Jushnas (Gushnasp) managed to flee with their allies, and later defeated Ghayth ibn Abd Yaghuth. Fayruz al-Daylami and the abna' were later active in the
fertile crescent
The Fertile Crescent ( ar, الهلال الخصيب) is a crescent-shaped region in the Middle East, spanning modern-day Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine and Jordan, together with the northern region of Kuwait, southeastern region of ...
and Yemen under
Caliph Umar during the
Second Ridda War.
The abna' retained their distinct identity during the Islamic period. Their
nisba
The Arabic language, Arabic word nisba (; also transcribed as ''nisbah'' or ''nisbat'') may refer to:
* Arabic nouns and adjectives#Nisba, Nisba, a suffix used to form adjectives in Arabic grammar, or the adjective resulting from this formation
**c ...
was ''al-Abnāwī'' (). These people were gradually absorbed into the local population and thus disappeared from records. Descendants of al-Abna' live in the al-Furs village in Wadi Rijam, al-Abna' village in Wadi al-Sir in
Bani Hushish District and in Khulan al-Tyal,
Bayt Baws and Bani Bahlul.
[معجم البلدان والقبائل اليمنية، ابراهيم أحمد المقحفي، ص ١٨]
This title "al-abna'" may have been the root of the title "
al-abna'
''Al-Abnāʾ'' () was a term that was used in pre-Islamic and early Islamic Yemen to refer to the descendants of Iranian soldiers who had intermarried with local Arab women in southern Arabia after its conquest by the Sasanian Iranian Empire. S ...
" used to refer to the influential Persians of
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...
in
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
period. The "abna'" recorded in some conflicts among Arabs of Khorasan in
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...
period is not related to the abna' of Yemen.
See also
*
Kisra legend
The Kisra legend is a migration story shared by a number of political and ethnic groups in modern Nigeria, Benin, and Cameroon, primarily the Borgu kingdom and the people of the Benue River valley. The migration legend depicts the arrival of a lar ...
References
Sources
*
*
*
* {{cite book, last= Zakeri, first= Mohsen, title=Sāsānid Soldiers in Early Muslim Society: The Origins of ʿAyyārān and Futuwwa, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VfYnu5F20coC, year=1995, publisher=Otto Harrassowitz, location=Wiesbaden, isbn=978-3-447-03652-8
History of Yemen
7th-century Islam
7th century in Yemen
Islamic history of Yemen
History of Sanaa
Military history of Yemen
Rulers of Yemen
Arabization
People from the Sasanian Empire
Military history of the Sasanian Empire
Yemeni people of Iranian descent
People from Sanaa
Iran–Yemen relations
Women in pre-Islamic Arabia