The Banu Kilab ( ar, بنو كِلاب, Banū Kilāb) was an Arab tribe in the western
Najd (central
Arabia
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 ...
) where they controlled the horse-breeding pastures of Dariyya from the mid-6th century until at least the mid-9th century. The tribe was divided into ten branches, the most prominent being the Ja'far, Abu Bakr, Amr, Dibab and Abd Allah. The Ja'far led the Kilab and its parent tribe of
Banu Amir
The Banū ʿĀmir ibn Ṣaʿṣaʿa ( ar, بنو عامر بن صعصعة) was a large and ancient Arab tribe originating from central Arabia, that dominated Najd for centuries after the rise of Islam. The tribe is an Arab Adnanite tribe and its ...
, and, at times, the larger
Hawazin )
, type = Qaysi
, image = Hawazin Flag (20).png
, image_size =170px
, alt =
, caption = Banner of the Hawazin at the Battle of Siffin
, nisba =
, location =
, descended = Hawazin ibn Mansur ib ...
tribal confederation from the time of the Kilab's entry into the historical record, , until the advent of Islam, , except for two occasions when the larger Abu Bakr was at the helm. Under the Ja'far's leadership the Kilab defeated rival tribes and the
Lakhmid
The Lakhmids ( ar, اللخميون, translit=al-Laḫmiyyūn) referred to in Arabic as al-Manādhirah (, romanized as: ) or Banu Lakhm (, romanized as: ) was an Arab kingdom in Southern Iraq and Eastern Arabia, with al-Hirah as their capital ...
kings and eventually became guards of the Lakhmid caravans to the
annual fair in the
Hejaz (western Arabia). The killing of a Ja'far chief as he escorted one such caravan led to the
Fijar War
The Fijar Wars () were a series of battles that took place in the late 6th century mainly between two major tribal confederations of Arabia, the Quraysh and the Hawazin. Assuming the sources are correct, the fighting took place on eight days over ...
between the Hawazin and the
Quraysh of
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...
.
The Kilab, or at least its chief,
Amir ibn al-Tufayl
ʿĀmir ibn al-Ṭufayl ibn Mālik ibn Jaʿfar () was a chieftain of the Banu 'Amir and a poet. He belonged to the Banu 'Amir's preeminent household, the Ja'far ibn Kilab. He succeeded his father as head of the tribe in its wars with the Khath'am ...
, was involved in the
massacre of Muslims at Bir Ma'una in 626 despite being under the protection of Amir's uncle
Abu Bara. Amir's successor converted to Islam, followed by other tribesmen, including the prominent poet
Labid and
al-Dahhak ibn Sufyan, who was dispatched by the Islamic prophet
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 mo ...
on an
expedition against a recalcitrant Kilabi clan. The Banu Amir played a minor role in the
early Muslim conquests
The early Muslim conquests or early Islamic conquests ( ar, الْفُتُوحَاتُ الإسْلَامِيَّة, ), also referred to as the Arab conquests, were initiated in the 7th century by Muhammad, the main Islamic prophet. He estab ...
, but members of the Kilab later established themselves in the
garrison towns of Iraq. Several, including
Aslam ibn Zur'a Aslam ibn Zurʿa ibn ʿAmr ibn Khuwaylid al-Ṣāʿiq al-Kilābī () () was a prominent Arab chieftain of the Qays tribal faction in Basra and Khurasan and served as the governor of Khurasan in 675 and 677–679. In the period between his two terms ...
and his family, were governors of
Basra
Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is han ...
,
Khurasan, and other eastern provinces under the
Umayyad caliphs in 661–750.
The Kilabi chief
Zufar ibn al-Harith
Abu al-Hudhayl Zufar ibn al-Harith al-Kilabi ( ar, أبو الهذيل زفر بن الحارث الكلابي, Abū al-Hudhayl Zufar ibn al-Ḥārith al-Kilābī; died ) was a Muslim commander, a chieftain of the Arab tribe of Banu Amir, and t ...
led the rebel
Qays
Qays ʿAylān ( ar, قيس عيلان), often referred to simply as Qays (''Kais'' or ''Ḳays'') were an Arab tribal confederation that branched from the Mudar group. The tribe does not appear to have functioned as a unit in the pre-Islamic e ...
nomads of the
Jazira
Jazira or Al-Jazira ( 'island'), or variants, may refer to:
Business
*Jazeera Airways, an airlines company based in Kuwait
Locations
* Al-Jazira, a traditional region known today as Upper Mesopotamia or the smaller region of Cizre
* Al-Jazira ( ...
(Upper Mesopotamia) and
Jund Qinnasrin
''Jund Qinnasrīn'' ( ar, جُـنْـد قِـنَّـسْـرِيْـن, "military district of Qinnasrin") was one of five sub-provinces of Syria under the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates, organized soon after the Muslim conquest of Syria in th ...
(northern Syria). He obtained from the Umayyads privileges later inherited by his family, who were generally recognized as the preeminent leaders of the Qays. Zufar's grandson,
Abu al-Ward
Majzaʾa ibn al-Kawthar ibn Zufar ibn al-Ḥārith al-Kilābī ( ar, مَجْزَأَة بن الْكَوْثَر بن زُفَر بن الْحَارٍث الْكِلابِيّ الهَوازِنِيِّ; died 750), commonly known as Abū al-Ward ...
, led an abortive Qaysi revolt against the Umayyads'
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 ...
successors in 750. In 813 a Kilabi chief of the Qays in
Damascus,
Ibn Bayhas
Muhammad ibn Salih ibn Bayhas al-Kilabi, better known as Ibn Bayhas (), was the Abbasid governor of Damascus in September 813–824/825 and a prominent chief of the Qays tribes in the environs of Damascus against their Yamani rivals. Under his ...
, crushed an Umayyad revolt against the Abbasids, after which he ruled Damascus for ten years. There were two more mass migrations of Kilabi tribesmen from Arabia to northern Syria in the 9th and 10th centuries, the last associated with the rebellious
Qarmatian
The Qarmatians ( ar, قرامطة, Qarāmiṭa; ) were a militant Isma'ili Shia movement centred in al-Hasa in Eastern Arabia, where they established a religious-utopian socialist state in 899 CE. Its members were part of a movement that adh ...
movement. Through their numerical strength, skilled swordsmanship, and Bedouin mobility, the Kilab became the dominant military force in northern Syria. Two Kilabi brothers were appointed governors of
Aleppo under the
Ikshidids of Egypt in 939 and the 940s, until they handed over power under pressure from rival Kilabi chiefs to the
Hamdanid
The Hamdanid dynasty ( ar, الحمدانيون, al-Ḥamdāniyyūn) was a Twelver Shia Arab dynasty of Northern Mesopotamia and Syria (890–1004). They descended from the ancient Banu Taghlib Christian tribe of Mesopotamia and Eastern ...
emir
Sayf al-Dawla
ʿAlī ibn ʾAbū l-Hayjāʾ ʿAbdallāh ibn Ḥamdān ibn al-Ḥārith al-Taghlibī ( ar, علي بن أبو الهيجاء عبد الله بن حمدان بن الحارث التغلبي, 22 June 916 – 9 February 967), more commonly known ...
in 944. The Kilab often rebelled against the Hamdanids and participated in their intra-dynastic disputes.
In the early 11th century,
Salih ibn Mirdas
Abu Ali Salih ibn Mirdas ( ar, ابو علي صالح بن مرداس, Abū ʿAlī Ṣāliḥ ibn Mirdās), also known by his ''laqab'' (honorific epithet) Asad al-Dawla ('Lion of the State'), was the founder of the Mirdasid dynasty and emir of ...
assumed leadership of the Kilab and by 1025, he established an Aleppo-based
emirate
An emirate is a territory ruled by an emir, a title used by monarchs or high officeholders in the Muslim world. From a historical point of view, an emirate is a political-religious unit smaller than a caliphate. It can be considered equivalen ...
(principality) that spanned much of the western Jazira and northern Syria. His
Mirdasid dynasty
The Mirdasid dynasty ( ar, المرداسيون, al-Mirdāsiyyīn), also called the Banu Mirdas, was an Arab dynasty which ruled an Aleppo-based emirate in northern Syria and the western Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia) more or less continuously f ...
ruled Aleppo until 1080, with minor interruption. The Kilab were the core of the Mirdasid army and defended their realm, defeating the
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
emperor
Romanos III
Romanos III Argyros ( el, Ρωμανός Αργυρός; Latinized Romanus III Argyrus; 968 – 11 April 1034), or Argyropoulos was Byzantine Emperor from 1028 until his death. He was a Byzantine noble and senior official in Constantinople whe ...
at the
Battle of Azaz in 1030 and fending off several
Fatimid
The Fatimid Caliphate was an Ismaili Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. The Fatimids, a dyna ...
assaults in later years. Recurring internal divisions had sapped the tribe's strength by the reign of the
last Mirdasid emir. The Kilab retained scattered fortresses and remained a major source of military recruitment for the Mirdasids' successors, but they lost their paramountcy to
Turkmen groups which had begun entering northern Syria in significant numbers from the late 11th century. The
Ayyubids confiscated the Kilab's last holdings in the region and put the tribe under the authority of an (state-sponsored commander of the Bedouin), an office held by the
Al Fadl
AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for:
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media
* Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera
* Al (''Fullmetal ...
house of the rival
Banu Tayy
, location = 2nd century CE–10th century: Jabal Tayy and Syrian Desert
10th century–16th century: Jabal Tayy, Syrian Desert, Jibal al-Sharat, al-Balqa, Palmyrene Steppe, Upper Mesopotamia, Northern Hejaz, Najd
, parent_tribe = Madh'h ...
. Part of the Kilab migrated to
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...
, reappearing in 1262 as auxiliaries of the
Armenians
Armenians ( hy, հայեր, '' hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diasp ...
in a raid against the
Mamluk
Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...
s. In 1277 the tribe submitted to the Mamluk sultan
Baybars in northern Syria.
The Kilabi way of life in Syria resembled their pre-Islamic existence in Arabia. There were raids and counter-raids against neighboring tribes and between the tribe itself, characterized by individual duels and boasts of valor, and motivated by booty or revenge. Young tribesmen spent the springtime horse-racing and wine-drinking. Mass banquets were held for special occasions, such as weddings and circumcisions. The women of the Kilab in Syria generally enjoyed equality with the men of the tribe and a number of Kilabi women played prominent roles in Mirdasid politics. The Kilab in Syria were
Twelver Shia Muslims, though the extent of their adherence to the faith was unclear.
Arabia
Origins and branches
The Banu Kilab were a major branch of the
Banu Amir ibn Sa'sa'a, a large
Bedouin (nomadic Arab) tribe, which first appeared in the historical record in the mid-6th century; they were mentioned in a
South Arabian inscription by
Abraha
Abraha ( Ge’ez: አብርሃ) (also spelled Abreha, died after CE 570;Stuart Munro-Hay (2003) "Abraha" in Siegbert Uhlig (ed.) ''Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: A-C''. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. r. 525–at least 553S. C. Munro-Hay (1991) ''Aksum ...
in 544/45 or 547. The Banu Amir were the most powerful tribe of the
Hawazin )
, type = Qaysi
, image = Hawazin Flag (20).png
, image_size =170px
, alt =
, caption = Banner of the Hawazin at the Battle of Siffin
, nisba =
, location =
, descended = Hawazin ibn Mansur ib ...
confederation. According to the Arab genealogical tradition, the Kilab's eponymous
progenitor was a son of Rabi'a ibn Amir ibn Sa'sa'a and the latter's wife Majd, the daughter of
Taym ibn Murra of the
Quraysh, the mercantile tribe in control of the
Ka'aba
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 ...
, a major sanctuary in
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...
for the polytheistic Arab tribes in the
pre-Islamic period. The marriage of Rabi'a and Majd spawned another prominent branch of the Banu Amir, the
Banu Ka'b
The Banu Ka'b ( ar, بنو كعب) are a nomadic Arab tribe which originated in the Najd region of the Arabian Peninsula, and inhabit Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, and Iran (Khuzestan). They often raided, then settled various areas of southern and c ...
.
There were ten first-tier divisions of the Kilab, each named after a son of the tribe's founder. They were the Ja'far, Abu Bakr, Amr, Amir, Mu'awiya, Abd Allah al-Samut, al-Adbat, Ka'b, Rabi'a, and Ru'as, the most prominent being the first five. The Abu Bakr was the largest and strongest division, followed by the Amr. The Amir division's Wahid clan was more numerous than the Amr, but weaker. The Abu Bakr, Amr, and Wahid shared the same maternal ancestor, Subay'a bint Murra ibn Sa'sa'a. The Amr and Wahid were traditionally close allies of the tribe's preeminent house, the Ja'far. The Mu'awiya was commonly known as (), because five of its progenitor's sons, Dabb, Dabab, Mudibb, Hisl, and Husayl, bore different names for a lizard. About half of the Mu'awiya lived a settled life, while the other half remained nomadic, like the rest of the Kilab. The Rabi'a, Ru'as, Ka'b, and al-Adbat were the least prominent divisions. The Abd Allah al-Samut grew prominent only with the advent of Islam. Each of the main divisions of the Kilab were composed of several branches and sub-tribes.
Abode
![Map of Arabia 600 AD](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Map_of_Arabia_600_AD.svg)
The Banu Amir's original homeland was the area west of the
Turubah
, nickname =
, settlement_type = Town
, motto =
, image_skyline =
, imagesize =
, image_caption =
, image_flag =
, flag_size =
, image_seal =
, ...
oasis, extending eastward beyond
Ranyah
Ranyah ( ar, رنية) is a governorate in Najd in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making i ...
to the uplands south of the modern Mecca–
Riyadh
Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of th ...
highway in
Najd (central
Arabia
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 ...
). From this region, the Kilab migrated northward and northwestward into a large area which later became known as the . At one point in the pre-Islamic period, the Kilab controlled nine-tenths of the . They also occupied the area south of the as far west as al-Siyy (about east of Mecca). The previously established tribes of the Dariyya area, the
Numayr (which was later counted as a subtribe of the Banu Amir), part of the
Muharib, and the
Ghani largely became dependents of the Kilab.
The Dibab division seasonally migrated between their older settlements in the Turubah oasis and the center of the Dariyya. The Abd Allah lived along the modern Irq al-Subay', northwest of modern Riyadh, while the Abu Bakr seasonally migrated from the southern Dariyya southeastward to Karish on the modern Mecca–Riyadh highway. The Amr seasonally migrated from the southeastern Dariyya to Damkh. The Kilab's brother tribe of Ka'b and its sub-tribes of
Uqayl
Banu Uqayl ( ar, بنو عُـقَـيـْل) are an ancient Arab tribe that played an important role in the history of eastern Arabia and Iraq. They belonged to the Banu Ka'b branch of the large Banu 'Amir confederation.
The Banu 'Amir confedera ...
,
Qushayr,
Ja'da,
Harish, and
Ajlan inhabited the wide stretch of territory from Ranyah and the northern approaches of
Najran in the southwest to the
Tuwaiq
Jabal Tuwaiq ( ar, جَبَل طُوَيْق, Tuwaiq Mountain) is a narrow escarpment that cuts through the plateau of Najd in central Arabia, running approximately from the southern border of Al-Qasim in the north, to the northern edge of the ...
oases to the northeast. The migration areas of the Kilab and the Ka'b bordered each other along an extensive stretch. This "explains the remarkable solidarity of the Ka'b and the Kilab", according to the historian
Werner Caskel
Werner Caskel (March 5, 1896, Danzig – January 28, 1970, Kölnbr> was a German people, German historian of Muslim people. Caskel's specialties were Islamic history and tribal genealogy.
He taught as professor at the University of Berlin (si ...
.
Kilabi territory was bordered to the east by the
Tamim and
Ribab tribes, to the northeast by the
Banu Asad
Banu Asad ibn Khuzaymah ( ar, ابن أسد بن خزيمة ) is an Arab tribe. They are Adnanite Arabs, powerful and one of the most famous tribes. They are widely respected by many Arab tribes, respected by Shia Muslims because they have buri ...
, to the north and northwest by the tribes of the
Ghatafan
The Ghaṭafān ( ar, غطفان) were an Arab tribal confederation originally based northeast of Medina. The main branches of the Ghatafan were the tribes of Banu Abs, Banu Dhubyan and Ashja'. They were one of the Arab tribes that interacted wi ...
, and to the southwest by the
Sulaym
The Banu Sulaym ( ar, بنو سليم) is an Arab tribe that dominated part of the Hejaz in the pre-Islamic era. They maintained close ties with the Quraysh of Mecca and the inhabitants of Medina, and fought in a number of battles against the Is ...
and the other groups of the Hawazin. To the south the Banu Amir's territories were bordered by those of the
Khath'am
Khath'am ( ar, خثعم, Khathʿam) was an ancient and medieval Arab tribe which traditionally dwelt in southwestern Arabia. They took part either in cooperation or opposition to the 6th-century expedition of the Aksumite ruler Abraha against Mecc ...
and the South Arabian tribes of
Murad
Murad or Mourad ( ar, مراد) is an Arabic name. It is also common in Armenian, Azerbaijani, Bengali, Turkish, Persian, and Berber as a male given name or surname and is commonly used throughout the Muslim world and Middle East.
Etymology
It ...
, Suda' and Ju'fi, which had taken up nomadism and pushed northward toward the Banu Amir's territories. Other than the Sulaym and Hawazin, with whom the Kilab had cordial relations, the Kilab was in a constant state of latent hostilities with its neighboring tribes and with the South Arabian neighbors of the Ka'b and the Banu Amir in general. Friendly relations had been maintained with the
Balharith,
Nahd and
Jarm Jarm () (also spelled ''Jurm'' or ''Banu Jurum'') were an Arab tribe that, in the Middle Ages, lived in Palestine (region), Palestine, Hawran and coastal Lower Egypt, Egypt. The Jarm were a branch of the Tha'laba clan, a subbranch of the Al Jadilah, ...
of Najran to the southwest, but toward the end of the 6th century or the beginning of the 7th century the sources report hostilities between the Kilab and the Balharith.
Leadership of the Ja'far
Between 550 and 630, the Ja'far exceeded all other divisions of the Kilab, and the Banu Amir in general, in military prowess and energy. They were the leading house of the Banu Amir for most of this period, exercising "some vague authority over the Kilab", in the words of Caskel. Before the mid-6th century, the tribes of central northern Arabia, generally grouped together under the
Qays
Qays ʿAylān ( ar, قيس عيلان), often referred to simply as Qays (''Kais'' or ''Ḳays'') were an Arab tribal confederation that branched from the Mudar group. The tribe does not appear to have functioned as a unit in the pre-Islamic e ...
confederacy, had been under the sway of the
Kindite kings. As Kindite dominance faded around the mid-6th century, the Qays came under the supremacy of
Zuhayr ibn Jadhima
Zuhayr ibn Jadhīma ibn Rawāḥa al-ʿAbsī () was the chieftain of the Banu Abs who ultimately became the leader of the Ghatafan and Hawazin tribal confederations in pre-Islamic Arabia in the mid-6th century.
Life
Zuhayr was the son of Jadhima i ...
of the
Banu Abs
)
, type = Ghatafan, Qays, Adnanite
, image = Antarah ibn Shaddad & Abla.jpg
, image_size =
, alt =
, caption =
, nisba = Al-ʿAbsī
, location = Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Eritrea, Kuwait, Jordan, Unite ...
, who had the support of the
Lakhmid
The Lakhmids ( ar, اللخميون, translit=al-Laḫmiyyūn) referred to in Arabic as al-Manādhirah (, romanized as: ) or Banu Lakhm (, romanized as: ) was an Arab kingdom in Southern Iraq and Eastern Arabia, with al-Hirah as their capital ...
kings of
al-Hira
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 ...
in Iraq. The Abs were a clan of the Ghatafan, which, together with the Hawazin, accounted for most of the Qays. Zuhayr's rule was considered oppressive by the Hawazin, moving Khalid ibn Ja'far, a son of the Ja'far's eponymous progenitor, to assassinate Zuhayr. Khalid thereafter became the head of the Hawazin, which separated from the Qaysi confederacy, and gained the Lakhmids' favor.
Conflict with the Tamim
At an uncertain point after the Hawazin's break with Ghatafan, Khalid led a raid against the
Banu Murra
Banu Murra () was a tribe during the era of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. They participated in the Battle of the Trench.Rodinson, ''Muhammad: Prophet of Islam'', p. 208.
They were members of the Ghatafan tribe
See also
*List of battles of Muham ...
clan of Ghatafan, in which its chief was slain. In turn, the chief's son assassinated Khalid in the 560s. Khalid's killer gained protection from part of the Tamim, led by Laqit ibn Zurara, provoking the ire of the Banu Amir. Khalid's brother and successor, al-Ahwas ibn Ja'far, led an attack against the Tamim at the battle of Rahrahan and captured Laqit's brother, who soon after died in captivity. In revenge, Laqit gathered a coalition of the Tamim, the
Banu Dhubyan
Dhubyan or Banu Dhubyan ( ar, بنو ذبيان) are an Arabian tribe of Ghatafan branch,
one of the Adnani branches. Banu Dhubyan inhabited the Hijaz region and were mostly Christian.
Influential people of Dhubyan
*Al-Nabigha
References
D ...
of Ghatafan, the Asad, and contingents from the Kindite rulers of
Bahrayn
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ad ...
and the Lakhmid king
al-Mundhir IV
Al-Mundhir IV ibn al-Mundhir ( ar, المنذر بن المنذر) was the king of the Lakhmid Arabs in 575–580.
The son of al-Mundhir III ibn al-Nu'man (), he succeeded to the throne after his brothers Amr () and Qabus (). His succession w ...
(). In the ensuing
battle of Shi'b Jabala The Battle of Shi'b Jabala ( ar, يوم شعب جبلة) was one of the major, inter-tribal battles of the pre-Islamic period in Najd (central Arabia). It was fought in the late 6th century CE between the Qaysi tribes of Hawazin and Banu Abs on the ...
, the Banu Amir and Abs under al-Ahwas repulsed Laqit and achieved a decisive victory. The battle was one of the three most famous ('battle days') of the pre-Islamic Arabs, and the historian Franz Krenkow called it "the most remarkable deed recorded of the Kilāb". It weakened Kindite power in northern Arabia and led to the eventual Kindite migration to the
Hadramawt
Hadhramaut ( ar, حَضْرَمَوْتُ \ حَضْرَمُوتُ, Ḥaḍramawt / Ḥaḍramūt; Hadramautic: 𐩢𐩳𐩧𐩣𐩩, ''Ḥḍrmt'') is a region in South Arabia, comprising eastern Yemen, parts of western Oman and southern Saud ...
.
The battle took place sometime between 550 and 582. About one year after, the Banu Amir, led by the Kilabi chiefs, allied with a Kindite prince from Yemen, Hassan ibn Kabsha. Their aim was to eliminate the Darim, the branch of the Tamim that had opposed Kilab at Shi'b Jabala, and seize their lands and livestock. The Darim had prior knowledge of the planned raid and withdrew into the
Wadi al-Rummah
Wadi Al-Rummah or ar-Rummah (ar: وادي الرمة) is one of the Arabian Peninsula's longest river valleys, at a length of almost . Now mostly dry and partly blocked by encroaching sand dunes, the wadi arises near Medina at Jibāl al Abyaḑ ( ...
valley, placing before them another branch of the Tamim called the Yarbu. The Yarbu, an especially warlike clan, had not been present at Shi'b Jabala and thus did not incur the casualties of its Tamimi brethren. During the subsequent clash between the two sides, known as the Day of Dhu Najab, the Yarbu killed Ibn Kabsha and killed or wounded several Kilabi chiefs, including the head of the Amr division,
Yazid ibn al-Sa'iq Abū Qays Yazīd ibn ʿAmr ibn Khuwaylid ibn Nufayl ibn ʿAmr ibn Kilāb, commonly known as Yazid ibn al-Sa'iq, was a chieftain, warrior, and poet of the Amr branch of the Banu Kilab, the leading clan of the Banu Amir, one of the major Arab tribes i ...
, and al-Ahwas's son and nephew.
Relations with the Lakhmids
At the beginning of the Lakhmid king
al-Nu'man III's reign (), a delegation from the Ja'far arrived at al-Nu'man's court in al-Hira to gain favor for their tribe, at a time when the king was a friend and drinking companion of
al-Rabi ibn Ziyad, a chief of the Abs and enemy of the Ja'far. The delegation was led by
Abu Bara Amir ibn Malik, the nephew and successor of al-Ahwas. Al-Rabi influenced al-Nu'man against the Ja'far, prompting Abu Bara's nephew, the future celebrated poet
Labid ibn Rabi'a ibn Malik, to recite his first known poem, a (prosody), in which he humiliated al-Rabi. In reaction, al-Nu'man expelled al-Rabi from his court in disgrace and granted the Ja'far unspecified requests. In the words of the historian
Charles James Lyall
Sir Charles James Lyall (9 March 1845 – 1 September 1920) was a British Arabic scholar, and civil servant working in India during the period of the British Raj.
Life
Charles James Lyall was born in London on 9 March 1845. He was the eldest ...
, "the members of this illustrious family
he Ja'farwere fully conscious of its eminence". In Labid's before al-Nu'man's court he proclaimed:
We are the best of ʿĀmir son of Ṣaʿṣaʿah;
We feast our guests on platters ever full,
And smite the heads beneath the battle-din.
The Hawazin's relations with the Lakhmid kings were mainly predicated on transporting goods from al-Hira to the annual fair at
Ukaz
In Imperial Russia, a ukase () or ukaz (russian: указ ) was a proclamation of the tsar, government, or a religious leader (patriarch) that had the force of law. "Edict" and "decree" are adequate translations using the terminology and concepts ...
in the
Hejaz (western Arabia), for which they were given a part of the profits. In an
unspecified year before 585, the Banu Amir had attacked one of al-Nu'man's caravans on its way to Ukaz, prompting the king to dispatch a punitive expedition against the tribe. During the confrontation that followed, Abu Bara and Yazid ibn al-Sa'iq led their tribe to a decisive victory. Individual tribesmen or clans of the Hawazin at times partook in Lakhmid raids in the Najd, where the kings of al-Hira could typically not enter without escorts from the Hawazin or their allies, the Sulaym. During the early part of al-Nu'man's reign, the Qushayr clan of the Kilab's brother tribe of Ka'b, seized the king's caravan after the king had been compelled to flee from an incoming
Sasanian Persian army. When another clan of the Ka'b, the Uqayl, demanded the Qushayr split the booty, fighting ensued between the two clans until a Kilabi chief, Abu Bara's brother Mu'awiya ibn Malik, arbitrated the dispute. Mu'awiya boasted of his household and its leadership position in verse:
A man am I of famous company, active in all good works, whose glory is high of head, inherited from our fathers:
... We render to the tribe all that is due and fitting: and we pardon its offenses against us, and re admitted by all to beits chiefs.
And when the tribe loads its burdens upon us, we stand up therewith and bear them: and when it repeats the load, we bear it yet again.
Fijar War
The ambushing and killing of the Ja'far leader Urwa al-Rahhal as he escorted the Lakhmid caravan to Ukaz sparked a series of battles between the Hawazin, under Abu Bara, and the Quraysh. This conflict took place over four years, and is known as the
Fijar Wars. Urwa's killer was an ally of the Qurayshite chief
Harb ibn Umayya
Ḥarb ibn Umayya ibn ʿAbd Shams ( ar, حرب بن أمية بن عبد شمس) was the father of Abu Sufyan and Arwa and the son of Umayya ibn Abd Shams. Harb is credited in the Islamic tradition as the first among the Quraysh to write in Arabic ...
, but the Quraysh also had close relations with the Kilab. Both tribes belonged to the , a socio-economic and religious pact including a number of tribes living in the (the area around Mecca considered inviolable by the Arabs). The Kilab and the Ka'b did not live within the and owed their membership to their maternal Qurayshite descent. Abu Bara's and the Kilab's participation in the Fijar Wars was restricted to the first battle, in which they pursued the Quraysh from Ukaz and bested them at
Nakhla, on their retreat to Mecca. When the Quraysh crossed into the , the Kilab halted their pursuit in fear of violating its sanctity.
Modern historians have generally assessed that the Fijar War was related to the Quraysh's attempts to close the caravan route between al-Hira and Yemen through
Ta'if
Taif ( ar, , translit=aṭ-Ṭāʾif, lit=The circulated or encircled, ) is a city and governorate in the Makkan Region of Saudi Arabia. Located at an elevation of in the slopes of the Hijaz Mountains, which themselves are part of the Sarat M ...
, a town which commercially rivaled Mecca, or to redirect the route through Mecca. This assessment was questioned by Ella Landau-Tasseron, who posited that the Banu Amir and the Quraysh had been mutually interested in gaining greater, joint control of the annual Lakhmid caravans to Yemen. Moreover, the Ja'far and the Quraysh were both seen as enemies by the
Bakr ibn Abd Manat, the branch of the
Kinana
The Kinana ( ar, كِنَاَنَة, Kināna) were an Arab tribe based around Mecca in the Tihama coastal area and the Hejaz mountains. The Quraysh of Mecca, the tribe of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, was an offshoot of the Kinana. A number of ...
to which Urwa's killer belonged. The animosity of the Bakr ibn Abd Manat toward the Ja'far stemmed from the canceling of a protection covenant by Abu Bara's brother al-Tufayl; the Bakr ibn Abd Manat had entered al-Tufayl's protection in Najd after the Quraysh had expelled them from Mecca. In the years preceding the Fijar War the Bakr ibn Abd Manat attempted to obtain commissions from the Lakhmids to guard their caravans. Although the killing of Urwa had been against the interests of the Kilab and the Quraysh, the latter were compelled to fight due to the Kilab's intent on blood revenge against the Qurayshite confederates of Urwa's killer. The Kilab's limited participation in the ensuing war may have reflected their desire not to breach the pact.
Ja'far–Abu Bakr rivalry
The
cohesion of the Kilab in the pre-Islamic period was particularly strong. Although its internal unity generally held in the face of external challenges, there was a recurring rivalry between the Ja'far and the Abu Bakr for leadership of the tribe. Ja'far leadership took a blow after the Kilab was routed and dispersed by the Dhubyan, as the Ja'far became isolated from its brother tribes. This contributed to their subsequent exile to the protection of the
Balharith in
Najran, which Caskel attributes to the machinations of the Abu Bakr chief, Jawwab Malik ibn Ka'b. The incident which triggered their exodus was the killing of Urwa al-Rahhal's son by a member of the Ghani, and the Ja'far's rejection of the Ghani's payment of
blood money
Blood money may refer to:
* Blood money (restitution), money paid to the family of a murder victim
Films
* Blood Money (1917 film), ''Blood Money'' (1917 film), a film starring Harry Carey
* Blood Money (1921 film), ''Blood Money'' (1921 film ...
, as they regarded the Ghani to be of lesser status; in the resulting tension, the Ghani allied with the Abu Bakr.
The Banu Amir, under the leadership of the Abu Bakr, were soon after routed by an alliance of rival tribes in the battle of al-Nisar. In the subsequent peace settlement, the Banu Amir surrendered half of their property to the victors in return for their captive women. The Ja'far, under Abu Bara, were absent from the battle due to their exodus, but soon after reconciled with the Abu Bakr and their preeminent position in the tribe was restored. The Ja'far's return followed Abu Bara's rejection of a Balharith proposal for a marriage alliance, which he considered tantamount to reducing the Ja'far to a satellite clan of the Balharith. The Ja'far settled the old dispute with the Ghani when the Abu Bakr paid the blood money they owed.
There may have been a second occasion in which the Ja'far left the Kilab, allied with the Balharith, and were replaced by the Abu Bakr as the tribe's leading house. On that occasion, in revenge for the death of an Abu Bakr man slain by the Asad, the Abu Bakr killed an Asad man protected by the Ja'far. Although the Abu Bakr paid the blood money, angry members of the Ja'far took captive a man of the Abu Bakr and humiliated him in captivity. The ensuing tensions between the two Kilabi houses caused the Ja'far's second exodus to Najran. The conflict was eventually settled, and the Ja'far returned to the Banu Amir. In an earlier stage of the dispute, a son of al-Ahwas appealed to the Abu Bakr in verse, offering his son Da'b as a hostage for them to humiliate:
Take Daʾb in exchange for the wrong that I have done you—you have no superiority over Daʾb:
for among those not of royal race none has superiority over us; and among your kinsmen you can find equality in bloodwite.
Later battles with the Ghatafan
In the last decade of the 6th century, the Banu Amir under Ja'far leadership launched a raid against the Murra and
Fazara
The Banu Fazara or Fazzara or Fezara or Fezzara () were an Arab tribe whose original homeland was Najd.
Origins of the tribe
According to Arab genealogical tradition, the progenitor of the Banu Fazara was Fazāra ibn Dhubyān ibn Baghīd ibn R ...
clans of Ghatafan in their abode in Wadi al-Raqam. The Banu Amir attempted to escape with the booty they had captured, as the Murra and Fazara horsemen pursued them. The Banu Amir's horses were slow due to exhaustion, and the Ghatafan clans had the advantage of fighting on their own terrain. The main body of the Banu Amir ended trapped between enemy tribesmen. A son of al-Tufayl and two grandsons of al-Ahwas were slain, and dozens of Banu Amir captives were executed in revenge for previous killings of Ghatafan tribesmen.
Soon afterward, the Dhubyan raided the Banu Amir at a place called Sahuq and captured a large number of their camels. The Banu Amir pursued the Dhubyan and in the ensuing fight were defeated and forced to retreat. Another son of al-Tufayl became separated from the tribe and hanged himself presumably to avoid death by thirst or torture at the hands of the Dhubyan. His death was satirized by the Ghatafani poets Salama ibn Khurshub al-Anmari and Urwa ibn al-Ward al-Absi. In a later battle, the Day of al-Batha'a, a son of al-Tufayl and a son of Abu Bara were killed in an abortive raid by the Banu Amir against the Abs. According to Lyall, the poetry of
Amir ibn al-Tufayl
ʿĀmir ibn al-Ṭufayl ibn Mālik ibn Jaʿfar () was a chieftain of the Banu 'Amir and a poet. He belonged to the Banu 'Amir's preeminent household, the Ja'far ibn Kilab. He succeeded his father as head of the tribe in its wars with the Khath'am ...
indicated that there were many more battles between the Banu Amir and Ghatafan, with outcomes more favorable for the former, but details were not provided by the sources.
Relations with Medina
Expedition of Bir Ma'una
The Banu Amir had developed a reputation for military prowess in Arabia by the time the Islamic prophet
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 mo ...
began his teachings in Mecca in the early 7th century. Despite their close ties with the Quraysh, which opposed Muhammad, the Banu Amir remained on generally peaceful terms with the nascent Muslim community; they had a mutual opponent in the Ghatafan tribes. In July 625 a party of Muslims dispatched by Muhammad to the Najd were
killed at Bir Ma'una, a watering place, by Bedouin tribesmen. The traditional Islamic accounts of the event are contradictory, differing on the Muslim expedition's peaceful or military character, its aim, and the composition of the involved parties.
The expedition to the Najd had been prompted by a meeting between Abu Bara and Muhammad, where the former had declined the latter's invitation to embrace Islam, but proposed to Muhammad that a Muslim deputation be sent to proselytize in the Najd under Abu Bara's protection. The historian
M. J. Kister concluded that Abu Bara, an elderly man by then, had sought to buttress his position within the tribe by backing Muhammad, but without embracing Islam. Muhammad had sought to win over at least part of the powerful Banu Amir, particularly following his military setback against his Quraysh enemies at the
Battle of Uhud four months prior.
Although Abu Bara and his son, Rabi'a, promised the Muslims the protection of their tribe, the Muslims were attacked upon encountering the tribesmen of the Sulaym at Bir Ma'una, where the Sulaym encamped under the Kilab's protection. Amir ibn al-Tufayl and his cousin, Jabbar ibn Sulma, a grandson of Abu Bara, were the only two Kilabi tribesmen mentioned by name as participants in the Bedouin party. The sources generally implicate Amir ibn al-Tufayl with leading the Sulaymi assault against the Muslims. Kister placed the Sulaymi chief Anas ibn al-Abbas al-Ri'li, who sought to avenge the slaying of his nephew by the Muslims at the
Battle of Badr in 624, as the assault's overall leader, but did not discount that Amir ibn al-Tufayl approved or participated in the assault.
The survivors of the attack killed two men of the Kilab on their return to Medina in revenge, prompting Muhammad to offer Abu Bara blood money for their slayings, which were judged to be illicit. Abu Bara's cooperation with Muhammad was largely seen as an aberration by the Banu Amir, and cost him his pre-eminent position in the tribe. Not long after, Abu Bara died, and was succeeded by Amir ibn al-Tufayl as leader of the Ja'far.
Later interactions with Muhammad
Relations between the Banu Amir and the Muslims remained peaceful despite the Bir Ma'una incident, but tensions followed Muhammad's calls for a religious union of the Muslims and the nomadic tribes. Amir ibn al-Tufayl and his cousin, Arbad ibn Qays, a grandson of Khalid ibn Ja'far, are held by the traditional Muslim sources to have negotiated their tribe's membership in the Muslim community with Muhammad in his capital at
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 second-holiest city in Islam, and the capital of the ...
in September/October 629, but with no result. The two Kilabi chiefs died soon after. Amir ibn al-Tufayl was succeeded as leader of the tribe by his cousin and rival,
Alqama ibn Ulatha. Alqama converted to Islam, the first among the Banu Amir to do so. Other members of the Kilab counted among the early converts to Islam were al-Dahhak ibn Sufyan, a chief of the Abu Bakr, Amr ibn Bujayr of the Ru'as, and the brothers Mula ibn Abd Allah and Qudama ibn Abd Allah of the Dibab. The 8th-century historian
Ibn Sa'd
Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Sa‘d ibn Manī‘ al-Baṣrī al-Hāshimī or simply Ibn Sa'd ( ar, ابن سعد) and nicknamed ''Scribe of Waqidi'' (''Katib al-Waqidi''), was a scholar and Arabian biographer. Ibn Sa'd was born in 784/785 C ...
mentioned that in 9
AH (630/31 CE), eight delegations of the Banu Amir and its subtribes conferred with Muhammad in Medina, including one of the Kilab in general and another from the Ru'as. The first included Labid, Jabbar ibn Sulma, and al-Dahhak ibn Sufyan. An agreement was reached and Labid converted to Islam. The Ru'as deputation was headed by Amr ibn Malik ibn Qays, who afterward converted his clansmen to Islam. The historian Muhammad Mazhar Siddiqi argued that the deputations suggest the Banu Amir embraced Islam before Muhammad's death in 632.
Al-Dahhak, and his kinsman, al-Asyad ibn Salama, led an
expedition against the Qurata clan of the Abu Bakr, to which al-Asyad belonged, and which had rejected Islam. According to the history of
al-Waqidi
Abu `Abdullah Muhammad Ibn ‘Omar Ibn Waqid al-Aslami (Arabic ) (c. 130 – 207 AH; c. 747 – 823 AD) was a historian commonly referred to as al-Waqidi (Arabic: ). His surname is derived from his grandfather's name Waqid and thus he became fa ...
(d. 823) the expedition was launched in April 630. Caskel considered a raid against the Qurata in 630 to be improbable and the alternative dating of 627/28 to be more likely. In the major
Battle of Hunayn
:''This is a sub-article to Muhammad after the conquest of Mecca.''
The Battle of Hunayn ( ar, غَزْوَة حُنَيْن, Ghazwat Hunayn) was between the Muslims of Muhammad and the Bedouins of the Qays, including its clans of Hawazi ...
in 630, which followed the general conversion of the Quraysh to Islam, the Kilab did not participate alongside their Hawazin affiliates against Muhammad. Afterward, the Banu Amir completed their union with the Muslims.
Ridda wars and Muslim conquests
Alqama left Islam before or soon after the death of Muhammad in 632. Most chiefs of the Bedouin tribes also left the faith or threw off allegiance to the Muslim state in Medina around this time. This led to the
Ridda wars
The Ridda Wars ( ar, حُرُوْبُ الرِّدَّةِ, lit=Apostasy Wars) were a series of military campaigns launched by the first caliph Abu Bakr against rebellious Arabian tribes. They began shortly after the death of the Islamic proph ...
, in which Muhammad's successor as leader of the Muslims, Caliph
Abu Bakr
Abu Bakr Abdallah ibn Uthman Abi Quhafa (; – 23 August 634) was the senior companion and was, through his daughter Aisha, a father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as well as the first caliph of Islam. He is known with the honor ...
(), dispatched expeditions to rein in the tribes. In the account placing Alqama's
apostasy
Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that ...
after Muhammad's death, he was targeted in an expedition by
Khalid ibn al-Walid, and consequently declared his Muslim faith and made peace with Abu Bakr. In the account placing his defection before Muhammad died, he was said to have fled to Byzantine Syria following the Battle of Hunayn. Afterward, he returned to his tribe's protection in the Najd before eventually embracing Islam once again and becoming an important ally of Abu Bakr. There was little conflict reported between the Banu Amir and Medina during the Ridda wars. The tribe generally took a neutral position until joining the Muslim side after Khalid ibn al-Walid routed the Ghatafan and Asad at the
Battle of Buzakha
The Battle of Buzakha took place between Khalid ibn al-Walid and Tulayha, in September 632.
Strength
Khalid had 6,000 men under his disposal while Tulayha had 35,000 men.
General Engagement
Tuhlaya himself took up a position somewhere t ...
.
The Banu Amir played a minor role in the
early Muslim conquests
The early Muslim conquests or early Islamic conquests ( ar, الْفُتُوحَاتُ الإسْلَامِيَّة, ), also referred to as the Arab conquests, were initiated in the 7th century by Muhammad, the main Islamic prophet. He estab ...
of the 630s–640s, in which the
Sasanian Empire, i.e. Iraq and
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 ...
, and a large part of the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
, namely
Syria and
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
, came under Islamic rule. Alqama may have been appointed the governor of the
Hauran, a region in southern Syria, by Abu Bakr's successor
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 ...
(). Following the conquests, groups of the Kilab settled in northern Syria and the western Jazira (
see below).
Activity in Arabia until the 10th century
The
caliphs in Medina founded the , located on the Kilab's stomping grounds, as a reserved area for the state around the 640s–650s, exacerbating the existing tensions between the Ja'far on one side and the Abu Bakr and Dibab on the other over territory. Otherwise, there was little change among the sub-tribes of the Kilab and the Banu Amir in central Arabia. A member of the Ru'as, Abu Du'ad, became a prominent Bedouin poet in the Hejaz and participated in the disputes of the Kilab in Arabia before his death in 700. Another poet of the Kilab, the highwayman Tahman ibn Amr, lived as a wandering poet in the
Yamama and Yemen during the reign of the
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 ...
caliph
al-Walid I (). Members of the Qurata clan were settled in Medina by 762, during
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 ...
rule (post-750), when one of its members, Rashid ibn Hayyan ibn Abi Sulayman ibn Sam'an, defected from the cause of the
Alid rebel
Muhammad al-Nafs al-Zakiyya
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al- Ḥasan al-Muthannā ibn al- Ḥasan al-Mujtabā ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib or Muḥammad al-Nafs al-Zakīyya ( ar, محمد بن عبد الله بن الحسن بن الحسن بن علي الملقَّب ...
upon the approach of an Abbasid army.
The Kilab, Numayr, and Qushayr were involved in the Bedouin uprisings in central Arabia during the reign of the Abbasid caliph
al-Wathiq
Abū Jaʿfar Hārūn ibn Muḥammad ( ar, أبو جعفر هارون بن محمد المعتصم; 17 April 812 – 10 August 847), better known by his regnal name al-Wāthiq bi’llāh (, ), was an Abbasid caliph who reigned from 842 until 84 ...
() until they were suppressed by the caliph's general
Bugha al-Kabir
Bugha al-Kabir (), also known as Bugha al-Turki (), was a 9th-century Khazar general who served the Abbasid Caliphate.
He was of Khazar origin, and was acquired along with his sons as a military slave (''ghulam'') by al-Mu'tasim in 819/820.Gordo ...
in 845. He summoned them via his emissaries, whereupon about 3,000 Kilabi tribesmen arrived to submit to him. He detained 1,300 of them whom he accused of criminal acts, imprisoning them in Medina before taking part of them to Baghdad. Two years later, the Abbasids eliminated the Numayr in their long-held areas northeast of the Dariyya, after which the Kilab and the Uqayl began to migrate there. The 10th-century military expeditions of the
Qarmatians of
Bahrayn
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ad ...
, whose forces consisted of the Banu Amir and other Bedouin tribesmen, initiated a new wave of Kilabi migration out of Arabia into Syria (
see below).
Iraq and the east
![House of al-Sa'iq ibn Amr ibn Kilab](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/House_of_al-Sa%27iq_ibn_Amr_ibn_Kilab.png)
Several Kilabi tribesmen settled in the Muslim
garrison towns of
Basra
Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is han ...
and
Kufa
Kufa ( ar, الْكُوفَة ), also spelled Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about south of Baghdad, and northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000. Currently, Kufa and Najaf a ...
in Iraq, which were established in the late 630s following the
Muslim conquest of the region. From the Amr division,
Aslam ibn Zur'a Aslam ibn Zurʿa ibn ʿAmr ibn Khuwaylid al-Ṣāʿiq al-Kilābī () () was a prominent Arab chieftain of the Qays tribal faction in Basra and Khurasan and served as the governor of Khurasan in 675 and 677–679. In the period between his two terms ...
and the commander al-Harith ibn Yazid and his son,
Zufar ibn al-Harith
Abu al-Hudhayl Zufar ibn al-Harith al-Kilabi ( ar, أبو الهذيل زفر بن الحارث الكلابي, Abū al-Hudhayl Zufar ibn al-Ḥārith al-Kilābī; died ) was a Muslim commander, a chieftain of the Arab tribe of Banu Amir, and t ...
, descendants of Yazid ibn al-Sa'iq, settled in Basra. According to the historian Suhayl Zakkar, the Amr division "was always distinguished by its militant and warlike attitude". Zufar migrated to the
Jazira
Jazira or Al-Jazira ( 'island'), or variants, may refer to:
Business
*Jazeera Airways, an airlines company based in Kuwait
Locations
* Al-Jazira, a traditional region known today as Upper Mesopotamia or the smaller region of Cizre
* Al-Jazira ( ...
(Upper Mesopotamia) during the
First Muslim Civil War
The First Fitna ( ar, فتنة مقتل عثمان, fitnat maqtal ʻUthmān, strife/sedition of the killing of Uthman) was the first civil war in the Islamic community. It led to the overthrow of the Rashidun Caliphate and the establishment of t ...
(656–661) and became a leader of the Qays tribes there (
see below), while Aslam remained, and later served as the sub-governor of
Khurasan (northeastern frontier of the
caliphate
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
) for the Umayyad caliph
Mu'awiya I in the 670s. He was a major leader of the Qaysi tribesmen, who formed a significant faction of the Muslim garrisons of Basra and Khurasan. Aslam's son,
Sa'id, served as governor of
Makran (southeastern Iran) under the viceroy of Iraq
al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf (). His grandson
Muslim ibn Sa'id was adopted by al-Hajjaj after Sa'id's death and served as the governor of Khurasan in 723–724. Two other members of the Kilab were recorded in the sources as sub-governors under al-Hajjaj: Qatan ibn Mudrik, who was appointed over Basra, and Muhammad ibn al-Sa'sa, who was appointed over Bahrayn and
Oman
Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...
.
From the Dibab division,
Shimr
Abū al-Sābigha Shamir ibn Dhī al-Jawshan ( ar, أبو السابغة شمر بن ذي الجوشن), often known as Shamir or Shimr, was an Arab military commander from Kufa who killed Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhamma ...
, a son of one of
Muhammad's companions
The Companions of the Prophet ( ar, اَلصَّحَابَةُ; ''aṣ-ṣaḥāba'' meaning "the companions", from the verb meaning "accompany", "keep company with", "associate with") were the disciples and followers of Muhammad who saw or m ...
, Dhu al-Jawshan ibn al-A'war, settled in Kufa, where he became a chief of the tribe. Although originally a backer of Caliph
Ali
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam ...
against the Umayyads, he switched allegiance to the latter and became notorious for his killing of Ali's son
Husayn
Hussein, Hussain, Hossein, Hossain, Huseyn, Husayn, Husein or Husain (; ar, حُسَيْن ), coming from the triconsonantal root Ḥ-S-i-N ( ar, ح س ی ن, link=no), is an Arabic name which is the diminutive of Hassan, meaning "good", " ...
in 680. He was killed in revenge by the pro-Alid ruler of Kufa
Mukhtar al-Thaqafi
Al-Mukhtar ibn Abi Ubayd al-Thaqafi ( ar, المختار بن أبي عبيد الثقفي, '; – 3 April 687) was a pro- Alid revolutionary based in Kufa, who led a rebellion against the Umayyad Caliphate in 685 and ruled over most of Iraq ...
(), after which his sons resettled in the Jazira. Also killed in Kufa by Mukhtar in 686 was a descendant of Labid, Malik ibn Hizam ibn Rabi'a; Labid had settled in Kufa following the conquest.
A member of the Kilab, Abd Allah ibn Hilal, was the sole Qaysi in the Iraqi viceregal administration of
Yazid ibn al-Muhallab
Yazid ibn al-Muhallab ( ar, يزيد بن المهلب) (672–720) was a provincial governor in the time of the Umayyad dynasty and an early member of the Muhallabid family that became important in early Abbasid times.
Life
In A.H. 78 (697-698 ...
(715–717), who appointed him the sub-governor of Basra. The family of the Kilabi tribesman Nubata ibn Hanzala, who had participated in the Umayyad
siege of Mecca in 692, settled in Iraq during the
Third Muslim Civil War
The Third Fitna ( ar, الفتنة الثاﻟﺜـة, al-Fitna al-thālitha), was a series of civil wars and uprisings against the Umayyad Caliphate beginning with the overthrow of Caliph al-Walid II in 744 and ending with the victory of Marwan ...
(744–747) and became leaders of the Qays there. Nubata was dispatched by the viceroy of Iraq,
Yazid ibn Umar ibn Hubayra
Yazid ibn Umar ibn Hubayra al-Fazari ( ar, يَزِيد بن عُمَر بن هُبَيْرَة الْفَزارِيّ , Yazīd ibn ʿUmar ibn Hubayra al-Fazārī; died 750) was the last Umayyad governor of Iraq. A son of former governor Umar ibn ...
, to
Jurjan
Gorgan ( fa, گرگان ; also romanized as ''Gorgān'', ''Gurgān'', and ''Gurgan''), formerly Esterabad ( ; also romanized as ''Astarābād'', ''Asterabad'', and ''Esterābād''), is the capital city of Golestan Province, Iran. It lies appro ...
in Iran, where he fell fighting the forces of rebel leader
Qahtaba ibn Shabib. Nubata's son Muhammad was the sub-governor of
Wasit
Wasit ( ar, وَاسِط, Wāsiṭ, syr, ܘܐܣܛ) is an ancient city in Wasit Governorate, south east of Kut in eastern Iraq.
History
The city was built by al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf in c. 702 CE on the west bank of the Tigris across from the hi ...
and was among the Qaysi nobles executed by the Abbasids after they captured the city in 749.
The Ubayd clan of the Ru'as had also established itself in Kufa following the conquests. When the
Kharijite rebel
Shabib ibn Yazid al-Shaybani
Shabīb ibn Yazīd ibn Nuʿaym al-Shaybānī () (646/47 – 697/98) was the leader of the Kharijite rebellion against the Umayyad Caliphate in central Iraq between 696 and his death in 697/98.
Life Origins and early career
Shabib was born in Sept ...
invaded Kufa in 696, a member of the clan, Abu Hamid Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf, led the city's defense. The clan produced a number of luminaries, including the prominent
hadith scholar
Hadith studies ( ar, علم الحديث ''ʻilm al-ḥadīth'' "science of hadith", also science of hadith, or science of hadith criticism or hadith criticism)
consists of several religious scholarly disciplines used by Muslim scholars in th ...
Waki ibn al-Jarrah, whose father al-Jarrah ibn Malih had been the supervisor of the treasury in
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 ...
under Caliph
Harun al-Rashid
Abu Ja'far Harun ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi ( ar
, أبو جعفر هارون ابن محمد المهدي) or Harun ibn al-Mahdi (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Harun al-Rashid ( ar, هَارُون الرَشِيد, translit=Hārūn ...
(). Waki was one of the principal teachers of
Ahmad ibn Hanbal
Ahmad ibn Hanbal al-Dhuhli ( ar, أَحْمَد بْن حَنْبَل الذهلي, translit=Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal al-Dhuhlī; November 780 – 2 August 855 CE/164–241 AH), was a Muslim jurist, theologian, ascetic, hadith traditionist, and ...
(780–855), the founder of the
Hanbali
The Hanbali school ( ar, ٱلْمَذْهَب ٱلْحَنۢبَلِي, al-maḏhab al-ḥanbalī) is one of the four major traditional Sunni schools (''madhahib'') of Islamic jurisprudence. It is named after the Arab scholar Ahmad ibn Hanbal ...
school of jurisprudence. His son Sufyan was also a transmitter, though of lesser reputation.
Syria
Early migrations and leadership of the Qays
Clans from the Abu Bakr, Amr, Abd Allah, Dibab and Ja'far migrated to Syria during and soon after the
Muslim conquest
The early Muslim conquests or early Islamic conquests ( ar, الْفُتُوحَاتُ الإسْلَامِيَّة, ), also referred to as the Arab conquests, were initiated in the 7th century by Muhammad, the main Islamic prophet. He esta ...
of that region in the 630s, constituting the first major wave of Kilabi settlement in Syria. The Kilab first established themselves in the area west of the northern
Euphrates
The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers''). Originating in Turkey, the Eup ...
valley in
Jund Qinnasrin
''Jund Qinnasrīn'' ( ar, جُـنْـد قِـنَّـسْـرِيْـن, "military district of Qinnasrin") was one of five sub-provinces of Syria under the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates, organized soon after the Muslim conquest of Syria in th ...
(military district of northern Syria). The Bujayyid and Bijad clans of the Ru'as settled in Damascus. Many of the Kilabi newcomers were brought in as troops by Mu'awiya I during his governorship of Syria (640s–661). During Mu'awiya's caliphate (661–680), the chief of the Ja'far was Abd Allah ibn Bishr, a grandson of Abu Bara. He was involved in a dispute of an unspecified nature with the chief of the Abu Bakr, Abd al-Aziz ibn Zurara ibn Jaz. The latter was slain in the army of Mu'awiya's son and future successor
Yazid I
Yazid ibn Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan ( ar, يزيد بن معاوية بن أبي سفيان, Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiya ibn ʾAbī Sufyān; 64611 November 683), commonly known as Yazid I, was the second caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate. He ruled from ...
, during a campaign against the Byzantines in 669.
Banu Zufar of Qinnasrin
The deaths of caliphs Yazid I () and
Mu'awiya II
Mu'awiya ibn Yazid ( ar, معاوية بن يزيد, Muʿāwiya ibn Yazīd; 664 – 684 CE), usually known simply as Mu'awiya II was the third Umayyad caliph. He succeeded his father Yazid I as the third caliph and last caliph of the Sufyanid ...
() left Syria in political disarray. Zufar, who had established himself in Jund Qinnasrin and led the district's troops against anti-Umayyad rebels in the Hejaz in 683, revolted against the Umayyads and gave his allegiance to their Hejaz-based challenger, Caliph
Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr. The tribe of
Banu Kalb
The Banu Kalb ( ar, بنو كلب) was an Arab tribe which mainly dwelt in the desert between northwestern Arabia and central Syria. The Kalb was involved in the tribal politics of the eastern frontiers of the Byzantine Empire, possibly as early ...
, which was maritally linked to the Umayyads and had held a privileged position in the court and army to the chagrin of the Qays, backed the Umayyad
Marwan ibn al-Hakam
Marwan ibn al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As ibn Umayya ( ar, links=no, مروان بن الحكم بن أبي العاص بن أمية, Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam ibn Abī al-ʿĀṣ ibn Umayya), commonly known as MarwanI (623 or 626April/May 685), was the fo ...
as caliph. Zufar dispatched the troops of Qinnasrin to join the Qaysi-backed governor of Damascus,
Dahhak ibn Qays al-Fihri, against the Umayyad–Kalb coalition at the
Battle of Marj Rahit near Damascus in 684, during which Dahhak was killed and the Qays routed. Consequently, Zufar fled to the Jaziran town of
Qarqisiya, expelled its Umayyad governor, and fortified and established it as a center of Qaysi resistance to the Umayyads. At the head of the Qays, he oversaw a series of raids and counter-raids against the Kalb in the Syrian steppe.
In 691, Marwan's successor,
Abd al-Malik, made an agreement with Zufar whereby the latter defected from Ibn al-Zubayr in exchange for a prominent position in the Umayyad court and military. The Qays–Kalb feud persisted through 694, during which Umayyad princes backed one side against the other depending on their maternal affiliations with the tribes; Abd al-Malik's half-brother
Bishr ibn Marwan
Abu Marwan Bishr ibn Marwan ibn al-Hakam ( ar, بشر بن مروان بن الحكم, Bishr ibn Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam; –694) was an Umayyad prince and governor of Iraq during the reign of his brother, Caliph Abd al-Malik. Bishr fought at Ma ...
, whose mother was Abd Allah ibn Bishr's sister, Qutayya, sponsored the Qays.
Zufar's sons, Hudhayl and Kawthar, who were particularly active during the reigns of caliphs
Sulayman () and
Umar II
Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz ( ar, عمر بن عبد العزيز, ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz; 2 November 680 – ), commonly known as Umar II (), was the eighth Umayyad caliph. He made various significant contributions and reforms to the society, and ...
(), were regarded as preeminent chiefs of the Qays and were highly respected by the caliphs. Hudhayl served in the army of Abd al-Malik's son,
Maslama (d. 728), with whom Zufar's family had formed marital links and established neighboring residences in Jund Qinnasrin.
After the Umayyad rout at the
Battle of Zab
The Battle of the Zab ( ar, معركة الزاب), also referred to in scholarly contexts as Battle of the Great Zāb River, took place on January 25, 750, on the banks of the Great Zab River in what is now the modern country of Iraq. It spel ...
in 750 and the subsequent takeover of Syria by the armies of the
Abbasid Revolution
The Abbasid Revolution, also called the Movement of the Men of the Black Raiment, was the overthrow of the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE), the second of the four major Caliphates in early Islamic history, by the third, the Abbasid Caliphate ...
, a son of Kawthar,
Abu al-Ward Majza'a, who was a commander under the Umayyad caliph
Marwan II
Marwan ibn Muhammad ibn Marwan ibn al-Hakam ( ar, مروان بن محمد بن مروان بن الحكم, Marwān ibn Muḥammad ibn Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam; – 6 August 750), commonly known as Marwan II, was the fourteenth and last caliph of ...
, recognized Abbasid authority. Not long after, he and his brother Abu al-Wazi led their Qaysi partisans in a pro-Umayyad revolt against the Abbasids in reaction to the harassment of Maslama's family by Abbasid troops from Khurasan. The Qays were routed and Abu al-Ward, his brother, their kinsmen and many of their supporters were slain.
Banu Bayhas of Damascus
Another prominent Kilabi family in Syria was the Banu Bayhas of Damascus, from the Dibab division. Their founder, Bayhas ibn Zumayl al-Kilabi, was keeper of the seal of the Umayyad caliph
al-Walid II () and was in the caliph's entourage when it was attacked by the rebel Umayyad prince, and al-Walid's successor,
Yazid III
Yazīd ibn al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik (701 – 3/4 October 744) ( ar, يزيد بن الوليد بن عبد الملك) usually known simply as Yazid III was the twelfth Umayyad caliph. He reigned for six months, from April 15 to October 3 or ...
(). One of the sons of Bayhas, Kardam, served as the governor of Oman in the Iraqi viceroyal administration of
Yusuf ibn Umar al-Thaqafi Yusuf ibn Umar al-Thaqafi () was a senior provincial governor for the Umayyad Caliphate. His policies during his tenure as governor of Iraq in 738–744 deepened the Qays–Yaman rivalry and were one of the main factors in the outbreak of the civil ...
(738–744). The family remained active during the Abbasid period, when another son of Bayhas, Salih, was dispatched by Harun al-Rashid to the Byzantine capital
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
in 800 to secure the release of Muslim prisoners of war held by the Byzantines.
Two sons of Salih, Muhammad (commonly known as
Ibn Bayhas
Muhammad ibn Salih ibn Bayhas al-Kilabi, better known as Ibn Bayhas (), was the Abbasid governor of Damascus in September 813–824/825 and a prominent chief of the Qays tribes in the environs of Damascus against their Yamani rivals. Under his ...
) and Yahya, took control of Damascus during the instability following the
Fourth Muslim Civil War
The Fourth Fitna or Great Abbasid Civil War resulted from the conflict between the brothers al-Amin and al-Ma'mun over the succession to the throne of the Abbasid Caliphate. Their father, Caliph Harun al-Rashid, had named al-Amin as the first suc ...
(811–813). Ibn Bayhas was esteemed by the Syrian Qays as a noted warrior and poet in the feuds with the
Yaman, a coalition of the Kalb and southern Arab tribes and enemies of the Qays. Unlike most of the Syrian Qays, he was generally supportive of the Abbasids. During the revolt of the Yamani-backed Umayyad
Abu al-Umaytir al-Sufyani
Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Khālid ibn Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān, better known as Abū al-ʿUmayṭir al-Sufyānī, was an Umayyad rebel against Abbasid rule in Syria during the Fourth Muslim Civil War and a self-proc ...
, who had taken over Damascus and attacked Qaysi villages in its periphery, Ibn Bayhas rallied the Qays of the area and besieged Damascus from his camp in the
Ghouta. He became ill during the ensuing battles, and nominated the Umayyad Maslama ibn Ya'qub, a descendant of Maslama, to lead his supporters. Maslama ibn Ya'qub ultimately seized power in Damascus in rebellion against the Abbasids. Ibn Bayhas recovered, and drove Maslama ibn Ya'qub and Abu al-Umaytir out of the city in 813. They died shortly after in the nearby village of
Mezzeh
Mezzeh ( ar, ٱلْمَزَّة, al-Mazzah, also transcribed as al-Mazzah, el-Mezze, etc.) is a municipality in Damascus, Syria, due west of Kafr Sousa. It lies to the southwest of central Damascus, along the Mezzeh highway (also known as Fayez ...
.
Ibn Bayhas's governorship of Damascus was recognized by Caliph
al-Ma'mun (), to whom Ibn Bayhas had been consistently loyal, and he remained in office until 823, when
Abd Allah ibn Tahir
Abdallah ibn Tahir ( fa, عبدالله طاهر, ar, عبد الله بن طاهر الخراساني) (ca. 798–844/5) was a military leader and the Tahirid governor of Khurasan from 828 until his death. He is perhaps the most famous of t ...
was appointed governor-general over Syria and Egypt. Ibn Bayhas was a practically independent ruler, as shown by the fact that he minted coins in his name. He also empowered the Qays in the province, and put down an Umayyad rebellion, this time led by a descendant of Caliph
Uthman
Uthman ibn Affan ( ar, عثمان بن عفان, ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān; – 17 June 656), also spelled by Colloquial Arabic, Turkish and Persian rendering Osman, was a second cousin, son-in-law and notable companion of the Islamic prop ...
(), Sa'id ibn Khalid al-Faddayni. Another Kilabi leader, called Ibn Bayhas, likely a member of the same family, was among the tribal nobles to support a rebellion against the Abbasid caliphs
al-Mu'tasim
Abū Isḥāq Muḥammad ibn Hārūn al-Rashīd ( ar, أبو إسحاق محمد بن هارون الرشيد; October 796 – 5 January 842), better known by his regnal name al-Muʿtaṣim biʾllāh (, ), was the eighth Abbasid caliph, ruling ...
() and
al-Wathiq
Abū Jaʿfar Hārūn ibn Muḥammad ( ar, أبو جعفر هارون بن محمد المعتصم; 17 April 812 – 10 August 847), better known by his regnal name al-Wāthiq bi’llāh (, ), was an Abbasid caliph who reigned from 842 until 84 ...
() by another
Umayyad pretender in 841.
Dominance of northern Syria
During the reign of Caliph
al-Mutawakkil (), law and order began to break down throughout Syria, and this process
accelerated in the years following his death. The political vacuum and frequent revolts paved the way for the Kilab to strengthen their influence in northern Syria. Sometime during the 9th century, a second major wave of Kilabi tribesmen, likely from the Amr division, migrated to the area from Arabia. By the time
Ahmad ibn Tulun, the nominal Abbasid governor of Egypt, conquered Syria in 878, the "Kilab ... established themselves as a force to be reckoned with", according to the historian
Kamal Salibi
Kamal Suleiman Salibi ( ar , كمال سليمان الصليبي ) (2 May 19291 September 2011) . In 882, the Kilab provided critical assistance to Ibn Tulun in his suppression of two uprisings, the first led by an Abbasid prince and the second by his own rebel governor of northern Syria. Both rebellions were apparently backed by older-established Arab tribes and peasant clans whose lands were being encroached upon by the Kilab.
The Kilab firmly established themselves as the predominant tribe in the region north of the
Palmyrene steppe and west of the Euphrates in the early to mid-10th century. At that time, a third major wave of Kilabi migrants, principally from the Awf branch of the Abu Bakr division, invaded northern Syria; the medieval Aleppine chronicler
Ibn al-Adim Kamāl al-Dīn Abū ʾl-Ḳāsim ʿUmar ibn Aḥmad ibn Hibat Allāh Ibn al-ʿAdīm (1192–1262; ) was an Arab biographer and historian from Aleppo. He is best known for his work ''Bughyat al-Talab fī Tārīkh Ḥalab'' (; ''Everything Desirable a ...
puts the date of the Kilabi invasion at 932 and states that the tribesmen largely came from the Abu Bakr clans of Subaya and Dhu'ayba. The 10th-century chronicler and genealogist, Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Abdallah al-Asadi, noted the presence in northern Syria of tribesmen of the Kilabi divisions of Abu Bakr, Amr, Abd Allah and Dibab, but not the Ja'far. Zakkar interpreted this as an indication that the latter had assimilated into the urban or rural population by then.
The 10th-century Kilabi invasion may have been encouraged or directly supported by the
Qarmatian
The Qarmatians ( ar, قرامطة, Qarāmiṭa; ) were a militant Isma'ili Shia movement centred in al-Hasa in Eastern Arabia, where they established a religious-utopian socialist state in 899 CE. Its members were part of a movement that adh ...
movement, a radical
millennarian
Millenarianism or millenarism (from Latin , "containing a thousand") is the belief by a religious, social, or political group or movement in a coming fundamental transformation of society, after which "all things will be changed". Millenariani ...
Shi'ite
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most ...
Isma'ili
Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor ( imām) to Ja'far al- ...
sect that had spread from southern Iraq in the second half of the 9th century. The Qarmatians, whose troops largely consisted of Bedouin tribes, launched a series of uprisings Syria in the 10th century, the first occurring in 902. According to the historian
Hugh Kennedy
Hugh Edward Kennedy (11 July 1879 – 1 December 1936) was an Irish Cumann na nGaedheal politician, barrister and judge who served as Chief Justice of Ireland from 1924 to 1936, a judge of the Supreme Court from 1924 to 1936 and Attorney Gener ...
, these campaigns "led to fundamental changes in the distribution and relative strengths of the bedouin tribes in the Syrian and Arabian deserts", and was the most important such realignment of the Arab tribes until the 18th century. The Kilab and other branches of the Banu Amir provided the bulk of the Qarmatians' military personnel. At the time, the Arab tribes of Syria and Mesopotamia experienced marked population growth, which coincided with rising grain prices. This, according to historian
Thierry Bianquis
Thierry Bianquis (3 August 1935 – 2 September 2014) was a French Orientalist and Arabist. His main interest was the medieval Islamic Middle East, most notably the Fatimid era of Egypt and Syria, which was the subject of his dissertation.
Born ...
, made the tribes "susceptible to Qarmatian ''
ic' propaganda denouncing the wealth of the urban
Sunni population and the luxury of the
pilgrimage caravans". The tribes frequently raided the agricultural lands of
Hama,
Ma'arrat al-Nu'man
Maarat al-Numan ( ar, مَعَرَّةُ النُّعْمَانِ, Maʿarrat an-Nuʿmān), also known as al-Ma'arra, is a city in northwestern Syria, south of Idlib and north of Hama, with a population of about 58,008 before the Civil War (2004 ...
and
Salamiyah, but nonetheless integrated well with the rural population due to their shared Shi;ite faith.
In 937, the Kilabi newcomers captured Ma'arrat al-Nu'man, plundered the surrounding countryside and took captive its governor and local garrison after the latter put up resistance. The dominance of the Kilabi Bedouins prevented
Muhammad ibn Tughj al-Ikhshid
Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Ṭughj ibn Juff ibn Yiltakīn ibn Fūrān ibn Fūrī ibn Khāqān (8 February 882 – 24 July 946), better known by the title al-Ikhshīd ( ar, الإخشيد) after 939, was an Abbasid commander and governor who beca ...
(), the ruler of Egypt and southern Syria, from effectively governing northern Syria, which he had conquered in the late 930s. He formed an alliance with part of the Kilab, appointing Ahmad ibn Sa'id ibn al-Abbas al-Kilabi, from the Amr division, as governor of
Aleppo in 939. In the months after, al-Ikhshid's forces were driven out of northern Syria by the Abbasids. Between 941 and 944, the political situation in northern Syria was fluid, and at one point, al-Ikhshid reoccupied the region. Al-Ikhshid appointed Ahmad ibn Sa'id as governor of
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ ...
and the latter's brother, Uthman, as governor of Aleppo.
Emirate of Aleppo
Relations with the Hamdanid dynasty
![Sayf al-Dawla at his court](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Sayf_al-Dawla_at_his_court.png)
The appointments of Ahmad and Uthman aroused the jealousy of other Kilabi chieftains. Seeking to replace their kinsmen, they invited
Nasir al-Dawla
Abu Muhammad al-Hasan ibn Abu'l-Hayja Abdallah ibn Hamdan al-Taghlibi ( ar, أبو محمد الحسن ابن أبو الهيجاء عبدالله ابن حمدان ناصر الدولة التغلبي; died 968 or 969), more commonly known simpl ...
, the
Hamdanid
The Hamdanid dynasty ( ar, الحمدانيون, al-Ḥamdāniyyūn) was a Twelver Shia Arab dynasty of Northern Mesopotamia and Syria (890–1004). They descended from the ancient Banu Taghlib Christian tribe of Mesopotamia and Eastern ...
ruler of
Mosul
Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second larg ...
, to invade Aleppo with their assistance. Nasir al-Dawla's brother,
Sayf al-Dawla
ʿAlī ibn ʾAbū l-Hayjāʾ ʿAbdallāh ibn Ḥamdān ibn al-Ḥārith al-Taghlibī ( ar, علي بن أبو الهيجاء عبد الله بن حمدان بن الحارث التغلبي, 22 June 916 – 9 February 967), more commonly known ...
, entered Aleppo in October 944 and was greeted by Uthman, who took Sayf on a tour of each of the villages in Aleppo's domain. Ibn al-Adim asserts that the internal divisions among the Kilab enabled Sayf al-Dawla to successfully establish himself in Aleppo. Sayf al-Dawla later enlisted Kilabi tribesmen in his failed attempt to conquer Ikhshidid-controlled southern Syria in 946. However, due to incessant Bedouin raids against his subjects, Sayf al-Dawla expelled most of the tribes of northern Syria to the Jazira. The Kilab was an exception, being the only tribe authorized to inhabit northern Syria. They entered into conflict with Sayf at some point, but by the time he died in 967, he had granted the Kilab (pardon).
Throughout the 10th and 11th centuries, the Kilab "represented an organised military force with powerful cavalry trained in mounted swordsmanship and not fearing to confront a government army on the field of battle", according to Bianquis. Salibi notes that the northern Syrian Kilab's main military assets were their "Bedouin swiftness of movement" and their kinship connections with the Kilab in the Jazira. The tribe "served those who paid most and often, at a time of crisis, would sell their employer to the highest bidder", according to Zakkar. And so it was with both the Hamdanids and their opponents; Kilabi tribes were involved in every Hamdanid struggle with the Byzantines, every uprising against the Hamdanids, and in intra-dynastic conflicts over the emirate of Aleppo. In return for helping their employers secure victory on the battlefield, the Kilab expected from them grants of (income-producing properties; sing. ). Sayf al-Dawla's successor,
Sa'd al-Dawla
Abu 'l-Ma'ali Sharif, more commonly known by his honorific title, Sa'd al-Dawla ( ar, سعد الدولة), was the second ruler of the Hamdanid Emirate of Aleppo, encompassing most of northern Syria. The son of the emirate's founder, Sayf al-D ...
(), had five hundred Bedouin warriors from the Amr in his army in 983, indicating the large size of that Kilabi division. Meanwhile,
Bakjur
Bakjur was a Circassian military slave (''mamluk'' or ''ghulam'') who served the Hamdanids of Aleppo and later the Fatimids of Egypt. He seized control of Aleppo in 975 and governed it until 977, when the rightful Hamdanid ruler, Sa'd al-Dawla, ...
, Sa'd al-Dawla's rebellious (slave soldier), had his own contingent of Kilabi warriors when he fought against Sa'd al-Dawla in 991.
In 1008–1009, the Kilab were employed by a Byzantine-
Marwanid
The Marwanids or Dustakids (983/990-1085, ) were a Kurdish Sunni Muslim dynasty in the Diyar Bakr region of Upper Mesopotamia (present day northern Iraq/southeastern Turkey) and Armenia, centered on the city of Amid (Diyarbakır).
Territory
...
alliance to help install Sa'd al-Dawla's son,
Abu'l Hayja, as the emir of Aleppo to replace
Mansur ibn Lu'lu'
Manṣūr ibn Luʾluʾ ( ar, منصور بن لؤلؤ), also known by his ''laqab'' (honorific epithet) of Murtaḍā ad-Dawla (, 'Approved of the State'), was the ruler of the Emirate of Aleppo between 1008 and 1016. He succeeded his father Lu' ...
, who as ruler of the emirate had allied himself with the
Fatimid Caliphate. However, the Kilab collaborated with the Fatimids and betrayed the Marwanids. When the Fatimids turned against Mansur in 1011–1012 and gained promises of Kilabi support to restore Hamdanid rule in Aleppo, the Kilab betrayed the Fatimids. Thus, the tribe "saved Mansur b. Lu'lu' on two occasions by their inaction", according to Bianquis. In return, the Kilab demanded from Mansur in the emirate, villages to supply them with grain, and fertile pastures and rangelands around Aleppo to graze their sheep and horses. To relieve his obligations to the Kilab, Mansur employed a ruse whereby he invited 1,000 Kilabi tribesmen to a feast at his palace in Aleppo on 27 May 1012, only to trap and assault the tribesmen. Those among the Kilabi invitees who were not massacred were imprisoned in the dungeons of the
Citadel of Aleppo
The Citadel of Aleppo ( ar, قلعة حلب, Qalʿat Ḥalab) is a large medieval fortified palace in the centre of the old city of Aleppo, northern Syria. It is considered to be one of the oldest and largest castles in the world. Usage ...
.
Takeover of the emirate under Salih ibn Mirdas
![Aleppo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Aleppo._Citadel_%281265963614%29.jpg)
Upon hearing of Mansur's actions, Muqallid ibn Za'ida, a Kilabi emir from Aleppo's outskirts, launched an assault against
Kafartab
Kafartab ( ar, كفرطاب, also spelled ''Kafr Tab'' or ''Kafar Tab'', known as Capharda by the Crusaders) was a town and fortress in northwestern Syria that existed during the medieval period between the fortress cities of Maarat al-Numan in t ...
to pressure Mansur; the latter responded by relocating his Kilabi prisoners to facilities with better conditions, and gave favorable treatment to Muqallid's brothers, Abu Hamid and Jami'. However, after Muqallid was killed and the Kilab aborted their siege of Kafartab, Mansur returned the prisoners to the dungeons, where many Kilabi chieftains were tortured, executed or died of poor conditions.
Among the Kilabi prisoners was
Salih ibn Mirdas
Abu Ali Salih ibn Mirdas ( ar, ابو علي صالح بن مرداس, Abū ʿAlī Ṣāliḥ ibn Mirdās), also known by his ''laqab'' (honorific epithet) Asad al-Dawla ('Lion of the State'), was the founder of the Mirdasid dynasty and emir of ...
, an emir from a princely family belonging to the Abu Bakr division, who had captured
al-Rahba in 1008–1009. Salih was subjected to particularly brutal torture and humiliation by Mansur. Mansur forced a few Kilabi chieftains to accept his terms and had them released in 1013, but most Kilabi prisoners remained incarcerated, including Salih, whose "boldness and resentment increased" as a result, according to Zakkar. Salih escaped from the citadel in 1014 and rallied his surviving tribesmen at their encampments in
Marj Dabiq. The Kilab united behind Salih, who soon after led them in their siege against Aleppo.
The Kilab and Mansur's army of clashed several times, and Mansur was able to inflict losses on the Kilab and plunder part of their camp. Encouraged by this, Mansur recruited local toughs, including many Aleppine Jews and Christians, and confronted Salih's Kilabi warriors at the outskirts of Aleppo on 13 August 1014. The Kilab routed Mansur's army, killing some 2,000 Aleppine irregulars and capturing Mansur and his senior commanders. Nonetheless, the Kilab were unable to capture Aleppo, which was defended by Mansur's brothers and mother. Negotiations for Mansur's release concluded with the release of the Kilabi prisoners and a promise to assign to the Kilab half of the emirate of Aleppo's revenues. Moreover, Salih was recognized by Mansur as the supreme emir of the Kilab.
![Mirdasids 1025](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Mirdasids_1025.png)
In the following years, Salih consolidated his authority over the Kilab and expanded his emirate to include the important Euphrates fortress towns of
Manbij
Manbij ( ar, مَنْبِج, Manbiǧ, ku, مەنبج, Minbic, tr, Münbiç, Menbic, or Menbiç) is a city in the northeast of Aleppo Governorate in northern Syria, 30 kilometers (19 mi) west of the Euphrates. In the 2004 census by the Cen ...
and
Balis. Mansur did not follow through on his pledge to hand over to the Kilab their share of Aleppo's revenues, provoking Kilabi raids against Aleppo's countryside. In 1016, Mansur fled Aleppo after the commander of its citadel,
Fath al-Qal'i
Abu Nasr Fath al-Qal'i, also known by his ''laqab'' (honorific epithet) of Mubarak al-Dawla wa-Sa'id-ha ("Blessed and Happiness of the State"), was the governor of the Citadel of Aleppo during the reign of Emir Mansur ibn Lu'lu' (r. 1008–1016). I ...
, revolted. Salih persuaded Fath to abide by Mansur's promises to the Kilab, but Fath ceded Aleppo to the Fatimids, to Salih's chagrin. The Kilab were not strong enough to challenge the Fatimids, but friendly relations were established between Salih and the new Fatimid governor,
Aziz al-Dawla. By the time the latter was assassinated in 1022, Salih had added the towns of
Rafaniyah and
Raqqa
Raqqa ( ar, ٱلرَّقَّة, ar-Raqqah, also and ) (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, ...
to his emirate. In 1024, an alliance was formed between the Kilab and the Kalb and
Tayy
, location = 2nd century CE–10th century: Jabal Tayy and Syrian Desert
10th century–16th century: Jabal Tayy, Syrian Desert, Jibal al-Sharat, al-Balqa, Palmyrene Steppe, Upper Mesopotamia, Northern Hejaz, Najd
, parent_tribe = Madh ...
, the strongest Arab tribes in central Syria and
Transjordan Transjordan may refer to:
* Transjordan (region), an area to the east of the Jordan River
* Oultrejordain, a Crusader lordship (1118–1187), also called Transjordan
* Emirate of Transjordan, British protectorate (1921–1946)
* Hashemite Kingdom of ...
, respectively. Salih's forces captured Aleppo that year, along with
Homs,
Baalbek,
Sidon
Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast. ...
and
Hisn Akkar, while the Fatimids' hold on the rest of Syria was considerably weakened. Salih "brought to success the plan which had guided his
ilabiforebears for a century" with his capture of Aleppo, according to Bianquis.
In 1028, the Fatimid governor of Syria,
Anushtakin al-Dizbari
Sharaf al-Maʿālī Abu Manṣūr Anūshtakīn al-Dizbarī (died January 1042) was a Fatimid statesman and general who became the most powerful Fatimid governor of Syria. Under his Damascus-based administration, all of Syria was united under a si ...
, moved against the Kilab and the Tayy, having secured the defection of the Kalb. Opposed to Tayyi/
Jarrahid
The Jarrahids () (also known as Banu al-Jarrah) were an Arab dynasty that intermittently ruled Palestine and controlled Transjordan and northern Arabia in the late 10th and early 11th centuries. They were described by historian Marius Canar ...
domination of
Palestine and Mirdasid control of central Syria, Dizbari confronted Salih and the Jarrahid emir
Hassan ibn Mufarrij at the
Battle of al-Uqhuwana The Battle of al-Uqhuwana () was fought at a place east of Lake Tiberias in May 1029 between the Fatimid Caliphate under general Anushtakin al-Dizbari and a coalition of Syrian Bedouin tribes. The latter was represented by the Tayy tribe of Palest ...
near
Tiberias
Tiberias ( ; he, טְבֶרְיָה, ; ar, طبريا, Ṭabariyyā) is an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's F ...
in 1029. Salih was slain and Dizbari seized the Mirdasids' central Syrian domains.
Reigns of Nasr and Thimal
Salih had designated his son, Thimal, as his successor, but his eldest son, Nasr, a survivor of al-Uqhuwana, also sought the emirate. At the same time, the two brothers faced an imminent offensive by the Byzantine emperor
Romanos III
Romanos III Argyros ( el, Ρωμανός Αργυρός; Latinized Romanus III Argyrus; 968 – 11 April 1034), or Argyropoulos was Byzantine Emperor from 1028 until his death. He was a Byzantine noble and senior official in Constantinople whe ...
in 1030. Thimal remained in Aleppo with the bulk of their forces, while Nasr led the rest of his Kilabi horsemen to confront the Byzantines. The Mirdasids landed a major victory against Romanos III at the
Battle of Azaz. Nasr seized the citadel of Aleppo while his brother was away. Thimal mobilized his Kilabi partisans to oust Nasr, but ultimately the chiefs of the tribe mediated a power-sharing agreement between the brothers, whereby Nasr ruled the northern Syrian part of the emirate from Aleppo and Thimal ruled the Jaziran part from al-Rahba.
Nasr entered Byzantine vassalage soon after the Battle of Azaz to ward off multiple threats: his own tribesmen, 20,000 tribesmen from the hostile Tayy and Kalb tribes who relocated to Byzantine territory close to Aleppo, as well as the Fatimids. After the Byzantines and Fatimids made peace in 1036, Nasr reconciled with the Fatimid caliph, who granted his request for the governorship of
Homs. Dizbari, who sought control of all of Syria, opposed Nasr's acquisition of Homs. He recruited Tayyi and Kalbi tribesmen, and a Kilabi faction opposed to the Mirdasids, secured Byzantine approval, and marched against Nasr. The latter was defeated and killed outside Hama in 1038.
Thimal gained control of Aleppo after Nasr's death, but withdrew in the face of Dizbari's army. Thimal left his cousin,
Muqallid ibn Kamil, in charge of the citadel, and their Kilabi kinsman, Khalifa ibn Jabir, in charge of the city. They surrendered to Dizbari in June, and Fatimid rule was restored in Aleppo. Dizbari consecrated ties with the Kilab by marrying the daughter of the Kilabi chieftain Mansur ibn Zughayb. Thimal continued to control the Jaziran part of the emirate. After Dizbari died in 1042, Thimal regained control of Aleppo with Fatimid approval. Contravening his agreement with the Fatimids, Thimal forwarded only part of the treasure stockpiled by Dizbari in Aleppo to the Fatimids. In 1048, the Fatimids sent an army—including a Kalb-dominated Bedouin contingent—against him, led by the Hamdanid descendant
Nasir al-Dawla
Abu Muhammad al-Hasan ibn Abu'l-Hayja Abdallah ibn Hamdan al-Taghlibi ( ar, أبو محمد الحسن ابن أبو الهيجاء عبدالله ابن حمدان ناصر الدولة التغلبي; died 968 or 969), more commonly known simpl ...
. Thimal and his Kilabi troops were unable to repulse them and were besieged in Aleppo. Nasir al-Dawla retreated to Damascus after floods destroyed his equipment and killed many of his troops, after which Thimal recaptured Ma'arrat al-Nu'man and Hama. Another Fatimid army was sent, this one led by
Rifq Abū'l-Faḍl Rifq al-Khādim (c. 970 — 30 August 1049) was a black African eunuch in the court of the Fatimid caliph al-Mustansir (r. 1036–1094) and a commander of the Fatimid army. In 1024, during the reign of Caliph al-Zahir, Rifq led polici ...
, and composed of Fatimid troops and tribesmen of the Kalb, Fazara and Tayy. Thimal sent an advance force of Kilabi tribesmen led by Muqallid ibn Kamil, which successively demolished the fortifications of Ma'arrat al-Nu'man, Hama and Homs to prevent their use by the Fatimids. The Kilab then defeated the Fatimid army and captured Rifq, who died in captivity. The Mirdasids and Fatimids reconciled in 1050 and Thimal's emirate over Aleppo was reconfirmed by the caliph.
In 1056, Thimal was pressured to cede al-Rahba to the Turkish rebel
al-Basasiri
Abuʾl-Ḥārith Arslān al-Muẓaffar al-Basāsīrī (died 15 January 1059) was a Turkish slave-soldier (''mamlūk'') who rose to become a military commander of the Buwayhid dynasty in Iraq. When the Buwayhids were ousted by the Seljuks in 1055, ...
and al-Raqqa to the
Numayrids
The Numayrids () were an Arab dynasty based in Diyar Mudar (western Upper Mesopotamia). They were emirs (princes) of their namesake tribe, the Banu Numayr. The senior branch of the dynasty, founded by Waththab ibn Sabiq in 990, ruled the Euph ...
of
Harran
Harran (), historically known as Carrhae ( el, Kάρραι, Kárrhai), is a rural town and district of the Şanlıurfa Province in southeastern Turkey, approximately 40 kilometres (25 miles) southeast of Urfa and 20 kilometers from the border cr ...
, angering the Kilab and causing its split into two factions, one loyal to Thimal and the other to his brother
Atiyya, emir of Balis, who made off with the cash Thimal had entrusted to him to deliver to al-Basasiri. The Mirdasid emirs were reconciled by a Fatimid envoy, staving off an intra-Kilabi feud. Continued dissensions among the Kilab against Thimal, al-Basasiri's presence in the emirate, the presence of a Fatimid army led by
Ibn Mulhim
Makīn al-Dawla al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ibn Mulhim ibn Dīnār al-ʿUqaylī () (fl. 1053–1062), also known as Ibn Mulhim, was a Fatimid general who led the Fatimid reconquest of Ifriqiya and expeditions in Syria. He served as the governor of Aleppo ...
during renewed Fatimid–Byzantine conflict in Syria, and efforts by the Fatimid court all led Thimal to cede Aleppo to Ibn Mulhim in 1057–1058 and relocate to Cairo. The political circumstances, in which the Mirdasids kept control only of Balis, left the Kilab weakened and unable to mount any attempt to recapture Aleppo.
After al-Basasiri was killed by the Seljuk sultan
Tughril Bey
Abu Talib Muhammad Tughril ibn Mika'il ( fa, ابوطالب محمد تغریل بن میکائیل), better known as Tughril (; also spelled Toghril), was a Turkmen"The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes
by the Turk ...
in 1059, Atiyya recaptured al-Rahba in 1060, enthusing the Kilab to move against Aleppo. Atiyya initially switched his allegiance to the Abbasid Caliphate, prompting the Fatimids to dispatch an army, including the Kalb, to capture al-Rahba. The Kilabi chiefs warned the Fatimids not to allow the Kalb entry into their tribal territory, but the expedition proceeded. In response, the Kilab entered Jund Hims, tribal territory of the Kalb, and sacked Homs and Hama, demolishing their walls in the aftermath. Meanwhile, Thimal's Numayrid wife, al-Sayyida al-Alawiyya, engineered the takeover of Aleppo by her son from Nasr,
Mahmud
Mahmud is a transliteration of the male Arabic given name (), common in most parts of the Islamic world. It comes from the Arabic triconsonantal root Ḥ-M-D, meaning ''praise'', along with ''Muhammad''.
Siam Mahmud
*Mahmood (singer) (born 1 ...
, who captured the city later that year with the Numayr and part of the Kilab. The subsequent defection of numerous Kilabi tribesmen to Mahmud caused a political rift within the tribe, between loyalists of Mahmud and his uncle Atiyya. The Fatimids viewed the turbulent politics in Aleppo as counter to their interests, and sent Thimal to retake the city in 1061. The bulk of the Kilab rallied to Thimal and mediated between him and Mahmud.
Later Mirdasid emirs, entry of the Turkmens, and weakening of Kilabi power
Thimal died in 1062 and was succeeded by Atiyya. The rivalry between Mahmud and Atiyya and their respective factions within the Kilab resumed. The bulk of the Kilab backed Mahmud and marched with him against Aleppo in 1063, but they were repulsed by Atiyya's Turkmen mercenaries, led by
Ibn Khan Hārūn ibn Malik al-Turk, better known as Ibn Khān (died 1070), was the leader of the first recorded group of free Turkmen troops to enter Syria. Previous groups of Turks that had been present in Syria were slave soldiers and pages and their des ...
. According to Zakkar, after Thimal's death "the time in which the Kilabi chieftains and tribesmen held the decisive power in the struggle for Aleppo had passed". A Mirdasid emir of the Kilab, Muqallid ibn Kamil's son Mani, was killed by the Turkmens, which sapped Kilabi morale and compelled Mahmud to agree to terms with Atiyya. In 1064 Mahmud and his Kilabi tribesmen captured Ma'arrat al-Nu'man, Hama and Kafartab before marching against Aleppo, but they were again repulsed and a settlement was reached recognizing Mahmud's control of the three captured towns. Ibn Khan and his followers were chased out of Aleppo by Atiyya in 1065 and defected to Mahmud and the Kilab in
Sarmin
Sarmin ( ar, سَرْمِين, Sarmīn also spelled Sarmeen) is a town in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Idlib Governorate, located 15 kilometers southeast of Idlib. It has an altitude of about 390 meters. Nearby localities i ...
, after which their combined forces captured Aleppo. An agreement was reached, allotting the Jaziran portion of the emirate to Atiyya. Conflict resumed between Atiyya and Mahmud in 1067, during which Atiyya had gone to Homs to recruit among the Kilab and other tribes there. Zakkar speculated that the Kilab's increasing presence in Jund Hims was due to pressures from Turkmen migrations into northern Syria and the migrations of Uqaylid tribesmen from the region of Mosul into the Kilab's Jaziran domains. Mahmud, Atiyya and their Kilabi factions were reconciled by the efforts of the
Banu Ammar
The Banu Ammar ( ar, بنو عمار, Banū ʿAmmār, Sons of Ammar) were a family of Shia Muslim magistrates (''qadi''s) who ruled the city of Tripoli in what is now Lebanon from c.1065 until 1109.
History
Accounts vary regarding the origin o ...
rulers of Tripoli later that year. The Uqaylids under
Muslim ibn Quraysh
Abu'l-Makarim Muslim ibn Qirwash ( ar, أبو المكارم مسلم بن قرواش) also known by the honorific title Sharaf al-Dawla (), was the Uqaylid emir of Mosul and Aleppo. He died in June 1085.
History
Muslim's father Qirwash i ...
captured al-Rahba from the Mirdasids in 1068 and Raqqa in 1070–1071.
In January 1071, a Seljuk army led by Sultan
Alp Arslan besieged Aleppo, but could not force its surrender. Alp Arslan then summoned the Kilabi chiefs of the area and promised to confer on one of them the rulership of Aleppo, if Mahmud was ousted. To counter potential Kilabi collaboration with the Seljuks against him, Mahmud agreed to submit to Seljuk rule, and was kept in power in Aleppo by Alp Arslan. In 1072 Mahmud and his Turkmen mercenaries repulsed raids against Aleppo by the Byzantines and Atiyya, who had defected to Byzantium, and recaptured al-Rahba from the Uqaylids. Mahmud died in 1075 and was succeeded at first by his son,
Nasr, and then after Nasr's death, by another son,
Sabiq. The latter's dependence on the Turkmen mercenaries and the Turkmens' monopolization of power in the emirate provoked the Kilabi chiefs, who proclaimed Sabiq's brother,
Waththab, as their supreme emir. The bulk of the tribe mobilized in the plain of Qinnasrin in preparation for an assault on Aleppo, but they were ambushed by the Turkmen cavalries and dispersed at great cost in booty. Waththab and the Kilabi chiefs Mubarak ibn Shibl and Hamid ibn Zughayb went to the court of the Seljuk sultan
Malik-Shah to seek his assistance against Sabiq, which Malik-Shah agreed to. Malik-Shah sent an army to Syria, led by
Tutush I
Abu Sa'id Taj al-Dawla Tutush (; died 25 February 1095) or Tutush I, was the Seljuk emir of Damascus from 1078 to 1092, and sultan of Damascus from 1092 to 1094.
Years under Malik Shah
Tutush was a brother of the Seljuk sultan Malik-Shah I. In 1 ...
, who was accompanied by the disaffected Kilabi chiefs and their tribesmen, as well as Muslim ibn Quraysh. Muslim ibn Quraysh secretly opposed a Seljuk takeover of Aleppo and collaborated with Sabiq, admonishing the Kilabi chiefs for supporting Turkmens against their own kin. He persuaded the Kilabi chiefs to desert at the gates of Aleppo and persuaded Waththab and his brother Shabib to join forces with Sabiq. Tutush maintained the siege, but a troop of Seljuk reinforcements was massacred by the Kilab, Uqayl, Numayr and Qushayr led by Muslim ibn Quraysh near
Sinjar
Sinjar ( ar, سنجار, Sinjār; ku, شنگال, translit=Şingal, syr, ܫܝܓܪ, Shingar) is a town in the Sinjar District of the Nineveh Governorate in northern Iraq. It is located about five kilometers south of the Sinjar Mountains. Its p ...
. Tutush left the siege to assault Kilabi tribesmen in the Aleppo region, but was unable to pursue them into the desert.
In the course of the Seljuk siege of Aleppo, the primary motivations for the defection of Muslim ibn Quraysh and the Kilab to Sabiq, as indicated in contemporary poems by
Ibn Hayyus Al-Amir Muṣṭafa ad-Dawla Abī al-Fityān Muhammad, better known as Ibn Ḥayyûs () (December 1003–January/February 1081), was an Arab poet from Syria. He was well known for writing panegyrics to the emirs and nobility of Syria, particularly ...
and communications recorded in the chronicles of Ibn al-Adim and
Sibt ibn al-Jawzi
Shams al-Din Abu al-Muzaffar Yusuf ibn Kizoghlu (c. 581AH/1185–654AH/1256), famously known as Sibṭ ibn al-Jawzī ( ar, سبط ابن الجوزي ) was a notable preacher and historian.
Title
He is the grandson of the great Hanbali scholar A ...
, were their tribal kinship ties and mutual desire to preserve Bedouin Arab rule in Aleppo. Accordingly, Sabiq appealed to his brothers and the Kilabi chief, Abu Za'ida Muhammad ibn Za'ida, that he was "defending" their "land and authority", and that, should Tutush capture Aleppo, he would demolish the "" (the rulership of the Bedouin Arabs), and to preserve the last Arab principality in Syria from Turkish invasion. Tutush captured Kilab-held fortresses near Aleppo, including Azaz, while Abu Za'ida massacred any groups of Turkmen cavalries he could find. Bianquis called it "a very hard war, paid for by the peasants and merchants". Tutush captured Damascus, and his deputy Afshin pillaged the villages around Rafaniyya, Ma'arrat al-Nu'man and the Jabal al-Summaq, massacring the men, raping or capturing the women and children, so that by the time he moved eastward into the Jazira "the plain of northern Syria no longer had a single village intact", in the words of Bianquis.
Collapse of the emirate and decline of the Kilab
![Political map of the Levant, circa 1085](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Political_map_of_the_Levant%2C_circa_1085.png)
The devastation in northern Syria opened the way for Muslim ibn Quraysh to gain control of Aleppo in 1080, when Sabiq, Shabib and Waththab were compelled by the Kilab and the Aleppines, desperate from famine, and their
Munqidhite vizier, to hand over the city. Thus, Mirdasid rule in Aleppo came to a permanent end, though Muslim ibn Quraysh allotted the of
Atharib
Atarib ( ar, أتارب, ʾAtārib), also known as Atharib or Athareb, is a town in western Aleppo countryside, Aleppo Governorate, Syria. Located west of the city of Aleppo and southeast of Reyhanlı in Turkish-administered Hatay Province, i ...
, Azaz, and another in the vicinity of Rahba to Shabib, Waththab, and Sabiq, respectively. Muslim ibn Quraysh was backed by the Kilab, for he fit their need for a strong leader in a time of severe political and economic crisis, amid the conflict with Tutush and Afshin. By the end of the year, Muslim ibn Quraysh ruled an area spanning Mosul, Aleppo, Harran, Antioch,
Edessa and Hama. He retook the he had assigned to the Mirdasid brothers, and captured Homs from its Kilabi ruler
Khalaf ibn Mula'ib
Sayf al-Dawla Khalaf ibn Mulāʿib al-Ashhabī al-Kilābī ( ar, سيف الدولة خلف بن ملاعب الأشهبي الكلابي; died 3 February 1106) was semi-independent emir of Homs and Apamea between 1082 and 1090. He was later resto ...
, but kept him in his post after Munqidhite mediation. The Mirdasid brothers and Ibn Mula'ib allied with Tutush in Damascus against Muslim ibn Quraysh, who besieged Damascus. The troops of Tutush included Kilabi tribesmen, in addition to the Uqayl, Kalb, Tayy, Ulaym and Numayr. The Uqaylid emir was defeated and retreated to his Jaziran domains. After the Seljuk commander
Sulayman ibn Qutulmush captured Antioch in 1083, he gained the support of the Mirdasid brothers and their Kilabi partisans against Muslim ibn Quraysh. The Uqaylid emir was defeated and killed in battle with the Seljuks at the
Afrin River
The Afrin River ( ar, نهر عفرين ''Nahr ʻIfrīn''; ( ku, Çemê Efrînê; northern Syrian vernacular: ''Nahər ʻAfrīn''; tr, Afrin Çayı) is a tributary of the Orontes River in Turkey and Syria. It rises in the Kartal Mountains in ...
in 1085, and direct Seljuk rule was introduced to Aleppo later that year. As a recompense, the Seljuks gave two Uqaylid emirs control over the Jaziran fortresses of
Qal'at Ja'bar
Qal'at Ja'bar ( ar, قلعة جعبر, tr, Caber Kalesi) is a castle on the left bank of Lake Assad in Raqqa Governorate, Syria. Its site, formerly a prominent hill-top overlooking the Euphrates Valley, is now an island in Lake Assad that can o ...
, Raqqa, Rahba, Harran,
Saruj and the
Khabur Valley, which Zakkar noted was an indication "that the tribe of Kilab lost its footing and traditional power in the
aziranterritory". In 1090 Ibn Mula'ib, ruler of Homs and Apamea, was besieged and captured by Tutush and sent to Malik-Shah as a captive.
The collapse of their emirate deprived the Mirdasids of their leadership over most of the Kilab, the bulk of whom were at this time led by Shibl ibn Jami and dwelt in the southwestern Aleppo plain. The remainder of the tribe was led by Waththab, who entered the service of Tutush. The latter recruited heavily among the Kilab, and the Bedouin in general, in his struggle for supremacy with his Seljuk rival
Aq-Sunqur, who ruled in Aleppo. Aq-Sunqur had poor relations with the Kilab, but was obliged to recruit them to bolster his insufficient number of Turkish troops, as the Kilab remained the main pool of military recruitment in northern Syria. When the two sides fought in Hama in May 1093, the Kilabis and Turkmens deserted Aq-Sunqur, who was defeated and executed by Tutush. According to Hugh Kennedy, after the fall of the Mirdasids and the increasing encroachment of their pastures by Turkmen groups, the Kilab "soon disappeared entirely as a Bedouin tribe". Ibn al-Adim notes that clans of the Kilab continued to control remnants of the Mirdasid emirate, albeit unofficially, following the Mirdasids' fall. The Kilab continued to be the strongest and most numerous tribe in northern Syria, but were politically weak as a result of their internal divisions and unwillingness to unite under a supreme emir. Waththab and his Kilabi horsemen made an attempt to block the
First Crusade
The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic r ...
's advance into northern Syria in 1098.
The
Ayyubid dynasty conquered Syria toward the end of the 12th century, and the Ayyubid sultan of Egypt,
al-Adil, established the office of (commander of the Bedouin) to govern the Bedouin tribes of Syria and incorporate them into the state. The Kilab were excluded from the jurisdiction of the until the Ayyubid ruler of Aleppo,
az-Zahir (), confiscated their in the emirate of Aleppo and passed them over to the Tayy. Az-Zahir's measure prompted some Kilabi clans to migrate northward into
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...
, while those which remained in northern Syria allied with the
Al Fadl
AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for:
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media
* Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera
* Al (''Fullmetal ...
, the ruling house of the Tayy and the heritable holders of the post. The
Mamluk
Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...
s took over most of the Ayyubid domains in Syria by 1260. In 1262–1263, about 1,000 Kilabi cavalrymen collaborated with the
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
king in a raid against Mamluk-held
Ayn Tab. Later, in 1277, the Kilab gave their allegiance to the Mamluk sultan
Baybars at
Harim in northern Syria.
Internal aspects of the tribe during the emirate period
Size
While the Abu Bakr was the largest Kilabi subtribe in Arabia, the Amr was the largest and strongest in Syria, at least until the 9th century. As a result of their mass migration from Arabia to Syria in 932, the Abu Bakr came to outnumber the Amr in Syria. Most of the Abu Bakr tribesmen hailed from its Awf, Rabi'a and Amr branches. There is scant information about the size of the Kilab at the height of its power in Syria in the 10th and 11th centuries. On two occasions, under Salih in 1014 and under Nasr in 1038, the sources note the Kilab numbered 2,000 horsemen. It is likely that the Kilabi warriors on these two occasions represented only part of the tribe's manpower. In 1075 Ibn al-Adim noted that the Kilab "had never assembled in such great numbers before ... they were about 70,000 horsemen and infantry". Although Zakkar notes that the figure may be exaggerated, he considers that it reflects the "immensity" of the tribe.
The contemporary poets,
al-Ma'arri
Abū al-ʿAlāʾ al-Maʿarrī ( ar, أبو العلاء المعري, full name , also known under his Latin name Abulola Moarrensis; December 973 – May 1057) was an Arab philosopher, poet, and writer. Despite holding a controversially irreli ...
and Ibn Hayyus, do not mention any other tribes in northern Syria except for the Kilab, indicating the tribe's predominance over other Arab nomads in the region. Among the tribes living alongside the Kilab in the emirate were the Banu Abs, based mainly in
Wadi Butnan Dhahab River or Dhahab Valley ( ar, نهر الذهب or وادي الذهب ''Gold River'' or ''Gold Valley''), also in medieval times known as Wadi Butnan ( ar, وادي بطنان, Wadī Buṭnān) or Butnan Habib, is an intermittent river and va ...
and Hiyar Bani Qa'qa' near Manbij, the
Banu Asad
Banu Asad ibn Khuzaymah ( ar, ابن أسد بن خزيمة ) is an Arab tribe. They are Adnanite Arabs, powerful and one of the most famous tribes. They are widely respected by many Arab tribes, respected by Shia Muslims because they have buri ...
in Wadi Butnan, Nuqrat Bani Asad between
Khanasir
Khanasir ( ar, خناصر / ALA-LC: ''Khanāṣir''),France, 2007, p. 243. also spelt Khanaser, is a town located in Syria's as-Safira District. It is one of twenty-four towns and villages located in the Khanasir valley, an area with a population ...
and
Hass Mountain,
Jabal al-Summaq, and
Ma'arrat Misrin
Ma'arrat Misrin ( ar, مَعَرَّةُ مِصْرِينَ, Maʿarrat Miṣrīn, also spelled Ma'arrat Masrin or Ma'aret Masreen) is a small city in northwestern Syria, administratively part of Idlib Governorate. Ma'arrat Misrin lies an elevation ...
, and the
Tanukh
The Tanûkhids ( ar, التنوخيون, transl=al-Tanūḫiyyūn) or Tanukh ( ar, تنوخ, translit=Tanūḫ) or Banū Tanūkh (, romanized as: ) were a confederation of Arab tribes, sometimes characterized as Saracens. They first rose to prom ...
of Ma'arrat al-Nu'man. The bulk of these tribes had largely abandoned nomadic life for urban living, but retained their tribal traditions and organization.
Leadership structure
The historian Andrew Cappel notes that the Kilabi clans which entered Syria in the 10th century came with independent leaderships and were not subject to a higher tribal authority. Zakkar writes that the entry of the new Kilabi tribesmen "no doubt had some considerable effect on the life and organization of the whole body of Kilab" in Syria, but "it is very difficult, if not impossible, to find any reliable information concerning this". After their settlement there and the increasing socio-economic stratification among the tribesmen, a new political structure developed, which Cappel calls the "conical clan". The structure was marked by a series of elite households which governed their own clans, and the Kilab as a whole.
Eventually, Salih and his descendants of the Mirdasid house provided the preeminent leadership over the Kilab, with lesser Kilabi chieftains and their descendants presiding over their respective clans. Little is known about the lesser chieftains, except for some of their names. The succession of the Mirdasid emirs was at times determined internally by
primogeniture or the designation of a (chosen successor, crown prince). Disputes over succession were settled by a consensus among the Kilabi chieftains for the worthiest Mirdasid or, more often, by the outcome of infighting between the Mirdasids and their respective partisans within the Kilab. The emirs' principal claims to loyalty rested on direct kinship ties with a particular clan, or bribery. On occasion lesser Kilabi clans took advantage of divisions within the Mirdasid house for financial gain. Factionalism was intensified due to the near constant rivalry between most of the Kilabi clans, which was only mitigated when the tribe felt compelled to unify in the face of a shared external threat. According to Zakkar, the Kilab "exercised greater authority over the
irdasiddynasty, than the dynasty over
t.
Although Salih established his Aleppo-based government along the lines of a traditional medieval Islamic state, with a
qadi
A qāḍī ( ar, قاضي, Qāḍī; otherwise transliterated as qazi, cadi, kadi, or kazi) is the magistrate or judge of a '' sharīʿa'' court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and mino ...
to oversee the judiciary, a fiscal administration, and a
vizier
A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called '' katib'' (secretary), who was ...
to oversee state affairs, the Mirdasid emirate represented a "hybrid of bedouin and sedentary policies and traditions", according to Cappel. Under Salih the center of power shifted from the city to the neighboring Kilabi tribal camps. A new office was established, known as (chieftain of the state), which was reserved for Salih's trusted Kilabi confidant. Each Kilabi chieftain was assigned an by Salih.
Culture
The way of life of the Kilab in late 10th-century Syria was reminiscent of nomadic life in pre-Islamic Arabia. There were frequent cycles of
raids and counter-raids between the Kilabi clans or neighboring tribes, mostly for booty, wantonness or revenge. Initial engagements usually involved combat between a single horseman from either side, while the main body of the tribe spectated. Each opposing horseman would recite a , boasting of his valor and the merits of his tribe, and challenging any opposing tribesmen to fight. Clashes typically ended with the death of a prominent warrior or leader of a tribe, without the engagement of the main bodies. In many cases, when the Kilab successfully ambushed a rival tribe, they would seize opposing tribesmen and their property; captive tribesmen would be enslaved or released for a heavy ransom.
In springtime, Kilabi youth spent their time horse-racing or drinking wine. Most drinking was done in the many taverns, called in Arabic, located in the tribe's encampments or villages, or along the banks of small streams, called in Arabic. The Mirdasid emirs held mass feasts for their tribesmen in the spring, on the occasion of lambing season, a circumcision, or a wedding. The local poet
Ibn Abi Hasina Abu'l Fatḥ al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār ibn al-Ḥaṣīna al-Sulamī () better known as Ibn Abī Ḥaṣīna (also spelled ''Ibn Abī Ḥuṣayna''; 998–22 July 1065), was an 11th-century Arab poet, who specializ ...
(d. 1065) mentioned that 50,000 attended a banquet hosted by Thimal for the circumcision of his nephew, Mahmud. The main dish served during the feasts was called , which consisted meat cooked in yoghurt mixed with pieces of bread.
Kilabi love poems of the time period resembled
those of pre-Islamic Arabia. Love poems could result in a conflict between Kilabi clans or other tribes when one of their women was the subject of the poem. The woman's clan or tribe would initially prohibit her suitor from communicating with her and would force her into marriage with someone else after denying her suitor's permission to marry on account of the poem having dishonored her clan.
According to Zakkar, "Kilabi women, in the main, enjoyed equality with the men and on the whole their life was untrammeled". A number of important personalities of the Mirdasid house were women. Among them was Salih's mother, al-Rabab, who is reported to have given her son reliable political advice and was invited by the Fatimid governor Aziz al-Dawla to live in Aleppo to consecrate his ties with Salih. The Numayrid princess, Alawiyya bint Waththab, who was a wife to Nasr, then Thimal after Nasr's death, and mother to Mahmud, was known in the sources as (the Lady). In her frequent role as envoy or mediator she was instrumental in establishing Thimal's rule in Aleppo, reconciling Thimal with the Fatimid caliph al-Mustansir in 1050, reconciling the Mirdasids and Numayr in 1061, and saving Mahmud's rule in Aleppo from Alp Arslan's siege in 1071.
The Kilab of Syria, like most Aleppines, were
Twelver Shia Muslims. It is not clear to what extent they adhered to the religion. Many of their tribesmen bore names associated with Shia Islam, such as Ali, Ulwan, Hasan and Ja'far, though the vast majority had non-Islamic, Arabic tribal names.
Al-Andalus
Kilabi tribesmen entered
al-Andalus
Al-Andalus translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label= Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, al-Ándalus () was the M ...
(Islamic Spain) as part of the contingent of Jund Qinnasrin in the Syrian army of
Balj ibn Bishr al-Qushayri
Balj ibn Bishr al-Qushayri () was an Umayyad military commander in the Maghreb (North Africa) and al-Andalus (Iberia), and briefly became the ruler of al-Andalus in 742 until his death in August of the same year. Balj was a member of the Banu Qu ...
. They were dispatched to suppress the
Berber Revolt
The Berber Revolt of 740–743 AD (122–125 AH in the Islamic calendar) took place during the reign of the Umayyad Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik and marked the first successful secession from the Arab caliphate (ruled from Damascus). Fired up b ...
in North Africa, but were unable to, and afterward crossed to safety into al-Andalus. The Kilabi elements were led by al-Sumayl ibn Hatim, a grandson of Shimr ibn Dhi al-Jawshan, and Ubayd ibn Ali. Al-Sumayl relocated to
Cordoba following the establishment of the
Umayyad emirate in al-Andalus in 756. He left descendants in his original abode at
Jaén. The descendants of Ubayd ibn Ali settled in
Cabra and a number of them, including Ali ibn Abi Bakr and the brothers al-Nadr ibn Salama and Muhammad ibn Salama, served as qadis in Cordoba during the emirate period (756–929).
See also
*
List of battles of Muhammad
__NOTOC__
The list of expeditions of Muhammad includes the expeditions undertaken by the Muslim community during the lifetime of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
Some sources use the word ''ghazwa'' and a related plural ''maghazi'' in a narrow techn ...
Notes
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{{Historical Arab tribes