Iyas ibn Qabisah al-Ta'i ( ar, إياس بن قبيصة الطائي) was governor of

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

, the capital of the

Lakhmid kingdom 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 ...

, from 613 to 618CE. He was the son of Qabisah al-Ta'i. He was also the father of Hayyah and Farwah. The last part of Iyas ibn Qabisah's name, al-Ta'i, indicates that he came from the

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 ...

tribe. Iyas ibn Qabisah or his father, was appointed interim governor of

for a few months in 580 by Sasanian monarch,

Hormizd IV Hormizd IV (also spelled Hormozd IV or Ohrmazd IV; pal, 𐭠𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭬𐭦𐭣) was the Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 579 to 590. He was the son and successor of Khosrow I () and his mother was a Khazar princess. During his reign, H ...

(r. 579–590), while a suitable candidate was sought among the Naṣrid dynasty that used to rule the

. Later that year al-Nu'man III became king of the

and replaced Qabisah as ruler of

. At some point the Persian king awarded Iyas 30 villages along the Euphrates as a grant for life and made him administrator of the district of

Ayn al-Tamr Ayn al-Tamr or Ain al-Tamur ( ar, عين التمر) is a city in central Iraq, located about 67 km west of Karbala near Razzaza Lake. The oasis of Ayn al-Tamr comprises many villages which are famous for palm orchards and mineral water. The cit ...

. Iyas ibn Qabisah gave

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

king

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

(r. 590–628) a horse and slaughtered a camel for him when he met Iyas having fled from Bahram. Khosrow II showed his gratitude by rewarding Iyas in the following way. Al-Nu'man III ruled until 602 where he was executed by Khosrow, who appointed Iyas ibn Qabisah again as co-governor of

alongside the Persian noble Nakhiragan. Khosrow sent a message to Iyas enquiring where al-Nu'man's deposited possessions were. Iyas replied that al-Nu'man had found a safe refuge for them among the Bakr b. Wa'il. Khosrow ordered Iyas to get possession of what al-Nu'man had left behind and to forward that to him. Iyas sent a message to his brother Hani' saying "Send to me the coats of mail and other items al-Nu'man entrusted to you" (the lowest estimate of these mailed coats was four hundred, and the highest was eight hundred). But Hani' refused to hand over what he had engaged to protect. In response, Iyas commanded pro-Sassanid Arab and Persian troops against the Banu Bakr at the

Battle of Dhi Qar The Battle of Dhi Qar ( ar, يوم ذي قار), also known as the War of the Camel's Udder, was a pre-Islamic battle fought between Arab tribes and the Sassanid Empire The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Ira ...

, in which the Sassanids were defeated. A range of dates from between about 603 to 623 have been suggested for the Battle by different researchers. Iyas ibn Qabisah and Nakhiragan were succeeded by Azadbeh in 618. Azadbeh was succeeded by Mundhir ibn Al-Numan who was succeeded by Iyas ibn Qabisah's sons Hayyah and Farwah who surrendered al-Hirah to

Khalid ibn al-Walid Khalid ibn al-Walid ibn al-Mughira al-Makhzumi (; died 642) was a 7th-century Arab military commander. He initially headed campaigns against Muhammad on behalf of the Quraysh. He later became a Muslim and spent the remainder of his career in ...

in 633.

References

Further reading