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''Al-Abnāʾ'' () was a term that was used in pre-Islamic and early Islamic Yemen to refer to the descendants of
Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...
soldiers who had intermarried with local
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
women in
southern Arabia South Arabia () is a historical region that consists of the southern region of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia, mainly centered in what is now the Republic of Yemen, yet it has also historically included Najran, Jizan, Al-Bahah, and 'A ...
after its conquest by the Sasanian Iranian Empire. Sasanian Iranian troops were garrisoned in
Sanaʽa Sanaa ( ar, صَنْعَاء, ' , Yemeni Arabic: ; Old South Arabian: 𐩮𐩬𐩲𐩥 ''Ṣnʿw''), also spelled Sana'a or Sana, is the capital and largest city in Yemen and the centre of Sanaa Governorate. The city is not part of the Govern ...
and its surrounding regions following the Sasanian Iranian reconquest of Yemen from the Aksumite Ethiopian Empire in the 570s CE. Their leaders largely converted to Islam following the rise of
Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد;  570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
and were active in the early Muslim conflicts.


Etymology

According to a commentary on a poem ''
Kitab al-Aghani ''Kitab al-Aghani'' ( ar, كتاب الأغاني, kitāb al-‘aghānī, The Book of Songs), is an encyclopedic collection of poems and songs that runs to over 20 volumes in modern editions, attributed to the 10th-century Arabic writer Abu al- ...
'' by the 10th-century
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
historian
Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani Ali ibn al-Husayn al-Iṣfahānī ( ar, أبو الفرج الأصفهاني), also known as Abul-Faraj, (full form: Abū al-Faraj ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥaytham al-Umawī al-Iṣfahānī) (284–356 AH / 897 ...
, these people were up until this time referred to as ''banū al-aḥrār'' (, ) in
Sanaʽa Sanaa ( ar, صَنْعَاء, ' , Yemeni Arabic: ; Old South Arabian: 𐩮𐩬𐩲𐩥 ''Ṣnʿw''), also spelled Sana'a or Sana, is the capital and largest city in Yemen and the centre of Sanaa Governorate. The city is not part of the Govern ...
and as ''al-abnāʾ'' (, ) in the rest of
Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
. The names were defined as such due to a narration that told of a strong storm that hit ancient Yemen and revealed a stone inscription that stated, "Who rules Dhamar?
Himyar The Himyarite Kingdom ( ar, مملكة حِمْيَر, Mamlakat Ḥimyar, he, ממלכת חִמְיָר), or Himyar ( ar, حِمْيَر, ''Ḥimyar'', / 𐩹𐩧𐩺𐩵𐩬) (fl. 110 BCE–520s CE), historically referred to as the Homerite ...
the Good. Who rules Dhamar? The evil Abyssinians. Who rules Dhamar? The free
Persians The Persians are an Iranian ethnic group who comprise over half of the population of Iran. They share a common cultural system and are native speakers of the Persian language as well as of the languages that are closely related to Persian. ...
." A similar stone inscription was said to have been found underneath the Kaaba in pre-Islamic times.


History

The known history of the Al-Abnāʾ people covers their time between the
Aksumite–Persian wars The Aksumite–Persian wars were a protracted series of armed engagements between the Sasanian Persian Empire and the Aksumite Empire for control over the waning Himyarite Kingdom in southern Arabia (modern-day Yemen) in the 6th century CE. Af ...
in the 6th century and the rise of Islam in the 7th century. It is unknown whether the community had maintained the practices of
Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheisti ...
from
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, or if they had been influenced by
South Arabian paganism Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia included indigenous Arabian polytheism, ancient Semitic religions, Christianity, Judaism, Mandaeism, and Iranian religions such as Zoroastrianism, and Manichaeism, and rarely Buddhism. Arabian polytheism, the ...
and local Christianity. The 9th/10th-century Muslim scholar al-Tabari states that Khurrah Khosraw, the fourth Sasanian governor of Yemen, was replaced by the governor Badhan during the reign of Khosrow II due to the former's excessive assimilation with the local
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
society. The authority of the Sasanian governors of Yemen was reduced during the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628; this conflict had coincided with the rise of Islam. The Sasanian leaders in Yemen, including Badhan,
Fayruz al-Daylami Abū ʿAbd Allāh Fayrūz al-Daylamī ( ar, فيروز الديلمي, Persian: فیروز دیلمی, ''Firuz the Daylamite'') was a Persian companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He belonged to the descendants ('' abna) of Persians that ...
and
Wahb ibn Munabbih Wahb ibn Munabbih ( ar, وهب بن منبه) was a Yemenite Muslim traditionist of Dhimar (two days' journey from Sana'a) in Yemen; died at the age of ninety, in a year variously given by Arabic authorities as 725, 728, 732, and 737 C.E. He was ...
, responded favourably to the diplomatic missions sent by
Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد;  570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
, and had formally converted to Islam by 631. Following Badhan's death, his son Shahr replaced him as governor but was killed by the rebellious Al-Aswad Al-Ansi, who had claimed prophethood during the
Ridda wars 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 ...
. Al-Aswad was later killed by Fayruz, who assumed his position as governor of Yemen. After that, Ghayth ibn Abd Yaghuth rebels, this time against al-abna' themselves, seeking their expulsion from the Arabian Peninsula. Dādawayh (), an al-abna' leader, was killed, while Fayruz al-Daylami and Jushnas (Gushnasp) managed to flee with their allies, and later defeated Ghayth ibn Abd Yaghuth. Fayruz al-Daylami and the abna' were later active in the
fertile crescent The Fertile Crescent ( ar, الهلال الخصيب) is a crescent-shaped region in the Middle East, spanning modern-day Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine and Jordan, together with the northern region of Kuwait, southeastern region of ...
and Yemen under
Caliph Umar 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 ...
during the Second Ridda War. The abna' retained their distinct identity during the Islamic period. Their
nisba The Arabic language, Arabic word nisba (; also transcribed as ''nisbah'' or ''nisbat'') may refer to: * Arabic nouns and adjectives#Nisba, Nisba, a suffix used to form adjectives in Arabic grammar, or the adjective resulting from this formation **c ...
was ''al-Abnāwī'' (). These people were gradually absorbed into the local population and thus disappeared from records. Descendants of al-Abna' live in the al-Furs village in Wadi Rijam, al-Abna' village in Wadi al-Sir in Bani Hushish District and in Khulan al-Tyal, Bayt Baws and Bani Bahlul.معجم البلدان والقبائل اليمنية، ابراهيم أحمد المقحفي، ص ١٨ This title "al-abna'" may have been the root of the title "
al-abna' ''Al-Abnāʾ'' () was a term that was used in pre-Islamic and early Islamic Yemen to refer to the descendants of Iranian soldiers who had intermarried with local Arab women in southern Arabia after its conquest by the Sasanian Iranian Empire. S ...
" used to refer to the influential Persians of
Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...
in
Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
period. The "abna'" recorded in some conflicts among Arabs of Khorasan in
Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...
period is not related to the abna' of Yemen.


See also

*
Kisra legend The Kisra legend is a migration story shared by a number of political and ethnic groups in modern Nigeria, Benin, and Cameroon, primarily the Borgu kingdom and the people of the Benue River valley. The migration legend depicts the arrival of a lar ...


References


Sources

* * * * {{cite book, last= Zakeri, first= Mohsen, title=Sāsānid Soldiers in Early Muslim Society: The Origins of ʿAyyārān and Futuwwa, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VfYnu5F20coC, year=1995, publisher=Otto Harrassowitz, location=Wiesbaden, isbn=978-3-447-03652-8 History of Yemen 7th-century Islam 7th century in Yemen Islamic history of Yemen History of Sanaa Military history of Yemen Rulers of Yemen Arabization People from the Sasanian Empire Military history of the Sasanian Empire Yemeni people of Iranian descent People from Sanaa Iran–Yemen relations Women in pre-Islamic Arabia