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

Al-Hirah ( ar, الحيرة, translit=al-Ḥīra

Middle Persian Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle ...

: ''Hērt'' ) was an ancient city in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...

located south of what is now

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 south-central

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

History

Kingdom of the Lakhmids

Al-Hirah was a significant city in pre- Islamic Arab history. Al-Hirah (4th-7th centuries) served as the capital of the

Lakhmids 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 capita ...

, an Arab vassal kingdom of the Sasanian Empire, whom it helped in containing the nomadic Arabs to the south. The Lakhmid rulers of al-Hirah were recognized by

Shapur II Shapur II ( pal, 𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩 ; New Persian: , ''Šāpur'', 309 – 379), also known as Shapur the Great, was the tenth Sasanian King of Kings (Shahanshah) of Iran. The longest-reigning monarch in Iranian history, he reigne ...

(309-379), the tenth Sasanian emperor. A particular Mār 'Abdīšo' was born in

Maysan , image_map = Maysan in Iraq.svg , mapsize = 200px , settlement_type = Governorate , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_t ...

and moved to Ḥīrā after studying elsewhere under Mār 'Abdā. There he gained widespread respect as he built a monastery and lived a pious life. The Sasanian emperor

Bahram V Bahram V (also spelled Wahram V or Warahran V; pal, 𐭥𐭫𐭧𐭫𐭠𐭭), also known as Bahram Gor (New Persian: , "Bahram the onager") was the Sasanian King of Kings ('' shahanshah'') from 420 to 438. The son of the incumbent Sasanian sh ...

won the throne with support of al-Mundhir I ibn al-Nu'man, king of Ḥīrā, in 420. He was amazed and showed great respect as he encountered the saint near the village of Bēṯ 'Arbī on his way back from the imperial capital Seleucia-Ctesiphon. From c. 527, al-Hirah was opposed by the Ghassanids, a

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 ...

-sponsored Arab state in Syria and Palestine. The two powers engaged in a long conflict of their own that functioned as a

proxy war A proxy war is an armed conflict between two states or non-state actors, one or both of which act at the instigation or on behalf of other parties that are not directly involved in the hostilities. In order for a conflict to be considered a pr ...

for the Byzantine and Sasanian Empires. In 531, the Sasanians defeated the Byzantine general

Belisarius Belisarius (; el, Βελισάριος; The exact date of his birth is unknown. – 565) was a military commander of the Byzantine Empire under the emperor Justinian I. He was instrumental in the reconquest of much of the Mediterranean terr ...

at the

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

south of Edessa (now in southeastern

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

), with the help of al-Hirah. In 602, Khosrow II deposed

al-Nu'man III ibn al-Mundhir Al-Nuʿmān III ibn al-Mundhir ( ar, النعمان بن المنذر), also transcribed Naʿaman, Nuʿaman and Noman and often known by the Kunya (Arabic), patronymic Abu Qabus (), was the last Lakhmid king of al-Hirah (582 – ) and a Nestoria ...

and annexed al-Hirah.

Ecclesiastical history

Hirta was the seat of a bishopric of the Church of the East from the 4th century until the 11th century. It belonged to the

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

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

Conquered by the Arabs

Following the Battle of Hira, the city was recaptured by an army of the

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

under the command of

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 ...

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

History

Kingdom of the Lakhmids

Ecclesiastical history

Conquered by the Arabs

See also

References

Sources

External links