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The Quda'a () were a confederation of
Arab Arabs (,  , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
tribes, including the powerful Kalb and Tanukh, mainly concentrated throughout
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
and northwestern
Arabia The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...
, from at least the 4th century CE, during
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
rule, through the 12th century, during the early Islamic era. Under the first caliphs of the
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
-based
Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a member o ...
(661–750), the Quda'a occupied a privileged position in the administration and military. During the
Second Muslim Civil War The Second Fitna was a period of general political and military disorder and civil war in the Islamic community during the early Umayyad Caliphate. It followed the death of the first Umayyad caliph Mu'awiya I in 680, and lasted for about twelve y ...
(683–692) they allied with
South Arabia South Arabia (), or Greater Yemen, is a historical region that consists of the southern region of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia, mainly centered in what is now the Republic of Yemen, yet it has also historically included Najran, Jazan, ...
n and other tribes in Syria as the Yaman faction in opposition to their rivals, the
Qays Qays ʿAylān (), often referred to simply as Qays (''Kais'' or ''Ḳays'') were an Arab tribal confederation that branched from the Mudar group. The tribe may not have functioned as a unit in pre-Islamic Arabia (before 630). However, by the ea ...
confederation, in what became a rivalry for power and influence which continued well after the Umayyad era. In forging this alliance, the Quda'a's leaders genealogically realigned their descent to the South Arabian
Himyar Himyar was a polity in the southern highlands of Yemen, as well as the name of the region which it claimed. Until 110 BCE, it was integrated into the Qatabanian kingdom, afterwards being recognized as an independent kingdom. According to class ...
, discarding their north Arabian ancestor,
Ma'add Maʿadd ibn ʿAdnān (Arabic: مَعَدّ ٱبْن عَدْنَان) was a mythic Arabs, Arab ancestor, traditionally regarded as the son of Adnan and the forefather of several northern Arab tribes, including Mudar and Adnanites, Rabi'ah. He is ...
, a move which elicited centuries-long debate and controversy among early Islamic scholars.


Genealogical origins and tribal alignment


Background

In the Arab genealogical tradition, the Arab tribes were generally divided into those with northern or southern Arabian ancestors. The ancestral origins of the Quda'a are obscure, with the claims of the early genealogists being contradictory. The Quda'a were counted among the northern Arabian
Ma'add Maʿadd ibn ʿAdnān (Arabic: مَعَدّ ٱبْن عَدْنَان) was a mythic Arabs, Arab ancestor, traditionally regarded as the son of Adnan and the forefather of several northern Arab tribes, including Mudar and Adnanites, Rabi'ah. He is ...
tribes in the pre-Islamic and early Islamic periods. Ma'add had been attested as a tribal confederation in the
Syrian Desert The Syrian Desert ( ''Bādiyat Ash-Shām''), also known as the North Arabian Desert, the Jordanian steppe, or the Badiya, is a region of desert, semi-desert, and steppe, covering about of West Asia, including parts of northern Saudi Arabia, ea ...
as early as the 4th century. One of the prominent tribes of the Quda'a, the
Banu Kalb The Banu Kalb () was an Arab tribe which mainly dwelt in the desert and steppe of northwestern Arabia and central Syria. It was involved in the tribal politics of the Byzantine Empire's eastern frontiers, possibly as early as the 4th century. ...
, had been present in
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
centuries before the advent of Islam in the 630s, and since they and the wider Quda'a group had been present there for so long, the historian Patricia Crone comments that it is "pointless to speculate where they may have originally come from". The Quda'a, as well as the
Kinda Kinda or Kindah may refer to: People Given name * Kinda Alloush (born 1982), Syrian actress * Kinda El-Khatib (born 1996 or 1997), Lebanese activist Surname * Chris Kinda (born 1999), Namibian para-athlete * Gadi Kinda (1994–2025), ...
tribe, occupied a privileged position under
Mu'awiya Mu'awiya I (–April 680) was the founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 661 until his death. He became caliph less than thirty years after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and immediately after the four Rashid ...
's governorship of Islamic Syria (639–661) and his Syria-based
Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a member o ...
(661–680), as they were the foundation of his military strength. The alliance with Quda'a was sealed by Mu'awiya's marriage to
Maysun bint Bahdal Maysun bint Bahdal () was a wife of caliph Mu'awiya I (), and as mother of his successor and son Yazid I (). She belonged to a ruling clan of the Banu Kalb, a tribe which dominated the Syrian steppe. Mu'awiya's marriage to her sealed his allia ...
of the Kalb's leading household. The nobles of the Quda'a were granted yearly, inheritable stipends, as well as veto and consultation rights with the caliph. Under Mu'awiya's successor, his son with Maysun,
Yazid I Yazid ibn Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan (; 11 November 683), commonly known as Yazid I, was the second caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from April 680 until his death in November 683. His appointment by his father Mu'awiya I () was the first ...
(), the Quda'a maintained their privileges.


Initial attempts to link with Himyar

According to several early Islamic sources, the first figure to claim
South Arabia South Arabia (), or Greater Yemen, is a historical region that consists of the southern region of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia, mainly centered in what is now the Republic of Yemen, yet it has also historically included Najran, Jazan, ...
n,
Himyarite Himyar was a polity in the southern highlands of Yemen, as well as the name of the region which it claimed. Until 110 BCE, it was integrated into the Qataban, Qatabanian kingdom, afterwards being recognized as an independent kingdom. According ...
descent for the Quda'a was a supposed
companion of Muhammad The Companions of the Prophet () were the Muslim disciples and followers of the Islamic prophet Muhammad who saw or met him during his lifetime. The companions played a major role in Muslim battles, society, hadith narration, and governance ...
, Amr ibn Murra of the
Juhayna The Juhaynah ( ; ) are a nomad tribe of the Arabian Peninsula and the largest clan of Banu Quda'a. They are one of the most powerful Arabian tribes that rule important parts of the Arabian Peninsula. The clan remains prevalent in the Arabian P ...
, another major constituent tribe of the Quda'a. Amr ibn Murra urged his tribesmen in Egypt, which was conquered by the Muslim Arabs in the 640s, to join the Yamani, or South Arabian, tribes, and according to reports attributed to a late 7th-century source,
Isa ibn Talha al-Taymi ʿĪsā ibn Ṭalḥa al-Taymī () was a notable of the Quraysh in Medina and is cited as a transmitter of historical reports by early Islamic historians. Family, life and work Isa was a son of Talha ibn Ubaydallah, a prominent companion of Muha ...
, and the
qadi A qadi (; ) is the magistrate or judge of a Sharia court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and minors, and supervision and auditing of public works. History The term '' was in use from ...
of Egypt
Ibn Lahi'a Abū Abd al-Raḥmān Abdallāh Ibn Lahīʿa ibn ʿUqba ibn Furʿān ibn Rabīʿa ibn Thawbān al-Ḥaḍramī al-Aʿdūlī () (96–174 AH) (714/5–790 CE) more commonly known as Ibn Lahi'a (), was an Arab historian, scholar of ''hadith'' and ' ...
(d. 790), Amr ibn Murra invoked a conversation he had with Muhammad in which the latter informed him that Quda'a stemmed from Himyar. Depending on the source, Amr ibn Murra's effort was supported by Mu'awiya or, alternatively, frowned upon by the caliph. The 8th-century genealogist
al-Zubayr ibn Bakkar Al-Zubayr ibn Bakkār (, (788-870 CE / 172–256 AH), a descendant of al-Zubayr ibn al-ʻAwwām, was a leading Arab Muslim historian and genealogist of the Arabs, particularly the Hijaz region. He composed a number of works on genealogy that ma ...
held that in response to Mu'awiya's order to ascertain the lineages of the Arab troops in Egypt, Amr ibn Murra proclaimed that Quda'a was a descendant of Himyar. Uqba ibn Amir, another companion of Muhammad from the Juhayna who settled in Egypt and was close to Mu'awiya, backed these claims, according to Ibn Lahi'a. The historian
Wilferd Madelung Wilferd Ferdinand Madelung FBA (26 December 1930 – 9 May 2023) was a German author and scholar of Islamic history widely recognised for his contributions to the fields of Islamic and Iranian studies. He was appreciated in Iran for his "know ...
views the reports about Amr ibn Murra's Himyarite advocacy as credible, and thus dates the efforts to link Quda'a with Himyar to Mu'awiya's rule. He speculates the efforts were politically advantageous for the Quda'a as the Himyarites formed a significant proportion of the troops in Egypt and that Mu'awiya hoped to "extend his marriage alliance with Kalb indirectly to Himyar" through forging their genealogical links. Nonetheless, the Quda'a's claims of Himyarite lineage was not endorsed by the Himyar or the Kalb in Syria during Mu'awiya's caliphate. Crone, on the other hand, considers the narratives about Amr ibn Murra to be "exceedingly doubtful"; she questions his biography, as he was held to have been an old man in Muhammad's time but lived well into Mu'awiya's caliphate, and suspects that he is mainly used in the early sources to advocate for the Himyarite descent of the Quda'a. She further notes that the Quda'a did not develop an interest in Himyarite descent until well after Mu'awiya's death in 680. Links between the Quda'a and the South Arabian tribes were also demonstrated in the reorganization of
Kufa Kufa ( ), 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, Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000. Along with Samarra, Karbala, Kadhimiya ...
, one of the two chief Arab garrison towns of Iraq by Mu'awiya's governor there in 671. The Arab military settlers were organized into seven divisions based on their tribal origin. The soldiers who belonged to the Quda'a tribes were assigned to the same seventh as the South Arabian tribes of Azd Sarat, Hadhramawt,
Kinda Kinda or Kindah may refer to: People Given name * Kinda Alloush (born 1982), Syrian actress * Kinda El-Khatib (born 1996 or 1997), Lebanese activist Surname * Chris Kinda (born 1999), Namibian para-athlete * Gadi Kinda (1994–2025), ...
, Bajila and Khath'am, suggesting that the Quda'a was remembered to have had South Arabian origins. However, as they were not part of the same seventh as the Himyar, the South Arabian tribe to which the Quda'a was traditionally held to have descended from, Crone considers the relevance of the Kufan genealogists who decided the Quda'a's tribal association as "uncertain".


Consolidation of Quda'a–Himyar union

The Quda'a's privileged position in the Umayyad state during the Sufyanid period (661–684, i.e. the reigns of Mu'awiya I, Yazid I, and
Mu'awiya II Mu'awiya ibn Yazid ibn Mu'awiya (; –684), commonly known as Mu'awiya II, was the third Umayyad caliph, ruling for less than a year in 683–684. He succeeded his father Yazid I as the third caliph and last caliph of the Sufyanid line in the ...
) caused consternation among the other tribal components in Syria. By this point, there were three major tribal confederations in Syria: the Quda'a, which had a strong presence in the central districts of
Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
,
Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...
and Hims where they were allied with the tribes of Ghassan and Kinda; the more recent northern Arabian arrivals of the
Qays Qays ʿAylān (), often referred to simply as Qays (''Kais'' or ''Ḳays'') were an Arab tribal confederation that branched from the Mudar group. The tribe may not have functioned as a unit in pre-Islamic Arabia (before 630). However, by the ea ...
, who were mainly concentrated in northern Syria where the Quda'a lacked a foothold; and the Qahtan, which grouped the South Arabian Himyar, Hamdan and Ansar of Homs, which settled there during the Muslim conquest. According to Crone, the non-Quda'a tribes were essentially faced with the choice of joining or opposing the Quda'a, and the Sufyanid period "was marked by intense discussion of possible genealogical realignments" among the tribes. These deliberations were held by the 'brother' tribes of Judham, Lakhm and Amila in the southern district of
Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
, and the Kinda. At this time, the Quda'a in Syria still claimed Ma'addite descent, and sponsored efforts by the upstart Judham chief, Rawh ibn Zinba, to persuade his tribesmen and their affiliates to endorse descent from the Ma'addite Asad tribe. This effort was opposed by the bulk of the Judham under the elder chief Natil ibn Qays, who opted for lineage from Qahtan in alliance with the South Arabians of Homs. When Yazid died during the
Second Muslim Civil War The Second Fitna was a period of general political and military disorder and civil war in the Islamic community during the early Umayyad Caliphate. It followed the death of the first Umayyad caliph Mu'awiya I in 680, and lasted for about twelve y ...
in 683, followed weeks later by the death of his successor, Mu'awiya II, Yazid's son by a Kalbi woman, Umayyad rule had collapsed across the caliphate, in favor of the anti-Umayyad caliph
Ibn al-Zubayr Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam (; May 624October/November 692) was the leader of a caliphate based in Mecca that rivaled the Umayyads from 683 until his death. The son of al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam and Asma bint Abi Bakr, and grandson of ...
of
Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...
. While the Quda'a sought to preserve Umayyad rule, and thus their privileges, their tribal opponents in Syria, including the Qahtan, the Qays, and the Judham, threw in their lot with Ibn al-Zubayr and his ally in Damascus,
al-Dahhak ibn Qays al-Fihri Al-Dahhak ibn Qays al-Fihri (; died August 684) was an Umayyad general, head of security forces and governor of Damascus during the reigns of caliphs Mu'awiya I, Yazid I and Mu'awiya II. Though long an Umayyad loyalist, after the latter's death, ...
, taking control of Syria's districts except for Quda'a-controlled Jordan. The Quda'a and their tribal allies, including the Ghassan, Kinda, Akk and Ash'ar, nominated an Umayyad from a different branch of the family,
Marwan I Marwan ibn al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As ibn Umayya (; 623 or 626April/May 685), commonly known as MarwanI, was the fourth Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad caliph, ruling for less than a year in 684–685. He founded the Marwanid ruling house of the Umayyad ...
, as caliph and together routed the much larger army of their tribal rivals under al-Dahhak at the Battle of Marj Rahit in 684. Umayyad rule was quickly reasserted across Syria, but the Qays commenced a series of raids against the Kalb to avenge their losses at Marj Rahit. According to the 8th-century Kalbi genealogists, Nasr ibn Mazru and al-Sharqi ibn Qutami, the Quda'a adopted Himyarite descent as part of an alliance with the Yamani tribes, during this period of raids and counter-raids between the Qays and the Kalb. The Ma'add confederacy in Syria was thus dissolved, and its constituents were merged with the Qahtan, i.e. the Yaman. The historian Khalid Yahya Blankinship dates the Quda'i–Yamani union to , while the historian
Werner Caskel Werner Caskel (March 5, 1896, Danzig – January 28, 1970, Colognehttp://www.saur.de/dbe/pdf/Aufge_Pers_C.pdf) was a German historian of Muslim people. Caskel's specialties were Islamic history and tribal genealogy. He taught as professor at th ...
dates it to the 690s. Yazid's son Khalid, who had been in line to succeed Marwan until the latter replaced him with his own son, Abd al-Malik, encouraged the effort to disrupt tribal support for Marwan's progeny. The Quda'a's genealogical alignment with the Yaman was sealed by the favoritism shown to Qaysi troops in the Umayyad army invading the Byzantine Empire in 715–718 by Abd al-Malik's son, the prominent general Maslama, and the considerable investments by the wealthy governor of Iraq and the eastern Caliphate, Khalid al-Qasri (), to persuade the chiefs of Quda'a to change their genealogy. These efforts were condemned by the more pious men of the Quda'a, such as Nasr ibn Mazru, who viewed the renouncement of the Quda'a's ancestor Ma'add to be unconscionable.


Controversy

The disputes over the Quda'a's origins elicited considerable debate among early Islamic scholars, who invoked the purported opinions of Muhammad to favor either side, while others proposed "ingenious harmonizations" of Ma'addite and Himyarite ancestries for the tribe, according to Crone. Among the alleged utterances of Muhammad were that Ma'add's '' kunya'' (paedynomic) was ''Abū Quḍāʿa'' ('Father of Quda'a'), or that Muhammad explicitly stated Quda'a was a descendant of Himyar. The 8th-century genealogist, Ibn al-Kalbi, who belonged to the Quda'a, harmonized these seemingly contradictory claims by holding that Quda'a's mother, Mu'ana, was originally the wife of Malik ibn Amr ibn Murra ibn Malik ibn Himyar, and that she afterward wed Ma'add, bringing Quda'a with her; thus Quda'a became known as a son of Ma'add, albeit not a biological one. This tradition is also espoused by a later genealogist, Ibn Abd Rabbihi (d. 940), who further notes that ''Quda'a'' was an epithet meaning 'leopard' and his actual name was Amr.Ibn Abd Rabbih, p. 275. The historians
al-Baladhuri ʾAḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Jābir al-Balādhurī () was a 9th-century West Asian historian. One of the eminent Middle Eastern historians of his age, he spent most of his life in Baghdad and enjoyed great influence at the court of the caliph al ...
and Abu'l-Baqa Hibat Allah offer the opposite narrative, namely that Mu'ana was originally the wife of Ma'add, with whom she had Quda'a, and then later married Malik ibn Amr of the Himyar.


Sub-tribes

The Quda'a consisted of the following tribes, though the lineage or association of some, such as the Tanukh,
Khawlan Khawlan (, ) is an ancient Tribes of Yemen#Himyar, Himyarite Arab tribe that archeologists view as one of the old tribes of Yemen that were contemporary to the kingdoms of Sabaeans, Saba and Minaeans, Ma'in. There are two tribes in Yemen with the ...
and Mahra, were disputed by the traditional Arab genealogists. Over time, some tribes of Quda'a joined other confederations, adopted different lineages, and changed their tribal identity. * Bahra', a smaller tribe which migrated from the Euphrates valley to the plains around Homs before the Muslim conquest of Syria. *
Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...
, a prominent tribe whose territory abutted the Juhayna's to the north, up to the borders of Syria. The played a prominent role in the conquest of Egypt, with most of the tribe's members in Syria being relocated there in the 640s. They were present in large numbers at Fustat,
Akhmim Akhmim (, ; Akhmimic , ; Sahidic/Bohairic ) is a city in the Sohag Governorate of Upper Egypt. Referred to by the ancient Greeks as Khemmis or Chemmis () and Panopolis (), it is located on the east bank of the Nile, to the northeast of Sohag. ...
,
Asyut AsyutAlso spelled ''Assiout'' or ''Assiut''. ( ' ) is the capital of the modern Asyut Governorate in Egypt. It was built close to the ancient city of the same name, which is situated nearby. The modern city is located at , while the ancient city i ...
and Ushmun, but were expelled by the Fatimids and moved southward with the Juhayna. Together the two Quda'a tribes mixed with the indigenous Beja and Baqqara tribes, contributing considerably to their Arabization and Islamization. Part of the Bali had remained in Arabia, with some accepting Saudi rule, and other parts of the tribe taking refuge with the ousted Hashemites in Transjordan. *
Balqayn Banū al-Qayn () (also spelled Banūʾl Qayn, Balqayn or al-Qayn ibn Jasr) were an Arab tribe that was active between the early Roman era in the Near East through the early Islamic era (7th–8th centuries CE), as far as the historical record is c ...
, a tribe whose territory neighbored that of the Quda'a tribes of Bali, Udhra and Kalb, the last of which was the traditional rival of the Balqayn. They are last mentioned as participants in inter-tribal fighting around Damascus in the late 8th century. * Jarm *
Juhayna The Juhaynah ( ; ) are a nomad tribe of the Arabian Peninsula and the largest clan of Banu Quda'a. They are one of the most powerful Arabian tribes that rule important parts of the Arabian Peninsula. The clan remains prevalent in the Arabian P ...
, a prominent tribe whose territory spanned the northern central
Hejaz Hejaz is a Historical region, historical region of the Arabian Peninsula that includes the majority of the western region of Saudi Arabia, covering the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif and Al Bahah, Al-B ...
(western Arabia), giving them control over a large part of the caravan routes between Syria and Mecca. They played an important role, along with other Quda'a tribes, in the
Muslim conquest of Egypt The Arab conquest of Egypt, led by the army of Amr ibn al-As, took place between 639 and 642 AD and was overseen by the Rashidun Caliphate. It ended the seven-century-long Roman Egypt, Roman period in Egypt that had begun in 30 BC and, more broa ...
in the 640s, settling in
Fustat Fustat (), also Fostat, was the first capital of Egypt under Muslim rule, though it has been integrated into Cairo. It was built adjacent to what is now known as Old Cairo by the Rashidun Muslim general 'Amr ibn al-'As immediately after the Mus ...
. The Juhayna of Egypt migrated to
Upper Egypt Upper Egypt ( ', shortened to , , locally: ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the Nile River valley south of the delta and the 30th parallel North. It thus consists of the entire Nile River valley from Cairo south to Lake N ...
during the
Fatimid The Fatimid Caliphate (; ), also known as the Fatimid Empire, was a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries CE under the rule of the Fatimid dynasty, Fatimids, an Isma'ili Shi'a dynasty. Spanning a large area of North Africa ...
period (10th–12th centuries). These tribesmen went further south in the 14th century, gaining control over swathes of
Nubia Nubia (, Nobiin language, Nobiin: , ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the confluence of the Blue Nile, Blue and White Nile, White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), and the Cataracts of the Nile, first cataract ...
and eventually merging with tribes of the Sudan. The Juhayna who had remained in the Hejaz allied with the
Alids The Alids are those who claim descent from Ali ibn Abi Talib (; 600–661 CE), the fourth Rashidun caliph () and the first imam in Shia Islam. Ali was also the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The main branches are th ...
, whilst retaining their tribal identity. They survived into the modern era, allying with the
Hashemites The Hashemites (), also House of Hashim, are the royal family of Jordan, which they have ruled since 1921, and were the royal family of the kingdoms of Hejaz (1916–1925), Syria (1920), and Iraq (1921–1958). The family had ruled the city of Me ...
, descendants of the Alids, but after the latter were ousted by the
House of Saud The House of Saud ( ) is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. It is composed of the descendants of Muhammad bin Saud, founder of the Emirate of Diriyah, known as the First Saudi State, (1727–1818), and his brothers, though the ruling ...
, they became generally loyal subjects of the Saudi kingdom and play an important role in the development of their region. * Kalb, the strongest tribe of the Quda'a whose territory historically spanned the vast steppe between Iraq and Syria, the so-called Samawa, and including the Wadi Sirhan and Dumat al-Jandal areas. After the Muslim conquest, they expanded their presence to Damascus and its environs, the
Golan Heights The Golan Heights, or simply the Golan, is a basaltic plateau at the southwest corner of Syria. It is bordered by the Yarmouk River in the south, the Sea of Galilee and Hula Valley in the west, the Anti-Lebanon mountains with Mount Hermon in t ...
, the upper Jordan Valley, Homs and
Palmyra Palmyra ( ; Palmyrene dialect, Palmyrene: (), romanized: ''Tadmor''; ) is an ancient city in central Syria. It is located in the eastern part of the Levant, and archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first menti ...
. The Kalb remained a potent force in Syria through the 10th century, and retained influence around Damascus into the 11th century. *
Khawlan Khawlan (, ) is an ancient Tribes of Yemen#Himyar, Himyarite Arab tribe that archeologists view as one of the old tribes of Yemen that were contemporary to the kingdoms of Sabaeans, Saba and Minaeans, Ma'in. There are two tribes in Yemen with the ...
*Khushayn, a minor tribe * Mahra * Salīḥ, a tribe historically concentrated in Wadi Sirhan and the Balqa region of
Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
. They became the dominant Arab ''
foederati ''Foederati'' ( ; singular: ''foederatus'' ) were peoples and cities bound by a treaty, known as ''foedus'', with Rome. During the Roman Republic, the term identified the '' socii'', but during the Roman Empire, it was used to describe foreign ...
'' of the
Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
in the 5th century and expanded further into northern Syria. They were charged with collecting taxes from the
Bedouins The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( ; , singular ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Sy ...
seeking to dwell within the ''
Limes Arabicus The ''Limes Arabicus'' was a desert frontier of the Roman Empire, running north from its start in the province of Arabia Petraea. It ran northeast from the Gulf of Aqaba for about at its greatest extent, reaching northern Syria and forming part ...
''. The Salihids were replaced by the Ghassanids as the chief ''foederati'' of the Byzantines in the early 6th century but remained in Byzantine service and staunchly Christian until the Muslim conquest of Syria in the 630s. They likely joined the Quda'a during Umayyad rule, and are last heard of dwelling around
Latakia Latakia (; ; Syrian Arabic, Syrian pronunciation: ) is the principal port city of Syria and capital city of the Latakia Governorate located on the Mediterranean coast. Historically, it has also been known as Laodicea in Syria or Laodicea ad Mar ...
and al-Balqa in the 9th century. * Tanukh, originally a confederation of different tribes which migrated from
eastern Arabia Eastern Arabia () is a region stretched from Basra to Khasab along the Persian Gulf coast and included parts of modern-day Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia (Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia, Eastern Province), and the United Arab ...
to modern Iraq and became one of the main Arab groups of the city of
al-Hirah Al-Hira ( Middle Persian: ''Hērt'' ) was an ancient Lakhmid Arabic city in Mesopotamia located south of what is now Kufa in south-central Iraq. The Sasanian Empire, Sasanian government established the Lakhmid state (Al-Hirah) on the edge of the ...
. Sections of the Tanukh moved to Syria where, in the 4th century, they became the first Arab ''foederati'' of the Byzantines before being replaced by the Salhids. They remained staunch Christian allies of Byzantium until the Muslim conquest of Syria in the 630s. The Tanukh remained settled in northern Syria and largely retained their Christian faith. It was likely only after the Battle of Marj Rahit, where the Tanukh fought alongside the Umayyads, that the tribe became members of the Quda'a. The Tanukh converted to Islam during Abbasid rule and in the 9th century migrated to the Syrian coastal mountains. In the 11th century, Tanukhid families established themselves in and around
Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...
, where they embraced the
Druze The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic ...
faith and remained a local force until early Ottoman rule. * Udhra, a tribe historically established in the Wadi al-Qura area on the borderlands between Syria and the Hejaz. They were allies of the Jewish agriculturalists of that region and had close ties with the inhabitants of Yathrib. Some of their tribesmen migrated into Syria and a number served important positions under the Umayyad caliphs there.


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* * * * * * * * * * * * * {{Historical Arab tribes Tribes of Arabia Tribal confederacies