Amr ibn Hind

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.


Amr III ibn al-Mundhir
Lakhmids
FatherAl-Mundhir III
MotherHind bint al-Harith ibn Amr ibn Hujr Akil al-Murar
ReligionNestorian Christianity

Amr III ibn al-Mundhir (

Lakhmid Arabs in 554–569/570. He was a client of the Sasanian Empire. In around 550 AD he clashed with Aksumite Empire
over southern Arabia and was instrumental in the downfall of Aksumite power in southern Arabia. He was famous for his bellicosity and his patronage of poets. He was killed over an insult to Amru ibn kulthum's mother the chief of the taghlib tribe.

Life

He was the son of the

Riyad) and forced to give up hostages.[2][5]

Reign

After succeeding his father as king of the Lakhmids, in his capacity as the client and proxy of the

Taghlib, and Tamim.[2]

The medieval historian Yaqut al-Hamawi indicates that Amr's full brother Qabus, and another brother by the same mother (possibly al-Mundhir IV), were associated as junior rulers already during Amr's rule. On the other hand, his namesake half-brother, Amr ibn Umama, was explicitly excluded. Ibn Umama tried to secure the assistance of the Yemeni ruler to claim his rights, only to be murdered by one of his companions.[6]

Amr himself was likely a Christian, although perhaps not openly so, since the religion was distrusted by his Sasanian overlords as it was associated with their main rival, the

Ghassanid king al-Harith ibn Jabalah (r. 528–569). Al-Harith complained about these during this 563 visit to Constantinople, but pointedly remarked that he did not deem it necessary to retaliate so as not to disturb the peace. Amr repeated his demands in 567 via a Persian embassy to Constantinople, but was again rebuffed. In return, he ordered his brother Qabus to raid the Ghassanid territories. According to Shahîd, it appears that at that time, the Byzantine government tacitly consented to give the Lakhmids the desired subsidies to maintain the peace between Byzantium and Persia.[1][8][9]

Some time after that he received the Yemeni magnate

Khosrau I, who was indeed persuaded to send an expedition to Yemen which quickly conquered the country.[10][11]

He was killed while dining by the chief Amr ibn Kulthum in 569 or 570, after the Lakhmid ruler's mother had insulted Kulthum's mother at court.[2][12] He was succeeded by his brother Qabus.[13][14]

Character

The Arabic sources highlight Amr's energy and warlike nature, but also his cruelty, which was legendary: according to a well-known story, he sent the poets

Bahrayn bearing sealed letters with orders for their execution. Al-Mutalammis was suspicious enough to destroy his letter, but Tarafa delivered his, and was executed. The "letter of al-Mutalammis" became the proverbial example of this device in Arab lore.[15][16]

Amr's difficult character earned him the nickname Muḍarriṭ al-Ḥijāra ("the one who makes stones emit sounds"), as well as Muḥarriq ("the burner").[2][17] The latter nickname is connected to a tradition reporting that he ordered a hundred members of the Tamimi subtribe of Darim burned alive. Alternatively, it is attributed to his burning the date palms of al-Jamama. The historian Gustav Rothstein notes that it is more likely that these stories are later inventions, designed to explain Amr's nickname, rather than its origin. Rothstein points out that Muharriq was a common name among the Lakhmids, and the name of a local pre-Islamic deity, so that it may simply reflect a dedication of Amr in his childhood to this cult.[18]

Cultural legacy

Amr's court was renowned in Arab history for the number of poets it attracted, including Kulthum, Tarafa,

Imru al-Qays.[2] At his court in al-Hira, the Arab poets were increasingly exposed to the cultural influence of the Sasanians, and his court "contributed to an urbanisation of pastoralist Arabic poetry".[2]

References

  1. ^ a b Martindale 1992, pp. 53–54.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Shahîd 2010.
  3. ^ Shahîd 1995, pp. 152, 665, 666.
  4. ^ Rothstein 1899, p. 94.
  5. ^ Hoyland 2001, pp. 55–56.
  6. ^ Rothstein 1899, pp. 99–100.
  7. ^ Shahîd 1995, p. 279.
  8. ^ Rothstein 1899, pp. 96–99.
  9. ^ Shahîd 1995, pp. 275–276, 281, 285–287, 338.
  10. ^ Bosworth 1983, pp. 606–607.
  11. ^ Bosworth 1999, pp. 236–252.
  12. ^ Wensinck 1960, p. 452.
  13. ^ Rothstein 1899, p. 102.
  14. ^ Bosworth 1999, p. 370.
  15. ^ Wensinck 1960, pp. 451–452.
  16. ^ Bosworth 1999, p. 328 (note 774).
  17. ^ Rothstein 1899, p. 95.
  18. ^ Rothstein 1899, pp. 46–47, 95.

Sources

  • ISBN 978-0-521-200929
    .
  • ISBN 978-0-7914-4355-2
    .
  • Hoyland, Robert G. (2001). Arabia and the Arabs: From the Bronze Age to the coming of Islam. London and New York: Routledge.
    ISBN 0-415-19535-7
    .
  • ISBN 0-521-20160-8
    .
  • Rothstein, Gustav (1899). Die Dynastie der Lahmiden in al-Hîra. Ein Versuch zur arabisch-persichen Geschichte zur Zeit der Sasaniden [The Dynasty of the Lakhmids at al-Hira. An Essay on Arab–Persian History at the Time of the Sasanids] (in German). Berlin: Reuther & Reichard.
  • ISBN 978-0-88402-214-5
    .
  • ISSN 1873-9830
    .
  • Wensinck, A. J. (1960). "ʿAmr b. Hind". In
    OCLC 495469456
    .
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Amr_ibn_Hind&oldid=1195970920"