Bilad al-Sham

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This article is about region of the early Caliphates. For the geographical region known as Greater Syria, see Syria (region). For other uses, see Shaam (disambiguation).
Bilad al-Sham
بِلَاد الشَّام
Region of the
Ikhshidids
940s
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Diocese of the East
Ikhshidid Dynasty
Hamdanid dynasty
History of the Levant
Prehistory
Ancient history
Classical antiquity
Middle Ages
Modern history

Bilad al-Sham (

Arabic: بِلَاد الشَّام, romanized: Bilād al-Shām), often referred to as Islamic Syria or simply Syria in English-language sources, was a province of the Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, and Fatimid caliphates. It roughly corresponded with the Byzantine Diocese of the East, conquered by the Muslims
in 634–647. Under the Umayyads (661–750) Bilad al-Sham was the metropolitan province of the Caliphate and different localities throughout the province served as the seats of the Umayyad caliphs and princes.

Bilad al-Sham was first organized into the four ajnad (military districts; singular jund) of Filastin (Palestine), al-Urdunn (Jordan), Dimashq (Damascus), and Hims (Homs), between 637 and 640 by Caliph Umar following the Muslim conquest. The jund of Qinnasrin was created out of the northern part of Hims by caliphs Mu'awiya I (r. 661–680) or Yazid I (r. 680–683). The Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia) was made an independent province from the Mesopotamian part of Qinnasrin by Caliph Abd al-Malik in 692. In 786 the jund of al-Awasim and al-Thughur were established from the northern frontier region of Qinnasrin by Caliph Harun al-Rashid. As centralized Abbasid rule over Bilad al-Sham collapsed in the 10th century, control over the region was divided by several potentates and the ajnad only represented nominal divisions. The Abbasids and the Egypt-based Fatimid Caliphate continued to officially recognize the province and its ajnad until the Crusader invasions of the coastal regions in 1099.

Name

The name Bilad al-Sham in Arabic translates as "the left-hand region".[1][2] It was so named from the perspective of the people of the Hejaz (western Arabia), who considered themselves to be facing the rising sun, that the Syrian region was positioned to their left, while to their right was al-Yaman ("the right-hand-region").[1]

Geography

Bilad al-Sham comprised the area of

Syrian steppe.[3]

History

Muslim conquest

Main article: Muslim conquest of the Levant

Following the consolidation of Islamic hegemony over

caliph (leader of the Muslim community) Abu Bakr (r. 632–634) turned the nascent Muslim state's goals toward the conquest of Syria.[4] The conquest unfolded in three main phases, according to the historian Fred Donner. In the first phase, Abu Bakr dispatched four armies from Medina in late 633 led by the commanders Amr ibn al-As, Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan, Shurahbil ibn Hasana, all veterans of the Ridda wars, and Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah, a leading companion of Muhammad.[5] Abu Ubayda may not have been dispatched until 636.[6] Each commander was assigned to a different zone, with Amr entrusted over Palestine, Yazid to the Balqa (central Transjordan), Shurahbil to southern Transjordan, and Abu Ubayda to the Ghassanid stomping grounds of the Golan Heights.[7] The Muslim commanders mainly engaged in small-scale skirmishes in the southern Syrian countryside with local garrisons.[8] The goal of the Muslims at the start of the conquest was likely bringing the Arabic-speaking nomadic, semi-nomadic, and settled tribesmen of the southern Syrian desert fringes under their control.[9]

The second phase began with the arrival of

Yarmouk in Transjordan, all occurring in 634–636. The Muslim battlefield victories effectively ended organized resistance by the Byzantines.[10]

In the third phase, beginning about 637, the Muslim armies quickly occupied the northern Syrian countryside, while steadily conquering individual towns throughout the region whose garrisons held out alone following the breakdown of the imperial defense. Among the towns, a number of which held out until 637 or 638, were Aleppo (Beroea) and Qinnasrin (Chalcis) in the north, Hama, Homs and Baalbek (the latter two possibly for the second time), Damascus possibly for the second time, Jerusalem. Within the next few years, the Mediterranean coastal towns of Beirut, Sidon, Tyre, Caesarea, Antioch, Tripoli and Ascalon were captured by Muslim forces.[10]

Governorship of Mu'awiya

Umar has appointed Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah commander of the Muslim troops in Syria in c. 636 and governor of the conquered region. He died in the

Mu'awiya.[12] Umar's successor, Caliph Uthman (r. 644–656), gradually expanded Mu'awiya's governorship to span all of Syria.[11]

As governor, Mu'awiya, forged strong ties with the old-established Arab tribes of Syria, which, by dint of their long service under the Byzantines, were more politically experienced than the tribesmen of Arabia, who filled the ranks of the Muslim armies.[11] Among the Syrian tribes, the powerful Banu Kalb and their Quda'a confederacy gained the preeminent position in Mu'awiya's government. He also accommodated Arab newcomers, most prominently the Kinda of South Arabia.[12] The tribes and commanders of Syria backed Mu'awiya in his confrontation with Caliph Ali at the Battle of Siffin in 657, which ended in a stalemate and an agreement to arbitrate their dispute. The arbitration talks collapsed and Mu'awiya's Syrian supporters recognized him as caliph in a ceremony in Jerusalem in 660. Ali was murdered the following year, paving the way for Mu'awiya to gain control of the rest of the Caliphate.[13]

Umayyad period

Syria became the metropolitan province of the

Ibn al-Zubayr, was recognized as caliph across much of the Muslim empire, while Yazid I's son and successor, Mu'awiya II, succumbed to the plague.[15]

The Kalb and other loyalist tribes elected another Umayyad, Marwan I, as caliph and he moved to secure the dynasty's Syrian heartland. With these tribes' support, he defeated the Qays tribes and other supporters of Ibn al-Zubayr at the Battle of Marj Rahit, north of Damascus, in 684. Under his son and successor, Abd al-Malik (r. 685–705), Syrian troops reconquered the rest of the Caliphate and killed Ibn al-Zubayr in a second siege of Mecca. A standing army composed of the Syrian tribal soldiery was established under this caliph and his sons and successors. Abd al-Malik inaugurated a more Arab–Islamic government in Syria by changing the language of its bureaucracy from Greek to Arabic, switching from Byzantine coinage to a strictly Islamic currency, and building the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, which he may have promoted as an additional center of Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.[15]

Abd al-Malik's son and successor,

Syrian steppe.[15]

After a period of stagnation, the caliph

Third Muslim Civil War. His successor Yazid III died after a few months, followed by the weak rule of Ibrahim. Marwan II took control of the caliphate, crushed his Syrian tribal opponents, and shifted the capital to Harran, outside of Syria, which increased Syrian opposition to his rule.[14]

Post-Umayyad period

Al-Sham became much less important under the

Mamluk conquest in the late 13th century.[citation needed
]

Administrative history

Roman–Byzantine precursors

Administrative divisions of the Diocese of the East (Byzantine Syria)

The ajnad were an adaptation of the preexisting administrative system of the

Palaestina Tertia), Phoenice and Arabia.[18]

Beginnings of Islamic administration

Following the decisive Muslim victory at Yarmouk in 636, and the occupation of most of the

Jabiya, the former Ghassanid capital, at least once between 637 and 639.[20] From there he personally oversaw the distribution of allowances (ata) and rations (rizq) to the Muslim soldiery, tax collection from the conquered population, and the appointments to military command. There may have been initial Muslim intentions to establish Jabiya as the permanent, central garrison town of Syria along the lines of those later established in the conquered regions of Iraq (Kufa and Basra), Egypt (Fustat), and Ifriqiya (Kairouan).[19] Those garrison cities developed into major urban centers of the Caliphate. During one of his visits, or by 640 at the latest, the central army camp at Jabiya was disbanded by Umar.[21] Instead, as a result of several factors, "a self-supporting, more flexible" military-administrative system was established, according to the historian Alan Walmsley.[21]

Unlike Iraq and Egypt where settlement was concentrated along the major rivers of those provinces, Syrian settlement was distributed over an extensive area of mountains, valleys, and plains. The complex geography slowed communications and army movements in the region, necessitating multiple regional centers for efficient administration and defense;[22] according to Walmsley, this was "a principle confirmed by over 500 years of Roman and Byzantine administration".[22] The change of Muslim military objectives following Yarmouk, when focus shifted to the northern Syrian and Mediterranean fronts, also necessitated the establishment of additional army headquarters and garrisons, such as Homs, diminishing Jabiya's centrality. Further reducing troop numbers in Jabiya was the Plague of Amwas in 639, which reduced the garrison there from 24,000 to 4,000. The decrease was likely due to factors in addition to the plague. In late 639 or early 640, a significant number of Muslim troops also left Syria for the conquest of Egypt under Amr's command.[23]

Troop numbers in Jabiya could not be restored in the aftermath of the plague and the departure of Muslim troops to other fronts. Unlike in Iraq where there were high levels of Arab tribal immigration, similar immigration into Syria was restricted by the Qurayshite elite in a bid to preserve their pre-established interests in the region.

steppe and formerly served Byzantium and in the urban Arab communities, particularly those of Damascus and Homs.[25] Not long after Yarmouk, the Arab tribes of Syria were incorporated into the nascent Muslim military structure there. The native tribes had a preference for the established urban centers with which they were long familiarized.[24] Muslim settlement in the urban centers was facilitated by the wide availability of property in the cities in the wake of the conquests, as a result of the exodus of pro-Byzantine, Greek-speaking residents or in property transfers to the Muslims secured in capitulation agreements. Muslim settlement in the hinterland, on the other hand, was limited as the Aramaic-speaking peasantry remained in their villages.[25]

The jund divisions

Main article: Jund § Syria
Map depicting the original ajnad (approximate boundaries), and the important towns and Arab tribes of Bilad al-Sham in the 640s

Umar divided Syria into the four

Lydda, Tiberias, Damascus, and Homs, respectively. In effect, Umar gave his sanction of the existing military situation in Syria, where different army units operated independently on the different fronts. By establishing the ajnad, Umar transformed the military structures into provincial governments concerned with the taxation of the local populations and the distribution of collected money and supplies for the troops. During the caliphate of Umar's successor Uthman (r. 644–656), supplemental garrisons were established in the respective ajnad, especially in the coastal cities.[26]

During the reign of Mu'awiya I or Yazid I, Qinnasrin (northern Syria) and the Jazira (

Second Muslim Civil War.[29] According to the historian Hugh N. Kennedy, the separation was done at the request of Muhammad ibn Marwan, Abd al-Malik's brother and his commander responsible for the Jazira.[28]

In 786 Caliph

Amanus mountains. Tarsus and Malatya were the most important towns in the Syrian and the Mesopotamian sectors respectively, though the two districts did not have administrative capitals sometimes were under the administrative control of Jund al-Awasim. By the 10th century, the terms Thughur and al-Awasim were often used interchangeably in the sources.[30][33][34]

The governor of the provinces were called wali or amir.[35]

  • Jund Dimashq (جُـنْـد دِمَـشْـق, "military district of Damascus"), with its capital at Damascus,[36] was the largest of the provinces and encompassed much of present-day Lebanon and territories east of the Jordan River known as the al-Balqa region.[37]
  • Palaestina Tertia.[39] The Tulunids expanded the province eastwards and southwards, at the expense of Jund Dimasq, to include regions in modern-day southern Jordan and north-western Saudi Arabia.[40] Ramla was founded in 715 and became both the administrative capital and most important city in Palestine.[41]
  • Scythopolis as the new capital of the province.[44]
  • Jund Hims (جُـنْـد حِـمْـص, "military district of Homs"), with its capital at Homs.[36]
  • Jund Qinnasrin (جُـنْـد قِـنَّـسْـرِيْـن, "military district of Qinnasrin"), with its capital at Qinnasrin,[36] was carved out of the northern part of Jund Hims.

Post-Abbasid rule

As direct Abbasid rule over the Levant faltered and eventually collapsed in the 10th century, different parts of the region were controlled by several different rulerships. The ajnad became nominal divisions with no practical relevance. The administrative system continued to be officially recognized by the Abbasid and Fatimid governments until the Crusader conquests of the western parts of Bilad al-Sham, beginning in 1099. As a geographic expression, "Bilad al-Sham" continued to be used by Arabic-speaking Muslims into the late 19th century, when Suriyya, the Arabic word for "Syria", generally replaced the term in common usage. Leading up to that point, Suriyya had been increasingly used in 19th-century Arabic Christian literature and among Europeans.[45]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Bosworth 1997, p. 261.
  2. ^ Salibi 2003, pp. 61–62.
  3. ^ Donner 1981, p. 91.
  4. ^ Donner 1981, pp. 86, 89–90.
  5. ^ Donner 1981, pp. 112, 114.
  6. ^ Athamina 1994.
  7. ^ Donner 1981, pp. 115–116.
  8. ^ a b Donner 1981, p. 111.
  9. ^ Donner 1981, p. 117.
  10. ^ a b c Donner 1981, p. 112.
  11. ^ a b c Lammens & Bosworth 1997, p. 262.
  12. ^ a b c Hinds 1993, p. 267.
  13. ^ Lammens & Bosworth 1997, p. 273.
  14. ^ a b Lammens & Bosworth 1997, p. 265.
  15. ^ a b c Lammens & Bosworth 1997, p. 264.
  16. ^ Walmsley 1987, p. 33.
  17. ^ Walmsley 1987, p. 34.
  18. ^ Walmsley 1987, p. 35.
  19. ^ a b Walmsley 1987, pp. 39–40.
  20. ^ Walmsley 1987, pp. 40, 44.
  21. ^ a b Walmsley 1987, p. 44.
  22. ^ a b Walmsley 1987, p. 41.
  23. ^ Walmsley 1987, pp. 43–44.
  24. ^ a b Walmsley 1987, pp. 42–43.
  25. ^ a b Walmsley 1987, pp. 41–42.
  26. ^ Walmsley 1987, p. 45.
  27. ^ a b Hinds 1993, p. 264.
  28. ^ a b Kennedy 2001, p. 31.
  29. ^ Blankinship 1994, p. 51.
  30. ^ a b c Streck 1987, p. 515.
  31. ^ Wheatley 2000, p. 116.
  32. ^ El-Cheikh 2004, p. 83.
  33. ^ Honigmann 1987, pp. 738–739.
  34. ^ Wheatley 2000, pp. 116, 260.
  35. ^ Masalha 2018, p. 154,159; Cobb 2001, p. 14
  36. ^ a b c Cobb 2001, p. 11-2.
  37. ^ Masalha 2018, p. 172; Cobb 2001, p. 13: Dimashq was the largest of the jund
  38. ^ Masalha 2018, p. 158-9: For several centuries Aylah, the present‑day Jordanian port city of al-'Aqabah on the Red Sea, was part of the Islamic administrative province of Jund Filastin
  39. ^ Masalha 2018, p. 160
  40. ^ Masalha 2018, p. 169: It was expanded further by the Tulunids, ... The province of Filastin was enlarged ... eastwards and southwards, at the expense of Jund Dimashq, to include Bilad al‑Sharat, ... in modern‑day southern Jordan and north‑western Saudi Arabia (Salibi 1993: 18‒20; le Strange 1890: 28).
  41. ^ Masalha 2018, p. 180; Meri 2006, p. 590: Ramla, the capital of Jund Filastin, was founded ... in 715; Gil 1997, p. 106: It became the capital of jund Filastin and actually the most important city in Palestine.
  42. ^ Masalha 2018, p. 160: Like Palaestina Secunda, Jund al‑Urdun included most of the Galilee and some territories in Transjordan.; Gil 1997, p. 111: The second sector contained upper and lower Galilee, and the western part of Peraea (the land stretching east of the Sea of Galilee)
  43. ^ Gil 1997, p. 111: including Acre and Tyre
  44. ^ Masalha 2018, p. 160; Gil 1997, p. 111
  45. ^ Salibi 2003, p. 62.

Bibliography

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