Kinda (tribe)

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Kinda
Kahlanite Arab tribe
NisbaKindī
Descended fromThawr ibn Ufayr
Branches
  • Mu'awiya
    • Al-Harith al-Asghar
      • Jabala
    • Akil al-Murar
      • Al-Jawn
    • Al-Wallada
      • Wali'a
  • Sakun
  • Sakasik
ReligionArabian polytheism (until 630s), Judaism (until 630s), Mazdakism (very limited in 520s), Christianity (early 6th century), Islam (630s and after)

The Kinda, or Kindah, (

Arabic: كِنْدَة, Ancient South Arabian script: 𐩫𐩬𐩵𐩩) were an Arab tribe from South Arabia
.

Originating in the region Ḥaḍramawt , which is located in the southest of Arabian peninsula [The empty quarter],

Sabaean Kingdom as Bedouin auxiliaries as early as the 3rd century, later allying themselves with the Himyarite Kingdom under the Jewish king Dhu Nuwas
(early 6th century).

In the mid-5th century, the tribe established its own kingdom over the Arab tribal confederation of

Ma'add in northern and central Arabia, known as the Kingdom of Kinda, which lasted until the mid-6th century. By this point its rulers had all been killed or prompted to flee for Hadramawt. There, the bulk of the tribe had continued to reside and dominate. While many of the tribesmen in Hadramawt likely embraced Judaism
with the Himyarites, many of those in central and northern Arabia embraced Christianity.

After accepting Islam during the lifetime of the Islamic prophet

Ridda wars (632–633). The tribe was dealt a heavy blow, but surviving leaders, such as al-Ash'ath ibn Qays, repented and played important roles in the early Muslim conquests. Members of the Kinda continued to serve in prominent positions throughout the early centuries of the Caliphate
.

Genealogy and branches

The Kinda's genealogy, real or perceived, traced them back to the semi-legendary Kahlan. The name 'Kinda' was a nickname for the tribe's progenitor, Thawr ibn Ufayr. His sons were the progenitors of the Kinda's principle branches, the Banu Mu'awiya, the Sakun and the Sakasik. The latter two are often grouped together in the literary sources as the Ashras group.[2]

The Banu Mu'awiya was the leading branch of the tribe.

Hadhramawt
in southern Arabia. After the advent of Islam, preeminent leadership of the tribe passed to another division of the Banu Mu'awiya, the Banu al-Harith al-Asghar.

Pre-Islamic history

Relations with Saba and Himyar in South Arabia

Several

A. F. L. Beeston, the Kinda and Madhhij were likely auxiliaries to the army of Saba.[3]

The Kinda, as well as Arabs of the Madhhij and Murad confederations, continued their role as nomad auxiliaries under the Himyarite king Dhu Nuwas in the early 6th century CE.[3] Dhu Nuwas placed them under a Sabaean commander from the aristocratic Yaz'an family during campaigns against nomadic tribes in central Arabia.[3] The Kinda in Hadhramawt, likely due to their dependence on the Jewish Himyarites, at least partly adopted Judaism.[4]

Kings of Ma'add in central Arabia

Main article: Kingdom of Kinda

In the mid-5th century, part of the Kinda, with support from Himyar, migrated into central and northern Arabia and asserted dominance over the large Arab tribal confederation of

Bakr division, to bring order to its constantly feuding constituent tribes. The Bakr sent envoys to the king of Himyar, inviting him to be their king. Instead, the king delegated the role to Hujr for unclear reasons.[5]

After his death, Hujr was succeeded in the Najd (northern central Arabia) part of his domains by his eldest son, Amr al-Maqsur. His younger son, Mu'awiya al-Jawn, founder of the Banu al-Jawn house, ruled over the Ma'add in the Yamama (southern central Arabia). Although there are no particular achievements attributed to Hujr's sons, his grandson, al-Harith ibn Amr, became the best-known Kindite king, under whom the Kinda reached their zenith.[2]

Kindite assaults on the

Lakhmid capital of al-Hira in Iraq. His rule there was short-lived, but during that time he adopted the Iranian religion of Mazdakism. After his brief rulership over al-Hira he returned to the Byzantines fold. He was granted a phylarchate in Palestine, but after a conflict with its governor he fled into the desert. There, in 528, he was slain by the Lakhmid king al-Mundhir III or the Banu Kalb tribe.[2]

About two years after al-Harith's death the Byzantines, seeking to build an alliance against the Sasanians, dispatched envoys Julian and Nonossus to enlist Ethiopia, Himyar, and the Kinda. Through Byzantine diplomacy, the Kindite king in Najd, Qays, likely the son of Salama ibn al-Harith, agreed to enter Byzantine service and leave his territory under the rule of his brothers Yazid and Amr. Qays went to the Byzantine capital Constantinople and was thereafter given a command in Palestine.[2] Al-Harith had split command of the Ma'add among four of his sons, Hujr, Ma'di-Karib, Shurahbil and Salama. Rivalries broke out among the brothers, leading to the deaths of Shurahbil and Hujr, before al-Harith's death. The Kindite monarchy was consequently left in a state of disorder.[2]

By the late 6th century, Kindite power throughout central Arabia was fraying. The wars between al-Harith's sons had weakened them in Najd. In the neighboring Yamama, the al-Jawn became involved in a war between constituents of the Ma'add,

Hadhramawt ancestral homeland.[6] The Kindite migration back to Hadhramawt included some 30,000 members of the tribe departing their settlements of Ghamr Dhi Kinda in Najd and Hajar and al-Mushaqqar in the Yamama.[9]

State of affairs in the late 6th–early 7th centuries

In Yemen and the Hadhramawt, Kindite territories were divided between different branches of the tribe. On the eve of Islam in the 620s–630s, the medieval Islamic sources mention that the fortress of al-Nujayr was controlled by the house of Ma'dikarib, a leading family of the Banu Harith al-Asghar, itself belonging to the Amr branch of the Banu Mu'awiya.

Tarim, was controlled by a descendant of the Banu Akil al-Murar, Abu al-Khayr Amr.[11] While the leading Kindite families in the Hadhramawt may have been referred to as 'kings' in the literary sources, their domain was usually restricted to a particular wadi (seasonal stream or river valley).[12]

The previous preeminent leadership of the Banu Akil al-Murar did not prevail over all the Kindites of the Hadhramawt, where the Banu al-Harith al-Wallada, in particular its Banu Wali'a house, vied for paramountcy. The Wali'a, which consisted of at least five brothers, Mikhwas, Mishrah, Jamd, Abdu'a, and Suraqah, and an influential sister, Ammarada, may have had the secret backing of the Sasanian rulers of Yemen at that time, as the Muslim sources claim that Abu al-Khayr, or alternatively Abu al-Jabr ibn Amr ibn Yazid ibn Shurahbil (great-great grandson of the king al-Harith ibn Amr), was poisoned by the Persians. Afterward, the Banu al-Harith al-Wallada achieved supremacy over the Kinda in Hadhramawt.[13]

Islamic history

Relations with Muhammad

The Wali'a and al-Ash'ath ibn Qays, a leader of the Banu Jabala clan of the Banu al-Harith al-Asghar, sent deputations to the Islamic prophet Muhammad (died 632) and accepted Islam. Reports in the early Muslim historical tradition note that Muhammad granted the Wali'a a designated portion of the tax revenue collected from the Hadhramawt and mandated that the people of that region deliver it to them annually.[14] The Tujib clan of the Sakun also embraced Islam after meeting Muhammad, while a king of the Sakun in the north Arabian oasis town of Dumat al-Jandal, al-Ukaydir ibn Abd al-Malik, accepted the religion during Muhammad's lifetime.[4]

Role in the Ridda wars

In 632, following the death of Muhammad, the Kinda rebelled against the nascent Muslim state in Medina when its governor of Hadhramawt, Ziyad ibn Labid al-Ansari, withheld the tribe's designated tax revenues.[15] Ziyad and his army, which included the Banu Qatira clan of the Sakun, launched a surprise attack against the Banu Amr.[16] The leaders of the Banu Wali'a were slain and the clan appointed al-Ash'ath, who did not belong to it, as their king, making him the most powerful Kindite chief.[17]

A series of minor skirmishes followed throughout the Hadhramawt where various Kindite clans were defeated by Ziyad. Al-Ash'ath gathered tribesmen from his own clan, the Banu Jabala, and other clans of the Banu al-Harith al-Asghar, and bested Muslim forces near Tarim fort, before besieging the Muslim troops taking refuge in the fort. The arrival of Muslim reinforcements led by

Ikrima ibn Abi Jahl arrived to support Ziyad and Muhajir, prompting al-Ash'ath to barricade himself and his side's women and children in the fortress of Nujayr. There, they were besieged and defeated by the Muslims, though al-Ash'ath was pardoned.[19]

Post-Ridda

While the pre-Islamic Kindite nobility played an insignificant role under the Caliphate, several of the Banu al-Harith al-Asghar's members held prominence.

Umar II (r. 717–720).[22]

References

  1. ^ "Kindah | people | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Shahid 1986, p. 118.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Beeston 1986, p. 120.
  4. ^ a b Shahid 1986, p. 119.
  5. ^ Bamyeh 2006, p. 40.
  6. ^ a b Shahid 1986, pp. 118–119.
  7. ^ Bosworth 1999, p. 267, note 641.
  8. ^ Caskel 1966, p. 564.
  9. ^ Lecker 1994, p. 336, note 7.
  10. ^ Lecker 1994, p. 335.
  11. ^ Lecker 1994, p. 336.
  12. ^ Lecker 1994, p. 337.
  13. ^ Lecker 1994, pp. 336–337.
  14. ^ Lecker 1994, pp. 338–339.
  15. ^ Lecker 1994, p. 339.
  16. ^ Lecker 1994, p. 341.
  17. ^ Lecker 1994, p. 346.
  18. ^ Lecker 1994, p. 343.
  19. ^ Lecker 1994, p. 344.
  20. ^ Lecker 1994, pp. 353–354.
  21. ^ Lecker 1994, p. 347.
  22. ^ Lecker 1994, p. 354.

Bibliography

Further reading
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