Qays–Yaman rivalry

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The Qays–Yaman rivalry refers to the historical rivalries and feuds between the northern Arabian

Qahtan (Yaman) or north Arabian descendants of Adnan (Qays
).

Yamani tribes, including the

Lakhm, were well-established in central and southern Syria in pre-Islamic times, while Qaysi tribes, such as the Sulaym, Kilab and Uqayl largely migrated to northern Syria and Upper Mesopotamia
with the Muslim armies in the mid-7th century.

The Qays–Yaman feud did not effectively take shape until after the reign of Caliph

Abdullah ibn Zubayr's bid for the caliphate. That year, the Yaman routed the Qays at the Battle of Marj Rahit
, leading to years of revenge-driven, tit-for-tat raids known as ayyam (days) because the battles were typically day-long affairs.

By 693, the raids had largely subsided as the Qays reconciled with the Umayyads and were incorporated into the state. The Umayyads attempted to balance the powers and privileges of both factions, but the rivalry smoldered until the

Walid II for his dependence on the Qays. Yamani opposition continued under Caliph Marwan II, and the Yaman ultimately defected to the Abbasids when the latter conquered the Umayyad realm
in 750. The Yaman and Qays briefly joined forces against the Abbasids later that year, but were defeated. The Qays–Yaman rivalry diminished significantly under the Abbasids who, unlike the Umayyads, did not derive the bulk of their military support from either faction. Nonetheless, the feud persisted at the local level to varying degrees in the following centuries, which saw occasional outbreaks of Qaysi–Yamani violence.

During the Ottoman era, between the 16th and mid-19th centuries, the rivalry saw a resurgence in Mount Lebanon and Palestine, and affiliation with either faction transcended ethnicity and religion and was made by families with little consideration to genuine tribal lineage. In Mount Lebanon, the feud was mostly fought out between different Druze clans until the Battle of Ain Dara in 1711 led to the near complete exodus of Yamani Druze. Across Palestine, the rivalry encompassed Bedouin tribesmen, peasant clans and townsfolk. Most actual fighting took place in Nablus and its hinterland and the area around Jerusalem. The feud gradually dissipated with the growth of Ottoman centralization in the mid-19th century.

Origins

Genealogical differences

The ancient origins of the Qays–Yaman division were traditionally based on an

Rabi'ah, whose traditional homeland was eastern Arabia, also traced their descent to Nizar.[2] However, regardless of their northern ancestry, the Rabi'ah's allegiance vacillated between Qays/Mudar and Yaman, and historical Arab sources often referred to them as a third party to the Qays–Yaman feud.[2]

This north-south distinction existed among the tribes of the Arabian Peninsula since pre-Islamic times (before the 7th century).[citation needed] However, there is no mention of hostility between the two groupings in pre-Islamic Arab tradition.[3] The Qays did not function as a tribal confederation before the advent of Islam, and in ancient Arab histories, the tribes that would form the confederation were mentioned individually rather than as a collective.[4] According to historian W. Montgomery Watt, it was during the Umayyad era (638–750), that the Arab tribes began organizing themselves along northern (Qaysi) and southern (Yamani) lines "so as to constitute something like a political party".[4] The rivalry between Yaman and Qays may have stemmed from competition over grazing rights in Syria following the conquest.[5] However, open conflict between them occurred only during the Second Muslim Civil War (680–692).[6]

Geographical distribution

Map of Syria in the 9th century. The Yaman tribes, including the Banu Kalb, Ghassan, Judham and Tanukh, largely inhabited the districts of Filastin, al-Urdunn and Hims, while the Qays inhabited al-Jazirah, the Byzantine frontier and Qinnasrin

During the Umayyad and Abbasid eras, one of the bases of the Qays–Yaman division was geographical.[7] Syria was divided into five military-administrative districts (ajnad; sing. jund): Filastin centered around Ramla; al-Urdunn centered around Tiberias; Dimashq centered around Damascus; Hims centered around Hims; and Qinnasrin centered around Chalcis.[citation needed]

Traditionally, it is held that the Yamani tribes inhabited the southern ajnad of Syria, namely Filastin and al-Urdunn, "but the reality was more complex", according to historian

Armenia.[7]

Some of the Yamani tribes, including the

Hadhrami, joined other established Yamani tribes around Homs.[11]

Meanwhile, the Qays/Mudar–Yaman conflict in

Khurasan came from the Basra garrison, the Qays/Mudar–Yaman conflict carried over into that vast eastern province of the caliphate.[12] The migration of Qaysi tribes to northern Syria and Upper Mesopotamia and of the Yamani Azd to Basra upset the tribal balance of power in these regions, which significantly influenced the Qays/Mudar–Yaman feud.[13]

Umayyad era

Battle of Marj Rahit

It is likely the Qays and Yaman factions firmly took shape after Mu'awiya I's reign;

Abdullah ibn Zubayr's claim to the caliphate.[7]

Marwan and the Kalb set up camp at Marj Rahit, overlooking al-Dahhak's Damascus headquarters, and were soon joined by the Yamani Ghassanids and Kindah.

'Amir, fled north to the Euphrates town of al-Qarqisiyah, while Marwan was made caliph in Damascus.[7]

The Battle of Marj Rahit firmly divided the Arab tribes of Syria into Yaman or Qays.[7] According to Kennedy, the "Qays had many dead to avenge and the feud was to continue for generations",[5] while Marwan "would be entirely dependent on the ... Yamani tribes who had elected him".[7] Indeed, the Yaman helped Marwan assert his rule in Egypt and smoothly managed the accession of his son, Abd al-Malik (r. 685–705), following Marwan's death in 685.[5] The Yamani leaders, Ibn Bahdal of Kalb and Rawh ibn Zinba of Judham, were Abd al-Malik's main supporters, other than his kinsmen.[5] All the while, the Qays in Upper Mesopotamia and northern Syria under Zufar's leadership remained steadfastly behind Ibn Zubayr, and stymied the expansion of Umayyad authority to Zubayrid-held Iraq.[20]

Ayyam raids

Caliph Abd al-Malik (685–705), depicted on this gold dinar issued by him, struggled to keep peace between the Qays and Yaman.

Following Marj Rahit, the Qays initiated a series of raids and counter-raids against the Yaman,

al-Mukhtar in 686.[citation needed] The defection of Umayr and his troops, who took refuge with Zufar in al-Qarqisiyah, was blamed for the rout of the Umayyad force.[citation needed
]

Though the exact year is not available in contemporary sources, the first ayyām raid was carried out by Zufar against a Kalb encampment at Musaiyakh in the environs of Hims, in which twenty Kalb tribesmen were killed.

Jordan Valley in Palestine as a result of the attacks.[23]

Umayr later settled his Sulaym tribesmen along the

Tigris River.[23] The Taghlib requested Zufar's intervention to evict the Sulaym but Zufar was unable to mediate the dispute.[25] Instead, Umayr received sanction from the Zubayrids to assault the Taghlib, and with a large force he massacred numerous Taghlib tribesmen at the Khabur village of Makisin.[26] Further Qaysi-Taghlib skirmishes, which also dragged in Zufar on the side of Umayr, took place along the Khabur, Tigris, Balikh and Tharthar rivers.[26] In 689, the Taghlib ambushed the Qays at the Tharthar village of al-Hashshak, near Tikrit.[26][27] The ensuing battle lasted three days,[27] and towards the end, Zufar and his 'Amir kinsmen retreated to al-Qarqisiyah and abandoned Umayr, who was ultimately killed by the Taghlib.[28] The latter sent Umayr's head to Abd al-Malik.[26]

Obliged to avenge the death of his Qaysi comrade, Zufar retaliated against the Taghlib, dealing them a heavy blow at the Tigris village of Kuhail.

Al-Akhtal
, circa 691/92.

Despite Abd al-Malik's accord with the Qays, the two camps continued to attack each other.

Khalid ibn Yazid, to collect the cattle tax from the Fazara on behalf of Abd al-Malik's government.[33] Using this legal cover, Humayd led a large expeditionary force of Kalbi clans against Fazara tribesmen in Iraq, killing and wounding many, particularly at a place called 'Âh.[35] The Fazara protested these assaults to Abd al-Malik,[35] who responded by paying them blood money, which the Fazara, in turn, used to purchase weaponry and horses.[35] In circa 692/93, the Fazara retaliated against the Kalb in a surprise attack against their encampment at the Banat Qain wells in the Samawah, which ended with the deaths of 69 Kalb tribesmen.[35] The raid on Banat Qayn was the most celebrated of the ayyam between Qays and Kalb.[35] Infuriated at the Fazara's attack, Abd al-Malik ordered his general al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf to lead an expedition against the Fazara.[35] However, the two main Fazara commanders from Banat Qain, Sa'id ibn Uyaynah and Halhalah ibn Qays,[36] surrendered themselves to avert a military assault against their tribe.[35] The Fazara commanders were then executed to satisfy the Kalb, who accepted it as a compensation for their losses.[35]

Tribal balancing in the state

Abd al-Malik's ability to end Qaysi–Yamani violence was mostly limited to issuing threats or paying blood money.[34] Though he succeeded in transforming the Umayyad Caliphate into a centralized, bureaucratic state with decreasing reliance on the Syrian army, Kennedy notes that the "Qays–Yaman feud illustrated the problems of transition" in the caliphate from nomadism to settled life and governance.[34] After 691, each faction became associated with an Umayyad prince; the Qays allied themselves with Abd al-Malik's brother and governor of Upper Mesopotamia, Muhammad ibn Marwan, while the Yaman were associated with Abd al-Malik's Palestine-based son, Sulayman.[37] These affiliations played an important role during future intra-Umayyad rivalry.[37] After the accession of al-Walid I (r. 705–715), Qaysi–Yamani tensions simmered, but did not result in serious conflict.[38] Al-Walid, whose mother Wallada was Qaysi, afforded the Qays a degree of privilege.[38] Nonetheless, the Yaman held significant influence with other branches of the Umayyad household, namely with Sulayman, but also Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, who maintained the ties his father established with Yamani army leaders in Egypt.[38] Moreover, with the accession of Sulayman in 715, the Yamani general Raja ibn Haywa of Kindah became his chief adviser and the Yaman regained their advantageous position within the Umayyad state.[39]

There is disagreement among historians over the basis of the Qays–Yaman conflict during and after Sulayman's reign.[39] Medieval Arab sources describe the conflict mainly as a tribal rivalry.[39] M. A. Shaban asserts that the Qays came to represent the policies of Islamic expansionism and Arab governmental monopolization embraced by Abd al-Malik and the powerful governor al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, while the Yaman supported stabilizing the caliphate's borders and assimilating non-Arabs into the state.[4] The Yaman's allies and successive caliphs, Sulayman (r. 715–717) and Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz (717–720), pursued such policies.[4] Kennedy argues against Shaban's theory, instead holding that the conflict "was between two factions based on tribal loyalties, which sought to control access to military power and the privileges that went with it".[39] To that end, the ultimate goal for each faction was the caliph's favor and appointment to provincial governorships.[39]

Qaysi–Yamani alignment among the Arab tribes was present throughout the Caliphate and avoiding association with either camp became increasingly difficult for Muslim leaders.

Umar ibn Hubayra al-Fazari, as governor of Upper Mesopotamia and dismissed the Yamani governor of Iraq and Khurasan, Yazid ibn al-Muhallab of Azd, in favor of several governors, many of whom were not Yamani.[41] Nonetheless, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz's reforms threatened Qaysi interests and following his death in 720, the Qays helped restore the old order through his successor, Yazid II (r. 720–724).[42]

During Yazid II's reign, Ibn al-Muhallab revolted in Iraq, capturing Wasit and Kufa.[42] It is not apparent that he was supported by the Yamani tribes of Syria, and his revolt was crushed by a strong ally of the Qays, Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik.[42] Umar ibn Hubayra's subsequent appointment to Iraq saw the violent purge of Yamani leaders in the province.[42] Yazid died in 724 and his successor, Hisham (r. 724–743), managed to avoid entanglement with the Qays–Yaman rivalry, and appointed Khalid al-Qasri from the ostensibly neutral Bajila tribe as governor of Iraq.[43] Hisham's reign was one of the most internally peaceful periods in the Umayyad Caliphate,[43] and there were no violent incidents reported between the Qays and Yaman within the Umayyad army during that time.[44] Toward the end of his reign and out concern for maintaining stability in the aftermath of his death, Hisham increasingly relied on Qaysi support.[45] To that end, in 738, he replaced al-Qasri, who had possible Yamani sympathies, with the staunch Qaysi, Yusuf ibn Umar of Thaqif, and appointed another Qaysi stalwart, Nasr ibn Sayyar, as governor of Khurasan.[45]

Third Muslim Civil War

The Qays–Yaman feud persisted, but the caliphate remained stable and prosperous by the time of Hisham's death in 743.

Mansur ibn Jumhur, provided him critical support; the Yaman were motivated by a desire to reestablish their once dominant position in the state.[47] The rebels captured Damascus, then besieged and killed Walid II in the vicinity of Palmyra in 744.[47] Consequently, the Qays–Yaman conflict violently intensified.[47] Kennedy asserts:

It would be wrong to imagine that all members of these two groups were implacably hostile; it would seem that the violence was begun by extremists like Yusuf ibn Umar for the Qaysis and Mansur ibn Jumhur for the Yamanis, but once it had begun, it was very difficult to stop and came to involve the whole Syrian army and political elite. It was this fatal division, more than anything else, which destroyed [the] Umayyad government.[47]

Yazid III's reign lasted six months, during which he briefly appointed Ibn Jumhur governor of Khurasan. He was succeeded by his brother Ibrahim ibn al-Walid, but in December 744 the latter was overthrown by Marwan II (r. 744–750), a strongman favored by the Qays of Upper Mesopotamia and the Byzantine frontier zone.[48] The Qays were the only part of the Syrian elite that backed Marwan II's usurpation,[49] after which the leaders of Yaman were driven out of Syria.[49] A rebellion in the Kalb stronghold of Homs ensued, but was suppressed by Marwan II in 746.[49] Opposition to Marwan II sparked rebellions in the provinces east of Syria, with Ibn Jumhur throwing his lot with the Alid rebel Abd Allah ibn Mu'awiya.[49]

Marwan II dispatched the Qaysi

Battle of Zab in February 750;[50] Umayyad power all but diminished as a result.[50] When the Abbasid army reached Damascus in pursuit of Marwan II, Yamani tribesmen facilitated their entry into the city.[50]

Post-Umayyad period

Though the Abbasid Revolution was "hotly pro-Yaman and anti-Qays", once the Abbasids consolidated power they "took up the tribal balancing policy of the defunct Umayyad regime", according to historian Khalid Yahya Blankinship.[51] Much of the Qaysi leaders of Upper Mesopotamia and the Byzantine and Armenian frontiers, including Marwan's close ally, Ishaq ibn Muslim of Uqayl, eventually embraced the Abbasids.[52] However, in the immediate aftermath of the Abbasid annexation of Syria in 750, the Qays of Qinnasrin led by Abu al-Ward and the Yaman of Hims and Palmyra led by the Umayyad nobleman Abu Muhammad al-Sufyani launched a revolt to reinstate Umayyad rule.[citation needed] However, the Qaysi–Yamani coalition was defeated relatively quickly by the Abbasids, with the Qays in particular suffering heavy casualties.[citation needed]

Following the collapse of the Umayyads and relocation of the caliphate's capital from Syria to Baghdad, the political significance of the Qays and Yaman factions diminished considerably.[1] Watt asserts that "little is heard of the hostility" between Qays and Yaman following the advent of the Abbasids.[4] Nonetheless, throughout the following centuries, Qaysi–Yamani alignment continued to serve as an "organizing principle for all sorts of feuds within or between tribes, clans, and neighborhoods, not just in Syria, but more generally throughout the Arab world", according to historian Robert Irwin.[1] With time, the feud transcended nomadic Arab tribes and even Arabs in general; the Qays–Yaman division also existed among Kurds and Berbers.[53]

Irwin asserts that in contrast to the scholarship devoted to the Qays–Yaman feud during the Umayyad era, the "importance of Qays and Yaman loyalties in the Mamluk period has been largely neglected" by historians.

Safad, Wadi al-Taym and Jabal Amil sometimes organized themselves along Qays and Kalb (Yaman) lines during the Mamluk period.[55] During some occasions in which non-mamluks (those not part of the manumitted slave soldier tradition) partook in the internecine warfare between the Mamluk elite, they took up the Qaysi or Yamani label.[54] For the most part, Qaysi–Yamani feuding does not appear to have played a role in the tribal strife of the early Mamluk period.[56] The division became more pronounced, or at least recognized by Mamluk historians, during the closing decades of the 14th century.[57] Even then, references to the factional feud were sporadic and do not establish the rivalry's continuity during the Mamluk era.[58]

Ottoman era

Damascus and environs

During the early Ottoman era, the inhabitants of Damascus divided themselves along Qays–Yamani lines, with the residents of

Zabadani, Wadi al-Taym and the Marj area (south of the city), and the Harfush dynasty of Baalbek were all Yamani.[59]

Mount Lebanon

In

Hawran. The Battle of Ain Dara essentially ended the Qays–Yaman feud in Mount Lebanon.[60] From then on, feuding factions were known after their leading clans.[60]

Palestine

Qays–Yaman affiliation in Palestine had an extensive history.[60] However, many who adhered to either Qays and Yaman, including some of the factions' leading families, such as the Abu Ghosh, were not ethnic Arabs, but of Circassian, Kurdish or Turkmen stock.[60] Meanwhile, families that did claim Arab origin chose allegiance with either Qays or Yaman without much consideration to their north or south Arabian lineage; sometimes, branches of the same clan adhered to different factions because of intra-family disputes.[60] Bedouin tribes, peasant clans and townspeople all identified with one or the other faction, including families whose origins were not clear.[60]

According to Marom, "In the eighteenth century, the hinterland of Nablus suffered from civil strife due to the Qays (northern Arabians) and Yaman (southern Arabians) rivalry. Most of society—including fellahin (the peasantry), Bedouins and ahl al-mudun (townsfolk) was afliated with one of these factions. The strife disrupted rural life, precipitating emigration and village formation in areas that were less densely populated".

an-Nasir Muhammad (r. 1293–1340, with interruption).[60] During Ottoman rule throughout the 16th century, there were frequent clashes between families across Palestine based on Qays–Yaman divisions.[60] Most of the fighting was concentrated in the hinterlands of Nablus and Jerusalem during the 18th and 19th centuries.[60]

List of Qays–Yaman affiliations

As seen in sources from the 18th and 19th centuries, the tribal division is shown in the following examples:[62]

  • The Zaydani tribe, to whom Galilee ruler Zahir al-Umar belonged, was part of the Qays tribe.
  • The inhabitants of Bethlehem, both Muslim and Christian, belonged to Yaman and flew a white flag.
  • The inhabitants of Hebron belonged to Qays, and flew a red flag.
  • In Bayt Nattif and Sar'a, the Qays tribe ruled.
  • The inhabitants of Abu Ghosh and Dura belonged to Yaman.
  • The head tribe of Kafr Kanna was called Kais al Hamra (= Kais the red), according to Al-Dimashqi.[63]
  • Khalidi
    (Qays) families.
  • Tuqan
    (Qays) and Abd al-Hadi (Yaman) families.

Notes

  1. Ghatafan and its Murrah sub-clan, Kilab, Uqayl, Tamim, Thaqif, Taghlib and Hudhayl. The Qays tribe in al-Urdunn was the Sulaym.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c Irwin 2003, p. 253.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Crone 1994, p. 2.
  3. ^ Crone 1994, pp. 2–3.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Watt 1991, p. 834.
  5. ^ a b c d e Kennedy, p. 80.
  6. ^ a b Crone 1994, p. 3.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Kennedy, p. 79.
  8. ^ Gil, pp. 132–133.
  9. ^ a b Gil, p. 133.
  10. ^ Rihan 2014, p. 179.
  11. ^ Kennedy, pp. 79–80.
  12. ^ a b c d e Hawting 2000, p. 54.
  13. ^ Hawting 2000, p. 55.
  14. ^ Kennedy 2004, pp. 77–78.
  15. ^ Kennedy 2004, p. 78
  16. ^ Kennedy 2004, pp. 78–79.
  17. ^ Hawting, p. 59.
  18. ^ Hawting, pp. 60–61.
  19. ^ a b Hawting, pp. 59-60.
  20. ^ Kennedy 2004, p. 81.
  21. ^ Wellhausen 1927, p. 201.
  22. ^ a b c d e f Wellhausen 1927, p. 202.
  23. ^ a b c d e Wellhausen 1927, p. 203.
  24. ^ a b Stetkevych 2002, p. 85.
  25. ^ Wellhausen 1927, pp. 203-204.
  26. ^ a b c d Wellhausen 1927, p. 204.
  27. ^ a b Bell 1903, p. 210.
  28. ^ Marsham 2009, p. 104.
  29. ^ a b Wellhausen 1927, pp. 204-205.
  30. ^ Kennedy 2004, p. 84.
  31. ^ Kennedy 2004, pp. 86–87.
  32. ^ Stetkevych 2002, pp. 85–86.
  33. ^ a b c d e Wellhausen 1927, p. 205.
  34. ^ a b c d e Kennedy 2004, p. 87.
  35. ^ a b c d e f g h Wellhausen 1927, p. 206.
  36. .
  37. ^ a b Kennedy 2004, p. 86.
  38. ^ a b c Kennedy 2004, p. 90.
  39. ^ a b c d e f g Kennedy 2004, p. 91.
  40. ^ Kennedy 2004, pp. 91–92.
  41. ^ a b c Kennedy 2004, p. 92.
  42. ^ a b c d Kennedy 2004, p. 93.
  43. ^ a b Kennedy 2004, p. 94.
  44. ^ Blankinship, p. 98.
  45. ^ a b Kennedy 2004, p. 96.
  46. ^ a b c d Kennedy 2004, p. 97.
  47. ^ a b c d Kennedy 2004, p. 98.
  48. ^ Kennedy 2004, pp. 98–99.
  49. ^ a b c d e f g Kennedy 2004, p. 99.
  50. ^ a b c d e Kennedy 2004, p. 100.
  51. ^ Blankinship 1994, p. 99.
  52. ^ Kennedy 2004, p. 111.
  53. ^ Irwin 2003, pp. 253–254.
  54. ^ a b c Irwin 2003, p. 254.
  55. ^ Popper, p. 255.
  56. ^ Irwin 2003, pp. 256–257.
  57. ^ Irwin 2003, p. 257.
  58. ^ Irwin 2003, p. 263.
  59. ^ Bakhit 1982, p. 190, note 11.
  60. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Baer and Hoexter, p. 834.
  61. S2CID 236222143
    .
  62. ^ Yitzchak Ben-Tzvi, The land of Israel and its settlement in the Ottoman period, Jerusalem: Bialik, 1955.
  63. ^ Le Strange, 1890, p. 469

Bibliography

External links