Natil ibn Qays ibn Zayd al-Judhami () (died 685/86) was the chieftain of the

Banu Judham The Judham () was a large Arab tribe that inhabited the southern Levant and northwestern Arabia during the late antique and early Islamic eras (5th–8th centuries). Under the Byzantine Empire, the tribe was nominally Christian and fought agains ...

tribe and a prominent tribal leader in Palestine during the reigns of caliphs

Mu'awiya I 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 ...

and

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 ...

. In 684, he revolted against the Umayyads, took control of Palestine and gave his allegiance to Caliph

Abd Allah 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 ...

. He joined the latter in

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 ...

after pro-Zubayrid forces were routed at the Battle of Marj Rahit. He may have renewed his rebellion in Palestine in 685/86 and was slain during the hostilities.

Life

Natil ibn Qays was a chieftain of the

, an Arab tribe resident in

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 ...

, specifically its dominant clan, the Banu Sa'd.Hasson 1993, p. 98. His father, Qays ibn Zayd, was a member of a delegation of Judham tribesmen to the Islamic prophet

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

; upon their meeting, the delegates converted to Islam and Qays was declared the chief of the Banu Sa'd. Natil is listed by the 9th-century historian

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 ...

as being among the Arab chiefs who assembled in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

with their respective tribesmen to give the oath of allegiance to

caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

in 660.Gil 1997, p. 76. Specifically, he is described as the leader of the Judham and

Lakhm The Lakhmid kingdom ( ), also referred to as al-Manādhirah () or as Banū Lakhm (), was an Arab kingdom that was founded and ruled by the Lakhmid dynasty from to 602. Spanning Eastern Arabia and Southern Mesopotamia, it existed as a dependen ...

tribes of

Jund Filastin Jund Filasṭīn (, "the military district of Palestine") was one of the military districts of the Umayyad and Abbasid province of Bilad al-Sham (Levant), organized soon after the Muslim conquest of the Levant in the 630s. Jund Filastin, which ...

(military district of Palestine). Throughout the reigns of Mu'awiya I and

, between 661 and 683, he was "evidently omnipotent in Palestine and dominated its financial administration".Gil 1997, p. 77. After the deaths of Yazid and his son and successor

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 ...

in 684, 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 ...

tribes of northern Syria led by

Zufar ibn al-Harith al-Kilabi Abu al-Hudhayl Zufar ibn al-Harith al-Kilabi (; died ) was a Muslim commander, a chieftain of the Arabian tribe of Banu Amir, and the preeminent leader of the Qays tribal–political faction in the late 7th century. During the First Muslim ...

and

Homs Homs ( ; ), known in pre-Islamic times as Emesa ( ; ), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level, above sea level and is located north of Damascus. Located on the Orontes River, Homs is ...

under

Nu'man ibn Bashir al-Ansari Nu'man ibn Bashir ibn Sa'd al-Ansari (; –684) was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was also a commander and statesman of the Umayyad Caliphate. A supporter of Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan during the First Muslim Civil War, he was appo ...

declared allegiance for the

-based, anti-Umayyad caliph

. In Palestine, the staunchly pro-Umayyad governor and a chieftain of 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. ...

Ibn Bahdal Hassan ibn Malik ibn Bahdal al-Kalbi (, commonly known as Ibn Bahdal (; d. 688 or 689), was the Umayyad governor of Palestine and Jordan during the reigns of Mu'awiya I () and Yazid I (), a senior figure in the caliph's court, and a chieftain of t ...

, left to rally loyalist tribes in the

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 ...

district against Ibn al-Zubayr, and left

Rawh ibn Zinba Abū Zurʿa Rawḥ ibn Zinbāʿ al-Judhāmī () (died 703) was the Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad governor of Jund Filastin, Palestine, one of the main advisers of Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, Abd al-Malik and the chieftain of the Judham tribe. L ...

as his acting governor. The latter was Natil's rival for leadership of the Judham. Not long after, Natil launched a revolt, expelled Rawh and declared himself governor in allegiance with Ibn al-Zubayr. Natil contributed troops from Palestine to support the pro-Zubayrid governor of 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, ...

, and the Qaysi tribes at the Battle of Marj Rahit against the Umayyad caliph

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 ...

and his tribal allies, dominated by the Kalb. The pro-Zubayrid forces were routed and Natil consequently fled Palestine to seek safe haven with Ibn al-Zubayr in Mecca. According to the 9th-century historians,

al-Ya'qubi ʾAbū al-ʿAbbās ʾAḥmad bin ʾAbī Yaʿqūb bin Ǧaʿfar bin Wahb bin Waḍīḥ al-Yaʿqūbī (died 897/8), commonly referred to simply by his nisba al-Yaʿqūbī, was an Arab Muslim geographer. Life Ya'qubi was born in Baghdad to a fam ...

and

al-Mas'udi al-Masʿūdī (full name , ), –956, was a historian, geographer and traveler. He is sometimes referred to as the "Herodotus of the Arabs". A polymath and prolific author of over twenty works on theology, history (Islamic and universal), geo ...

, Natil staged a revolt in Palestine against Marwan's son and successor,

Abd al-Malik Abdul Malik () is an Arabic (Muslim or Christian) male given name and, in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' Abd'', ''al-'' and ''Malik''. The name means "servant of the King", in the Christian instance 'King' meaning 'King ...

, though the historian

Julius Wellhausen Julius Wellhausen (17 May 1844 – 7 January 1918) was a German biblical scholar and orientalist. In the course of his career, his research interest moved from Old Testament research through Islamic studies to New Testament scholarship. Wellhau ...

writes that this event may be erroneous.Wellhausen 1927, p. 187. According to this account, Natil was slain in the revolt in 685/86 fighting Umayyad loyalist tribes.

References

Bibliography

* * * *{{The Arab Kingdom and its Fall 685 deaths 7th-century Arab people People of the Second Fitna Rebellions against the Umayyad Caliphate Umayyad governors of Palestine Banu Judham