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Salih Ibn Mirdas
Abu Ali Salih ibn Mirdas (), also known by his ''Arabic name#Laqab, laqab'' (honorific epithet) Asad al-Dawla ('Lion of the State'), was the founder of the Mirdasid dynasty and emir of Ancient City of Aleppo, Aleppo from 1025 until his death in May 1029. At its peak, his emirate (principality) encompassed much of the western Upper Mesopotamia, Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia), northern Bilad al-Sham, Syria and several central Syrian towns. With occasional interruption, Salih's descendants ruled Aleppo for the next five decades. Salih launched his career in 1008, when he seized the Euphrates river fortress of al-Rahba. In 1012, he was imprisoned and tortured by the emir of Aleppo, Mansur ibn Lu'lu'. Two years later he escaped, capturing Mansur in battle and releasing him for numerous concessions, including half of Aleppo's revenues. This cemented Salih as the paramount emir of his tribe, the Banu Kilab, many of whose chieftains had died in Mansur's dungeons. With his Bedouin warriors, S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gold Dinar
The gold dinar () is an Islamic medieval gold coin first issued in AH 77 (696–697 CE) by Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. The weight of the dinar is 1 mithqal (). The word ''dinar'' comes from the Latin word denarius, which was a silver coin. The name "dinar" is also used for Sasanid, Kushan, and Kidarite gold coins, though it is not known what the contemporary name was. The first dinars were issued by the Umayyad Caliphate. Under the dynasties that followed the use of the dinar spread from Islamic Spain to Central Asia. Background Although there was a dictum that the Byzantine solidus was not to be used outside of the Byzantine empire, some of these coins became involved in distant trade; those then did not get re-minted by the imperial mints, and quickly became worn. Towards the end of the 7th century CE, Arabic copies of solidi – dinars issued by the caliph Abd al-Malik (685–705 CE), who had access to supplies of gold from the upper Nile – ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 early Umayyad Caliphate (661-750), its constituent tribes consolidated into one of the main tribal political factions of the caliphate. The major constituent tribes or tribal groupings of the Qays were the Ghatafan, Hawazin, Amir, Thaqif, Sulaym, Ghani, Bahila and Muharib. Many of these tribes or their clans migrated from the Arabian Peninsula and established themselves in Jund Qinnasrin, the military district of the northern region of Syria and Upper Mesopotamia, which long became their abode. From there they governed on behalf of the caliphs or rebelled against them. The power of the Qays as a unified group diminished with the rise of the Abbasid Caliphate, which did not derive its military strength solely from the Arab tribes. None ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tayy
The Tayy (/ALA-LC: ''Ṭayyi’''; Musnad: 𐩷𐩺), also known as Ṭayyi, Tayyaye, or Taiyaye, are a large and ancient Arab tribe, among whose descendants today are the tribes of Bani Sakher and Shammar. The '' nisba'' (patronymic) of Tayy is ''aṭ-Ṭāʾī'' (). In the second century CE, they migrated to the northern Arabian ranges of the Shammar and Salma Mountains, which then collectively became known as the ''Jabal Tayy'', and later ''Jabal Shammar''. The latter continues to be the traditional homeland of the tribe until the present day. They later established relations with the Sasanian and Byzantine empires. Though traditionally allied with the Sasanian client state of the Lakhmids, the Tayy supplanted them as the rulers of al-Hirah in the 610s. In the late sixth century, the Fasad War split the Tayy, with members of its Jadila branch converting to Christianity and migrating to Syria where they became allied with the Ghassanids, and the Ghawth branch remaining in Jaba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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. By the 6th century, the Kalb had largely adopted Christianity and came under the authority of the Ghassanids, leaders of the Byzantines' Arab allies. During the lifetime of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, a few of his close companions were Kalbites, most prominently Zayd ibn Haritha and Dihya, but the bulk of the tribe remained Christian at the time of Muhammad's death in 632. They began converting in large numbers when the Muslims made significant progress in the conquest of Byzantine Syria, in which the Kalb stayed neutral. As a massive nomadic tribe with considerable military experience, the Kalb was sought as a key ally by the Muslim state. The leading clans of the Kalb forged marital ties with the Umayyad family, and the tribe becam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raqqa
Raqqa (, also , Kurdish language, Kurdish: ''Reqa'') is a city in Syria on the North bank of the Euphrates River, about east of Aleppo. It is located east of the Tabqa Dam, Syria's largest dam. The Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine city and bishopric Callinicum (formerly a Latin Church, Latin and now a Maronite Catholic titular see) was the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate between 796 and 809, under the reign of Harun al-Rashid. It was also the capital of the Territory of the Islamic State, Islamic State from 2014 to 2017. With a population of 531,952 based on the 2021 official census, Raqqa is the sixth largest city in Syria. During the Syrian Civil War, the city was captured in 2013 by the Syrian opposition and then by the Islamic State. ISIS made the city its capital in 2014. As a result, the city was hit by airstrikes from the Syrian government, Russia, the United States, and Military intervention against ISIL, several other countries. Most non-Sunni religious structures i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manbij
Manbij (; ; ) is a city in the northeast of Aleppo Governorate in northern Syria, west of the Euphrates. The 2004 census gives its population as nearly 100,000.General Census of Population and Housing 2004 . Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). Aleppo Governorate. The population of Manbij is largely , with Kurdish, Turkmen, < ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bedouin
The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( ; , singular ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and Arabian Desert but spread across the rest of the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa after the spread of Islam. The English word ''bedouin'' comes from the Arabic ''badawī'', which means "desert-dweller", and is traditionally contrasted with ''ḥāḍir'', the term for sedentary people. Bedouin territory stretches from the vast deserts of North Africa to the rocky ones of the Middle East. They are sometimes traditionally divided into tribes, or clans (known in Arabic as ''ʿašāʾir''; or ''qabāʾil'' ), and historically share a common culture of herding camels, sheep and goats. The vast majority of Bedouins adhere to Islam, although there are some fewer numbers of Christian Bedouins present in the Fertile Cres ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mansur Ibn Lu'lu'
Manṣūr ibn Luʾluʾ (), also known by his ''laqab'' (honorific epithet) of Murtaḍā ad-Dawla (, 'Approved of the State'), was the ruler of the Emirate of Aleppo between 1008 and 1016. He succeeded his father Lu'lu' al-Kabir, with whom he had shared power. Unlike Lu'lu', however, Mansur's rule was opposed by Aleppo's notables, who chafed at his oppression and monopolization of power. Both Mansur and his father harassed the remaining members of the Hamdanid dynasty, in whose name they ostensibly ruled. On the diplomatic front, Mansur balanced ties with both the Byzantine Empire and the Fatimid Caliphate, and maintained the emirate's Shia Muslim orientation. Mansur fought off two attempts to reinstall Hamdanid rule in the city, critically aided each time by the powerful Banu Kilab tribe. In return, Mansur promised the Kilab half of the emirate's revenues, but reneged on the agreement. To rid himself of the Kilab, he set a trap for them by inviting hundreds of their tribesmen t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al-Rahba
Al-Rahba (/ALA-LC: ''al-Raḥba'', sometimes spelled ''Raḥabah''), also known as Qal'at al-Rahba, which translates as the "Citadel of al-Rahba", is a medieval Arab fortress on the west bank of the Euphrates River, adjacent to the city of Mayadin in Syria. Situated atop a mound with an elevation of , al-Rahba oversees the Syrian Desert steppe. It has been described as "a fortress within a fortress"; it consists of an inner keep measuring , protected by an enclosure measuring . Al-Rahba is largely in ruins today as a result of wind erosion. The original site, which was known as "Rahbat Malik ibn Tawk" after its Abbasid namesake and founder, was located along the Euphrates. It was viewed by Muslim armies, caravans and travelers as the key to Syria from Iraq and sometimes vice versa. Bedouin tribes often took control of it and used it as a launching point for invasions of northern Syria. Because of its strategic location, al-Rahba was frequently fought over by Muslim powers, inc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Euphrates
The Euphrates ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originating in Turkey, the Euphrates flows through Syria and Iraq to join the Tigris in the Shatt al-Arab in Iraq, which empties into the Persian Gulf. The Euphrates is the List of longest rivers of Asia, fifteenth-longest river in Asia and the longest in West Asia, at about , with a drainage area of that covers six countries. Etymology The term ''Euphrates'' derives from the Koine Greek, Greek ''Euphrátēs'' (), adapted from , itself from . The Elamite name is ultimately derived from cuneiform 𒌓𒄒𒉣; read as ''Buranun'' in Sumerian language, Sumerian and ''Purattu'' in Akkadian language, Akkadian; many cuneiform signs have a Sumerian pronunciation and an Akkadian pronunciation, taken from a Sumerian word and an Akkadian word that mean ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bilad Al-Sham
Bilad al-Sham (), 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 Dimashq (Damascus), Hims (Homs), al-Urdunn (Jordan), and Filastin (Palestine), 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 () or Yazid I (). 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 ''j ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Upper Mesopotamia
Upper Mesopotamia constitutes the Upland and lowland, uplands and great outwash plain of northwestern Iraq, northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey, in the northern Middle East. Since the early Muslim conquests of the mid-7th century, the region has been known by the traditional Arabic name of ''al-Jazira'' ( "the island", also transliterated ''Djazirah'', ''Djezirah'', ''Jazirah'') and the Syriac language, Syriac variant ''Gāzartā'' or ''Gozarto'' (). The Euphrates and Tigris rivers transform Mesopotamia into almost an island, as they are joined together at the Shatt al-Arab in the Basra Governorate of Iraq, and their sources in eastern Turkey are in close proximity. The region extends south from the mountains of Anatolia, east from the hills on the left bank of the Euphrates river, west from the mountains on the right bank of the Tigris river and includes the Sinjar plain. It extends down the Tigris to Samarra and down the Euphrates to Hit, Iraq. The Khabur (Euphrates), Khab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
