Banu Amila (, '), also spelled Amela, was an

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

tribe that historically dwelt in the

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

(greater

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

) during the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

(3rd–7th centuries CE) and early Islamic periods (7th–11th centuries). Before or during the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

(late 11th–13th centuries) they made their abode in the mountainous region called after them, the

Jabal Amil Jabal Amil (; also spelled Jabal Amel and historically known as Jabal Amila) is a cultural and geographic region in Southern Lebanon largely associated with its long-established, predominantly Twelver Shia Muslim inhabitants. Its precise bounda ...

, in present-day

Southern Lebanon Southern Lebanon () is the area of Lebanon comprising the South Governorate and the Nabatiye Governorate. The two entities were divided from the same province in the early 1990s. The Rashaya and Western Beqaa districts, the southernmost distr ...

. The long-established Shia Muslim community that lives in this region generally claims descent from the Amila, though the community's singular descent from the tribe is neither substantiated nor likely, according to the historian Tamara Chalabi.

History

Irfan Shahîd Irfan Arif Shahîd ( ; January 15, 1926 – November 9, 2016), also known as Erfan Arif Kawar ( ), was an American professor and scholar in the field of Oriental studies. Between 1982 and 2016, he was the Oman Professor of Arabic and Islamic Li ...

contrasts the traditional view placing the Amila's emergence in Syria during the 3rd century, holding that the tribe formed a part of

Nabataean The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the southern Levant. Their settlements—most prominently the assumed capital city of Raqmu (present-day Petr ...

confederacy along with

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 ...

and

Balqayn Banū al-Qayn () (also spelled Banūʾl Qayn, Balqayn or al-Qayn ibn Jasr) were an Arab tribe that was active between the early Roman era in the Near East through the early Islamic era (7th–8th centuries CE), as far as the historical record is c ...

, and that their presence in the region goes back to Biblical times. Others have traced the tribe's origin back to

Quda'a The Quda'a () were a confederation of Arab tribes, including the powerful Banu Kalb, Kalb and Tanukh, mainly concentrated throughout Syria (region), Syria and northwestern Arabia, from at least the 4th century CE, during Byzantine Empire, Byzanti ...

or even the Biblical

Amalek Amalek (; ) is described in the Hebrew Bible as the enemy of the nation of the Israelites. The name "Amalek" can refer to the descendants of Amalek, the grandson of Esau, or anyone who lived in their territories in Canaan, or North African descend ...

ites.

Byzantine period

From their then-settlement in southern Palestine (which they still occupied even during the Muslim conquest of the Levant), for centuries the Banu Amila acted as ''

foederati ''Foederati'' ( ; singular: ''foederatus'' ) were peoples and cities bound by a treaty, known as ''foedus'', with Rome. During the Roman Republic, the term identified the '' socii'', but during the Roman Empire, it was used to describe foreign ...

'' (tribal confederates) of the Byzantines, helping guard the empire's frontiers against threats from the tribes of the Arabian Peninsula and the

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

n-allied

Lakhmids 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 Sawad, Southern Mesopotamia, it existed as a d ...

. They are believed to have settled in the area, possibly in the 3rd or 4th century, after moving from Iraq and through

Palmyra Palmyra ( ; Palmyrene dialect, Palmyrene: (), romanized: ''Tadmor''; ) is an ancient city in central Syria. It is located in the eastern part of the Levant, and archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first menti ...

. They were noted for their strong commitment to the empire in the 6th century and acknowledged

Ghassanid The Ghassanids, also known as the Jafnids, were an Arab tribe. Originally from South Arabia, they migrated to the Levant in the 3rd century and established what would eventually become a Christian kingdom under the aegis of the Byzantine Empi ...

supremacy among the Arab ''foederati''. They were closely linked with their neighbors, 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 ...

, and also allied to 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. ...

. The tribe was among the Arab foederati, who, alongside the Byzantine Empire, opposed the initial Muslim incursions into the Levant. While little is known of their religious beliefs, they have been described as superficial followers of

Monophysitism Monophysitism ( ) or monophysism ( ; from Greek , "solitary" and , "nature") is a Christological doctrine that states that there was only one nature—the divine—in the person of Jesus Christ, who was the incarnated Word. It is rejected as he ...

and were named ''Mutanasira'' (Christians who did not have firm belief in Christianity), as opposed to ''Nasara'' (Christians). Some even mention the tribe keeping some pagan practices. However, much later sources have described them as devoted Christians. Following the emergence of Islam, members of the tribe converted to Islam.

Notable members

Thalaba ibn Salama al-Amili Tha'laba ibn Salama al-Amili () was an Arab military commander al-Urdunn, al-Maghreb and the Iberian Peninsula, and briefly ruler of al-Andalus from August 742 to May 743. Thalaba ibn Salama belonged to Banu Amilah of the Yaman faction, like ...

, an Arab military commander in al-Urdunn, al-Maghreb and the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

, and briefly ruler of

al-Andalus Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

from August 742 to May 743.

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Amila Arabs in the Roman Empire Yemeni tribes Shia communities History of South Arabia History of Lebanon

History

Byzantine period

Notable members

See also

References

Bibliography