Banu Uqayl ( ar, بنو عُـقَـيـْل) are an ancient Arab tribe that played an important role in the history of eastern Arabia and Iraq. They belonged to the Banu Ka'b branch of the large Banu 'Amir confederation. The Banu 'Amir confederation of tribes had their original homeland in western Arabia, on the border between

Hejaz The Hejaz (, also ; ar, ٱلْحِجَاز, al-Ḥijāz, lit=the Barrier, ) is a region in the west of Saudi Arabia. It includes the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif, and Baljurashi. It is also known as the "Western Provin ...

and

Najd Najd ( ar, نَجْدٌ, ), or the Nejd, forms the geographic center of Saudi Arabia, accounting for about a third of the country's modern population and, since the Emirate of Diriyah, acting as the base for all unification campaigns by the H ...

. The 'Uqayl branch moved southwards and settled in the large valley known as "al-'Aqiq" (modern day

Wadi al-Dawasir Wadi Al Dawasir ( ar, وادي الدواسر) is a town in Najd, Saudi Arabia, in the Dawasir valley. The town is the homeland of the tribe of Al-Dawasir. The municipality had a population of 106,152 at the 2010 Census. It is divided into three ...

), which they later claimed was granted to them by the

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

prophet Muhammad. During the Abbasid era, most of the Banu 'Amir moved from Najd into Iraq and

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. The Uqaylids were among the last to leave, settling on the banks of the

Euphrates The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers'') ...

. There a section of the tribe founded the Uqaylid dynasty, which controlled Mosul and other regions of northern Mesopotamia, though remaining largely nomadic. When the Uqaylid dynasty was brought down, three large Uqaylid tribes, the

Khafaja Khafaja or Khafajah ( ar, خفاجة, also known as Al-Khafaji and Khafaji) is one of the major Arab tribes (especially in Iraq and Egypt) as well Saudi Arabia , Syria and Jordan .Muntafiq, settled in southern Iraq and remain there to the present day. Another section of the Uqayl, possibly coming from Iraq, according to

Ibn Khaldun Ibn Khaldun (; ar, أبو زيد عبد الرحمن بن محمد بن خلدون الحضرمي, ; 27 May 1332 – 17 March 1406, 732-808 AH) was an Arab The Historical Muhammad', Irving M. Zeitlin, (Polity Press, 2007), p. 21; "It is, of ...

, took over the deserts of eastern Arabia, around the al-Hasa oasis. There they allied themselves with the

Qarmatians The Qarmatians ( ar, قرامطة, Qarāmiṭa; ) were a militant Isma'ilism, Isma'ili Shia Islam, Shia movement centred in Al-Ahsa Oasis, al-Hasa in Eastern Arabia, where they established a Utopia#Religious utopias, religious-utopian Socialis ...

, like many other Banu Amir groups. The

fell to the Uyunid dynasty, a sedentary Arab clan from al-Hasa, in 1076. In the mid-13th centuries, one Uqaylid clan leader, 'Usfur ibn Rashid, deposed the 'Uyunids, and founded the

'Usfurid The Usfurids ( ar, آل عصفور, Al ʿUṣfūr) were an Arab dynasty that in 1253 gained control of Eastern Arabia, including the islands of Bahrain. They were a branch of Uqaylids who re-migrated to Arabia after the fall of their rule in Syr ...

dynasty, which lasted until 1330. The area was then taken over by the Shi'ite Jarwanid clan based in Qatif. The most powerful Uqaylid dynasty, however, were the Jabrids. Some historians believe they were a branch of the 'Usfurids or at least closely related to them. Their most famous ruler,

Ajwad ibn Zamil Ajwad bin Zamil bin Saif Al-Aqili ( ar, أجود بن زامل بن سيف العقيلي, born in 1418, died in 1496) was ruler of the Jabrids who in the late 15th century united most of the Eastern Arabia under one state Genealogy Born Ajwad ibn Z ...

, however, is described by his contemporaries as having been "of

i origin." Ajwad's elder brother established the dynasty in the early 15th century by deposing and killing the last Jarwanid ruler in Qatif. At their height, the Jabrids controlled the entire Arabian coast on the Persian Gulf, including the islands of Bahrain, and regularly led expeditions into central Arabia. One contemporary scholar described Ajwad ibn Zamil as "the king of al-Ahsa and Qatif and the leader of the people of Najd." The Jabrids lost Bahrain to the Portuguese in 1521 and their kingdom collapsed soon afterwards on the mainland. One branch of the Jabrids remained active in Oman however for nearly another three centuries. It is unknown for sure what became of the Jabrids. Some believe they left to Iraq, while others believe they are identical with the "Jubur" section of the

Bani Khalid Bani Khalid ( ar, بني خالد) is an Arab tribal confederation mainly inhabiting Eastern Arabia and Najd. The tribe ruled southern Iraq, Kuwait, and Eastern Arabia (al-Hasa and al-Qatif) from the 15th century to the 18th century, and agai ...

, who eventually took control of the region after the Jabrids. The Bani Khalid tribe itself is believed to be partly of Uqaylid origin.

Notable people

Among the tribe's members are: *

Ibrahim ibn Asim al-'Uqayli Ibrahim ibn Asim al-Uqayli () (died 743/4) was a military commander of the Umayyad Caliphate and governor of Sistan. Ibrahim ibn Asim al-Uqayli hailed from the Jazira, and belonged to the Banu Uqayl tribe of the Qays. He served as a commander in ...

, Umayyad commander and governor of Sistan *

Ishaq ibn Muslim al-Uqayli Ishaq ibn Muslim ibn Rabi'a ibn Asim al-Uqayli was a general and governor for the Umayyad Caliphate in the region of ''Arminiya'' (Transcaucasia), and a close supporter of the last Umayyad caliph, Marwan II. Following the defeat of Marwan by the A ...

, Umayyad commander and governor of Arminiya * Layla al-Akhyaliyya, Umayyad Classical poet *

Muhammad ibn al-Musayyab Abu'l-Dhawwād Muḥammad ibn al-Musayyab was the first Emir of Mosul from the Uqaylid dynasty, from –991/2. Life Muhammad and the Uqaylid dynasty belonged to the Banu Uqayl, a northern Arab tribe who were originally clients of the Hamdanid emi ...

, chieftain and Founder of Uqaylid Emirate * Ibn Mulhim, Fatimid commander and governor of

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

Notable people

See also

Further reading