Humayd ibn Hurayth ibn Bahdal al-Kalbi (; ) was a senior

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...

commander 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. ...

tribe. He was head of the '' shurṭa'' (security forces) under caliphs

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 Abd al-Malik, and may have served in the same capacity under their predecessor Caliph

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 ...

. He commanded the Kalbi-dominated ''shurṭa'' in the

Battle of Khazir The Battle of Khazir () took place in August 686 near the Khazir River in Mosul's eastern environs, in modern-day Iraq. The battle occurred during the Second Muslim Civil War and was part of the larger struggle for control of Iraq between the Sy ...

in 686, and a year later joined the rebellion of the Umayyad prince Amr ibn Sa'id ibn al-As against Abd al-Malik. After the revolt's failure, Humayd reconciled with the latter. In the years following the battles of Marj Rahit (684) and Khazir, Humayd led the Kalb in numerous tit-for-tat raids and battles with enemy

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 ...

i tribes, including the

Banu Amir The Banu Amir () was a large and ancient Arab tribe originating from Western Arabia that dominated Najd for centuries after the rise of Islam. It was an independent branch of the Hawazin confederation, and its original homeland was the border are ...

Banu Sulaym The Banu Sulaym () is an Arab tribe that dominated part of the Hejaz in the pre-Islamic era. They maintained close ties with the Quraysh of Mecca and the inhabitants of Medina, and fought in a number of battles against the Islamic prophet Muha ...

and Fazara.

Family

Humayd ibn Hurayth was a grandson of

Bahdal ibn Unayf Bahdal ibn Unayf al-Kalbi (; died ) was the preeminent chief of the Banu Kalb tribe during early Muslim rule in Syria until his death in the mid-650s. A Christian like most of his tribesmen at the time, Bahdal secured a prominent role for his fa ...

, the preeminent chieftain of the

tribe. Humayd's family and tribe had kinship ties with the early Umayyad 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

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 ...

() and gained influential positions in the Umayyad state. Humayd's cousins Hassan ibn Malik and Sa'id ibn Malik served as the governors of various

Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

'' ajnad'' (military districts) during the reigns of the aforementioned caliphs.

Career

Head of security forces

According to medieval historian

Ibn Habib Abū Marwān ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Ḥabīb al-Sulami () (180–238 AH) (796–853 CE) also known as Ibn Habib, was a Andalusian polymath of the 9th century. His interests included medicine, fiqh, history, grammar, and genealogy and he was reported ...

, Humayd succeeded Yazid ibn al-Hurr al-Ansi as Caliph Yazid I's ''ṣāḥib al-shurṭa'' (head of security forces),Crone 1980, p. 94.Donner ed. Bakhit and Schick 1989, p. 253. a senior Umayyad governmental post; the '' shurṭa'' served a dual role as the military division that guarded the caliph in battle and the police force of the capital city, in this case

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

. However, most medieval Muslim accounts hold that Yazid ibn al-Hurr died just before Caliph Yazid's reign. Moreover, there are no indications that Humayd served Caliph Yazid in any capacity. However, Humayd is described as the ''ṣāḥib al-shurṭa'' of Caliph

() and continued this role under Caliph Abd al-Malik during the

in 686; at the time, the ''shurṭa'' was dominated by Humayd's Kalbi tribesmen.

Feuds with Qays

The Kalb were the major component of the pro-Umayyad coalition that routed the pro-

Zubayrid 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 t ...

i tribes at the Battle of Marj Rahit in 684. In the blood feuds that occurred between Kalb and Qays in the following years, the Kalb were led by Humayd. In general, Humayd's attacks against the Qays were in response to raids 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 ...

of the

and Umayr ibn al-Hubab al-Sulami of the

. The latter was an Umayyad commander whose defection during the Battle of Khazir was blamed for the Umayyads' defeat there.Wellhausen 1927, p. 203. The first counter-raid Humayd led was an attack on

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 ...

that killed sixty tribesmen of

Banu Numayr The Numayrids () were an Arab dynasty based in Diyar Mudar (western Upper Mesopotamia). They were emirs (princes) of their namesake tribe, the Banu Numayr. The senior branch of the dynasty, founded by Waththab ibn Sabiq in 990, ruled the Euph ...

, a branch of the Amir.Wellhausen 1927, p. 202. This was in retaliation to a raid by the end Amir against Musaiyakh in the Samawah (desert between Iraq and Syria), that killed twenty Kalbi tribesmen. Later, after 686, the Qays under Umayr launched a day-long assault that killed between 500 and 1,000 Kalbi tribesmen at Iqlil in Samawah. Humayd attempted but failed to capture Umayr as they withdrew to their headquarters in al-Qarqisiyah. In another attack by Umayr against the Samawah settlement of Ka'aba, Humayd barely escaped on his horse. After this, Humayd and his tribesmen temporarily evacuated from the Samawah to dwell in the Jordan Valley 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 ...

Revolt and reconciliation with Abd al-Malik

In 687, Humayd joined the rebel Umayyad prince Amr ibn Sa'id ibn al-As who seized Damascus and claimed the

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 ...

al throne from Abd al-Malik while the latter was on a military campaign in

Jazira Jazira, al-Jazira, Jazeera, al-Jazeera, etc. are all transcriptions of Arabic language, Arabic meaning "the island" or "the peninsula". The term may refer to: Business *Jazeera Airways, an airlines company based in Kuwait Locations * Al-Jazir ...

. When Abd al-Malik reached Damascus and clashed with Amr's forces, the latter dispatched Humayd as head of his cavalry and another Kalbi, Zuhayr ibn al-Abrad al-Kalbi. In response, Abd al-Malik sent out Humayd's cousin Hassan ibn Malik and Zuhayr's brother Sufyan to confront them. According to a report cited by medieval historian

al-Tabari Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr ibn Yazīd al-Ṭabarī (; 839–923 CE / 224–310 AH), commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Sunni Muslim scholar, polymath, historian, exegete, jurist, and theologian from Amol, Tabaristan, present- ...

, the two sides fought for an extended period until the women of the Kalb tribe intervened with their children and appealed to Humayd and Sufyan not to kill each other for the sake of the Umayyad family; after another standoff, Humayd ultimately relented and withdrew to Damascus.Al-Tabari, ed. Fishbein 1990, p. 157. Amr was later defeated and executed, but Humayd and Abd al-Malik reconciled. In 689, Abd al-Malik dispatched Humayd, along with Kurayb ibn Abraha Abu Rishdin, to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

to negotiate a treaty with 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 ...

emperor

Justinian II Justinian II (; ; 668/69 – 4 November 711), nicknamed "the Slit-Nosed" (), was the last Byzantine emperor of the Heraclian dynasty, reigning from 685 to 695 and again from 705 to 711. Like his namesake, Justinian I, Justinian II was an ambitio ...

Feuds with Fazara

By 691, Abd al-Malik conquered Zubayrid-held Iraq and made peace with Zufar, while Umayr had been slain by the

Taghlib The Banu Taghlib (), also known as Taghlib ibn Wa'il, were an Arab tribe that originated in Jazira. Their parent tribe was the Rabi'a, and they thus traced their descent to the Adnanites. The Taghlib were among the most powerful and cohesive no ...

, an allied tribe of the Banu Kalb. Though Abd al-Malik's arrangements with the Amir and Sulaym precluded further retaliation against them by the Kalb, Humayd decided to avenge his tribe's past losses on another Qaysi tribe, the Fazara.Wellhausen 1927, p. 205. The latter were based in

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

's eastern countryside and had not taken part in the Qaysi–Kalbi war, but by dint of their tribal affiliation and possible assistance to the Amir and Sulaym, they became an alternative target for Humayd. The latter obtained a government warrant to collect the cattle tax from the Fazara, which he used as a cover for a punitive expedition. With a massive Kalbi coalition consisting of the Ulaym and Abd Wadd clans, Humayd led assaults that killed and wounded numerous Fazari tribesmen, particularly at a place called Ah.Wellhausen 1927, p. 206. In retaliation, the Fazara killed nearly seventy Kalbi tribesmen at Banat Qayn in the Samawah .

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{refend 7th-century Arab people Banu Kalb People of the Second Fitna Generals of the Umayyad Caliphate Bedouin tribal chiefs