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
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. 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 ...
(),
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 ...
() 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
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 continued this role under Caliph
Abd al-Malik during 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; 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 ...
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 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
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 ...
and
Umayr ibn al-Hubab al-Sulami of the
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 ...
. 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
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{{refend
7th-century Arab people
Banu Kalb
People of the Second Fitna
Generals of the Umayyad Caliphate
Bedouin tribal chiefs