''Jund Qinnasrīn'' (, " military district of Qinnasrin") was one of five sub-provinces of

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 ...

under the

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 ...

and Abbasid Caliphates, organized soon after the Muslim conquest of Syria in the 7th century CE. Initially, its capital was Qinnasrin, but as the city declined in population and wealth, the capital was moved to

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

. By 985, the district's principal towns were Manbij, Alexandretta, Hama, Shaizar, Ma'arrat al-Nu'man, Samosata, Jusiya, Wadi Butnan, Rafaniyya, Lajjun, Mar'ash, Qinnasrin, al-Tinat (possibly ancient Issus), Balis, and Suwaydiyya.

History

Originally a part of Jund Hims, the first Umayyad caliph

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 ...

established the Jund Qinnasrin when he defeated

Hasan ibn Ali Hasan ibn Ali (; 2 April 670) was an Alids, Alid political and religious leader. The eldest son of Ali and Fatima and a grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Hasan briefly ruled as Rashidun caliphate, Rashidun caliph from January 661 unt ...

, and subsequently detached the people of that area from their allegiance to him. 9th century Muslim historian al-Biladhuri says, however, that it was Muawiya's successor Yazid I who founded the district after separating northern territories from Jund Hims. The newly established district was named after the ancient town of Qinnasrin which was located within its boundaries. Under the Umayyads, Jund Qinnasrin composed of three districts: Antioch, Aleppo, and Manbij. After caliph

al-Mansur Abū Jaʿfar ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Manṣūr (; ‎; 714 – 6 October 775) usually known simply as by his laqab al-Manṣūr () was the second Abbasid caliph, reigning from 754 to 775 succeeding his brother al-Saffah (). He is known ...

's conquests of southern

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

, Syria's northern frontiers were considerably extended and in 786, during the reign of the Harun al-Rashid, the now-overgrown Jund Qinnasrin was subdivided. The area toward the northern frontier, comprising the territories of

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; , ) "Antioch on Daphne"; or "Antioch the Great"; ; ; ; ; ; ; . was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as ...

and the lands east towards

were split from the district to form Jund al-'Awasim. For the remainder of the Abbasid period, Jund Qinnasrin consisted of the cities of Aleppo (the capital of the district), Qinnasrin and the lands around them, as well as the Sarmin territory.

Governors

Umayyad period

* Sa'id ibn Malik ibn Bahdal (680–683) * Zufar ibn al-Harith al-Kilabi (684; expelled Sa'id ibn Malik and gave allegiance to the anti-Umayyad caliph Ibn al-Zubayr) * Aban ibn al-Walid ibn Uqba (684–685) * Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik and Qurra ibn Sharik al-Absi (both governed at different periods in 685–705, Qurra's term may have continued until 709) * Marthad ibn Sharik al-Absi (709–?) * Al-Walid ibn Hisham ibn al-Walid ibn Uqba and Hilal ibn Abd al-A'la (both ruled at different points in 717–720) * Bishr ibn al-Walid (720–724) * Al-Walid ibn Qa'qa ibn Khulayd al-Absi (737–743) * Yazid ibn Umar ibn Hubayra al-Fazari (743–744) * Abd al-Malik ibn Kawthar al-Ghanawi (undetermined period in 744–750) * Majza'a ibn Kawthar ibn Zufar al-Kilabi (undetermined period in 744–750, last Umayyad governor of Qinnasrin)

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{Districts of Islamic Syria Syria under the Umayyad Caliphate Subdivisions of the Abbasid Caliphate Subdivisions of the Umayyad Caliphate States and territories established in the 7th century 7th-century establishments in the Umayyad Caliphate

History

Governors

Umayyad period

See also

References

Bibliography