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68-627: Starting with Emir Isa ibn Muhanna , the Al Fadl became the hereditary holders of the office by order of the Mamluk sultans and were given substantial iqtaʿat (fiefs) in Salamiyah , Palmyra and other places in the steppe. By then their tribal territory spanned the region between Homs in the west and Qal'at Ja'bar to east, and between the Euphrates valley in the north to central Arabia in

136-642: A Bedouin dynasty that dominated the Syrian Desert and steppe during the 13th–15th centuries. He was appointed amir al-ʿarab (commander of the Bedouin ) by the Mamluks after their conquest of Syria in 1260. Isa's father served the same post under the Ayyubids . His assignment gave him command over the nomadic Arab tribes of Syria and obliged him to provide auxiliary troops in times of war and guard

204-690: A group of Khafaja Bedouin in Anbar, though there was no conclusive victory after a daylong battle. Isa commanded a contingent of Baybars' army in the 1277 campaign against the Mongols at the Battle of Elbistan . He visited Egypt later that year with Ahmad ibn Hajji, and the two were well received by Baybars. Baybars died in July 1277 and was succeeded by his sons who ruled in name only while Baybars' closest subordinate, Qalawun , acted as strongman. Qalawun usurped

272-452: A new car for Fa'our. Some tribesmen sent sheep and goats as compensatory gifts to Fa'our as well. The reaction of the tribesmen to his dire financial situation spurred Fa'our, who was based in Beirut , to reassert his political leadership of Al Fadl. To that end, he increased contacts with his tribesmen and negotiated on their behalf. In 1964–1965, Faour secured permission for his tribesmen in

340-528: A political leader who represented their interests. In addition, the Al Fadl emirs maintain a symbolic and moral legitimacy within the tribe based on their unproven claim of descent from Abbas and the Quraysh tribe. After Israel's capture and occupation of the Golan in the 1967 Six-Day War , the Al Fadl of Golan were entirely displaced. Following the war, most members of the tribe settled in and around Damascus. In

408-515: A result of the wars and Syrian agrarian reforms that stripped the emir of much of his land, his relationship with the tribe shifted from benevolent landlord to symbolic leader and political representative. By the 1990s, there were up to 30,000 Al Fadl tribesmen in Syria (not counting those who were affiliated with the Mawali) along with a significant population in eastern Lebanon. The Al Fadl were one of

476-602: Is not clear which Mamluk sultan bestowed the title upon him. According to several Mamluk-era sources, Sultan Qutuz (r. 1259–1260) appointed ʿIsa in the aftermath of the Mamluk victory over the Mongols at the Battle of Ayn Jalut . However the 14th-century Arab historian al-ʿUmari claims Qutuz's successor Baybars made ʿIsa amir al-ʿarab . This was apparently a reward for ʿIsa's aid and friendship during Baybars' exile in Syria in

544-583: The Al Fadl , were direct descendants of the Jarrahid ruler of Palestine , Mufarrij ibn Daghfal (d. 1013), himself a member of the ancient tribe of Tayy ; Isa's laqab was "Sharaf ad-Din al-Tayyi", denoting his Tayyid roots. By the early 13th century, the Al Fadl dominated the desert region between Homs in the west to the Euphrates valley in the east and from Qal'at Ja'bar southward through central Najd . Isa's great-grandfather, Haditha (grandson of

612-515: The Banu Kilab had unofficially served as leaders of the northern Syrian tribes in place of their Mirdasid kinsmen. Following al-Adil's death in 1218, control over the office of amir al-ʿarab regularly switched between different lines of the Al Fadl and Al Faraj, the latter being another sub-tribe of the Banu Rabi'ah. Under Sultan al-Kamil , the emirate (principality) that Haditha ruled

680-564: The Beqaa Valley . The Fadl tribesmen who remained became part of the Mawali confederation like their Abu Risha kinsmen. The Mawali were the dominant tribe of northern Syria until the invasions of Anazzah tribesmen throughout the 18th century. According to Fadl al-Fa'our, the author of a 1963 dissertation about his tribe, the Al Fadl tribesmen who fled to the Beqaa split into two factions in

748-614: The Burid ruler of Damascus , and his Zengid successors. By the time the Zengids gained control of the Syrian interior in the mid-12th century, the Banu Rabi'ah had become the dominant tribe in the Syrian Desert . Relations between the tribes and the various Muslim states were not always cooperative. During periods of strained relations the tribes would plunder the villages of the countryside and Hajj pilgrimage caravans. The Tayyid roots of

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816-586: The Mawali tribal confederation, whose member tribes, many of whom were descended from non-Arab slaves, were not necessarily related to each other through blood ties. The Ottomans entrusted Al Abu Risha with protecting the caravan and Hajj pilgrimage routes of northern Syria in exchange for an annual salary. Under the leadership of the Abu Risha emirs, the Mawali drove out rival Al Fadl sheikhs and their families from northern Syria. The latter consequently migrated to

884-713: The Second Battle of Homs between the Mamluks and the Ilkhanids in October 1281, Isa commanded the right flank of the Mamluk army. Under his command were the horsemen of Al Fadl, Al Mira and Banu Kilab among other Syrian tribes. During the course of the battle, the Mamluk right held firm against the Ilkhanid right's assault and then the Mamluk divisions (excluding Isa's right flank) led a joint counterattack against

952-454: The 1250s at a time when Abu Bakr's father Ali denied him refuge. Whatever the correct version, Baybars at least confirmed ʿIsa's appointment and his iqtaʿat (fiefs) in 1260/61. Abu Bakr's brother Zamil and Tahir ibn Ghannam's son Ahmad both contested ʿIsa's appointment. The latter requested a share in the emirate, but Baybars gave him a smaller emirate elsewhere in Syria instead, while Zamil revolted to gain full control of ʿIsa's emirate. Zamil

1020-648: The 18th century as a result of a feud with the Bani Khalid tribe. One of the factions, led by its emir, Fa'our, migrated to the Golan Heights (known in Arabic as Jawlan ). This emir is the namesake and ancestor of Beit Fa'our, the Al Fadl household that has since led the tribe. The Fadl tribesmen who stayed in Beqaa were the Hourrouk branch, which continues to inhabit the Beqaa. The lines of descent connecting

1088-645: The Abbasids' namesake and ancestor, and through him trace their lineage to the Quraysh tribe of the Islamic prophet Muhammad . In another story, descent is claimed from Abbasa , a sister of Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid . At some point during Ayyubid rule in the late 12th century or early 13th century, the Al Fadl were driven out of Hauran in southern Syria by the Al Mira. They consequently migrated north to

1156-530: The Al Fadl with the mosque's construction or other works in Palmyra. A mosque built at the town's periphery has been attributed to the Al Fadl, and was likely constructed for use by the Bedouin as opposed to the settled population in the town itself. When ʿIsa died in 1284, he was succeeded by his son Muhanna . He and his brother Fadl ruled the emirate for nearly half a century with two interruptions. The first

1224-419: The Al Fadl's progenitor , Fadl ibn Rabi'ah ), served as the first amir al-ʿarab (commander of the Bedouin tribes) under Ayyubid sultan al-Adil (r. 1200–1218), beginning a tradition of Al Fadl tribesmen being appointed to the office. Isa's father Muhanna and grandfather Mani (d. 1232) both served the post. It is not evident in medieval Muslim sources when Muhanna died or when the post of amir al-ʿarab

1292-511: The Banu Rabi'ah, and from his Al Fadl kinsman Zamil ibn Ali ibn Haditha. The latter coveted the post, viewing himself as the rightful heir to the office that had been held by his father. In his conflict with Isa, Zamil was defeated, imprisoned, then released after a reconciliation between the chieftains of the Banu Rabi'ah in 1264. Ahmad ibn Tahir, whose demand of a share in Isa's emirate was denied by Baybars, desisted from further opposition when he

1360-551: The Banu Rabi'ah. Ahmad ibn Hajji and his tribe were considered by the historians of their day as the kings of the Arabs ( muluk al-ʿarab ) of the southern Syrian Desert, and Ahmad ibn Hajji led the struggle against Isa for the official post of amir al-ʿarab . Their conflict dissipated as the Mamluks gave the Al Mira virtual independence in the southern desert, while maintaining Isa as amir al-ʿarab . Isa also faced opposition from Ahmad ibn Tahir ibn Ghannam, another distant relative from

1428-528: The Bedouin chieftains' sons as leverage to ensure that their fathers did not defect to the Ilkhanids. That same year, he halved Isa's annual grant of 130,000 silver dirhams . Baybars' actions backfired when Isa made it apparent that he would defect to the Ilkhanids; the Bedouin tribes' defection to the Ilkhanids was a constant possibility and gave Isa considerable leverage with Baybars. News of this turn of events prompted Baybars to secretly rush to Syria from Egypt on 15 September 1270 and secure Isa's commitment to

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1496-560: The Beqaa in Lebanon to purchase land in the Anti-Lebanon Mountains . The Beqaa tribesmen were not Lebanese citizens and thus not allowed to purchase land, but Fa'ours intercession with Interior Minister Kamal Jumblatt enabled them to acquire the land nonetheless. This success symbolized the change in the Al Fadl emir's traditional role, whereby he was no longer a wealthy benefactor and landlord of his tribesmen, but rather

1564-649: The Fa'our and Hourrouk branches with the Mamluk-era Al Fadl emirs has not been specifically defined. For much of the 18th and 19th centuries, the Al Fadl used the Golan Heights as a grazing area for their flocks, along with the Banu Nu'aym tribe. They successfully fought off Turkmen and Kurdish groups in the Golan Heights for control of pasture lands. Later, in the 1870s, Circassians from other parts of

1632-518: The Golan Heights traveled to Damascus to pay the emir, but they did so in decreasing numbers every year. By 1958, the power of the Al Fadl's emir, Fa'our al-Fa'our, was greatly reduced as a result of his lands being confiscated in the agrarian reforms initiated during the United Arab Republic period in Syria. Land rent was Fa'ours main source of income and with its loss, he was no longer able to wield power over his tribesmen and continue

1700-403: The Ilkhanid right. It was during this counterattack that Isa's forces mounted a major assault against the Ilkhanid left ending in a rout. Afterward, the Mamluk divisions destroyed the Ilkhanid center and forced the latter's retreat, resulting in a decisive Mamluk victory. Isa was praised in Mamluk histories of the battle for securing the Mamluk victory. In reward for his performance, he was made

1768-482: The Ilkhanids and the latter escaped Qalawun's advancing army. Isa also sought to evade Qalawun's troops and barricaded himself in the desert fortress of al-Rahba . He was replaced by his relative Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr as punishment by Qalawun for supporting Sunqur's revolt. Muhammad's appointment was likely in name only, and in any case, Isa reconciled with Qalawun by 1280, when the sultan received him in Cairo. During

1836-520: The Ilkhanids' army, and was dismissed from his post when Qalawun's forces suppressed the rebellion . Isa was reinstalled by 1280, and in the following year, played a decisive role as a commander in the Mamluk victory over the Ilkhanate at the Second Battle of Homs . After his death, Isa was succeeded by his son Muhanna , and throughout the 14th century, Isa's direct descendants held the office of amir al-ʿarab with occasional interruption. Isa's clan,

1904-548: The Ilkhanids. The first of these campaigns occurred soon after Isa's meeting with Baybars, when he led raids against the Ilkhanids in Edessa and Harran in southern Anatolia . In 1273, Isa led raids against Ilkhanid-held Anbar in western Iraq on orders from Baybars, possibly to divert Ilkhanid forces from an expedition against Syria. Mongols in Anbar defeat Isa and Isa retreats Months later, in March 1274, Isa's forces confronted

1972-428: The Mamluks as auxiliary troops, the Al Fadl and some of their Banu Rabi'ah kin were bestowed with official assignments, iqtaʿat and gifts. While the Mamluk sultans cultivated an alliance with the Al Fadl, they generally considered the tribe to be "vacillating and untrustworthy", according to historian Janusz Bylinsky. Nonetheless, the Al Fadl were the most favored Bedouin tribe in Syria and their leaders consistently held

2040-501: The Mamluks. He arrived in Hama on 4 October and summoned Isa. During the meeting, Baybars asked Isa whether rumors of his planned defection were true and Isa answered in the affirmative. Afterward, Baybars honored him and agreed to free the hostages, restore Isa's grant, and distribute to the Bedouin tribes large amounts of wheat. As a result, Isa swore an oath of loyalty to Baybars and afterward participated in every Mamluk campaign against

2108-651: The Muslim war effort against the Crusaders , who conquered the Syrian (Levantine) coastal regions in 1099. The Banu Rabi'ah's branches Al Fadl and Al Mira (also spelled Al Murrah) were the descendants of Rabi'ah's sons, Fadl and Mira, respectively. Fadl was noted in Muslim chronicles as an emir (prince) of the tribe by 1107. He and his brothers Mira, Thabit and Daghfal, and their father Rabi'ah, provided and commanded mounted auxiliary troops for Tughtekin (r. 1104-1128),

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2176-726: The Syrian Desert. A rival sub-branch of Al Fadl, the Al ʿAli, controlled the Ghouta region of Damascus and the northern Arabian regions of Tayma and al-Jawf , while Al Mira controlled the area of Jawlan southward to the al-Harrah hot springs in Hejaz . Other branches of the Banu Tayy controlled regions within the Banu Rabi'ah's territory. Among them were the Shammar and Banu Lam in

2244-480: The Syrian census of 1981). Other than Syria, some members of the tribe immigrated to Lebanon, namely to villages in the Beqaa and the Anti-Lebanon Mountains. A number of these refugees were given Lebanese citizenship in 1994. Isa ibn Muhanna Sharaf ad-Din Isa ibn Muhanna at-Ta'i , better known as Isa ibn Muhanna (d. 1284/85), was an Arab emir (commander/prince) of the Al Fadl ,

2312-497: The absence of blood relations, the newer households held great pride and respect for their association with the tribe's leading household, the Fa'our. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War , several of the Al Fadl's lands in the Hula Valley were captured by Israel while their other lands in the valley became part of demilitarized no-man's lands . Their territory in the Golan Heights, near the armistice lines with Israel, came under

2380-424: The battle. In another version, Qutuz's successor Baybars appointed Isa as a reward for assisting him during his 1250s exile in Syria (in this version, Ali was stripped of the title as punishment for denying Baybars refuge). In any case, it is known that Baybars issued a diploma confirming Isa as amir al-ʿarab and recognizing his iqtaʿat (fiefs) in 1260/61. Among his iqta'at were half of Salamiyah , which

2448-557: The border with the occupied portion of the Golan, such as Sa'sa' and neighboring villages. In the 1970s, Fa'our began efforts to acquire pasture lands in Saudi Arabia for some of his tribesmen displaced from the Golan, which entailed regular commuting between Beirut and the tribal council of King Khalid in Riyadh . By the 1980s and early 1990s, the Al Fadl's estimated numbers were between 20,000 and 30,000 (they were not counted in

2516-483: The chief of the Bedouin tribes that were under the jurisdiction of al-Adil and his Ayyubid kinsmen in the Damascus and Hama principalities. The jurisdiction of the amir al-ʿarab was later extended to the tribes around Aleppo by that principality's Ayyubid emir, az-Zahir Ghazi , during the latter half of his reign (1186–1218). Thus, the Bedouin tribes of northern Syria were put under the authority of Haditha; until then,

2584-502: The city itself, they were concentrated in the Masakin Barzeh , Qaboun and Dweil'a quarters. After several years, many tribesmen left the city to settle in nearby suburbs, chiefly Qatana , but also Muadimiyah , Jdeidat Artouz and Artouz . Jdeidat al-Fadl, a working-class suburb of Jdeidat Artuz, is mostly populated by descendants of the Al Fadl. To a lesser extent, Fadl tribesmen have settled in al-Kiswah and in villages near

2652-467: The control of the Syrian military authorities, who viewed the emir of the Al Fadl as a security threat. They thus forbade him from traveling outside of Damascus. The loss of land in 1948–49 and the travel restrictions imposed on him led to a shift in the emir's power relations with the rest of the tribe. He lost substantial rent income as a result of the land loss and was unable to collect the rent money from his remaining lands. Instead, some tribal elders in

2720-629: The desert frontier from the Mongol Ilkhanate in Iraq . As part of his emirate, he was granted Salamiyah and Sarmin . He participated in numerous campaigns against the Mongol Ilkhanate on behalf of the Mamluks during Sultan Baybars ' reign (1260–1277). In 1279/80, Isa defected from Baybars' successor, Qalawun , and joined the rebellion of the Mamluk viceroy of Syria, Sunqur al-Ashqar . However, Isa dissuaded Sunqur from joining

2788-465: The empire settled in the Golan Heights, and their cultivation of the land threatened the Al Fadl's traditional pasture grounds. At the time, the tribe's presence in the area consisted of 320 tents along with several villages which they inhabited in the winter. They fought a number of skirmishes with the Circassians, during which one of their leaders, Sheikh Shadadi al-Fadl was killed. By 1887, peace

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2856-567: The end of the 19th century, the Al Fadl became semi- sedentarized ; they settled in various Golan villages, but continued to shepherd their flocks, while their emir settled in Damascus and effectively became an absentee landlord who collected rent from his tribesmen. The Al Fadl were displaced from their homes in the Hula Valley and Golan during the 1948 and 1967 Arab-Israeli wars, respectively, and most settled in and around Damascus. As

2924-454: The lord of Palmyra in late 1281. Isa died in May 1284. He was succeeded by his son Muhanna ibn Isa , who inherited his emirate, and became the lord of the ancient oasis town of Palmyra. For the next quarter century, Muhanna and another of Isa's sons, Fadl, held the office of amir al-ʿarab with minor interruptions. Isa's branch of the Al Fadl dynasty, sometimes referred to as "Al Isa", served

2992-482: The next seventy years, his sons and grandsons held the post with occasional interruptions during which Fadl's offspring or distant cousins were appointed. The Ottomans conquered Syria in 1516. They preserved the office of amir al-ʿarab as a hereditary post of the Al Fadl, via the Salamiyah-based descendants of Hayar, throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. The amir al-ʿarab under the last Mamluk sultan

3060-482: The north Arabian mountains of Jabal Ajaʾ and Jabal Salma . The wealth and power of the Al Fadl allowed them to reside near inhabited areas, rather than depend on pasturage in the desert. Their leaders were entrusted by Baybars and his successors with protecting Syria up to the borders with Ilkhanid -held Iraq (the Ilkhanids were Mongol enemies of the Mamluks). In exchange for protecting the Syrian frontier and aiding

3128-474: The south. Isa's sons and successors Muhanna and Fadl vacillated between the Mamluks and the latter's Mongol enemies, but generally they were highly favored by Sultan an-Nasir Muhammad . During late Mamluk rule, the tribe was occupied by internal strife. The Ottomans preserved the Al Fadl's hereditary leadership of the Bedouin tribes. By the mid-16th century, the leading emirs joined the Mawali tribe and became known as Al Abu Risha, while their rivals within

3196-521: The steppe regions around Homs in northern Syria and were paid by the Ayyubid sultans of Egypt to ensure the safety of the roads connecting Syria with Iraq. The Al Fadl grew more powerful throughout this period due to the patronage of various Ayyubid rulers. Sultan al-Adil (r. 1200–1218) appointed Haditha, a grandson of Fadl ibn Rabi'ah, as amir al-ʿarab (commander of the Bedouin), an office denoting

3264-473: The sultan's revenue from Damascus Eyalet (Damascus Province). The descendants of Hayar came to be known as Al Abu Risha, which means "[house of] the father of the plume". They acquired this name in 1574 when their emir was officially recognized by the Ottomans as the hereditary amir al-ʿarab and adorned with a plume -crowned turban to consecrate his official status. The Al Abu Risha took over leadership of

3332-563: The tenants were Fadl tribesmen who had shifted from a nomadism to a semi- sedentism that combined agriculture and grazing. The emir, who resided in Damascus, was in effect an absentee landlord , and he and his immediate family became wealthy members of the Damascene social elite. The emir married a woman from the well-known Kurdish Damascene family, Buzu. Some Kurdish families, including the Buzu, were afterward incorporated into Al Fadl. Despite

3400-491: The throne in 1279 and soon after faced a rebellion by his viceroy in Syria, Sunqur al-Ashqar , who was joined by Isa. The Ilkhanids and their Armenian and Georgian allies took advantage of the intra-Mamluk strife and an invitation by Sunqur to invade Syria, and sacked Aleppo. Isa reprimanded Sunqur for inciting the Muslims' enemies to attack and urged him not to betray Islam in his late age. Isa persuaded Sunqur not to join

3468-460: The title of amir al-ʿarab and were given official receptions by Mamluk sultans. Toward the end of ʿIsa's reign, in 1281, Palmyra was granted to the Al Fadl as an iqtaʿ , and it became one of the tribe's principal towns and sources of income, along with Salamiyah. The Al Fadl became patrons of public works in Palmyra and played a significant role in regulating the town's affairs. The central mosque of Palmyra contains inscriptions either attributing

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3536-475: The tradition of distributing wealth to lesser-ranking members of the tribe. Fa'ours leadership role was resuscitated after an incident in 1960 in which his car broke down, forcing him to seek assistance from the nearest village inhabited by his tribesmen. The sight of the emir being forced to walk while all other tribal leaders drove trucks provoked a sense of dishonor among the tribesmen of the village, who launched efforts to pool funds from Al Fadl's members to buy

3604-657: The tribe are supported and verified by Muslim historians. However, members of the Al Fadl have claimed fictitious lineages in the past, which have been dismissed by both medieval and modern historians. Among these legends was that the tribe descended from the Barmakids , a Persian household that held high office in the Abbasid government in Baghdad . That claim was disparaged by 14th-century Arab historian Ibn Khaldun . Some modern-era tribesmen have claimed descent from al-Abbas ,

3672-532: The tribe were driven out towards the Beqaa Valley and continued to go by the name "Al Fadl". The Mawali dominated northern Syria until the arrival of the Annazah tribesmen in the 18th century. During that same period, the Al Fadl in Beqaa split into the Hourrouk and Fa'our branches. The latter made its home in the Golan Heights where they often fought over pasture rights with Kurdish and Turkmen settlers, and later against Druze and Circassian newcomers. Toward

3740-532: The two main branches (the other being Al Mira) of the Banu Rabi'ah, a tribe belonging to the Banu Tayy (also known as the Tayyids). The Banu Rabi'ah were the offspring of the tribe's namesake, Rabi'ah ibn Hazim ibn Ali ibn Mufarrij ibn Daghfal ibn al-Jarrah . The Banu Rabi'ah were descendants of the 10th-century Jarrahid rulers of Palestine , and became prominent in Syria as a result of their participation in

3808-426: Was Mudlij ibn Zahir ibn Assaf, a great-great-grandson of Hayar. He served under the Ottomans until his death in 1538. In place of the traditional iqtaʿat granted to the preeminent Al Fadl emir, the Ottomans granted them a timar (income-producing land grant). In return, the emir provided 1,050 camels (each worth 200 akçe ) and 30 young horses (each worth 1,000 akçe ) annually to the Ottomans, which formed part of

3876-413: Was defeated by ʿIsa and the Mamluks and was imprisoned in Cairo. He was later released and a temporary peace was mediated between him, ʿIsa and other emirs of the Banu Rabi'ah. ʿIsa's strongest Bedouin opposition came from his kinsmen in the Al Mira under the leadership of Ahmad ibn Hajji, who dominated the tribes of southern Syria. Gradually, the enmity between the Al Fadl and the Al Mira dissipated as Ahmad

3944-460: Was divided between his son Maniʿ and his Al Faraj kinsman Ghannam ibn Abi Tahir ibn Ghannam following Haditha's death (sometime between 1218 and the 1220s). Ghannam was later dismissed by al-Kamil, who concurrently bestowed authority over the entire emirate to Maniʿ for his close cooperation with the Ayyubids of Egypt and Syria and his assistance in their military campaigns. Maniʿ died in 1232/33 and

4012-493: Was established between the Al Fadl and their Circassian and Druze rivals as a result of Ottoman recognition of the tribe's pasture rights and territorial boundaries. As a result, the territory of the Fa'our branch of the Al Fadl included large parts of the Golan Heights, part of the Hauran plain, and the eastern Hula Valley . These lands were registered in the name of the emir, who thereafter collected rent from its tenants. Most of

4080-485: Was given a smaller emirate elsewhere in Syria. In early 1265, Isa was dispatched by Baybars to lead a raid against Ilkhanid-held Harran as a diversion for a Mamluk expedition aimed at relieving their Anatolian fortress of al-Birah from an Ilkhanid siege; al-Birah's defenders withstood the siege and the Ilkhanids retreated in haste with the arrival of Mamluk forces in February. In 1268/69, Baybars took hostage some of

4148-424: Was given virtual independence in the southern desert, while ʿIsa remained amir al-ʿarab . During the Mamluk era, the Al Fadl's territory spanned the area between Homs in the west to Qal'at Ja'bar in the northeast and all along the Euphrates valley through the countryside of Basra southward to the Washm region in central Najd . Mamluk patronage of the Al Fadl enabled them to dominate the other Bedouin tribes of

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4216-486: Was made amir al-ʿarab by the Ayyubid emir of Aleppo, an-Nasir Yusuf , and that sometime later Ali ibn Hadithah of the Al Fadl (Muhanna's uncle) was given the post, which he held until the Mamluks' ascent. According to historian Reuven Amitai-Preiss , it was not Ali but his son and successor Abu Bakr who was appointed amir al-ʿarab in the years just prior to the Mamluks' annexation of Syria. The office of amir al-ʿarab passed to Muhanna's son Sharaf ad-Din ʿIsa, though it

4284-400: Was present in Cairo to bear witness that al-Mustansir's successor and kinsman, al-Hakim, was indeed a member of the Abbasid line. Isa's assignment to the post was opposed by some of his kinsmen from the start. The strongest opposition came from Ahmad ibn Hajji of the Al Mira, relatives of the Al Fadl through their shared ancestor Rabi'ah ibn Hazim, whose descendants were collectively known as

4352-477: Was separated from the iqtaʿ of Hama, and Sarmin . Baybars also entrusted the Al Fadl and the other Bedouin tribes of the Syrian desert and steppe with guarding the Syrian frontier with Mongol Ilkhanid -held Iraq . Isa's relations with Baybars were generally on good terms, though there were occasional exceptions. Following the Mongol destruction of the Abbasid Caliphate of Baghdad in 1258, two Abbasid princes escaped; Abu al-'Abbas (later known as al-Hakim ),

4420-486: Was stripped from him. It is known for certain that prior to the Mamluk conquest of Syria in 1260, the amir al-ʿarab was Muhanna's uncle Ali ibn Haditha. The circumstances of Isa's replacement of Ali are also unclear. In some versions, Isa was appointed by Sultan Qutuz as a reward for his support in the Battle of Ain Jalut against the Mongols in the latter half of 1260, though the sources indicate that Isa and his Bedouin horsemen refrained from actually participating in

4488-409: Was succeeded by his son Muhanna after being confirmed for the post in an agreement between the respective Ayyubid emirs of Damascus and Homs , al-Ashraf Musa and al-Mujahid Shirkuh II . Between Muhanna's accession and the Mamluk conquest of Syria in 1260, details about the Al Fadl/Tayyid emirate are obscure or absent in the Muslim sources. It is known that in 1240 Tahir ibn Ghannam of the Al Faraj

4556-428: Was the first to reach Syria under Isa's protection. However, the second surviving prince, Abu al-Qasim (known by the regnal name al-Mustansir ), was chosen by Baybars and inaugurated as the Abbasid caliph in Cairo. Isa accompanied al-Mustansir on his Mamluk-sponsored campaign to reclaim Iraq from the Mongols. However, al-Mustansir was killed en route to Baghdad in a Mongol ambush in October 1261. The next year, Isa

4624-468: Was when Qalawun's successor, Sultan al-Ashraf Khalil , had them and their sons imprisoned in Cairo. Their cousin, Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr (grandson of Ali ibn Haditha) presided over the emirate until Muhanna was reinstalled in 1295, after al-Ashraf Khalil's death. Muhanna's allegiance vacillated between the Mamluks and the Ilkhanids between 1311 and 1330, after which he became firmly loyal to the Mamluk sultan, an-Nasir Muhammad . He died five years later and for

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