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91-627: 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

182-642: 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

273-690: 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

364-452: 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

455-528: 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

546-515: 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

637-594: A tale that gave rise to the expression "Barmecide feast". "We know of Yahya ibn Khalid al-Barmaki (d. 805) as a patron of physicians and, specifically, of the translation of Hindu medical works into both Arabic and Persian. In all likelihood however, his activity took place in the orbit of the caliphal court in Iraq , where at the behest of Hārūn al-Rashīd (786–809), such books were translated into Arabic. Thus Khurāsān and Transoxiana were effectively bypassed in this transfer of learning from India to Islam, even though, undeniably

728-602: 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

819-583: 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

910-701: The Arab invasion of the Sasanian Empire . Harold Bailey proposed that the name of the Barmakids may derive from the Sanskrit word प्रमुख Pramukha, meaning “leader,” although the theory is subject of debate. The Barmakids are also suggested to have been of Kashmiri Buddhist descent. The Barmakids were highly educated, respected and influential throughout Arabia, Persia, Central Asia and the Levant. In Baghdad,

1001-515: 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

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1092-564: 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

1183-614: 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

1274-586: 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

1365-713: 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

1456-509: The Umayyads and of As-Saffah . This gave Khalid bin Barmak considerable influence, and his son Yahya ibn Khalid (d. 806) was the vizier of the caliph al-Mahdi (ruled 775–785) and tutor of Harun al-Rashid (ruled 786–809). Yahya's sons al-Fadl and Ja'far (767–803), both occupied high offices under Harun. Many Barmakids were among many patrons of the sciences, which greatly helped

1547-454: 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

1638-648: 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

1729-645: 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

1820-530: 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

1911-419: 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

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2002-511: 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

2093-551: 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

2184-437: The Barmak died, nor is his conversion certain, despite al-Kirmani's account. al-Kirmani states that he may have retained his faith as his son Khalid's beliefs were suspect, according to Ibn 'Asakir . Ibn al-Faqih records that his father had to abandon Islam after converting due to pressure from local magnates as well as people of Tukharistan and was even attacked by Tarkhan Nizak, being killed along with his ten sons. Khalid

2275-511: The Barmakid court became a centre of patronage for the Ulema , poets, scholars alike. The first member of the family whose identity is known in historical records was a physician of Balkh. He is reputed for a pill named after him and also recommended by Avicenna in addition to a scent which was widely used by prostitutes. According to al-Masudi , the name Barmak was not a name but a title of

2366-408: The Barmakids as the founders of the class designated as 'people of the pen' ( ahl al-qalam ). The long neck which Barmakids possessed is said to have been responsible for the introduction of the custom of wearing high collars. The first extant Arabic report on India was prepared under the directions of Yahya ibn Barmak by his envoy. The Barmakids invited several scholars and physicians from everywhere in

2457-676: The Barmakids descended from the chiefs, or administrators of the Buddhist monastery called Navavihāra (Skt. नवविहार) or "New Monastery", that was described by the Chinese Buddhist diarist Xuanzang in the seventh century which may have led to the Persian and Arabic error of thinking that the term "Nowbahār" was the name of a Zoroastrian fire temple headed by the Barmakids as reported in Islamic sources. The Pramukhas converted during

2548-555: The Barmakī's cultural outlook owed something to their land of origin, northern khurasan, and Yahya al-Barmakī's interest in medicine may have derived from no longer identifiable family tradition." In 803, the family lost favor in the eyes of Harun al-Rashīd, and many of its members were imprisoned. The decision came as sudden to many. However, Harun ar-Rashid is also reported to have given orders to his sahib-al-shurta al-Sindi ibn Shahak of confiscation of Barmakid properties one year before

2639-528: 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

2730-560: 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

2821-649: 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

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2912-518: 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

3003-403: 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

3094-482: 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

3185-520: 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,

3276-548: 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

3367-428: 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

3458-501: 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

3549-651: 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),

3640-726: 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

3731-480: 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 ,

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3822-497: 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

3913-424: 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

4004-557: 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

4095-483: 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,

4186-502: 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

4277-467: 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

4368-629: 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

4459-465: 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

4550-567: 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

4641-515: The events, implying it to be planned action. According to Rit Nosotro, Harun al-Rashīd found his chief pleasure in the society of his sister ʿAbbāsa and Barmakid prince Jafar bin Yahya . In order that these two might be with him continuously without breach of the restrictions on women, he persuaded them to contract a purely formal marriage. This marriage was on condition the two would meet only in his presence, and never produce an heir. This condition

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4732-461: The hereditary Buddhist administrators of the Buddhist monastery of Nava Vihāra (Nawbahar) west of Balkh (Northern Afghanistan). Historians of Islam have sometimes considered the Barmakids to have been Zoroastrian priests before converting to Islam, an erroneous view based on the fact that Balkh was known as an important centre of Zoroastrianism, or from a simple failure of early Islamic sources to distinguish Zoroastrians from Buddhists. In fact,

4823-465: The high priest of the fire temple of the city, though recent research makes it certain that it was a Buddhist title changed to look more Iranian. His wife was enslaved during the battle for Balkh in 705 and given to the Arab general's brother 'Abd-Ullah. Their sexual relation produced a son known as Khalid, whom 'Abd-Ullah later acknowledged as his natural son. She was later restored to her husband after peace

4914-454: 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

5005-405: The marriage of his sister to Ibrahim ibn Salih . Al-Tabari and Ibn Khaldūn mentioned completely other different reasons ensuring that their decline was gradual and not sudden. These other reasons are: The fall of the Iranian Barmakids did not, however, affect the prominent position of the Persians in the Abbasid court, which continued until al-Mutawakkil . Felicia Hemans reflects on

5096-417: 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

5187-427: 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

5278-426: The office through much of the 14th century. Barmakids The Barmakids ( Persian : برمکیان Barmakiyân ; Arabic : البرامكة al-Barāmikah ), also spelled Barmecides , were an influential Iranian family from Balkh , where they were originally hereditary Buddhist leaders (in the Nawbahar monastery), and subsequently came to great political power under the Abbasid caliphs of Baghdad. Khalid ,

5369-408: The officials of the diwan al-Kharaj ; the guardians of knowledge which was inaccessible to the uninitiated and was passed by inheritance. In 765, Khalid al-Barmaki received the governorship of Tabaristan , where he crushed a dangerous uprising. During his governorship of Upper Mesopotamia , Khalid, through a mix of firmness and justice, brought the province quickly into order and effectively curbed

5460-412: The propagation of Iranian science and scholarship into the Islamic world of Baghdad and beyond. They patronized scholars such as Gebir and Jabril ibn Bukhtishu . They are also credited with the establishment of the first paper mill in Baghdad. The power of the Barmakids in those times is reflected in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights ; the vizier Ja'far appears in several stories, as well as

5551-410: The provinces and prepared estimates and accounts. An influential stratum of officialdom, the Irano-Islamic class of secretaries ( kuttab in Arabic, dabiran in Persian), was formed which considered itself as the main support of the state. Their knowledge of the complex system of the kharaj (land tax) which took account not only of the quality of the land but of the produce of the crops sown, made

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5642-418: The son of Barmak became the chief minister ( vizier ) of Al Saffah, the first Caliph of the Abbasid dynasty. His son Yahya aided Harun al-Rashid in capturing the throne and rose to power as the most powerful man in the Caliphate. The Barmakids were remarkable for their majesty, splendor and hospitality. They are mentioned in some stories of the One Thousand and One Nights . The family is traceable back to

5733-474: 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

5824-411: 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

5915-417: 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

6006-584: The suppression by Hārun even of their name in her poem The Mourner for the Barmecides , published in 1826. A number of canals, mosques and other public works owe their existence to the initiative and munificence of the Barmakids. Al Fadl ibn Yahya is credited with introducing the use of lamps in the mosques during the holy month of Ramadan . They are also credited with the establishment of the first paper mill in Baghdad. Jafar ibn Yahya acquired great fame for eloquence, literary activity, and calligraphy . Hitti argues that chiefly because of him, Arab historians regard

6097-455: 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

6188-436: 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

6279-460: 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

6370-475: 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

6461-493: 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 ,

6552-532: 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

6643-532: 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

6734-453: The unruly Kurds. Khalid's son, Yahya ibn Khalid (d. 806), at one time Governor of Arminiya , was entrusted by Caliph al-Mahdi (775-85) with the education of his son, Harun, the future Caliph al-Rashid . Yaḥya's sons al-Fadl (766–808) and Ja'far (767–803), both occupied high offices under Harun al-Rashid. The Barmakid family was an early supporter of the Abbasid revolt against

6825-482: 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

6916-572: Was born a Buddhist and later converted to Islam, taking various ministerial jobs within the Abbasid Caliphate . The Buddhist ancestry of Barmakids seems to have stimulated interest in Indian sciences in the eighth century. Khalid al-Barmaki (705–782) occupied distinguished positions under first two Abbasid Caliphs, al-Saffah (722–754) and al-Mansur (714–775). He had risen to be the vizier, following death of Abu Salma and Abul Jahm. Khalid

7007-473: Was broken, and when Harun learned that ʿAbbāsa had borne a son, he had Jafar suddenly arrested and beheaded, and the rest of the family, except Yahya's brother Muḥammad, also imprisoned and deprived of their property. However, these claims lack credibility as they are unconvincing legends, fake stories and fiction that has no basis whatsoever. In reality, after the death of Abbasa's first husband Muhammad ibn Sulayman ibn Ali , her brother Harun Al-Rashid arranged

7098-413: 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

7189-460: 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

7280-493: 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

7371-485: 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

7462-476: 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

7553-541: 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

7644-536: Was on such intimate terms with al-Saffah that his daughter was nursed by the wife of the Caliph. Likewise, Caliph's daughter was nursed by Khalid's wife. Under Abbasid regime Khalid rose to the headship of the department of Finance ( diwan al-Kharaj ) This department was concerned with Taxation and Land Tenure. Genuine budgets began to be drawn up for the first time and offices sprang up for various departments. The extensive staff of officials engaged in correspondence with

7735-455: 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

7826-523: Was reached. Barmak had also been summoned to cure Caliph Abd al-Malik 's son Maslama in 705. Abu Hafs 'Umar al-Kirmani's account narrates that the Barmak was brought among a party of shakirriya (thought to be slaves or retainers) and honored by the Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik who increased his status and was impressed by him. He then became a Muslim and enjoyed a high status. Clifford Edmund Bosworth states that it isn't known when or where

7917-530: 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 ),

8008-538: 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

8099-529: 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

8190-428: 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

8281-468: 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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