Lakhmid kingdom

 ( States And Territories Established In The 3rd Century ) 

The Lakhmid kingdom ( ), also referred to as al-Manādhirah (rtl=yes) or as Banū Lakhm (rtl=yes), was an Arab kingdom that was founded and ruled by the Lakhmid dynasty from to 602. Spanning Eastern Arabia and Sawad, it existed as a dependency of the Sasanian Empire, though the Lakhmids held al-Hira as their own capital city and governed from there independently.

The kingdom was a participant in the Roman–Persian Wars, in which it fought as a Persian ally against the Ghassanids, which was ruled by a rival Arab tribe and existed as a dependency of the Roman Empire. While the term "Lakhmids" has been applied to this kingdom's ruling dynasty, more recent scholarship prefers to refer to them as the Naṣrids.

The Nasrid dynasty's authority extended over to their Arab allies in Eastern Arabia (eastern cost of Arabia) and Al-Yamama. In 602, the Persian king Khosrow II deposed and executed the last Nasrid ruler Al-Nu'man III and annexed the Lakhmid kingdom, triggering a revolt by his Arab allies in Najd. The ensuing disorder between anti-Persian rebels and pro-Persian loyalists in the kingdom culminated in the Battle of Dhi Qar, which resulted in a defeat for the Persian army and their loyalists, thereby ending the Persian hegemony over Eastern Arabia. The success of the rebellion and the victory against the Persians at Dhi Qar roused political confidence, enthusiasm, and self-consciousness among the Arabs. Coupled with increasing instability in Persia proper after the downfall of Khosrow in 628, these events heralded the decisive Battle of Qadisiyya in 636 and the Muslim conquest of Persia.

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Nomenclature and problems of Lakhmid identity The nature and identity of the Lakhmid Kingdom remains mostly unclear. The ruling Nasrid family emerges with "Amr of the Banu Lakhm", mentioned in the late 3rd-century Paikuli inscription among the vassals of the Sasanian Empire. From this, the term "Lakhmid" has been applied by historians to the Nasrids and their subjects, ruled from al-Hirah. However, as historian Greg Fisher points out, there is "very little information about who made up the people who lived in or around al-Hirah, and there is no reason to suppose that any connection between Nasrid leaders and Lakhm that may have existed in the third century was still present in the sixth, or that the Nasrids ruled over a homogeneous Lakhmid kingdom". This situation is exacerbated by the fact that the historical sources—mostly Byzantine Empire—start dealing with the Lakhmids in greater detail only from the late 5th century, as well as by the relative lack of archaeological work at al-Hirah.

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History

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Founding The Lakhmid Kingdom was founded and ruled by the Banu Lakhm tribe that emigrated from Yemen in the second century. The founder of the dynasty was 'Amr, whose son Imru' al-Qais I (not to be confused with the poet Imru' al-Qais who lived in the sixth century) is claimed to have converted to Christianity. However, there is debate on his religious affinity. Theodor Nöldeke noted that Imru' al-Qays ibn 'Amr was not a Christian, while Irfan Shahîd noted a possible Christian affiliation, suggesting that Imru'al Qays' Christianity may have been "orthodox, heretical or of the Manichaeism". Furthermore, Shahid asserts that the funerary inscription of Imru' al Qays ibn 'Amr lacks Christian formulas and symbols.

Imru' al-Qais dreamt of a unified and independent Arab kingdom and, following that dream, he seized many cities in the Arabian Peninsula. He then formed a large army and developed the Kingdom as a naval power, which consisted of a fleet of ships operating along the coast. From this position he attacked the coastal cities of Iran – which at that time was in civil war, due to a dispute as to the succession – even raiding the birthplace of the Sasanian kings, Fars province.

Imru' al-Qais escaped to Bahrain, taking his dream of a unified Arab nation with him, and then to Syria seeking the promised assistance from Constantius II which never materialized, so he stayed there until he died. When he died he was entombed at al-Nimarah in the Syrian desert.

Imru' al-Qais' funerary inscription is written in an extremely difficult type of script. Recently there has been a revival of interest in the inscription, and controversy has arisen over its precise implications. It is now certain that Imru' al-Qais claimed the title "King of all the Arabs" and also claimed in the inscription to have campaigned successfully over the entire north and centre of the peninsula, as far as the border of Najran.

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Lakhmid–Persian alliance and Roman–Persian Wars Two years after his death, in the year 330, a revolt took place where Aws ibn Qallam was killed and succeeded by the son of Imru' al-Qais, 'Amr. Thereafter, the Lakhmids' main rivals were the Ghassanids, who were vassals of the Sasanians' arch-enemy, the Roman Empire. The Lakhmid Kingdom could have been a major centre of the Church of the East, which was nurtured by the Sasanians, as it opposed the Chalcedonian Christianity of the Romans.

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Rupturing of the alliance, Arab rebellion, and Muslim conquest The Lakhmids remained influential throughout the sixth century. Nevertheless, in 602, the last Lakhmid king, al-Nu'man III ibn al-Mundhir, was put to death by the Sasanian emperor Khosrow II because of a false suspicion of treason, and the Lakhmid Kingdom was annexed.

Coupled with increasing instability in Persia proper after the downfall of Khosrow in 628, these events heralded the decisive Battle of Qadisiyya in 636 and the Muslim conquest of Persia. Some believed that the annexation of the Lakhmid Kingdom was one of the main factors behind the fall of the Sasanian Empire and the Muslim conquest of Persia as the Sasanians were defeated in the Battle of Hira by Khalid ibn al-Walid.Iraq After the Muslim Conquest By Michael G. Morony, pg. 233 At that point, the city was abandoned and its materials were used to reconstruct Kufa, its exhausted twin city.

According to the Arab historian Abu ʿUbaidah ( 824), Khosrow II was angry with the king, al-Nu'man III ibn al-Mundhir, for refusing to give him his daughter in marriage, and therefore imprisoned him. Subsequently, Khosrow sent troops to recover the Nu'man family armor, but Hani ibn Mas'ud (Nu'man's friend) refused, and the Arab forces of the Sasanian Empire were defeated at the Battle of Dhi Qar, near al-Hirah, the capital of the Lakhmids, in 609.Abu Ja‘far Muhammad ibn Jarir Al-Tabari, Tarikh al-Rusul wa al-Muluk, Vol. 1. (Beirut: Dar Sader, 2003 ed.), pp. 286-293.Ali ibn Al-Athir, Al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh (Beirut: Maktaba al-Asriyya, 2009 ed.), pp. 339-334. Hira stood just south of what is now the Iraqi city of Kufa.

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Family tree and descended nobility

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Lakhmid rulers

268–295

295–328

328–363

363–368

368–390

390–418

418–462

462–490

490–497

497–503

503–505

503/5–554

554–569

569–573

573–574

574–580

580–602

602–617/618

617/618–633

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Abbadid dynasty The Abbadid dynasty, which ruled the Taifa of Seville in al-Andalus in the 11th century, was of Lakhmid descent.

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In literature Poets described al-Hira as paradise on earth; an Arab poet described the city's pleasant climate and beauty thus: "One day in al-Hirah is better than a year of treatment". The ruins of al-Hirah are located south of Kufa on the west bank of the Euphrates.

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See also

• Kingdom of Hatra
• Tanukhids
• Christian Arabs
• Zayd ibn Amr

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Notes

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Sources

• History of the kings of Hirah, in The Fields of Gold by
• Eberhard Sauer (2025). 9781474401012, Edinburgh University Press. . ISBN 9781474401012
• Irfan Shahîd (1984). 9780884021162, Dumbarton Oaks. . ISBN 9780884021162

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