Tayy

The Tayy's progenitor, according to early Arab genealogists, was Julhumah ibn Udad, who was known as "Tayy" or "Tayyi". The theory in some Arab tradition, as cited by 9th-century Muslim historian al-Tabari, holds that Julhumah's laqab (surname) of Ṭayyiʾ derived from the word ṭawā, which in Arabic means "to plaster". who in turn was a direct descendant of 'Arib ibn Zayd ibn Kahlan. The offspring of Thu'al (Banu Thu'al) and Aswadan (Banu Nabhan) became leading sub-branches of the Tayy in northern Arabia, while the offspring of Hani (Banu Hani) became a major sub-branch in southern Mesopotamia. The Al Jadilah's namesake was a woman of the Tayy named Jadilah, whose sons Hur and Jundub became the progenitors of Banu Hur and Banu Jundub, respectively. According to the 14th-century Arab historian and sociologist, Ibn Khaldun, the Tayy were among those Qahtanite tribes who lived in the hills and plains of Syria and Mesopotamia and intermarried with non-Arabs. Ibn Khaldun further stated that Tayyid tribesmen did "not pay any attention to preserving the (purity of) lineage of their families and groups". Thus the lineage of the Tayy's many subbranches was difficult for genealogists to accurately ascertain. ==Pre-Islamic era==

Migration to Jabal Tayy The Banu Tayy were originally based in Yemen, but migrated to northern Arabia in the late 2nd century CE, in the years following the dispersion of the Banu Azd from Yemen. They largely lived among the north Arabian mountain ranges of Aja and Salma with Khaybar north of Medina as their most important oasis, and from there they would make incursions into Syria and Iraq during times of drought. Their concentration in Jabal Aja and Jabal Salma lent the mountain ranges their ancient, collective name "Jabal Tayy". Prior to the Tayy migration, the mountains had been the home of the Banu Assad, who lost some territory with the arrival of Tayyid tribesmen. The Syriac term was borrowed by the Sasanian Empire as , New Persian Tāzī (), also meaning "Arab". For the Tayy specifically, Syriac authors would use the word "Tu'aye". However, they were also counted as allies by the Byzantine Empire's chief Arab foederati in the early to mid-5th century, the Salihids. The Tayy are mentioned in the late 5th century as having raided numerous villages in the plains and mountains of the Syrian Desert, including parts of Byzantine territory. This prompted the Byzantine army to mobilize its Arab clients at the desert frontiers with Sassanid-held Mesopotamia to confront the Tayy. Sixth century Throughout the 6th century, the Tayy continued their relations with the Sasanians and their chief Arab clients, the Lakhmid kingdom of Mesopotamia. In response, Iyas commanded pro-Sasanian Arab and Persian troops against the Banu Bakr at the Battle of Dhi Qar in 609, in which the Sasanians were defeated. In the late 6th century, the Al al-Ghawth and Al Jadila fought against each other in the 25-year-long Fasad War (harb al-Fasad) in northern Arabia. Numerous atrocities were committed by both factions and the war resulted in the migration of several Jadila clans from the north Arabian plains to Syria, while the Al Al-Ghawth remained in Jabal Aja and Jabal Salma. Afterward, the Tayy's relations with the Ghassanids, which had previously been checkered, were much improved. The alliance collapsed when Asad and the Ghaṭafān assaulted both the Āl al-Ghawth and Āl Jadīlah and drove them out of their territories in the Jabal Tayy. However, one of the leaders of the Asad, Dhu al-Khimarayn Awf al-Jadhami, defected from the Ghaṭafān soon after and reestablished the alliance with the Tayy. Together, they campaigned against Ghaṭafān and restored their territories in the Jabal Tayy. ==Islamic era==

Emergence of Islam The Tayy's initial reaction to the emergence of Islam in Arabia was varied: some embraced the new faith, while others resisted. The Tayyid clans of Jabal Tayy, all of whom lived in proximity to one another, maintained close relationships with the inhabitants and tribes of Mecca and Medina, the birthplace of Islam. Among their contacts in Mecca were tribesmen from the Quraysh, the tribe of Muhammad. Among these early converts were Suwayd ibn Makhshi who fought against the pagans of Mecca, including two of his kinsmen, in the Battle of Badr in 624; Walid ibn Zuhayr who served as a guide for the Muslims in their expedition against the Banu Asad in Qatan in 625; and Rafi' ibn Abi Rafi', who fought under Muslim commander Amr ibn al-As in the Battle of Chains in October 629. In 630, Muhammad dispatched his cousin, Ali, on an expedition to destroy the Tayy's principal idol, al-Fils, in Jabal Aja. As a result of the expedition, the Tayy's Kufa-based Eastern Christian chieftain, Adi ibn Hatim, who belonged to the Banu Thu'ayl branch of the Al al-Ghawth, The Tayyid clans that remained in Jabal Tayy, including Banu Ma'n, Banu Aja, Banu Juwayn and Banu Mu'awiya, converted to Islam. converted to Islam and pledged allegiance to Muhammad. The latter was uniquely impressed by Zayd, Thus, by the time of Muhammad's death, the Arabia-based clans of the Al Jadilah and Al al-Ghawth had become Muslims. In doing so, they firmly broke away from their long-time alliance with the Banu Assad and Ghatafan. Ridda Wars Following Muhammad's death in 632, several Arab tribes rebelled against his Rashidun successor, Caliph Abu Bakr, switching their allegiance to Tulayha of the Banu Asad. The Tayy's allegiance during the ensuing Ridda Wars is a "widely disputed matter", according to historian Ella Landau-Tasseron. Some Muslim traditions claim all of the Tayy remained committed to Islam, while Sayf ibn Umar's tradition holds they all defected. Landau-Tasseron asserts that neither extreme is correct, with some Tayy leaders, foremost among them Adi ibn Hatim, fighting on the Muslim side and others joining the rebels. However, Tayyid rebels did not engage in direct conflict with the Muslims. After Muhammad's death and the resulting chaos among the Muslims and the belief that Islam would imminently collapse, those among the Tayy who had paid their sadaqa (in this case, 300 camels) to Adi demanded the return of their camels or they would rebel. Adi persuaded the latter to return to Islam, which they agreed to. However, they refused to abandon their tribesmen in Buzakha, fearing Tulayha would hold them hostage if he discovered they joined the Muslims. The Tayy supposedly were given their own banner in the Muslim army, per their request, which was a testament to their influence since only the Ansar (core of the Muslim force) had their own banner. At the Battle of Buzakha against Tulayha, Adi and Muknif ibn Zayd, who unlike Zayd's other son Muhalhil had fought alongside the Muslims from the start, commanded the right and left wings of the Muslim army. During the battle, Christian Tayy tribesmen on the Sassanid side defected to the Muslim army, preventing an imminent Muslim rout. Among those who defected were the poet Abu Zubayd at-Ta'i. The Al Jadila tribesmen based in Qinnasrin did not join their Arabian counterparts and fought alongside the Byzantines during the Muslim conquest of Syria. Unlike the Tayy of Arabia, the Tayy in Syria led by Habis ibn Sa'd at-Ta'i aligned with the Umayyads, who assigned Habis as the commander of Jund Hims. In a confrontation between the two sides in Iraq, Habis was killed. Abbasid period The Abbasids contested leadership of the caliphate and overtook the Umayyads in what became known as the Abbasid Revolution in the mid-8th century. The leader of the Abbasid movement in Khurasan in northeastern Persia was a member of the Tayy, Qahtaba ibn Shabib. Two major poets from the Tayy also emerged in the 9th century: Abu Tammam and al-Buhturi. During this period, the Tayy dominated the southern part of the Syrian Desert, the Banu Kilab dominated the northern part and the Banu Kalb dominated central Syria. According to Kamal Salibi, the Tayy's "chief military asset, in fact, was their Bedouin swiftness of movement". Here they first received attention in 883 when they launched a revolt that spanned southern Syria and the northern Hejaz. The Tayy's revolt prevented the passage of the annual Hajj caravan from Damascus to Mecca until it was quashed by the Tulunid ruler Khumarawayh (884–896) in 885. However, under the Jarrahid chieftains, the Tayy assisted the Fatimids, who conquered the Ikhshidids, against the Qarmatians in 971 and 977. They sacked a Hajj pilgrim caravan later in 982, then annihilated a Fatimid army at Ayla, before being defeated and forced to flee north toward Homs. Between then and Mufarrij's death in 1013, the Tayy switched allegiance between the various regional powers, including the Fatimids, Byzantines, and the Hamdanids' Turkish governor of Homs, Bakjur. By the time of Mufarrij's death, the Jarrahids had restored their dominant position in Palestine. In 1021, the Banu Nabhan led by Hamad ibn Uday besieged the Khurasani pilgrim caravan in Fayd near Jabal Tayy despite being paid off by the Khurasani sultan, Mahmud of Ghazni. During this period, in 1025, the Tayy made an agreement with the Kilab and the Kalb, whereby Hassan ibn Mufarrij of Tayy ruled Palestine, Sinan ibn Sulayman of the Kalb ruled Damascus and Salih ibn Mirdas of the Kilab ruled Aleppo. Together, they defeated a Fatimid punitive expedition sent by Caliph az-Zahir at Ascalon, and Hassan conquered al-Ramla. In 1041, the Jarrahids regained control of Palestine, but the Fatimids continued to go to war against them. Later Islamic era With the end of the Fatimid era in Syria and Palestine, descendants of Mufarrij entered the service of the Muslim states of the region, first with the cadet branches of the Seljuk Empire, beginning with the Burids of Damascus, At times, the Tayy fought alongside the Crusaders, who had conquered the Syrian coastal regions, including Palestine, in 1098–1100. The tribal distribution in the Syrian and north Arabian deserts had significantly changed by the late 12th century as a result of the decline of several major tribes, the expansion of others, namely the Tayy, and the gradual assimilation of substantial Bedouin population with the settled inhabitants. The Tayy were left as the predominant tribe of the entire Syrian steppe, Upper Mesopotamia, Najd and the northern Hejaz. In Lower Egypt, the Sunbis branch of the Tayy lived in the Buhayrah district, while the Tha'laba branch inhabited the area stretching from Egypt's Mediterranean coast northeastward to al-Kharruba in the western Galilee. The Tha'laba were particularly influential in the al-Sharqiyah district in the Nile Delta. During Mamluk rule, the Bedouin of Syria were used as auxiliaries in the Mamluks' wars with the Mongols based in Iraq and Anatolia. In central and northern Syria, the Bedouin came under the authority of the Al Fadl emirs in their capacity as the hereditary officeholders of the amir al-ʿarab (commander of the Bedouin) post, beginning with Emir Isa ibn Muhanna (r. 1260–1284). The Al Mira emirs held a similar, but lower-ranking office, in southern Syria, and its preeminent emir was known as malik al-ʿarab (king of the Bedouin). In al-Sharqiyah, the Tha'laba, whose encampments were close to the Mamluk seat of government, were tasked with maintaining and protecting the barid (postal route) in their district and were occasionally appointed to government posts. ==References==