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Azd

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Al-Azd
ٱلْأَزْد
Qahtanite Arab Tribe
Banner of the Azd from the Battle of Siffin
EthnicityArabian
NisbaAl-Azdī (ٱلْأَزْدي)
LocationSouth Arabia, Arabian Peninsula, Saudi Arabia and the Middle East
ReligionPaganism, Christianity,[1] later Islam

The Azd (Arabic: أَزْد), or Al-Azd (Arabic: ٱلْأَزْد), is an ancient Arabian tribe. The lands of Azd occupied an area west of Bisha and Al Bahah in what is today Saudi Arabia.

Land of Azd

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Pre-Islamic Arabia

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Traces of a pre-Islamic building built during the Basus War, Wadi Khaytan, Al Bahah (4-5th centuries)

Pre-Islamic inscriptions, specifically Sabaic inscriptions from Sha'r Awtar's reign (210-230 CE), indicate that the land of Azd extended west of Bīsha, in the south-western heights of Saudi Arabia, stretching between the regions of al-Bāḥa and ʿAsīr.[2]

Eve of Islam

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Qasr Bin Rugoosh of Zahran, Al-Bahah

Al-Azd's land during the eve of Islam was comparable to that of the contemporary Azd Sarāt, stretching from Bīsha to the Tihāma shores, the southern limit being approximately al-Nimāṣ and the northern one the modern town of al-Bāḥa.[3]

In ancient times, Al Azd inhabited modern day provinces of 'Asir Province and Al-Bahah Province in modern-day Saudi Arabia, bordering Sabaeans in modern day Yemen. the Azd tribe have always inhabited the Sarawat Mountains in Hejaz; Azd Shanū’ah (Zahran & Ghamid) [4] Bariq inhabited Tihamah; and Azd Mazin (Al Ansar & Ghassanids) inhabited two different regions, where the Ansaris settled in Medina, Hejaz, while the Ghassanids settled in the far north of the Arabian Peninsula.[5]

Yemeni Folklore

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According to traditional medieval Yemeni folklore, the Azd tribal group originally lived in Yemen, until the collapse of the Ma'rib Dam when they began emigrating to other parts of the Arabian Peninsula due to the living conditions becoming unfavourable. This large movement out of Yemen has been dated to the late 3rd century CE.

Anthropological and Genetic Background

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A genetic haplogroup often associated with Azdite tribes, J-BY74, has been indicated to have originated in Northern Arabia or the Levant.[6]

Map of South Arabia

Branches

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In the 3rd century C.E., the Azd branched into four sub-branches, each led by one of the sons of Muzayqiya.[7]

Imran Bin Amr

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Imran bin Amr and the bulk of the tribe went to Oman, where they established the Azdi presence in Eastern Arabia. Later they invaded Karaman and Shiraz in Southern Persia, and these came to be known as "Azd Daba". Another branch headed west back to Yemen, and a group went further west all the way to Tihamah on the Red Sea. This group was to become known as "Azd Uman" after the emergence of Islam.[citation needed]

Jafna bin Amr

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Jafna bin Amr and his family headed for Syria, where he settled and initiated the kingdom of the Ghassanids. They were so named after a spring of water where they stopped on their way to Syria. This branch was to produce:

Thalabah bin Amr

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Thalabah bin Amr left his tribe for the Hijaz, and dwelt between Thalabiyah and Dhi Qar. When he gained strength, he headed for Yathrib, where he stayed. Of his seed are the Aws and Khazraj, sons of Haritha bin Thalabah. These were to be the Muslim Ansar and were to produce the last Arab dynasty in Spain (the Nasrids).

Haritha bin Amr

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Haritha bin Amr led a branch of the Azd Qahtani tribes. He wandered with his tribe in the Hijaz until they came to the Tihamah. He had three sons Adi, Afsa and Lahi. Adiy was the father of Bariq, Lahi the father of Khuza'a and Afsa, the father of Aslam.[8][9] 

                              Azd
                                |                    
                 .--------------+------------.                       
                 |                           |                     
               Mazin                     Shahnvah
                 |                           |                 
      .----------+----------.       .--------+-----------.          
      |          |          |       |        |           |
      |          |          |       |        |           |
      |          |          |    Samala  (Banu) Daws   Haddan
 Thalabah     Haritha     Jafna
      |          |    (Ghassanids/The Ghassinids)
   .--+----.     |
   |       |     |_________________
(Banu) Aws  (Banu) Khuza'a/Khazraj |
                                   |
                         .-----+---+----------.
                         |         |          |
                        Adi       Afsa      Lohay
                         |         |          |
                       Bariq     Aslam  (Banu) Khuza'a
                                   |          |
                                Salaman   Mustalik

Zahran

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Main article: Zahran tribe

The Zahran tribe is an ancient Arabian offshoot of the Azdi tribe.

Azd 'Uman

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The Azd 'Uman were the dominant Arab tribe in the eastern realms of the Caliphate and were the driving force in the conquest of Fars, Makran and Sindh. They were the chief merchant group of Oman and Al-Ubulla, who organized a trading diaspora with settlements of Persianized Arabians on the coasts of Kirman and Makran, extending into Sindh since the days of Ardashir.[10] They were strongly involved in the western trade with India, and with the expansion of the Muslim conquests, they began to consolidate their commercial and political authority on the eastern frontier. During the early years of the Muslim conquests, the Azdi ports of Bahrain and Oman were staging grounds for Muslim naval fleets headed to Fars (Persia) and Hind (India). From 637 C.E., the conquests of Fars and Makran were dominated by the Azdi and allied tribes from Oman. Between 665 and 683 C.E., the Azdi 'Uman became especially prominent due in Basra on account of favors from Ziyad ibn Abihi, the Governor of Mu'awiya I, and his son Ubaidullah. When a member of their tribe Abu Said Al- Muhallab ibn Abi Sufra became governor their influence and wealth increased as he extended Muslim conquests to Makran and Sindh, where so many other Azdi were settled. After his death in 702, though, they lost their grip on power with the rise of Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf as governor of Iraq. Al-Hajjaj pursued a systematic policy of breaking Umayyad power, as a result of which the Azd also suffered. With the death of Hajjaj and under Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik as Caliph, their fortunes reversed once again, with the appointment of Yazid ibn al-Muhallab.[10]

Influential people or branches

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ bury, john (January 1958). History of the Later Roman Empire from the Death of Theodosius I. to the Death of Justinian, Part 2. courier dover publications. ISBN 9780486203997.
  2. ^ Jérémie Schiettecatte, Mounir Arbach. The political map of Arabia and the Middle East in the 3rd century AD revealed by a Sabaean inscription - a view from the South. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy, 2016, 27 (2), pp.176-196. 10.1111/aae.12071 . halshs-01388356
  3. ^ STRENZIOK 1960: 834
  4. ^ "تأريخ مكّة دراسات في السياسة والعلم والاجتماع والعمران". 2020-02-10. Archived from the original on 2020-02-10. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  5. ^ بيطار, أمينة. "الموسوعة العربية |". الموسوعة العربية. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  6. ^ Urasin; Waas; Nogueiro; Kull (April 2019). "Haplogroup J-Z640: genetic insight into the Levantine Bronze Age". ResearchGate. Based on the geographic dispersal, evidenced by the GIS analysis (Figure 3), the most likely area in which J-Z640 originated in is the Levant. This corresponds with other studies researching J-P58, an ancestral SNP to J-Z640 [25].The most likely alternative based on the GIS analysis was the Arabian Peninsula.
  7. ^ علي/المسعودي, أبي الحسن علي بن الحسين بن (2012-01-01). مروج الذهب ومعادن الجوهر 1-4 ج2 (in Arabic). Dar Al Kotob Al Ilmiyah دار الكتب العلمية. p. 204.
  8. ^ Constructing Al-Azd: Tribal Identity and Society in the Early Islamic Centuries. p. 92. ISBN 978-0-549-63443-0. Retrieved 2013-12-26.[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ The Role of the Arab Tribes in the East During the Period of the Umayyads (40/660-132/749). Al-Jamea's Press. 1978. pp. 35, 34. Retrieved 2013-12-26.
  10. ^ a b Wink pg 51-52;"It is not accident that, among the Arabs, the Tribe of the Azd 'Uman were instrumental in the conquest of Fars, Makran and Sind, and that for some time they became the dominant Arab tribe in the eastern caliphate."
  11. ^ Ibn Khallikan wafayat alayan p. 524. alwarraq edition.
  12. ^ Forster 2018. Ruska 1923, p. 57 still thought the attribution to Jabir of the name al-Azdi to be false, but later sources (from Holmyard 1927 on) assume its authenticity.

Sources used

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Further reading

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