The
Ghassanids (
Arabic:
) (
al-Ghasāsinah, also
Banū Ghassān "Sons of Ghassān") were a group of
South Arabian Christian tribes that emigrated in the early 3rd century from
Yemen to the
Hauran in southern
Syria,
Jordan and the
Holy Land where some intermarried with
Hellenized Roman settlers and Greek-speaking
Early Christian communities. The term
Ghassān refers to the kingdom of the Ghassanids.
Migration from Yemen 3rd Century AD
The Ghassanid emigration has been passed down in the rich oral tradition of southern
Syria. It is said that the Ghassanids came from the city of
Ma'rib in
Yemen. There was a dam in this city, however one year there was so much rain that the dam was carried away by the ensuing flood. Thus the people there had to leave. The inhabitants emigrated seeking to live in less arid lands and became scattered far and wide. The proverb “They were scattered like the people of
Saba” refers to that exodus in history. The emigrants were from the southern
Arab tribe of
Azd of the
Kahlan branch of Qahtani tribes.
Settling Syria
The king
Jafna bin ‘Amr emigrated with his family and retinue north and settled in
Hauran (south of
Damascus). where the Ghassanid state was founded. There it is assumed that the Ghassanids adopted the religion of
Christianity.
The Ghassanid Kingdom in the Roman era
The Romans found a powerful ally in the new coming Arabs of Southern
Syria. The Ghassanids were the buffer zone against the other Bedouins penetrating Roman territory. More accurately the kings can be described as
phylarchs, native rulers of subject frontier states. The capital was at
Jabiyah in the
Golan Heights. Geographically, it occupied much of
Syria, Mount Hermon (
Lebanon),
Jordan and
Israel, and its authority extended via tribal alliances with other
Azdi tribes all the way to the northern
Hijaz as far south as Yathrib (
Medina).
Phillip the Arab
Precise Arab ancestry of the
Roman Emperor Philip the Arab is not known, since all sources give only the Latin names of him and his family members. However, having originated from the general area in which the Ghassanids settled, many historians consider he may have been of that origin. His being mentioned either as a Christian himself or at least tolerant of Christians would fit with his originating from a people which was in the process of Christianization at the time of his rule.
The Ghassanid kingdom in the Byzantine era
Near East in 565 AD, showing the Ghassanids and their neighbors.
The
Byzantine Empire was focused more on the East and a long war with the Persians was always their main concern. The Ghassanids maintained their rule as the guardian of trade routes, policed
Bedouin tribes and was a source of troops for the Byzantine army. The Ghassanid king
al-Harith ibn Jabalah (reigned 529–569) supported the Byzantines against
Sassanid Persia and was given the title
patricius in 529 by the emperor
Justinian I. Al-Harith was a
Miaphysite Christian; he helped to revive the
Syrian Miaphysite (Jacobite) Church and supported Miaphysite development despite
Orthodox Byzantium regarding it as
heretical. Later Byzantine mistrust and persecution of such religious unorthodoxy brought down his successors, al-Mundhir (reigned 569-582) and Nu'man.
The Ghassanids, who had successfully opposed the Persian allied
Lakhmids of al-Hirah (Southern
Iraq and Northern Arabia), prospered economically and engaged in much religious and public building; they also patronised the arts and at one time entertained the poets
Nabighah adh-Dhubyani and
Hassan ibn Thabit at their courts.
The Ghassanids and Islam
The Ghassanids remained a Byzantine
vassal state until its rulers were overthrown by the
Muslims in the 7th century, following the
Battle of Yarmuk in 636 AD. It is believed by the Christian historians of that era that it was at this battle that some 12,000 Ghassanid Arabs defected to the Muslim side, a fact which is mentioned in Muslim history as well.
Jabalah ibn-al-Aiham ordeal with Islam
There are different opinions why Jabalah and his followers didn't convert to Islam. All the opinions go along the general idea that the Ghassanids were not interested yet in giving up their status as the lords and nobility of
Syria below the famous story of Jabalah return to the Byzantine's land.
Jabalah ibn-al-Aiham sided with the Ansar (Azdi Muslims from Medina) saying, "You are our brethren and the sons of our fathers" and professed Islam. After the arrival of 'Umar ibn-al-Khattab in Syria, year 17 (636AD), Jabalah had a dispute with one of the Muzainah (Non Arab Caste) and knocked out his eye. 'Umar ordered that he be punished, upon which Jabalah said, "Is his eye like mine? Never, by Allah, shall I abide in a town where I am under authority." He then apostatized and went to the land of the Greeks (the Byzantines). This Jabalah was the king of Ghassan and the successor of al-Harith ibn-abi-Shimr.
The Ghassanids After Jabalah
In the Levant
Most of the Ghassanids remained Christians and stayed in the Levant.
Many Christian as well as Muslim families of
Syria,
Jordan,
Lebanon, and
Palestine trace their roots to the Ghassanid dynasty, including t the Abla,
Abou Haidar, Al Ashkar, Al-Khazen sheikhs, Aranki, Atiyah, Ayoub, Ammari, Aridah,Azar, Batarseh, Barsa, Barakat, Bayouth, Chakar, Chalhoub, Dibh, Fares, Farhat, Farhoud,
Gharios, Ghanem, Ghanma, Ghannoum, Ghulmiyyah, Habib, Hazboun, Hanna, Hamra,
Howayek,Haddad, Haddadin, Hbeish, Hellou, Hilweh, Ishaq, Jabara (Jebara or Gebara, Gibara), Kakish, Kandil, Karadsheh, Khazens, Khoury, Lahd, Maalouf, Madi, Makhlouf, Matar, Moghabghab, Mokdad,Nasir, Nawfal (of Tripoli), Nayfeh, Nimri, Obeid, Oweis, Rached, Rafeedie/Rafidi, Rahhal, Razook, Rihani/Rayahin, Saab, Saah, Salama, Saliba, Samara, Samawi, Sarkis,Sayegh,Saig, Shammas,
Sheiks Chemor, Semaan (of Kaftoun), Sfeir, Shdid, Smeirat, Sweiss, Sweidan, Theeba, Tyan and Qumsieh. The religious backgrounds of these families tend to be either
Greek Orthodox or
Greek Catholic and some are
Maronite Catholic, despite the Ghassanids' initial affiliation to Non-
Chalcedonian Syriac Orthodox Christianity. They are identified by being Christian families with
South Arabian names.
The Palestinian city of
Ramallah, and most villages around like Birzeit and Al-Taybeh, was a Christian majority city until the 1960s when many Palestinian Arab Christians emigrated to
America and
Canada. Most of the Arab Christian families of
Ramallah are linked to the Ghassanid Arab tribe known as the Haddadins.
The City of
Fuheis,
Jordan is a predominately Arab Christians town with many of its families trace their roots to the Ghassanid tribe, they include the Aranki, Jreisat, Farahat, Dawod, Makhamreh, Smeirat, Kawar, Medaain, Samawi, and Sweiss families.
In the city of Salt, which would eventually become the capital city of Jordan up until the reign of King Abdullah during the early 1900's, one Christian tribe would come to be known as the Al Fakhoury Family. Different variations of the last name also include Fakhouri and Faycurry. There are other major christian tribes in this city.
In the city of Karak in Jordan, the Ghassassneh tribe who are Muslim also claim descent from the Ghassanids. The tribe is mostly made up of Suheimat, Dhmour, Sarayreh, Imbaydeen, Bawaleez, Karakieen
In the Byzantine empire
Jabalah and about 30,000 Ghassanids left
Syria North and settled the new
Byzantine borders they were never able to build another kingdom. However, they maintained a high status within the
Byzantine empire and even produced the
Nikephoros Byzantine dynasty that ruled the
Byzantine empire from 802AD to 813AD.
Nikephoros was credited for his efforts to revive the greatness of the Byzantine empire in the 9th century. He was the first Byzantine emperor to refuse paying the Tribute to the Caliph in Baghdad. However, he was betrayed by his own officers and later defeated in Phrygia, forcing him to make peace and focus on the Balkans; during his era he settled Byzantine loyal tribes from Anatolia in what is today northern Greece to prevent Bulgar incursions.
In the rest of the World
Ghassanid Christian families are found in
Syria,
Palestine,
Jordan, and
Lebanon. Many native Christians in these countries are Ghassanid Christians. Many have since emigrated to the Americas,
Europe and the rest of the world due to persecution during the Ottoman period in the 19th century, the creation of
Israel in 1948, with the Palestinian
Nakba as a result and following the Lebanese civil war.
=Ghassanid Kings=
Al-Harith the Ghassanid king of the Arab in Arab folktales and Sagas
- al-Harith II ibn Jabalah "ibn Maria" (317-327)
- al-Mundhir I Senior ibn al-Harith II (327-330) with...
- al-Aiham ibn al-Harith II (327-330) and...
- al-Mundhir II Junior ibn al-Harith II (327-340) and...
- al-Nu`man I ibn al-Harith II (327-342) and...
- `Amr II ibn al-Harith II (330-356) and...
- Jabalah II ibn al-Harith II (327-361)
- Jafnah II ibn al-Mundhir I (361-391) with...
- al-Nu`man II ibn al-Mundhir I (361-362)
- al-Nu`man III ibn 'Amr ibn al-Mundhir I (391-418)
- Jabalah III ibn al-Nu`man (418-434)
- al-Nu`man IV ibn al-Aiham (434-455) with...
- al-Harith III ibn al-Aiham (434-456) and...
- al-Nu`man V ibn al-Harith (434-453)
- al-Mundhir II ibn al-Nu`man (453-472) with...
- `Amr III ibn al-Nu`man (453-486) and...
- Hijr ibn al-Nu`man (453-465)
- al-Harith IV ibn Hijr (486-512)
- Jabalah IV ibn al-Harith (512-529)
- al- Amr IV ibn Machi(529)
- al-Mundhir III ibn al-Harith (569-581) with...
- Abu Kirab al-Nu`man ibn al-Harith (570-582)
- al-Nu`man VI ibn al-Mundhir (582-583)
- al-Harith VI ibn al-Harith (583)
- al-Nu'man VII ibn al-Harith Abu Kirab (583- ?)
- al-Aiham ibn Jabalah (? -614)
- al-Mundhir IV ibn Jabalah (614- ?)
- Sharahil ibn Jabalah (? -618)
- Amr IV ibn Jabalah (618-628)
- Jabalah V ibn al-Harith (628-632)
"Ghassan" as a first name
Arab Nationalism, seeking to unite all Arabs regardless of their religious affiliation, took up the memory of the Ghassanids as part of its historic heritage. "Ghassan" is currently used as an Arab first name, attested among Muslims as well as Christians - a tribute to the lasting impression made by the Ghassanids' valour, even among their foes. Present-day use of the name does not necessarily imply that the bearer claims a Ghassanid descent (see
Ghassan (disambiguation)).
