Map of the cities of Mesopotamia at the time of The Lakhmids.
The
Lakhmids (
Arabic: ),
Banu Lakhm (
Arabic: ),
Muntherids (
Arabic: ), were a group of
Arab Christians who lived in Southern
Iraq, and made
al-Hirah their capital in
266. Poets described it as a Paradise on earth, an Arab Poet described the city's pleasant climate and beauty
"One day in al-Hirah is better than a year of treatment". The
al-Hirah ruins are located 3 kilometers south of
Kufa, on the west bank of the Euphrates.
History
A manuscript from the 15th century describing the constructing of
Al-Khornaq castle In
Al-Hira, the Lakhmids' capital city.
Near East in 565, showing the Lakhmids and their neighbors.
The Lakhmid Kingdom was founded by the Lakhum tribe that immigrated out of
Yemen in the second century and ruled by the
Banu Lakhm, hence the name given it. The founder of the dynasty was
'Amr, whose son Imru' al-Qais (not to be confused with the famous poet
Imru' al-Qais who lived in the 6th century) converted to Christianity. Gradually the whole city converted to that faith.
Imru' al-Qais dreamt of a unified and independent Arab kingdom and, following that dream, he seized many cities in
Arabia. He then formed a large army and developed the Kingdom as a naval power, which consisted of a fleet of ships operating along the
Bahraini coast. From this position he attacked the coastal cities of
Iran (Persia) - which at that time was in civil war, due to a dispute as to the succession - even raiding the birthplace of the Sassanid kings, the province of
Pars (Fars).
In
325, the Persians, led by
Shapur II, began a campaign against the Arab kingdoms. When Imru' al-Qais realised that a mighty Persian army composed of 60,000 warriors was approaching his kingdom, he asked for the assistance of the
Roman Empire.
Constantius II promised to assist him but was unable to provide that help when it was needed. The Persians advanced toward
al-Hirah and a series of vicious battles took place over
al-Hirah and the surrounding cities.
Shapur II crushed the Lakhmid army and captured
al-Hirah. He ordered the extermination of its population in retaliation of their raids on Pars. In this, the young Shapur acted much more violently than was normal at the time in order to demonstrate to both the Arab Kingdoms and the Persian nobility his power and authority. Shapur's title in Arabic is
Zol 'Aktāf meaning
owner of the shoulders, as he pierced the shoulders of his captives and chained them to each other by a rope. He installed
Aus ibn Qallam and gave the city autonomy, thus making the kingdom a buffer zone between the Persian Empire's mainland and the territory of other Arabs in the Peninsula.
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 materialised, so he stayed there until he died. With him ended the dream of a united Arab kingdom until after the advent of Islam. 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.
Two years after his death, in the year
330, a revolt took place where
Aus 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 Sassanids' arch-enemy, the
Byzantine Empire. The Lakhmid kingdom was a major centre of the
Nestorian sect of Christianity which was nurtured by the Sassanids, as it opposed the
Orthodox religion of Byzantium.
The Lakhmids remained influential throughout the 6th century. Nevertheless, in
602, the last Lakhmid king,
Nu'man III, was put to death by the Sassanid king
Khosrau II because of a false suspicion of treason, and the Lakhmid kingdom was annexed. Islam overran the Sassanid Empire in the 7th century. At that point, the city was abandoned and its materials were used to re-construct
Kufa, its exhausted twin city.
It is now widely believed that the annexation of the Lakhmid kingdom was one of the main factors behind the
Fall of Sassanid dynasty to the Muslim Arabs and the Islamic conquest of Persia, as the
Lakhmids agreed to act as spies for the
Muslims after being defeated in the
Battle of Hira by
Khalid ibn al-Walid.
Arab-Persian War
'The
Battle of Dhi Qar (Arabic,يوم ذي قار') was a Pre-Islamic battle fought between between
Arabs in southern Iraq and a
Persian army, circa
609.
According to the Arab historian
Abu Obayda (d. 824),
Khosrau II was angry with King
Numan III for refusing to give him his daughter in marriage, and therefore imprisoned him. Subsequently, Khusraw sent troops to recover the Numan family armor, but Hany bin Masud (Numan's friend) refused, and the Persian forces were defeated at the battle of Dhi Qar, near
Al-Hirah, the
Lakhmid dynasty's capital. Hirah, sometimes spelled "Hira," was just south of the Iraqi city of
Kufa.
Lakhmid Kingdom facts
- Lakhmids sometimes had good relations with Persians. Bahram V lived in Al-Hirah and was educated at the court of al-Mundhir I, whose support helped him gain the throne after the assassination of his father.
Lakhmids Kings
See also
