| Abraha | |
|---|---|
| King of Himyar | |
 14th-centuryPersian illustration of Abraha on his attempted destruction of the Kaaba, taken from a "Tarikhnama" (history book). | |
| Tenure | 535–553/570 |
| Predecessor | Sumyafa Ashwa |
| Successor | Yaksum ibn Abraha |
| Died | c. 570 Arabian Peninsula |
| Issue | Yaksum,Masruq |
| Religion | Christianity |
Abraha (Ge’ez: አብርሃ) (also spelled Abreha, died presumably 570 CE) was anAksumite military leader who controlled theKingdom of Himyar (modern-day Yemen) and a large part ofArabia for over 30 years in the6th century.[1] Originally a general in the Aksumite army that invaded Yemen around 525 CE, Abraha seized power by deposing theChristian Himyarite king installed byKaleb. He is famous for the tradition of his attempt to destroy theKaaba, a revered religious site inMecca, using an army that included war elephants, an event known asYear of the Elephant.[2]
TheByzantine historianProcopius identified Abraha as the formerslave of aRoman merchant who conducted business inAdulis, while theMuslim historianal-Tabari says that he was related to the Aksumite royal family.[3] Later, Abraha was either one of the commanders or a member of one of the armies led by KingKaleb of Axum against Dhu Nuwas.[4] In al-Tabari's history, Abraha is said to have been the commander of the second army sent by Kaleb of Axum after the first, led by 'Ariat, failed.
Abraha was reported to have led his army of 100,000 men to successfully crush all resistance by the Yemeni army and then, following the suicide ofDhu Nuwas, seized power and established himself atSanaa. However, he aroused the wrath of Kaleb by withholding tribute. In response, Kaleb sent his general 'Ariat to take over the governorship of Yemen. One version of what then happened was that Abraha fought a duel with 'Ariat which resulted in 'Ariat being killed and Abraha suffering the injury which earned him the sobriquetal-Ashram "Scarface."[5] It was also said that Abraha's nose had either been lost in battle or had been severely damaged due to a disease.[6]
According to Procopius, Abraha seized control of Yemen fromSumyafa Ashwa, the Christian viceroy appointed by Kaleb, with the support of dissident elements within the Aksumite soldiers who were eager to settle inSouth Arabia, then a rich and fertile land. An army sent by Kaleb to subdue Abraha decided instead to join his ranks and killed the commander (perhaps a reference to 'Ariat), and a second army was defeated. After this, Kaleb had to accord Abrahade facto recognition; he earned a more formal recognition under Kaleb's successor in return for nominal tribute.[5][3]Stuart Munro-Hay, who proposes a 518 date for the rise of Dhu Nuwas, dates this event to 525,[7] while by the chronology based on Dhu Nuwas coming to power in 523, this event would have happened about 530, although a date as late as 543 has been postulated by Jacques Ryckmans.[5]
The reign of Abraha is documented in six inscriptions, four of which were recorded by the king himself. The most detailed is dated to 548 CE and commemorates the suppression of a rebellion by the governor ofKinda, Yazid, andSabaean as well as Himyarite princes. It also recorded the restoration of theMarib Dam, and the hosting of an international conference in which delegations from theKingdom of Aksum, theSasanian Empire, the Byzantine Empire, theLakhmid Kingdom, and theGhassanids came to Marib. The reason for this conference is not known.[8]
The second inscription of Abraha, dated 552, mentions military campaigns in central Arabia. Two columns of Arab auxiliaries tasked with suppressing a rebellion byBanu Amir, while Abraha himself went to Haliban, approximately 300 km southwest ofRiyadh. TheMa‘add tribe was defeated, and they pledged allegiance and handed over hostages. While, Nasrid ‘Amr, son ofal-Mundhir, offered his own son, who had previously served as the governor of Ma‘add.[8] The inscriptions reads as:
WithRahmanan's might and that of HisMessiah, King Abraha Zybmn, king of Saba’, of dhu-Raydan, of Hadramawt, and of Yamnat, and of their Arabs in the Upper-Country and on the Coast, inscribed this text when he raidedMa‘add for the fourth time, in the month of dha-thabatan [April], when all the Banu Amir had revolted; the king sent Abu Jabr withKinda and ‘Ali, and Bishr son of Hisn with Sa‘d andMurad; the two chiefs of the army began to battle against the Banu Amir, Kinda, and Ali in the valley of dhu Murakh, and Murad and Sa'd in a valley at the water hole ofTuraban, and they slew, took prisoners, and seized booty in abundance; the king held an assembly at Haliban and they pledged allegiance, the rebels of Ma‘add who surrendered hostages; following this, Amr, son of Mundhir submitted to [Abraha], he gave his son as a hostage while he Amr had been set up as governor over Ma‘add [Abraha] returned from Haliban with Rahmanan’s might, in the month of dhu-‘allan [September] six hundred and sixty-two.[9]
Abraha's last notable inscription celebrates the consolidation of power over a large portion of the Arabian Peninsula and enumerates the various regions and tribes that submitted to him. This inscription, known as Murayghān 3, is believed to have been created after the previous inscription (Ry 506). Two significant facts are stated in this inscription. Firstly, it indicates that Abraha had lost control of the great tribal confederation ofMa'add. Abraha commends himself for successfully reconquering Ma'add. Secondly, it highlights the conquest of a substantial portion of the Arabian Peninsula.[10]: 65 The inscription reads as:
The king Abraha ZYBMN, King of Saba' and Dhū-Raydān and Hadramōt and Yamanāt and their Arabs of the Upper Country and on the coast, wrote this inscription when he returned from the land of Ma'add, when he seized the Arabs of Ma'add from Mundhir and drove out 'Amr, son of Mundhir, and he seized all the Arabs of Ma'add andHagar andKhatt andTayy andYathrib andGuzām.[10]
The different locations have all been positively identified, except for "Guzam," which Christian Robin believes is a reference to theJudham tribe.[10]
In addition to the inscriptions, Abraha’s military achievements and his influence over the Arabian Peninsula are also reflected in authentic poetry from the period. The 8th Century poet Musayyib bin al-Rîfl, a descendant ofZuhayr ibn Janab of the tribe ofBanū Kalb, composed verses that testify to the enduring reverence held for Abraha long after his rule. According to French scholarChristian Robin, this poetry is remarkable because it reveals that Abraha continued to enjoy great respect in some circles more than a century after the advent ofIslam. In a fragment of five verses, Musayyib explicitly boasts that his ancestor Zuhayr was entrusted by Abraha with the governance of the tribes ofBakr andTaghlib.[11]
The final two inscriptions from Abraha's reign discuss the last repairs to theMarib Dam, and potentially the building of the famousAl-Qalis Church, although this is uncertain and may have been construction work atGhumdan palace.[12] It is dated to 559/560, making it the last known dated Himyarite text.[8]
Abraha is best known in Islamic accounts for his infamous attempt to attack theKaaba in Mecca. He aimed to replace the Kaaba by constructing a grand church named theAl-Qalis (from the GreekEkklesia) inSanaa.[14][15] He also built a church inNajran forBani Al-Harith, the House ofAl-Lat inTaif for the tribe ofBanu Thaqif, the House ofYareem and the House of Ghamdan inYemen. To counter the decline of Mecca as a pilgrimage center, the people of North Arabian tribes, specifically theKināna and the nasaʾa (those responsible for intercalation) desecrated Abraha's church. In response to this act, Abraha resolved to launch an assault on Mecca with the aid of anelephant, with the intention of destroying the Kaaba. The elephant was supposedly provided by theNegus. Abraha's army is said to have included forces from South Arabian tribes, including the 'Akk, al-Ashʿar, andKhath'am. On his way north, Abraha is said to have passed through the settlements of various Arab tribes from which he took prisoners who were forced to act as his guides. Abraha's army is reported to have eventually crossed through Taif, where the Banu Thaqif provided a guide named Abū Righāl to accompany him. As they approached al-Mughammas, a short distance fromMecca, Abū Righāl died and was laid to rest there and his grave would later be stoned by the Arabs (who were mostly pagans at the time) after the failure of Abraha's expedition.
Hisham ibn al-Kalbi mentions one of theQuraysh, al-Ḥarith ibn Alqama, who was a hostage of the Quraysh was handed over to Abraha the Abyssinian. The Quraysh surrendered him to Abraha, who agreed in return not to sever the commercial relations between his kingdom and Mecca. The need for the surrender of hostages arose after some merchants from Abraha's country had been robbed in Mecca. Another hostage with Abraha,ʿUtbān bin Mālik of the Thaqif tribe, was from Taif, east-southeast of Mecca. Al-Kalbi also provides some details about Abraha's offspring. Rayhana, "daughter of al-Ashram al-Ḥabashī [the Abyssinian]," is said to have given birth to Abraha ibn al-Ṣabbāḥ, "king ofTihamah [along the Red Sea coast]". His brother was Khayr ibn al-Ṣabbāḥ. Another daughter of Abraha, sister of Masruq, was Basbāsa.[16]
Abraha sent an expedition to subjugate theAzd tribes to his army and also to open the road to Mecca, but Abraha's army was defeated by an Azdi leader named Abd Shams Ibn Masruh, so Abraha was forced to take another route to Mecca.[17] The memory of the Mecca campaign is encapsulated in "The Year of the Elephant," typically dated to 570 CE, which serves as the starting point for Mecca's pre-Islamic history chronology. Scholars Ibrahim Zein and Ahmad el-Wakil state that the week of the attack according to the Muslim commentaries began Sunday, 14 February 572 (13Muḥarram 51Before Hijrah) and the birth of the holy prophet and his progeny was on Monday, 11 April 572 (12 Rabī‘ al-Awwal 51 BH).[18]
The earliest Islamic reference to Abraha's attack on Mecca is found in theAl-Fil (Quran105), which describes a divine intervention against the "People of the Elephant". God was said to have thwarted their wicked scheme, sending flocks of birds to rain down stones upon them, reducing them to "straw eaten up". Muslim scholars concur that the "People of the Elephant" were Abraha's troops who assaulted the Kaaba. Abraha had a troop of about 13war elephants in the expeditionary forces.[19] Abd al-Muttalib, put the battle in God's hands, realising that he could not take on the forces of Abraha. As Abraha's forces approached the city, the story goes:
The next day, as they prepared for battle, they discovered that their elephant (called Mahmud) refused to approach Mecca. Even worse, birds came from the sea, each of which brought three small stones, which they dropped on the soldiers of Abraha. Everyone hit by these stones was killed. Abraha was hit repeatedly and slowlydismembered. By the time he reached Sanaa, he was nothing but a miserable stump of a body. His heart burst from his chest, and he died. So the year of the War of the Elephant was a year of death. But it was also a year of life, for in that same year Prophet Muhammad Peace be upon him and his progeny was born.[20]
Earlier mentions appear in pre-Islamic poetry, particularly in someqaṣīdas considered of unquestionable pre-Islamic origin, such as Abū Qays Ṣayfī bin al-Aslat's. This poet praises God for His help "on the day of the elephant of the Abyssinians" and narrates the elephant's defiance when the Abyssinians tried to force it forward with hooks and knives. God sent a wind showering pebbles from above, causing them to retreat in disarray. In the verses of another poet, an "ingenuous test" is mentioned, wherein God's armies compelled the Quraysh to withdraw with regret after pelting them and covering them with dust. Only a few of them reached their homes, and Ṭufayl al-Ghanawī's poetry mentions a place near Mecca where "the elephant disobeyed his masters".[16]
Outside of later Islamic tradition, there is no mention of Abraha's expedition at Mecca, including from Abraha's own inscriptions. Historians see the story as a later Islamic tradition designed to explain the "Men of the Elephant" inQur'an 105.[20] However, recent findings ofHimyaritic inscriptions describe an hitherto unknown expedition by Abraha, which subsequently led Iwona Gajda[non sequitur] to identify this expedition as the failed conquest of Mecca.[21] In addition, scholar Christian Julien Robin notes that the historicity of a failed expedition is completely plausible, given that the Quraysh, despite their small number, quickly rose to prominence in the following years, evidenced by the great fair of Quraysh, held in al-ʿUkāẓ, as well as theḥums cultural association, which associated members of tribes of Western Arabia with the Mecca sanctuary.[22]
Gajda accepted the dating of the expedition to 552 CE. It also observed that Mecca is not mentioned in the inscription.[23] On the other hand, Daniel Beck claims that there are several issues with the story, and that Africanwar elephants hadn't been used in the region for over 600 years. It is also difficult to explain how Abraha would have obtained African war elephants in Arabia. He also claims that surahal-Fil appears to be in reference to2 Maccabees and3 Maccabees, and not referencing any expedition on Abraha's part.[24] However, Michael Charles published a study where he detailed how the Aksumite kingdom used elephants for war and had access to them during the 6th century when the expedition is said to have taken place.[25] It should also be noted that while 2 Maccabees mentioned elephants as war beasts and a foiled military expedition, it did not mention any flying creatures. However, angels as protective flying creatures foiling an elephant army can be found in 3 Maccabees 5 and 6:18-21.[24][26][27][28]
Munro-Hay dates his death to some time after 553 based on the inscription at Murayghän.[29] Islamic tradition places his death immediately after his expedition to Mecca.
Between 570 and 575 a pro-Persian group in Yemen made contact with the Sassanid king through the Lakhmid princes inAl-Hirah. The Sassanids then sent troops under the command ofWahriz, who helped (the semi-legendary)Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan drive the Aksumites from Yemen and Southern Arabia. As a result, Southern Arabia and Yemen came under the control of the Sassanid Empire.[30]
{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help){{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of December 2024 (link)