TheBahra' (Arabic:بَهْرَاء,romanized: Bahrāʾ) were anArabtribe that inhabited the middleEuphrates valley around the trade center andArab Christian holy city ofResafa during the lateByzantine era, and later theHoms region of centralSyria during the Islamic era. After converting to Christianity, and becoming part of theGhassanid-led tribal federates of the Byzantines in the late 6th century, the Bahra' were tasked with guarding Resafa. They were part of Byzantine–Arab coalitions against the nascent Arab Muslims in 629, 633 and 634, before ultimately converting to Islam after theMuslim conquest of Syria. In the following centuries they mostly inhabited central Syria, lending their name to the area'sJabal Bahra' range.

The general consensus is that the Bahra' belonged to theQuda'a, anArabian tribal confederation with unclear roots, though a minority of sources place them as part ofYemenite tribal grouping, theBanu Judham.^[1] According to Arab genealogical tradition, as chronicled byIbn Abd Rabbih (d. 960), the tribe's progenitor was a certain Bahra' ibn Amr ibn al-Haf ibn Quda’a.^[2] This tradition holds that Bahra' had five sons Ahwad, Qasit, Abada, Qasr and Adi, all of whose progeny became large clans of the tribe.^[2]

There are scant records of the Bahra' tribe in thepre-Islamic era, but it is apparent that they were part of the Ghassanid-led Arabtribal federates of theByzantine Empire in theSyrian Desert.^[3] The tribe is mentioned in a single verse of anArabic poem from that era which has them based inResafa (Sergiopolis), a trading post between SyrianPalmyra andMesopotamianSura that also contained a shrine dedicated toSt. Sergius; the latter was venerated by theArab Christian federate tribes.^[4] The verse, recorded in theAl-Mufaddaliyyat, read: "And as for Bahra', they are a group whose place we know. They have a path around Resafa that is clear."^[5]

It is not known when the Bahra' converted to Christianity but it was most likely when they entered Byzantium's service and allied with the Christian Ghassanid leaders of the federates in the late 6th century. Their prior paganism is noted in a pre-Islamic poem in which they mocked the "Christian swords" of theTaghlib tribe.^[3] According to historianClifford Edmund Bosworth, they converted in circa 580, after theTanukh and Taghlib, the Bahra's tribal neighbors in the middle Euphrates. HistorianIrfan Shahid stipulates that the Bahra' were in charge of protecting Resafa and the trade routes running through it from non-federateBedouin tribes and theLakhmids, guarding the pilgrimage shrine of St. Sergius, and possibly facilitating supplies to the town.^[6]

The Bahra' were among the Arab federate tribes in the Byzantine army at theBattle of Mu'ta in 629 in which the latter defeated the newly ascendant Muslim Arabs. In 633, the Bahra' and Byzantium's allied Arab tribes were mobilized to combat the Arab Muslim forces ofKhalid ibn al-Walid at theBattle of Dumat al-Jandal but were defeated.^[1][3] The Bahra' fought once more in the Byzantine–Arab Christian coalition against the Muslims in 634. However, following the conquest ofSyria (634–638), they converted to Islam. They ultimately migrated west to the plains of theHoms region.^[1] The 9th-century geographeral-Ya'qubi noted that the Bahra' and Tanukh tribes predominated inHama.^[7] By the time the Arab rulerSayf al-Dawla formed his emirate in northern Syria in the 10th century, the abode of the Bahra' lay in the mountainous coastal region betweenLatakia andTripoli.^[8] From around that time, theSyrian Coastal Mountain Range became known as the "Jabal Bahra'" after the tribe.^[7][9]

• Bianquis, Thierry (1997)."Sayf al-Dawla". InBosworth, C. E.;van Donzel, E.;Heinrichs, W. P. &Lecomte, G. (eds.).The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition.Volume IX: San–Sze. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 103–110.doi:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_1010.ISBN 978-90-04-10422-8.
• Bosworth, C. E. (1960). "Bahrā'". In Gibb, H. A. R.; Kramers, J. H.; Lévi-Provençal, E.; Schacht, J. (eds.).The Encyclopedia of Islam. Vol. I,A–B (new ed.). Leiden and New York: Brill.ISBN 978-90-04-08114-7.{{cite encyclopedia}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
• Ibn 'Abd Rabbih (2011). Boullata, Emeritus Issa J. (ed.).The Unique Necklace, Volume III. Reading: Garnet Publishing Limited & Southern Court.ISBN 9781859642405.
• Salibi, Kamal (2005).A House of Many Mansions: The History of Lebanon Reconsidered. London: I. B. Tauris.ISBN 978-1860649127.
• Shahid, Irfan (1984).Byzantium and the Arabs in the Fourth Century. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection.ISBN 978-0-88402-116-2.
• Shahid, Irfan (2002).Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century, Volume 2, Part 1. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection.ISBN 978-0-88402-284-8.

• Arabs in the Roman Empire
• Tribes of Syria
• Quda'a

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