| Tanukh | |
|---|---|
| Confederation | |
| Nisba | Tanūkhī |
| Location |
|
| Religion | Orthodox Christianity (4th–8th centuries) Islam (8th–11th centuries) Druze (11th–17th centuries) |
TheTanukh (Arabic:تنوخ,romanized: Tanūkh, sometimes referred to as theTanukhids (التنوخيون,al-Tanūkhiyyūn), was anArab tribal group whose history in theArabian Peninsula and theFertile Crescent spanned the 2nd century CE to the 17th century. The group began as a confederation of Arab tribes ineastern Arabia in the 2nd century and migrated toMesopotamia duringParthian rule in the 3rd century. The confederation was led around this time by its kingJadhima, whose rule is attested by a Greek–Nabatean inscription and who plays an epic role in the traditional narratives of thepre-Islamic period. At least part of the Tanukh migrated toByzantine Syria in the 4th century, where they served as the first Arabfoederati (tribal confederates) of the empire. The Tanukh's premier place among thefoederati was lost after its rebellion in the 380s, but it remained a zealousOrthodox Christian ally of the Byzantines until theMuslim conquest of Syria in the 630s.
Under early Muslim rule, the tribe largely retained its Christian faith and settlements aroundQinnasrin andAleppo. The Tanukh was an ally of theSyria-basedUmayyad Caliphate and became part of the Umayyads' main tribal support base, theQuda'a confederation. The Tanukh's fortunes, like that of Syria in general, declined under the Iraq-basedAbbasid Caliphate, which forced its tribesmen to convert to Islam in 780. As a result of attacks during theFourth Muslim Civil War in the early 9th century, the Tanukh's area of settlement shifted toMa'arrat al-Nu'man and thecoastal mountains betweenLatakia andHoms, which by the 10th century were called 'Jabal Tanukh'.
Tanukhid tribesmen later settled in the Gharb area outsideBeirut inMount Lebanon and in the 11th century, they became one of the leading tribal groups to embrace the newDruze faith. A Tanukhid family of the Gharb, theBuhturids (commonly called after their parent tribe 'Tanukh'), held the area almost perpetually throughoutCrusader,Ayyubid andMamluk rule and produced one of the major religious thinkers of the Druze, the 15th-centuryal-Sayyid al-Tanukhi. Their influence gave way to an allied Druze clan in Mount Lebanon, theMa'ns of theChouf, but they continued to locally dominate the Gharb well into theOttoman era in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Buhturids were eliminated by a rival Druze family in the 1630s.
The early Arabic tradition, particularly the works of theKufan historianIbn al-Kalbi (d. 819), claim that the Tanukh was a confederation of migrant Arab tribes formed inBahrayn (eastern Arabia).[1] The traditional narratives describe the constituent tribes' migration from theTihamah (the western Arabian coastlands ofMecca toYemen (southern Arabia)) to Bahrayn.[2][3] While modern historians question or dismiss the historicity of the migration from Tihamah, there is general acceptance that the Tanukh was forged or present in Bahrayn by the 2nd century CE.[1][4][3][a]Ptolemy refers to the Tanukh in eastern Arabia in hisGeography, datedc. 150, but they are not mentioned living in the region inPliny's earlierNatural History, dated 77 CE, confirming its 2nd-century formation there.[1][5]
From Bahrayn, the Tanukh migrated to central Iraq (the middleEuphrates river valley), perhaps duringParthian rule, i.e. before 220 CE.[6] Their presence in Iraq is supported by a late 3rd-centurySabian inscription mentioning theHimyarite kingShammar Yuharish's dispatch of ambassadors to the capitals of theSasanian Empire (which succeeded Parthia) and the "land of Tanukh".[7][8] They may have been assaulted by the Sasanian kingShapur I (r. 240–270) during his capture ofHatra inc. 240. Sometime afterward,Jadhima al-Abrash became king of the Tanukh.[9] Jadhima is an obscure figure who plays an epic role as the folk hero-king of the Tanukh in the traditional narrative,[9][10] but his existence is attested by a 3rd-century Greek andNabatean inscription found inUmm al-Jimal (in modern northern Jordan), which mentions "Jadhima" as the "king of Tanukh".[11][7] According to Retso, Jadhima's influence must have at least spanned the middle Euphrates and possibly theSyrian Desert.[9]
At least a segment of the Tanukh left Mesopotamia sometime after the Sasanian victory at Hatra in the mid-3rd century and established itself inByzantine Syria. By the 4th century, they became the first Arab tribal group to serve asfoederati (confederates) of theByzantines. The Arabic tradition names Jadhima's nephew as Amr ibn Adi of theLakhm tribe,[11] which dwelt in southern Syria at that time. It is likely he is the same as the "Amr, king of the Lakhm" mentioned in a Parthian inscription as a vassal of the Sasanian emperorNarseh (r. 293–302). Moreover, Amr's son was likely the "Imru al-Qays, son of Amr, king of the Arabs", whose Arabicepitaph (theNamara inscription in Syria) dates his death to 328 CE.[12][7] As blood relatives of Imru al-Qays through Jadhima, the Tanukh in Syria may have been affiliated with him.[10]
Shahid suggests that the Tanukh was the tribe of the Arab tribal queenMavia, whose tribal identity is not known. Mavia went to war with EmperorValens during the 370s.[10] By then, the Tanukh were ardentOrthodox Christians and Mavia's war with Valens, who embracedArien theology, was influenced by their doctrinal differences.[13] The Tanukh revolted against the Byzantines inc. 380, during the reign of EmperorTheodosius I, and their rebellion was suppressed by themagister militumRichomer.[14] This marked the end of their role as the principal Arab federates of the Byzantines in Syria, which was held by theSalihids by the 5th century.[10] Little is known of the Tanukh for the remainder of Byzantine rule, but according to Shahid, they remained Christian federates of the empire.[14][15]
During theMuslim conquest of Syria in the 630s, the Tanukh fought on the Byzantine side. The tribe participated in the battle ofDumat al-Jandal in 634 against the Muslim Arab forces ofKhalid ibn al-Walid and in the failed Byzantine counteroffensiveagainst Muslim forces atHoms in 637. They submitted to the Muslim commanderAbu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah when the latter approached theirhadir (encampments) atQinnasrin andAleppo in 638. Part of the tribe retreated with Byzantine forces intoAnatolia and part remained in northern Syria.[10]
Although some Tanukhids probably embraced Islam at this stage, the majority of the Tanukh remained Christian throughoutUmayyad rule over theCaliphate (661–750).[16] They had fought in the ranks of the first Umayyad caliphMu'awiya I when he was governor ofSyria (639–661) against the forces of CaliphAli (r. 656–661) at theBattle of Siffin in 657. When Umayyad rule had collapsed across the Caliphate, including in most of Syria'sjunds (military districts), the Tanukh was one of the Syrian tribes to fight for the Umayyad caliphMarwan I (r. 684–685) at theBattle of Marj Rahit in 684.[10] There, the pro-Umayyad camp engaged the Syrian supporters of the anti-Umayyad caliphIbn al-Zubayr, whose core consisted of theQays tribes ofJund Qinnasrin (the military district of Qinnasrin).[17] The pro-Zubayrid Qays was routed and the Tanukh was purportedly lauded in verse by Marwan, comparing them to "a difficult and lofty peak".[18]
According to the historianWerner Caskel, it was after Marj Rahit that the Tanukh was enlisted into theQuda'a confederation.[19] From the time of Mu'awiya's governorship, the Quda'a, led by theBanu Kalb tribe, had been the military mainstay of the Umayyad state and held a privileged place in government over the other Syrian tribal groups. The Qays, which was established in northern Syria and Upper Mesopotamia, where they had migrated during Mu'awiya's administration, launched a series of damaging raids against the Kalb in revenge for their losses at Marj Rahit over the next few years.[20] This spurred the Kalb to buttress the Quda'a, with special attention given to the Tanukh, as its tribesmen dwelt in the same north Syrian region as the Qays. The Tanukh, a comparably smaller or weaker tribe, was mutually motivated to join the Quda'a, as were the Christian Salihids of northern Syria. Caskel suggests that the general narrative in the early Islamic tradition of the Quda'a being a constituent tribe of the Tanukh from its time in Bahrayn was fabricated by the Arab genealogists ofKufa and the Tanukhids of neighboringal-Hirah within the following decade to justify the Tanukh's union with the Quda'a.[21] It was during this period that the Quda'a allied with the South Arabian Qahtan confederation in Syria to form the anti-QaysiYaman faction.[22]
The Tanukh attacked the Qaysi-dominated army of the Umayyad caliphMarwan II (r. 744–750) when it passed through Qinnasrin andKhunasira in 744.[10] The Umayyads were tolerant of the Christians of Syria, including Christian Arab tribes, as the Syrians were the foundation of their power. With the fall of theUmayyad dynasty in 750 to the Iraq-basedAbbasids, the Tanukh lost its patron and its fortunes declined.[23][24]
In 780, the Abbasid caliphal-Mahdi sojourned to northern Syria and was received by a 5,000-strong party of the Tanukh led by their chief Layth ibn al-Mahatta. Upon being informed of their Christianity, al-Mahdi ordered them to embrace Islam and had Layth decapitated when he refused. The incident demoralized the tribe, the remainder or majority of which converted to Islam, and the Tanukh's churches were destroyed. Shahid speculates al-Mahdi's forcible conversion of the Tanukhids, in contravention of prevailingIslamic law allowing Christians to live asdhimmis ('protected peoples' subject to thepoll tax) stemmed from the Tanukh's strong and prosperous showing, which greatly embarrassed the zealously Islamic caliph.[25][10] Until that point, Shahid described the Tanukh as an "autonomous Christian community" in Syria.[26][27]
During theFourth Muslim Civil War (811–837), the Tanukh of Qinnasrin gave allegiance to the self-proclaimed caliphAbu al-Umaytir, an Umayyad who had ousted the Abbasid governor fromDamascus in 811. The attempted Umayyad resurgence was suppressed by pro-Abbasid forces in 813. In the aftermath of the Abbasid counteroffensive in Syria, the Tanukhids dwelling in the outskirts of Aleppo led by al-Hawari ibn Hittan, who also controlledMa'arrat al-Nu'man andTell Mannas, rebelled against the AbbasidBanu Salih family, which controlled Aleppo city. Besieged, the Banu Salih enlisted the support of the neighboring Qaysi tribes, which had also been in rebellion against the Abbasids. The Qaysi rebels ousted the Tanukh from the Aleppo area. Al-Hawari was later pardoned by Caliphal-Ma'mun (r. 813–833).[28]
As a result of the raids by the Qaysi rebels, Tanukhid settlement shifted from Aleppo and Qinnasrin southwestward to Ma'arrat al-Nu'man and themountain range running east ofLatakia towardHoms in the south.[13] The settlement there of the Tanukh and theBahra', another constituent tribe of the Quda'a, lent the range its medieval nameJabal Bahra' wa Tanukh, as it was referred to by the geographerIstakhri in the early 10th century.[29] This was the geographic setting of the Tanukh when northern Syria became part of the autonomousHamdanid emirate of Aleppo underSayf al-Dawla in 944–945, which was succeeded by theMirdasid emirate in 1024. According to the historianThierry Bianquis, at that time the area of Maarat al-Nu'man was the "fief" of the Tanukhids, while the Bahra' and groups ofKurds inhabited the coastal mountains.[30] Although they were largely concentrated in Ma'arrat al-Nu'man,[31] the 10th-century geographeral-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Muhallabi noted that the Tanukh (along with theQuraysh) were one of two chief descent groups of the Arabs living in Aleppo city at that time.[32] The tribesmen of the Tanukh were "absorbed into urban life" but "nevertheless maintained their tribal organisation and traditions", according to the historian Suhayl Zakkar.[31] The most notable member of the Tanukh during this period was the poet and philosopheral-Ma'arri.[13][b]
The final stage of the Tanukh's history was inMount Lebanon, specifically the Gharb district lying southeast ofBeirut, where the tribe "suddenly appeared", in Shahid's words.[13] The tribes of the Gharb and nearby regions were the subject ofmissionary activity of the Druze, an offshoot ofIsma'ili Shia Islam, in the 11th century. Three Tanukhid chiefs in the Gharb were specifically addressed in Epistle 50 of theEpistles of Wisdom, a compilation of 11th-century Druze scriptures.[33][34] The Tanukh embraced the new Druze religion.[13] In the 11th century, theTanukhids of Mount Lebanon inaugurated theDruze community in Lebanon, when most of them accepted and adopted the new message, due to their leadership's close ties with thenFatimid caliphal-Hakim bi-Amr Allah.[35]
A family of the Tanukh in the Gharb, theBuhturids (commonly referred to in the sources simply as the 'Tanukh'), became a local buffer force straddling the domains of the Muslim rulers ofDamascus and theCrusaderlords of Beirut in the 12th and 13th centuries.[36][c] They retained theiremirate in the Gharb throughAyyubid rule (1188–1197), the Crusader restoration in Beirut (1197–1293) andMamluk rule (1293–1516).[38]
Under Mamluk rule, the Buhturids served as their own unit in the army, charged with protecting the harbor of Beirut from seaborne raids and assigned practically hereditaryiqtas.[39] While maintaining these military capacities, they grew their commercial enterprises in Beirut in the 15th century, exporting silk, olive oil and soap.[40] In the 15th century, a member of the family,al-Sayyid al-Tanukhi from the Gharb village ofAbeih, became a major reformer and theologian of the Druze faith. His teachings were foundational to modern Druze religious laws and everyday practices he remains the most revered figure among the Druze faithful after their 11th-century missionaries.[34]
TheOttomans conquered the region in 1516 and after initial tensions,[41] generally kept the Buhturids on as localtax farmers in the Gharb throughout the 16th century.[42] By then, they had become politically overshadowed in the Druze Mountain (southern Mount Lebanon) by their allies, theMa'n dynasty of theChouf district.[13] In 1633, after the fall of the Ma'nid strongman of the western Levant,Fakhr al-Din, whose mother was a Buhturid, the last Buhturids were massacred by a Druze rival,Ali Alam al-Din.[41]
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