- Banu Uqayl
Banu Uqayl ( _ar. بنو عُـقَـيـْل) are an ancient
Arab tribe that played an important role in the history of eastern Arabia andIraq . They belonged to theBanu Ka'b branch of the largeBanu 'Amir confederation.The Banu 'Amir confederation of tribes had their original homeland in western
Arabia , on the border betweenHejaz andNajd . The 'Uqayl branch moved southwards and settled in the large valley known as "al-'Aqiq" (modern dayWadi al-Dawasir ), which they later claimed was granted to them by theMuslim prophet Muhammad . During theAbbasid era, most of the Banu 'Amir moved fromNajd intoIraq andSyria . The Uqaylids were among the last to leave, settling on the banks of theEuphrates . There a section of the tribe founded theUqaylid dynasty, which controlledMosul and other regions of northernMesopotamia , though remaining largelynomadic . When the Uqaylid dynasty was brought down, three large Uqaylid tribes, theKhafajah ,'Ubadah , andMuntafiq , settled in southern Iraq and remain there to the present day.Another section of the Uqayl, possibly coming from Iraq, according to
Ibn Khaldun , took over the deserts of eastern Arabia, around theal-Hasa oasis. There they allied themselves with theQarmatians , like many other Banu Amir groups. TheQarmatians fell to theUyunid dynasty, a sedentary Arab clan fromal-Ahsa , in1076 . In the mid-13th centuries, one Uqaylid clan leader, 'Usfur ibn Rashid, deposed the 'Uyunids, and founded the'Usfurid dynasty, which lasted until1330 . The area was then taken over by theShi'ite Jarwanid clan based inQatif .The most powerful Uqaylid dynasty, however, were the
Jabrids . Some historians believe they were a branch of the 'Usfurids or at least closely related to them. Their most famous ruler,Ajwad ibn Zamil , however, is described by his contemporaries as having been "ofNajd i origin." Ajwad's elder brother established the dynasty in the early 1400s by deposing and killing the last Jarwanid ruler in Qatif. At their height, the Jabrids controlled the entire Arabian coast on thePersian Gulf , including the islands ofBahrain , and regularly led expeditions into central Arabia. One contemporary scholar described Ajwad ibn Zamil as "the king of al-Ahsa andQatif and the leader of the people ofNajd ." The Jabrids lost Bahrain to thePortugeuse in1521 and their kingdom collapsed soon afterwards on the mainland. One branch of the Jabrids remained active inOman however for nearly another three centuries. It is unknown for sure what became of the Jabrids. Some believe they left toIraq , while others believe they are identical with the "Jubur" section of theBani Khalid , who eventually took control of the region after the Jabrids. The Bani Khalid tribe itself is believed to be partly of Uqaylid origin.ee also
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Uqaylids
*Usfurids
*Jabrids
*Banu 'Amir Further reading
*Kindermann, H. "ʿUḳayl." Encyclopaedia of Islam. Edited by: P. Bearman , Th. Bianquis , C.E. Bosworth , E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2008. Brill Online. 04 April 2008 [http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/entry?entry=islam_COM-1273]
*Rentz, G. "Ḏj̲ABRIDS." Encyclopaedia of Islam. Edited by: P. Bearman , Th. Bianquis , C.E. Bosworth , E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2008. Brill Online. 04 April 2008 [http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/entry?entry=islam_SIM-8483]
*Caskel, W. "ʿĀmir b. Ṣaṣaa ." Encyclopaedia of Islam. Edited by: P. Bearman , Th. Bianquis , C.E. Bosworth , E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2008. Brill Online. 04 April 2008 [http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/entry?entry=islam_SIM-0608]
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