Sufyan ibn al-Abrad al-Kalbi

Sufyan ibn al-Abrad al-Kalbi al-Asamm ( Arabic : ????? ?? ?????? ?????? , romanized : Sufy?n ibn al-Abrad al-Kalb? al-A?amm ; fl. 684?701 ) was a general of the Umayyad Caliphate who served under caliphs Mu'awiya II ( r. 683?684 ), Marwan I ( r. 684?685 ) and Abd al-Malik ( r. 685?705 ). He backed the latter against his own tribesmen during a coup attempt in 689. He was a key figure in securing the Umayyad hold over Iraq during the governorship of al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf , helping the latter defeat the Kharijites in 696?697 and the rebellion of Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath in 700?701.

Origins [ edit ]

Sufyan ibn al-Abrad belonged to the Banu Kalb tribe, which was a key backer of the Umayyad dynasty during the leadership crisis over the Caliphate in the wake of Caliph Mu'awiya II 's death and the Second Muslim Civil War . ^[1] Sufyan's father was al-Abrad ibn Abi Umama ibn Qabus ibn Sufyan and, like the chief of the Syrian Kalb, Ibn Bahdal , they hailed from the tribe's princely clan, the Banu Haritha ibn Janab. ^[2] Sufyan was nicknamed al-Asamm ('the deaf' or 'the undeterrable'). ^[3]

Early activity [ edit ]

During the leadership crisis in Damascus , the governor of the province, al-Dahhak ibn Qays al-Fihri , refused to read a letter during the Friday prayer from Ibn Bahdal, that proclaimed the legitimacy of the Umayyads and the disparagement of their Mecca -based rival for the caliphate, Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr . In reaction to his refusal, Sufyan was one of a number of Umayyad loyalists in attendance who repeated after the other the contents of the letter. They were subsequently jailed by al-Dahhak. However, a group of Kalbi tribesmen soon after went to the prison and freed Sufyan. ^[1]

Marwan I acceded with the critical help of the Kalb, and was succeeded by his son Abd al-Malik in 685. In 689, Sufyan and Ibn Bahdal backed Abd al-Malik against the Umayyad prince Amr ibn Said al-Ashdaq when the latter rebelled and seized the capital Damascus during Abd al-Malik's absence. Sufyan fought against Humayd ibn Hurayth ibn Bahdal , another senior Kalbi, and his own brother, Zuhayr ibn al-Abrad. The leading Kalbi warriors on either side dueled with each other during the standoff outside the caliph's palace, where al-Ashdaq had barricaded himself. They were ultimately compelled by their womenfolk and children not to shed each other's blood for the sake of the Umayyads. Al-Ashdaq ultimately surrendered and was executed by Abd al-Malik. ^[4]

Military career [ edit ]

Abd al-Malik dispatched Sufyan at the head of a regiment of Syrian troops to reinforce the governor of Iraq, al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf . ^[5]^[6] The latter, with his Iraqi troops, had been unable to repel a Kharijite assault on Kufa led by Shabib ibn Yazid al-Shaybani and requested Syrian troops. ^[6] Sufyan's men defeated the rebels, pursued Shabib and killed the Kharijite leader in a battle at Ahwaz in 696?697. ^[7]^[8] Sufyan was later sent to pursue another Kharijite band, that of the Azariqa , in Tabaristan , where his forces, ^[9] together with a Kufan army led by Ishaq ibn Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath, killed their leader Qatari ibn al-Fuja'a . ^[10]

In 700?701, Sufyan led the small Syrian contingent that held out with al-Hajjaj in Basra during the mass revolt of the Iraqi tribal nobility led by Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath . After a month of repulsing Iraqi attacks, Sufyan led his men in a charge against the rebels and forced them to withdraw to Kufa. Later, when al-Hajjaj received significant reinforcements from Abd al-Malik, Sufyan commanded the Syrian cavalry that stamped out the revolt. ^[5]

Assessment [ edit ]

The historian Antoine Borrut describes Sufyan as "an astute general with outstanding military skills, who was celebrated for his bravery" ^[3] and the historian Hugh N. Kennedy calls him a veteran commander "who did so much to secure Iraq for the Umayyads". ^[11] He was among the forerunners of the professional commanders who emerged under the Abbasid Caliphate . ^[3]

References [ edit ]

^ ^a ^b Hawting 1989 , p. 52.
^ Caskel 1966 , pp. 73, 135, 454, 515, 570.
^ ^a ^b ^c Borrut 2014 , p. 7.
^ Fishbein 1990 , pp. 155?157.
^ ^a ^b Kennedy 2001 , p. 33.
^ ^a ^b Rihan 2014 , p. 109.
^ Bosworth 1968 , p. 47.
^ Rihan 2014 , p. 110.
^ Kennedy 2001 , p. 34.
^ Bosworth 1968 , p. 52.
^ Kennedy 2001 , p. 99.

Bibliography [ edit ]

Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (1968). S?st?n Under the Arabs: From the Islamic Conquest to the Rise of the ?aff?rids . Ismeo.
Caskel, Werner (1966). ?amharat an-nasab: Das genealogische Werk des His??m ibn Mu?ammad al-Kalb?, Volume II (in German). Leiden: Brill. OCLC 490272940 .
Kennedy, Hugh (2001). The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State . Routledge. ISBN 0-415-25092-7 .
Borrut, Antoine (2014). "al-A?amm, Sufy?n b. al-Abrad al-Kalb?". The Encyclopedia of Islam Three . Brill. pp. 6?8.
Rihan, Mohamed (2014). The Politics and Culture of an Umayyad Tribe: Conflict and Factionalism in the Early Islamic Period . I. B. Tauris. ISBN 1780765649 .
Fishbein, Michael, ed. (1990). The History of al-?abar?, Volume XXI: The Victory of the Marw?nids, A.D. 685?693/A.H. 66?73 . SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-0221-4 .
Hawting, G. R. , ed. (1989). The History of al-?abar?, Volume XX: The Collapse of Sufy?nid Authority and the Coming of the Marw?nids: The Caliphates of Mu??wiyah II and Marw?n I and the Beginning of the Caliphate of ?Abd al-Malik, A.D. 683?685/A.H. 64?66 . SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-88706-855-3 .