The Banu Ghassan (220-502 CE), the Ghassanid Phylarchate (502-529 CE), and the Ghassanid Kingdom (529-712 CE)

The Banu Ghassan were a branch of the large Kahlan tribal coalition of the Azd. They migrated from southern to northern Arabia between the third and fifth centuries CE. The Banu Ghassan initially settled in the vicinity of the oasis of Sakakah in northern central Arabia, where they became allies of the Banu Tamim. The Ghassanid chief, Harith ibn Hijr (486-512 CE), took part in two of the major invasions of Roman territory that took place in the fifth century (ca. 453 & 491-498 CE), and during the second of these campaigns the Ghassanids are believed to have wiped out the Salihids, who were at that time Rome's primary Arab federates. This blew a hole in Rome's Arabian frontier, but the Roman emperor, Anastasius (491-518 CE), salvaged the situation by making a treaty with the Ghassanids (ca. 502 CE) that allowed the Ghassanids to settle as federates in Roman territory. They settled in the Roman Province of Arabia, specifically in the Auranitis (i.e., the Harran Desert of southern Syria and northwestern Jordan) and Gaulanitis (i.e., the Golan Heights), and they established a capital at Gabitha (modern Jabiya) on the northeastern edge of the Golan Heights. Although Ghassanid tradition dated the foundation of the kingdom to the reign of the semi-legendary king, Jafnah ibn Amr (220-265 CE), and he also was credited with presiding over the conversion of his people to Nestorian Christianity, the early genealogical legends of the Ghassanids are treated with a degree of skepticism by most modern scholars. Harith ibn Jabalah (529-569 CE) was the first Ghassanid chief to be recognized by the Romans as king (Greek, basileos), with overall command of Rome's Arab federates, while his predecessors—Harith ibn Hijr (486-512 CE), Jabalah ibn Harith (512-529 CE), and Amr ibn Machi (529 CE)—each were accorded only the title of chief (Greek, phylarch). Prior to that, there may have been a line of Ghassanid leaders that styled themselves malik (Arabic, "king") rather than sayyid or sheikh/shayk (Arabic, "chief"), and thus only the Roman recognition of their royal status dates to 529 CE, although there is considerable evidence that prior to entering Roman service the Ghassanids were, like so many of their contemporaries, divided into a number of nomadic tribes that were only vaguely associated under any kind of political union (i.e., if there was a king, he was likely a prima inter pares, "first among equals," a chief with greater prestige than the others in his tribe, but lacking any kind of administrative authority). Indeed, there is some indication that both before and after the settlement made by Harith ibn Hijr there were distinct groups of Ghassanids that made separate treaties with Rome or remained outside Roman hegemony. Harith ibn Hijr and his successors seem, however, to have gradually drawn these disparate groups, as well as those of other tribes, together under their authority with the imprimatur of the Roman Empire.

 

The issue of religion is also uncertain. While it may very well be that the Ghassanids were converted to Nestorian Christianity prior to admission into the Roman Empire, by the time they established themselves as federates they were Monophysites. It was normal Roman practice at that time to require conversion to Christianity as a condition of federate settlement, and settlers usually adopted the sect of their patron emperor (although not always), but in early Christian sources this pragmatic political approach to assimilating people the Romans had previously considered barbarians was often glossed over by the recording of miraculous conversion stories (see my comments on the conversion of Zodjom/Zokomos, the progenitor of the Salihids). Those converts in question generally liked to emphasize that their choice to become federates had the approval of the divine (i.e., God obviously wanted them to be a part of the great Christian Empire of Rome, since he bothered to allow a miracle to bring them within the fold). However, considering the virulent divisions that had arisen within the Christian Church as a result of the Christological Controversies (ca. first to ninth centuries CE), and the attempt to establish Orthodoxy (Greek, orthodoxia, "right opinion") at the ecumenical (Greek, oikoumene, "universal") councils of Nicea (325 CE), Constantinople (381 CE), Ephesus (431 CE), Chalcedon (451 CE), Constantinople (553 CE), Constantinople (680-681 CE), and Nicea (787 CE), there was ample opportunity for the development of heresies (from Greek, haireomai, "to choose") as different factions clung to their own interpretations (often based on different versions of the Gospels). Nestorianism was one such Christological faction, initially declared heretical at the Council of Ephesus (431 CE), and this status was confirmed at the Council of Chalcedon (451 CE). Many Christian groups in the Diocese of Oriens whose traditions were declared heretical fled persecution within the Roman Empire, usually first into East Africa or Persian-held Mesopotamia, and sometimes on into Arabia, Iran, and Central Asia, where they also made converts to their sect of Christianity. However, the patriarch of Constantinople for whom Nestorianism is named—Nestorius (386-450 CE)—did not propound his doctrine until the early-fifth century CE, and this doctrine was not declared heretical until the Council of Ephesus in 431 CE, which means Jafnah ibn Amr (220-265 CE) and his people could not have been converted to Nestorianism unless they had access to a time machine. Indeed, large numbers of Nestorians did not flee the Roman Empire until after 451 CE, when their appeals to orthodoxy were rejected at the Council of Chalcedon, and thus, if indeed the Ghassanids were Christianized prior to their induction into the empire, they would have to have been converted to a sect other than Nestorianism during the reign of Jafnah ibn Amr and to have perhaps come to the Nestorian doctrine some time thereafter. The earliest possible Nestorian kings would have been the semi-legendary Jabalah ibn Nu'man (418-434 CE) or Nu'man ibn Aiham (434-455 CE). If true, they again switched religious allegiance under Harith ibn Hijr (486-512 CE) as a condition of federate settlement (ca. 502 CE) under the Monophysite emperor, Anastasius (491-518 CE). This is certainly possible, although as I mentioned, the early genealogical history of the Ghassanids (ca. 220-486 CE) lacks strong historiographical corroboration, and it is equally possible that the Ghassanids wished to ameliorate the memory of their somewhat mercenary introduction into the empire (they basically invaded the empire, destroyed the Salihids, and used their position as successful conquerers to leverage the Romans into accepting them as federates) with the assertion that they had long been Christians, and therefore deserved a place at the table. Such a fiction would also have provided Anastasius with a face-saving narrative—essentially claiming that he replaced the weak Salihids with the strong Ghassanids, and brought the Ghassanids back from heresy as well. Ironically, Monophysitism would also come to be declared heretical at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 CE, although its proponents remained politically strong until the reign of Justinian I (527-565 CE), and thereafter the Ghassanids' Monophysitism became a political liability (see below).

 

The Ghassanids are often credited with having developed a far more pervasive bureaucratic-military presence all along the Arabian frontier than that enjoyed by their predecessors, the Tanukhids and Salihids, with direct command of the other Arab phylarchs. This may simply have been the product of evolving Roman/Byzantine policy in Oriens, giving greater and greater authority to its nominal kings of the Arab federates, who had become more-fully integrated by the end of the period of the Salihids, or it may have been the result of the higher prestige of the Ghassanids, who by virtue of their military success against the Salihids had been able to negotiate advantageous terms of settlement within the empire. In this, they would have been similar to the Frankish Salian and Merovingian dynasties, the Visigothic Baltung Dynasty, and the Ostrogothic Amaling Dynasty, although these Germanic dynasties were ultimately able to become fully independent due to the collapse of western Roman imperial government (ca. 395-476 CE), while the Ghassanids remained loyal vassals of the eastern Romans/Byzantines well into the eighth century CE (the East Roman Empire is usually called the Byzantine Empire by western historians, although the date at which this change in nomenclature is appropriate is much debated—I prefer 480 CE, when the eastern emperor, Zeno, formally abolished the western Roman imperial title). Initially, the military alliance with the Ghassanids bore substantial fruit, and the Byzantines were able to stabilize the Arabian, Mesopotamian, and Syrian frontiers, as well as prosecute a fairly successful series of proxy wars for control of the central Arabian caravan routes. This resulted in an expansion of the "Arab Shield" I referenced earlier, with the Ghassanids directly administering a more-fully integrated Federate Frontier that straddled the Roman border, and a number of groups beyond the frontier that often allied with the Byzantines-Ghassanids (e.g., Banu Kalb, Banu Taghlib, and Banu Annizah).

 

Jabalah ibn Harith (498-528 CE) led the Ghassanids alongside the Byzantines during the Anastasian War (502-506 CE) against the Sassanid Persian Empire, and he led a successful raid against the Lakhmid capital of Hira in 513 CE. Harith ibn Jabalah (529-569 CE) led the Arab contingents that supported the army of the famous Byzantine general, Belisarios/Belisarius (505-565 CE), during an invasion of northern Syria by the Sassanid Persians and their Lakhmid Arab allies (ca. 530-532 CE)—although the unreliable Byzantine historian, Procopios, tried to blame Belisarios' loss at the Battle of Callinicum (19 April 531 CE) on Ghassanid treachery, the more reliable John Malalas indicated that the Ghassanids may actually have helped Belisarios to make an ordered retreat to his fortified camp on the banks of the Euphrates, thus turning the loss into a salvageable stalemate (Procopius was likely trying to protect Belisarios by suggesting that he was not outmaneuvered, but had been betrayed). Although the Persian and Lakhmid commanders, Azarethes and Mundhir ibn Nu'man (respectively), had managed to outmaneuver Belisarios at Callinicum, their losses were so heavy that the Sassanid emperor, Kavadh I (488-531 CE), removed Azarethes from his command. The Byzantine emperor, Justinian (527-565 CE), also removed Belisarios from his command, but retained Harith ibn Jabalah, providing yet more evidence that the Ghassanids were probably not to blame for Callinicum. Subsequent Byzantine-Ghassanid victories, as well as the timely death of Kavadh followed by a dispute over the succession, forced the Persians into retreating and signing the Eternal Peace Treaty (532 CE) with Byzantium (this "eternal" peace lasted until 540 CE). Harith ibn Jabalah led another successful raid (ca. 540-541 CE) against Persia, this time into Assyria, and when the Persians sent the Lakhmids into Syria in retaliation (ca. 554 CE), the Ghassanids decisively defeated the Lakhmids at the Battle of Yawm Halima (June 554 CE). Religious tensions between the Byzantine Empire and the Ghassanids came to a head during the reigns of Mundhir ibn Harith (569-581 CE), Abu Kirab al-Nu'man ibn Harith (570-582 CE), and Nu'man ibn Mundhir (581-583 CE), all three of whom faced legal charges at the imperial court for apostacy (Mundhir ibn Harith and Nu'man ibn Mundhir were each temporarily deposed as well). Justin I (518-527 CE) and Justinian I had returned the imperial court to Orthodoxy, as defined at the Councils of Chalcedon (451 CE) and Constantinople (553 CE), in which the Monophysites were decisively defeated by what has become known as the Chalcedonian formulation of the nature of Christ.

 

Thereafter, the Byzantines moved to reduce the importance of the Ghassanids (ca. 553-583 CE) and impose more-direct imperial bureaucratic and military control of the Arabian frontier, with little success—Ghassanid rule had brought a period of considerable prosperity to the Arabs on the eastern fringes of the empire, including greater urbanization, the building of churches and monasteries, relative religious toleration of various Christian sects (and non-Christian groups like the Jews), and civic building projects. The Ghassanid royal court was luxurious, and actively patronized the flowering of Arab Christian culture, including patronage of artists, musicians, and Arabic-language poets. Mundhir ibn Harith (569-581 CE) drove off an invasion of the trans-Jordan region (ca. 570 CE) by the Lakhmid king, Qabus ibn Mundhir (569-573 CE), and then requested a kind of bonus (Latin, munera) from the Byzantine emperor, Justin II (565-578 CE), to reward his Ghassanid federates, but Justin chose to be outraged by the request and tried to have Mundhir ibn Harith assassinated (ca. 572 CE). The Ghassanids rebelled (572-575 CE), but the rebellion was ended through negotiation, and after Mundhir ibn Harith again led a highly successful raid against the Lakhmid capital of Hira (ca. 575 CE), he was invited to Constantinople and re-invested as king of the Arabs. Tiberios II (578-582 CE) confirmed the status of Mundhir ibn Harith, and even allowed the Ghassanid king to call a Monophysite church council (2 March 580 CE) in an attempt to heal the schism between the Monophysites and the Chalcedonians, but when a subsequent joint Byzantine-Ghassanid expedition against the Sassanid Persian capital at Tisfon/Ctesiphon failed (580-581 CE), the mutual recriminations over the failure of the campaign soured relations again. Mundhir ibn Harith was arrested (he was ambushed while attending the dedication of a newly built monastery), taken to Constantinople and tried for treason (581 CE), and exiled to a Byzantine colony in Sicily. The Ghassanids again revolted, this time led by one of Mundhir ibn Harith's sons, Nu'man, and defeated the army of the Byzantine dux of Arabia at the Battle of Bostra (582 CE), but an imperial army defeated Nu'man ibn Mundhir and temporarily installed his uncle, Abu Kirab al-Nu'man ibn Harith (570-582 CE). Nu'man ibn Mundhir (581-583 CE) escaped capture, however, and continued to lead a revolt against his uncle and the Byzantines until he was tricked by the new Byzantine emperor, Maurice (582-602 CE), into traveling to Constantinople, ostensibly for the purpose of reconciliation with the imperial court, but was instead arrested and tried for treason, and then sent into exile with his father in Sicily (ca. 583 CE). Although the Ghassanid Kingdom was officially dissolved by imperial fiat in 586 CE (there were two Ghassanid puppet kings between 583 and 586), there continued to be a line of Ghassanid phylarchs in Byzantine Oriens (ca. 586-712 CE).

 

It has often been suggested that the resentment engendered by high-handed Byzantine religious politics alienated the Semitic peoples of the eastern provinces of the empire and inadvertently paved the way for the Muslim Conquest of the region (similarly, Persian high-handedness did the same thing in southern Mesopotamia-central Arabia). The early Islamic caliphates were known for relative religious tolerance of non-Muslim faiths, particularly of those that were considered "People of the Book" (i.e., Jews and Christians), and early Muslim proselytization seems also to have had an ethnic component (a kind of early pan-Arabism) that recognized the ultimate kinship of the Semitic and Hamitic peoples, regardless of contemporary political borders or socio-religious divisions. Certainly, despite early Byzantine-Ghassanid successes against Muslim forces, particularly at the Battle of Mu'tah (September 629 CE), an atmosphere of mutual suspicion, political intrigue, and social tension existed between the Byzantine, Armenian, and Christian Arab factions of the imperial court and military high command, leading to the disaster of the Battle of Yarmuk (15-20 August 636 CE), which saw the destruction of the bulk of the Byzantine army (over 50,000 KIA and MIA). Thereafter, Muslim Arab forces overran Syria, Palestine, and Roman Arabia (ca. 636-638 CE), Armenia (ca. 638-639 CE), and Egypt (ca. 639-642 CE). Some Ghassanids converted to Islam, while others fled with other Byzantine refugees to Anatolia (the Byzantines prevented the Muslims from invading Anatolia by fighting a stout guerrilla war in the Taurus Mountains). Many Ghassanids remained Christian but readily switched allegiance to the Rashidun caliphs. The loyalty of the Christian Arab Ghassanids was such that they supplied auxiliary troops to the Rashidun and Umayyad caliphs, they were exempted from paying the higher jizya tax rate levied from non-Muslim inhabitants of the Islamic Empire (632-1258 CE)(although they still paid the lower zakah rate for Muslims), and they were important players in the Arabization of the Melkite sect of Christianity (one of the Oriental Orthodox churches, centered in Lebanon, Palestine, and Egypt).