The Kahlans (400 BCE-630 CE), the Kindite Kingdom (425-528 CE), and the Kindite Civil War (528-540 CE)

The Kahlans were the nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes that originally inhabited the southern reaches of the Najd Plateau and the Yamamah steppe, and the Great Arabian Desert (a.k.a., the Rub al-Khali), although from about the first century CE several waves of migration led to their habitation in virtually every other corner of the Arabian Peninsula. There were three main federations of Kahlans during the Early Pre-Islamic Period (ca. 400 BCE-200 CE)—the Azd, the Hamadan, and the Kinda/Kindah. The Azd were initially the largest group, inhabiting the Great Arabian Desert region, but by the beginning of the third century CE this federation broke up into five large groups—the Azd Uman (200-628 CE) moved into the Dhofar Desert (the border region between modern Oman and Yemen), the Banu Ghassan migrated north into the Nafud Desert (ca. 220-502 CE) and eventually entered Roman service as federates (ca. 502-712 CE), the Banu Aws and Banu Khazraj migrated into the Hijaz and settled in the vicinity of the oasis-city of Yathrib (ca. 300-622 CE), and the Banu Khuza'a migrated onto the Plain of Tihama (ca. 200-627 CE). The Hamadan initially controlled the southern reaches of the Najd Plateau and the Yamamah steppe (ca. 400 BCE-100 CE), but in about the beginning of the second century CE, two major groups broke off from the Hamadan federation—the Banu Lakhm migrated into southern Mesopotamia (ca. 100-268 CE) and established the Lakhmid Kingdom (268-602 CE), and the Banu Tayy moved north into the Nafud Desert region (ca. 106-630 CE). Finally, the Kindah originated in the northeastern reaches of the Great Arabian Desert, in the vicinity of the Liwa Oasis, located between modern United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia (ca. 400 BCE-200 CE). The Kindah became allies of the southern Arabian Kingdom of Saba, at which time they expanded into the southern reaches of the Great Arabian Desert and the Sayhad Desert (ca. 200-258 CE). The Sabaean-Kindite alliance probably contributed to the breakup of the Azd federation, and certainly the Kindah helped the Sabaeans to destroy the Kingdom of Hadramawt (ca. 253 CE). With the destruction of the Hadramite capital, Shabwa, and the breakup of the Kingdom of Hadramawt into a number of minor Hadhrami tribal groups (ca. 253-285 CE), the Kindah were able to infiltrate parts of Hadramawt as well (ca. 253-425 CE). Saba fell to Himyar in 280 CE, and soon after (ca. 285-290 CE) the Himyarites also conquered the Hadhrami tribes. It is likely that the relationship between the Kindah and the Kingdom of Himyar first dates to this period (ca. 280-425 CE)—those sub-groups of the Kindah that lived in the Sayhad (the Banu Chorath) and Dhofar (the Banu al-Sokon and Banu al-Sakasek) became subjects of Himyar, while the dominant Kindite federation—the Banu Muayiya—was an independent ally of Himyar that came to dominate the Great Arabian Desert region (although there were still significant Azd groups living there).

 

In 425 CE the Himyarite king, Hasan Yuhan'im al-Tubba (420-433 CE), named the Kindite chief, Hujr Akil al-Murar ibn Amr (425-458 CE), the first king of the Kindite Kingdom (425-528 CE), tasked with taking control of the overland trade routes of Central Arabia. Although the overland caravans had been eclipsed by seaborne trade from about the first and second centuries CE, they were still lucrative, and the Persians and Lakhmids had come to control much of this trade (ca. 268-425 CE). Hujr Akil and his successors, Amr al-Mansur ibn Hudjr (458-489 CE) and Harith Talaban ibn Amr (489-528 CE), were largely successful in dominating the tribes of the Great Arabian Desert (the remainders of the Azd), the Najd Plateau (the Banu Hawazin, Banu Ghatafan, and Banu Kilab), and the Dahna Desert (the Banu Tamim, Banu Hanifa, and Banu Bekr). At the height of the power of the Kindite Kingdom, Harith Talaban ibn Amr raided Roman Arabia and Palestine (491-498 CE) in conjunction with the Banu Tayy and Banu Ghassan, and even managed to install a pro-Kindite Lakhmid king in Hira (ca. 497-503 CE). However, with the fall of Himyar to the Christian Kingdom of Axum (ca. 525-528 CE), and the ensuing antipathy of the Axumite Kingdom of Yaman (528-570 CE) toward the pagan Kindah (some Kindah were Jewish, but the Axumites were Christian), the Kindite Kingdom fell into civil war (ca. 528-540 CE). Four large groups, and several smaller ones, emerged from this civil war—the Banu Asad settled in the northern Najd Plateau (ca. 540-633 CE), the Banu Taghlib (a.k.a., the Taghlib ibn Wa'il) migrated into the Nafud Desert (ca. 540-633 CE), the Banu Kinanah migrated into the Hijaz and the Plain of Tihama (ca. 540-627 CE), and the Banu Bakr/Bekr settled in the southern Najd Plateau (ca. 540-633 CE). The Azd Uman re-asserted themselves in the Dhofar region, while the remaining Kindite territories in the Great Arabian Desert region were divided between the Banu Ka'ab (ca. 540-632 CE), Banu Hilal (ca. 540-969 CE), and Banu Uqayl (ca. 540-629 CE).