The Sharifate of Medina or Emirate of Medina was an emirate centred on the Islamic holy city of Medina in the Hejaz. It was established during the dissolution of the Abbasid empire in the mid-tenth century, and was ruled by a series of sharifs of the Banu Muhanna dynasty, descendants of Muhammad via Ali ibn Abi Talib and his son Husayn. Like its southern neighbour, the Sharifate of Mecca, which arose at about the same time, the sharifs of Medina were usually obliged to vassalage to the rulers of Egypt, as the two holy cities drew their food supply from there. In the Mamluk period, the Sharifate of Medina gradually lost its autonomy and importance, its emirs being appointed by Cairo and subordinated to the Sharif of Mecca as the vice-sultan of the Hejaz.
The first city converted to Islam and the base for Muhammad's conquest of Arabia, Medina was the first capital of the nascent caliphate.[1] Despite the attempt to return it to Medina during the Second Fitna (680–692), the political seat of the Muslim world quickly shifted permanently away from the Hejaz, first to Damascus under the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750) and then to Baghdad under the Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258). Nevertheless, the unique prestige of Medina and Mecca as the two holy cities of Islam ensured that the caliphs took care to conduct works there, placate the locals with donations and gifts, and maintain order and prosperity; Medina especially appears to have sometimes functioned as the main administrative centre for Arabia or at least the Hejaz, and the caliphal governors appointed to Medina were often members of the ruling dynasties or otherwise high-status members of the Quraysh tribe.[2]
Map of Arabia in the early Islamic period
During the later 8th century, Mecca and Medina became the seat of Alid opposition to the Abbasid government, with members of various Alid branches rising in revolt, most notably in 762, 786, 815/16, and 865/66.[3] By the early 10th century, Abbasid control appears to have been nominal at best, and the sources are unclear as to who held power; Medina is reported to have been ruled by the Ja'farids (the Alids' rivals, descendants of Ali's brother Ja'far ibn Abi Talib) at some point. Indeed, during these years it became common for military commanders to be appointed as governors, a testament to the instability of the region. This did not bring the desired results and the anarchy continued, culminating with the Sack of Mecca by the Qarmatians in 930.[4] Unable to ensure the safety of the Hejaz, in 935 and again in 942 the Abbasids handed over jurisdiction for Mecca and Medina to the autonomous Ikhshidid dynasty of Egypt.[5][6] The two cities were dependent on Egypt already from the first years of the caliphate, as the influx of new inhabitants and the status of the city led to the need to supply them with food imported from Egypt, using the Red Sea ports.[1]
History of the Sharifate of Medina
Medieval sources report that the Hejaz remained under Ikhshidid suzerainty until the Fatimid conquest of Egypt in 969, with the Friday sermon being read in the name of the Ikhshidid emir.[6] But power in the city was seized, already by c.940, by a Husaynid Alid, Ubayd Allah ibn Tahir, in circumstances that are entirely unknown.[7] Ubayd Allah's successors, the Banu Muhanna dynasty, would rule Medina on and off until the sixteenth century.[7] This development was paralleled a generation later at Mecca, where a Hasanid, Ja'far ibn Muhammad, seized control.[7] The Sharifate of Mecca was much larger and powerful than that of Medina, which apparently controlled little beyond the city's immediate environs.[8] The two emirates would be often in conflict with one another, as the more ambitious sharifs of Mecca tried to include Medina in their domain.[9] The two emirates were also exposed to the rivalries of the great powers of the Muslim world, who by turns wooed and pressured the sharifs to recognize their suzerainty, and exploited dynastic rivalries or used direct military force to impose their preferred candidates as emirs;[10] the sharifs of Medina were adherents of Twelver Shi'ism (as those of Mecca were Zaydi Shi'a),[11] and usually recognized the suzerainty of the Isma'ili Shi'aFatimid caliphs and mentioned them in the Friday sermon.[12]
Ubayd Allah's son Muslim had settled in Egypt, and was a friend of the Ikhshidid emir, Abu al-Misk Kafur, but appears to have switched his allegiance to the Fatimid caliphal-Mu'izz soon after Kafur's death, even before the Fatimid conquest of Egypt, and may have played a role in the success of the latter.[6][7] The Friday sermon was read for al-Mu'izz in Medina in 969 or 970, and two years later the Sharif of Medina joined the Fatimids in a campaign that obliged the Sharif of Mecca to acknowledge Fatimid suzerainty as well.[13] After Muslim died in 976/7, his son Tahir returned from Egypt to Medina, where he was acknowledged as emir of the city by the local Alids. Initially acknowledging the suzerainty of the Abbasids, the arrival of a Fatimid army forced him to return to Fatimid allegiance.[14] Later the Banu Muhanna briefly lost control of Medina to the Meccan emir Abu'l-Futuh al-Hasan ibn Ja'far in c.1000 at the behest of the Fatimids, and again to Abu'l-Futuh's son, Shukr (r.1038/9–1061), and to the first Hawashim emir of Mecca, Abu Hashim Muhammad ibn Ja'far (r.1062–1094).[15][16] Otherwise little is known about the history of Medina in the 11th and 12th centuries, and even the exact line of succession between the various branches of the Banu Muhanna is unclear.[17]
More information is available on Qasim ibn Muhanna, who ruled from c.1170/1180 till the 1190s, as he was a friend and confidant of the Ayyubid sultan of Egypt, Saladin.[18] In 1176, Qasim joined the Hajj caravan to Mecca; the amir al-hajj, Tashtakin al-Mustanjadi, deposed the sharif of Mecca, Mukaththir ibn Isa, and installed Qasim as the new ruler of Mecca. Realizing that his position was untenable, after only three days Qasim handed over power to Mukaththir's brother, Da'ud.[19] Qasim' son and successor, Salim, in turn had to confront the attacks of Qatada ibn Idris, who deposed Mukaththir in 1203 and assumed control of Mecca. Salim was able to secure the assistance of the Ayyubids, and his nephew and successor, Qasim, was able to defeat the Meccans in battle at Wadi al-Safra in 1216.[20] Qasim's attacks on Mecca proved fruitless, and the Ayyubids of Egypt, interested in maintaining a balance of power, switched their support to the Meccans and even garrisoned Yanbu and possible Mecca itself for protection.[21] The long reign of Shihah ibn Hashim that followed (1226/7–1249/50) was peaceful and prosperous, and marked by the close relations with Ayyubid Egypt, which led Shihah to support and even lead repeated Ayyubid attempts to regain control of Mecca, which was being contested by the Rasulids of Yemen.[22][23]
Shihah's son, Jammaz, continued the attempts to annex Mecca, but was only briefly successful, occupying the city for 40 days in 1271 and a few months in 1288.[24] His reign also marks the start of the tightening of control by the Mamluk Sultanate of Cairo over Medina: in 1283/4 the Mamluks installed a Sunni imam in the Prophet's Mosque, and the Mamluk sultans began to interfere more actively in the affairs of Medina. In this they were aided by dynastic disputes among the Banu Muhanna; by the 14th century, Cairo had arrogated the right to appoint the emir, while the latter was downgraded to the status of a mere Mamluk functionary.[25] The disputes began with Jammaz's twelve sons: the chosen successor, Mansur, was opposed by his brothers Muqbil and Wudayy; both Muqbil and his son, Barjis, turned to Cairo for sanction of their claims to the emirate, while Mansur in turn visited Cairo to secure his own position.[26] Both Mansur and his son and successor, Badr al-Din Kubaysh, lost control of Medina to rival brothers, nephews, or cousin during their absence, and were able to recover it only through Mamluk intercession.[26] Both Mansur and Kubaysh were assassinated by rival family members.[27] Mansur's descendants remained in power after, with the exception of Wudayy ibn Jammaz's rule in 1336–1343, and a period when the family was ousted from Medina in 1350–1357/8.[28]
Finally, in the 15th century, Medina was subordinated to the Sharif of Mecca, who became the 'vice-sultan' of the Hejaz, starting with Hasan ibn Ajlan;[29] but this also meant that both Mecca and Medina, as well as the Hejaz more broadly, gradually became more tightly integrated into the Mamluk empire.[30] By 1426, the Mamluk sultan even demanded the payment of large sums of money from the emirs of Mecca and Medina as a tribute before they were confirmed in office. Emir Ajlan ibn Nu'ayr was deposed when Khashram ibn Dawghan promised to pay Sultan Barsbay 5,000 gold dinars, but Khashram was in turn deposed a year later after failing to forward the sum.[31] By 1439/40, and likely since 1424, when it is attested for Mecca, a small Mamluk garrison was sent yearly to Medina to maintain order and further cement Cairo's control.[32]
The Hashemites, also House of Hashim, are the royal family of Jordan, which they have ruled since 1921, and were the royal family of the kingdoms of Hejaz (1916–1925), Syria (1920), and Iraq (1921–1958). The family had ruled the city of Mecca continuously from the 10th century, frequently as vassals of outside powers, and ruled the thrones of the Hejaz, Syria, Iraq, and Jordan following their World War I alliance with the British Empire.
Islam came to Yemen around 630 during Muhammad's lifetime and the rule of the Persian governor Badhan. Thereafter, Yemen was ruled as part of Arab-Islamic caliphates, and became a province in the Islamic empire.
The Tayy, also known as Ṭayyi, Tayyaye, or Taiyaye, are a large and ancient Arab tribe, among whose descendants today are the tribes of Bani Sakher and Shammar. The nisba (patronymic) of Tayy is aṭ-Ṭāʾī (ٱلطَّائِي). In the second century CE, they migrated to the northern Arabian ranges of the Shammar and Salma Mountains, which then collectively became known as the Jabal Tayy, and later Jabal Shammar. The latter continues to be the traditional homeland of the tribe until the present day. They later established relations with the Sasanian and Byzantine empires.
The Sharifate of Mecca or Emirate of Mecca was a state, non-sovereign for much of its existence, ruled by the Sharif of Mecca. A sharif is a descendant of Hasan ibn Ali, Muhammad's grandson. In Western sources, the prince of Mecca was known as Grand Sherif, but Arabs have always used the appellation "Emir".
Abūʾl-Ḥusayn Yaḥyā ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Qāsim ibn Ibrāhīm al-Ḥasanī, better known by his honorific title of al-Hādī ilāʾl-Ḥaqq, was a religious and political leader in the Arabian Peninsula. He was the first Zaydi imam who ruled portions of Yemen from 897 to 911. He is also the ancestor of the Rassid Dynasty which ruled Yemen intermittently until the North Yemen Civil War in 1962.
Abu'l-Futuh al-Hasan ibn Ja'far was the Sharif of Mecca for the Fatimid Caliphate from 994/5 until 1010. He was also briefly proclaimed as an anti-caliph in a rebellion against the Fatimid Caliphate in Palestine in 1010.
The amir al-ʿarab was the commander or leader of the Bedouin tribes in Syria under successive medieval Muslim states. The title was used as early as the 11th century to refer to Salih ibn Mirdas, but was formalized as a state institution by the Ayyubid Sultanate and strengthened by the latter's Mamluk successors. The office was preserved under the early Ottomans, at least ceremonially, but its importance had declined by then. The jurisdiction of the amir al-ʿarab was generally limited to central and northern Syria, and its holder often held iqtaʿat (fiefs) in the Syrian steppe, which formed the imarat al-ʿarab. The imarat al-ʿarab was created both to co-opt the often rebellious Bedouin tribes of Syria and to enlist their support as auxiliary troops. Under the Mamluks, some of the principal duties of the amir al-ʿarab were guarding the desert frontier against the Mongol Ilkhanate in Iraq and Anatolia, ensuring Bedouin loyalty to the state, gathering intelligence on enemy forces, protecting infrastructure, villages and travelers from raids and providing horses and camels to the sultan. In return, the amir al-ʿarab was given iqtaʿat, an annual salary, official titles and honorary robes.
Rājiḥ ibn Qatādah ibn Idrīs al-Ḥasanī was Emir of Mecca under Rasulid suzerainty several times between 1232 and 1241, and briefly again in 1254. His mother belonged to the Banu Husayn of Medina.
Badr al-Dīn Abū al-Ma‘ālī Ḥasan ibn ‘Ajlān ibn Rumaythah ibn Abī Numayy al-Ḥasanī was Emir of Mecca from 1396 to 1426 with interruptions, and the first Vice Sultan in the Hejaz from 1408 to 1416.
Zayn al-Dīn Abū Zuhayr Barakāt ibn Ḥasan ibn ‘Ajlān al-Ḥasanī was a Sharif of Mecca from 1425 to 1455.
Izz al-Dīn Abū Sanad Jammāz ibn Shīḥah ibn Hāshim al-Ḥusaynī was the Husaynid Emir of Medina from 1259 to 1300/1 or 1302/3, and likely as co-emir or at least deputy of his brother Munif from 1251/2 on. He ruled, with a brief interruption in 1267/8, until 1300/1 or 1302/3. In the 1270s anengaged, he engaged in repeated attempts to capture the rival Emirate of Mecca to the south from its ruler, Abu Numayy Muhammad ibn Abi Sa'd. He succeeded briefly in 1271 and again in 1288, but was able to hold the city only for a few months. Incapacitated by blindness and advanced age, he handed over power to his son, Mansur, before dying in November/December 1304.
Da’ūd ibn ‘Īsá ibn Fulaytah al-Ḥasanī al-‘Alawī was Emir of Mecca at least three times between 1175 and 1192, in opposition to his brother Mukaththir. He belonged to the sharifian dynasty known as the Hawashim.
Mukaththir ibn ‘Īsá ibn Fulaytah al-Ḥasanī al-‘Alawī was the last Emir of Mecca from the sharifian Hawashim dynasty, reigning at least three times between 1176 and 1203.
Ja'far ibn Muhammad ibn Husayn al-Hasani was Sharif of Mecca from the late 960s to the early 970s, and the first Emir belonging to the Musawid dynasty.
Balī is an Arab tribe present in northwestern Saudi Arabia, Jordan and historically in Egypt and Sudan and a major component of the Quda'a tribal grouping. In the pre-Islamic period, the southern branches of the tribe inhabited northwestern Arabia and developed close ties with Jewish communities resident in its oases, while the northern branch established itself in Transjordan and served as auxiliaries of the Byzantine Empire. With the advent of Islam, Bali townspeople in Medina embraced the new religion and several were slain fighting the Quraysh of Mecca.
Abū Jaʿfar Muslim ibn ʿUbayd Allāh al-Ḥusaynī was a Husaynid and the most prominent member of the ashraf families of Egypt during the late Ikhshidid dynasty and the early Fatimid Caliphate. His son Tahir ibn Muslim established the Sharifate of Medina.
Tahir ibn Muslim was the first Husaynid emir, or sharif, of Medina.
Abu'l-Qāsim al-Ḥasan ibn Faraj ibn Ḥawshab ibn Zādān al-Najjār al-Kūfī, better known simply as Ibn Ḥawshab, or by his honorific of Manṣūr al-Yaman, was a senior Isma'ili missionary from the environs of Kufa. In cooperation with Ali ibn al-Fadl al-Jayshani, he established the Isma'ili creed in Yemen and conquered much of that country in the 890s and 900s in the name of the Isma'ili imam, Abdallah al-Mahdi, who at the time was still in hiding. After al-Mahdi proclaimed himself publicly in Ifriqiya in 909 and established the Fatimid Caliphate, Ibn al-Fadl turned against him and forced Ibn Hawshab to a subordinate position. Ibn Hawshab's life is known from an autobiography he wrote, while later Isma'ili tradition ascribes two theological treatises to him.
ʿAlī ibn al-Faḍl al-Jayshānī was a senior Isma'ili missionary from Yemen. In cooperation with Ibn Hawshab, he established the Isma'ili creed in his home country and conquered much of it in the 890s and 900s in the name of the hidden Isma'ili imam, Abdallah al-Mahdi Billah. After the establishment of the Fatimid Caliphate in Ifriqiya in 909, and the public proclamation of al-Mahdi Billah as caliph, Ibn al-Fadl denounced al-Mahdi as false, and instead declared himself to be the awaited messiah. His erstwhile colleague, Ibn Hawshab, refused to follow him, so Ibn al-Fadl turned against him and forced him to capitulate. Ibn al-Fadl's dominion collapsed swiftly after his death in October 915. In January 917, his stronghold of Mudhaykhira was seized by the Yu'firids, his children captured, and his two sons executed.
Īsā ibn Shīḥah ibn Hāshim al-Ḥusaynī was the Husaynid Emir of Medina from 1249/50 to 1251/2. He served as the deputy of his father, Shihah ibn Hashim, and succeeded him after the latter's assassination. He was able to rebuff the attempt of a rival branch of the ruling dynasty, the descendants of Jammaz ibn Qasim ibn Muhanna, to seize power, but was overthrown by his two brothers, Jammaz and Munif, who succeeded him as co-rulers. Isa retired to private life, dying at Medina in 1284/5.
Landau-Tasseron, Ella (2010). "Arabia". In Robinson, Chase F. (ed.). The New Cambridge History of Islam, Volume 1: The Formation of the Islamic World, Sixth to Eleventh Centuries. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp.397–447. ISBN978-0-521-83823-8.
Mortel, Richard T. (1991). "The Origins and Early History of the Husaynid Amirate of Madīna to the End of the Ayyūbid Period". Studia Islamica. 74 (74): 63–78. doi:10.2307/1595897. JSTOR1595897.
Mortel, Richard T. (1994). "The Ḥusaynid Amirate of Madīna during the Mamlūk Period". Studia Islamica. 80 (80): 97–123. doi:10.2307/1595853. JSTOR1595853.
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