Banu Shayban (of Bakr ibn Waʾil)

Summary

Banu Shayban is a branch of Bakr ibn Wa'il, the tribe that defeated the Persians on the day of Dhu Qar. In al-Raheeq al-Makhtum it was the first day on which the Arabs won against the non-Arabs ¹ ².

The deposit

Their chief was Hani' ibn Mas'ud. al-Nu'man ibn al-Mundhir secretly left his family and property with him before he went to Khosrow. When Iyas ibn Qabisa demanded the deposit on Khosrow's order, Hani' refused out of pride to hand it over, and the king declared war ¹.

The battle

Khosrow's marzbans and his battalions came in Iyas's procession, and a mighty battle took place between the two sides at Dhu Qar. Banu Shayban prevailed, and the Persians were routed in a shameful defeat ¹. The author counts Hani's story among the examples of keeping faith in the pre-Islamic era ³.

For young visitors

Banu Shayban is the tribe that defeated Persia's great army on the day of Dhu Qar. The tradition relates that its chief kept faith with al-Nu'man's trust.

The Peace of al-Hira

In al-Baladhuri: Khalid ibn al-Walid passed Zandaward of Kaskar which he opened, opened Durna and her daughter-towns by aman, came to Hurmuzjird whose people he safe-conducted and opened, came to Ulays where a great-Jaban host met him — al-Muthanna ibn Haritha met it at Nahr al-Damm — and made peace with Ulays's people to be the Muslims' eyes on the Persians, guides and helpers; at the rivers' confluence Azadhbih, lord of Khosrow's frontier posts facing the Arabs, met him, fought and was routed; then Khaffan, then marching on al-Hira there came out Abd al-Masih ibn Amr ibn Qays ibn Hayyan ibn Buqayla — Buqayla's name being al-Harith, of Azd — Hani ibn Qabisa ibn Mas'ud al-Shaybani and Iyas ibn Qabisa al-Ta'i — or, it is said, Farwa ibn Iyas — who made peace on a hundred thousand dirhams a year, it is said eighty, on being the Muslims' eyes on Persia and no church or palace demolished. Via Abu Mikhnaf via al-Walid ibn al-Qatami: the aged Abd al-Masih met Khalid, who asked 'whence is your farthest origin, old man?' — 'from my father's back'; 'whence did you come out?' — 'from my mother's belly'; 'what are you in?' — 'my clothes'; 'what are you on?' — 'the earth'; 'are you sane?' — 'yes, and I wear anklets'; 'I only speak to you men's speech' — 'and I only answer you men's answers'; 'are you peace or war?' — 'peace'; 'then what are these fortresses?' — 'we built them for the fool until the wise man comes.' They agreed on a hundred thousand yearly — the first money carried to Medina from Iraq — on condition of no treachery and being eyes on Persia, in year 12. Via Yahya ibn Adam: Hira's people were six thousand men, each liable fourteen dirhams weight-five, making eighty-four thousand weight-five — sixty thousand weight-seven — a document he had read. Via Yazid ibn Nubaysha: we reached the Mudhayyib frontier post then came to Hira whose people fortified in the White Palace, the Palace of Ibn Buqayla and the Palace of the Madyasis — we exhausted stratagems in their courts, then they sued peace. Khuraym ibn Aws ibn Haritha ibn La'm al-Ta'i had told the Prophet 'if God opens Hira for you give me Buqayla's daughter'; at the peace he claimed her, Bashir ibn Sa'd and Muhammad ibn Maslama al-Ansari testified for him, she was excepted and delivered to him; her people bought her back for a thousand dirhams — she being old — and told him he sold cheap, they would have paid multiples; he said 'I did not think a number could exceed a thousand'; a hadith variant has the asker a man of Rabi'a — the first account is firmer.

Banu Shayban (of Bakr ibn Waʾil)

At a glance

Summary

The deposit

The battle

Connections

People and things also explored

Sources

The Peace of al-Hira