Banu Fazara

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The Banu Fazāra
(Arabic: بنو فزارة)
Ghatafani Arab tribe
NisbaAl-Fazari
Descended fromFazāra ibn Dhubyān ibn Baghīd ibn Rayth ibn Ghaṭafān ibn Saʾd ibn Qays ʿAylān ibn Mudar ibn Nizar ibn Ma'add ibn Adnan
Parent tribeDhubyan (patrilineal)
Jusham (matrilineal)[1]
Branches
  • Banu Shamkh[2]
  • Banu Uday
  • Banu Mazen
  • Banu Saad
  • Banu Zalim
ReligionPolytheism (post 630s)

The Banu Fazara or Fazzara or Fezara or Fezzara (Arabic: بنو فزارة, romanizedBanū Fazāra) were an Arab tribe whose original homeland was Najd.

Origins[edit]

According to Arab genealogical tradition, the progenitor of the Banu Fazara was Fazāra ibn Dhubyān ibn Baghīd ibn Rayth ibn Ghaṭafān. Thus the tribe belonged to the Dhubyan branch of the Ghatafan tribe, making the Fazara a north Arabian tribe.[3] Its ancestral pasture grounds were in the Wadi al-Rumma region of the Najd in central Arabia.[3]

History[edit]

In the pre-Islamic period, the Fazara were known for their rivalry with the Banu Abs, another branch of the Ghatafan. The two tribes fought against each other in the war of 'Dahis and Ghabra', so-called after the horses of the tribes' respective chiefs, Qays ibn Zuhayr ibn Jadhima of the Abs and Hudhayfa ibn Badr of the Fazara. According to the story of the war, the Fazara originally bested the Abs due to underhanded acts and the Abs retaliated by killing a brother of Hudhayfa. The latter, then his son Hisn, led the tribe during the long-running war. Peace was eventually established between the brother tribes, after which Fazara, under Hisn's son Uyayna, engaged in feuds with the Banu Amir, the Banu Jusham, and other groups.[3]

The Fazara under Uyayna participated in the Qurayshite siege of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in Medina in 627. They later raided a Muslim expedition under Zayd ibn Haritha, and in 628, supported the Jews of Khaybar against the Muslims. By 630, Uyayna made peace with Muhammad and participated in the Muslim victories at Mecca and Hunayn. A Fazara delegation submitted to Muhammad, but after his death in 632, broke off allegiance from the Muslims and joined the rebel chief Tulayha in the Ridda Wars. The Muslims defeated them and the Fazara submitted once again to Muslim rule.[3]

In the modern day, the Fazara section of the Sudanese Arabs are camel-nomadic Arab tribes who live in the pastures of North Kordofan. They include the Shanabla, Majaneen, Bani-Jarrar, and Bani-Dhubian.[4]

A prominant leader of the tribe was Umm Qirfa.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "بنوجشم بن معاوية بن بكر بن هوازن - ..ٌ::ٌ:: النسابون العرب ::ٌ::ٌ".
  2. ^ "ص153 - كتاب أنساب الأشراف للبلاذري - نسب بني فزارة بن ذبيان - المكتبة الشاملة الحديثة".
  3. ^ a b c d Watt 1991, p. 873.
  4. ^ MacMichael, Harold (1922). A History of the Arabs in the Sudan And Some Account of the People who Preceded them and of the Tribes Inhabiting Dárfūr. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780511696947.

Bibliography[edit]