6th century CE–9th century: Central Arabia 7th century–13th century: Northern Syria
Descended from
Kilab ibn Rabi'a ibn Amir ibn Sa'sa
Parent tribe
Banu Amir
Branches
Abd Allah
Abu Bakr
Qurata
Mirdasid dynasty
Al-Adbat
Amr
Banu Zufar
Amir
Wahid
Ja'far
Ka'b
Mu'awiya al-Dibab
Banu Bayhas
Rabi'a
Ru'as
Religion
Polytheism (pre-630) Islam (post 630) Shia Islam (10th-11th centuries)
The Banu Kilab (Arabic: بنو كِلاب, romanized: Banū Kilāb) was an Arab tribe in the western Najd (central Arabia) where they controlled the horse-breeding pastures of Dariyya from the mid-6th century until at least the mid-9th century. The tribe was divided into ten branches, the most prominent being the Ja'far, Abu Bakr, Amr, Dibab and Abd Allah. The Ja'far led the Kilab and its parent tribe of Banu Amir, and, at times, the larger Hawazin tribal confederation from the time of the Kilab's entry into the historical record, c. 550, until the advent of Islam, c. 630, except for two occasions when the larger Abu Bakr was at the helm. Under the Ja'far's leadership the Kilab defeated rival tribes and the Lakhmid kings and eventually became guards of the Lakhmid caravans to the annual fair in the Hejaz (western Arabia). The killing of a Ja'far chief as he escorted one such caravan led to the Fijar War between the Hawazin and the Quraysh of Mecca.
The Kilab, or at least its chief, Amir ibn al-Tufayl, was involved in the massacre of Muslims at Bir Ma'una in 626 despite being under the protection of Amir's uncle Abu Bara. Amir's successor converted to Islam, followed by other tribesmen, including the prominent poet Labid and al-Dahhak ibn Sufyan, who was dispatched by the Islamic prophet Muhammad on an expedition against a recalcitrant Kilabi clan. The Banu Amir played a minor role in the early Muslim conquests, but members of the Kilab later established themselves in the garrison towns of Iraq. Several, including Aslam ibn Zur'a and his family, were governors of Basra, Khurasan, and other eastern provinces under the Umayyad caliphs in 661–750.
The Kilabi chief Zufar ibn al-Harith led the rebel Qays nomads of the Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia) and Jund Qinnasrin (northern Syria). He obtained from the Umayyads privileges later inherited by his family, who were generally recognized as the preeminent leaders of the Qays. Zufar's grandson, Abu al-Ward, led an abortive Qaysi revolt against the Umayyads' Abbasid successors in 750. In 813 a Kilabi chief of the Qays in Damascus, Ibn Bayhas, crushed an Umayyad revolt against the Abbasids, after which he ruled Damascus for ten years. There were two more mass migrations of Kilabi tribesmen from Arabia to northern Syria in the 9th and 10th centuries, the last associated with the rebellious Qarmatian movement. Through their numerical strength, skilled swordsmanship, and Bedouin mobility, the Kilab became the dominant military force in northern Syria. Two Kilabi brothers were appointed governors of Aleppo under the Ikshidids of Egypt in 939 and the 940s, until they handed over power under pressure from rival Kilabi chiefs to the Hamdanid emir Sayf al-Dawla in 944. The Kilab often rebelled against the Hamdanids and participated in their intra-dynastic disputes.
In the early 11th century, Salih ibn Mirdas assumed leadership of the Kilab and by 1025, he established an Aleppo-based emirate (principality) that spanned much of the western Jazira and northern Syria. His Mirdasid dynasty ruled Aleppo until 1080, with minor interruption. The Kilab were the core of the Mirdasid army and defended their realm, defeating the Byzantine emperor Romanos III at the Battle of Azaz in 1030 and fending off several Fatimid assaults in later years. Recurring internal divisions had sapped the tribe's strength by the reign of the last Mirdasid emir. The Kilab retained scattered fortresses and remained a major source of military recruitment for the Mirdasids' successors, but they lost their paramountcy to Turkmen groups which had begun entering northern Syria in significant numbers from the late 11th century. The Ayyubids confiscated the Kilab's last holdings in the region and put the tribe under the authority of an amir al-arab (state-sponsored commander of the Bedouin), an office held by the Al Fadl house of the rival Banu Tayy. Part of the Kilab migrated to Anatolia, reappearing in 1262 as auxiliaries of the Armenians in a raid against the Mamluks. In 1277 the tribe submitted to the Mamluk sultan Baybars in northern Syria.
The Kilabi way of life in Syria resembled their pre-Islamic existence in Arabia. There were raids and counter-raids against neighboring tribes and between the tribe itself, characterized by individual duels and boasts of valor, and motivated by booty or revenge. Young tribesmen spent the springtime horse-racing and wine-drinking. Mass banquets were held for special occasions, such as weddings and circumcisions. The women of the Kilab in Syria generally enjoyed equality with the men of the tribe and a number of Kilabi women played prominent roles in Mirdasid politics. The Kilab in Syria were Twelver Shia Muslims, though the extent of their adherence to the faith was unclear.
The BanuKilab (Arabic: بنو كِلاب, romanized: BanūKilāb) was an Arab tribe in the western Najd (central Arabia) where they controlled the horse-breeding...
sons. His elder son, Zuhrah ibn Kilab, was the progenitor of the Banu Zuhrah clan, and his younger son, Qusai ibn Kilab, became the first Quraysh custodian...
Lecker, "On Arabs of the BanūKilāb executed together with the Jewish Banū Qurayza", p. 69. Kister, "The Massacre of the Banu Quraiza", p. 95f. Rodinson...
revenues. This cemented Salih as the paramount emir of his tribe, the BanuKilab, many of whose chieftains had died in Mansur's dungeons. With his Bedouin...
also belonged to Banu Amir. The main tribes that constituted this confederation were as follows: BanuKilab – The descendants of Kilab ibn Rab'iah ibn...
Kilab may refer to the following: Kilab ibn Murrah, an ancestor of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. BanuKilab, an Arab tribe that was active in Arabia,...
Muhammad). Lecker, "On Arabs of the BanūKilāb executed together with the Banū Qurayza", p. 69. Kister, "The Massacre of the Banu Quraiza", pp. 95f. Rodinson...
together" or "association". The Quraysh gained their name when Qusayy ibn Kilab, a sixth-generation descendant of Fihr ibn Malik, gathered together his...
supported by their nephew Asad, their uncle Zuhrah ibn Kilab, their father's uncle Taym ibn Murrah (of Banu Taym), and al-Harith ibn Fihr, while 'Abd ad-Dar...
opened the way for a coalition of Bedouin chiefs from the BanuKilab, Jarrahids, and Banu Kalb led by Salih ibn Mirdas to take the city in 1024 or 1025...
on the exploits of two rival Arab tribes, the BanuKilab, who furnish the main characters, and the Banu Sulaym. The tale begins with the story of the...
to Ali and Fatima bint Hizam ibn Khalid ibn Rabi'a, a woman from the BanuKilab tribe. Abbas had three full brothers, named Abd Allah, Ja'far and Uthman...
Mirdasids were a family of the Bedouin (nomadic Arab) tribe of BanuKilab. The Kilab's ancestral home was in central Arabia and its tribesmen first established...
Banū Taym (Arabic: بَنُو تَيْم; alternatively transliterated as Banu Taim or Banu Tahim) was a clan of the Quraysh tribe of Mecca. The first caliph, Abu...
through his son Ismail (Ishmael). His elder brother Zuhrah ibn Kilab was the progenitor of the Banu Zuhrah clan. After his father's death his mother Fatimah...
progenitor of the Banu Zuhrah clan of the Quraysh tribe in Mecca. According to traditional Islamic belief, Zuhrah's father was Kilab ibn Murrah, a descendant...
جعفر) was the preeminent chief of the Ja'far house of the BanuKilab and its parent tribe the Banu Amir in the late 6th century and early 7th century. The...
The Banū Hāshim (Arabic: بنو هاشم) is an Arab clan within the Quraysh tribe to which Muhammad Ibn Abdullah belonged, named after Muhammad's great-grandfather...
Companions set out to see the Banu Nadir tribe and seek their help in raising the blood-money he had to pay to the BanuKilab for the two men that ‘Amr bin...
relations with the Kilab, the branch of the Banu Amir to which Urwa and Abu Bara belonged. The Kilab and the Ka'b, another branch of the Banu Amir, belonged...
they include Banu Kalb, Kinda, Ghassanids, and Lakhmids. The Qays were made up of tribes such as BanuKilab, Banu Tayy, Banu Hanifa, and Banu Tamim, among...
the Banu Numayr, many of the tribes that formed part of the Qarmatian army were also branches of the Banu Amir from Arabia, including the BanuKilab, Banu...
dominated the southern part of the Syrian Desert, the BanuKilab dominated the northern part and the Banu Kalb dominated central Syria. The latter tribe, whose...
was from the Mu'awiya al-Dibab clan of the BanuKilab, branch of the Qaysid tribe of the Hawazinite Banu Amir. Shimr was an ally of Caliph Ali (r. 656–661)...
headed for the habitation of the Qurata, a sept of the Bakr clan of the BanuKilab. The Muslims attacked that sept and dispersed them in all directions....
contemporary sources for her beauty. Both Salih and Tarud belonged to the BanuKilab, a large Arab tribe that dominated northern Syria and the western Jazira...
Mu'awiya I, brought numerous Qaysi tribesmen from the BanuKilab, Banu Uqayl (both sub-tribes of the Banu Amir) and the Sulaym to inhabit Upper Mesopotamia...