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Fadl ibn Isa

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Fadl ibn Isa
Emir of Palmyra and Salamiyah
Reign1311/12–1317
1322–1330
PredecessorMuhanna ibn Isa
SuccessorMuhanna ibn Isa
Amir al-ʿarab
Reign1311/12–1317
1322–1330
PredecessorMuhanna ibn Isa
SuccessorMuhanna ibn Isa
IssueIsa
Sayf
Mu'ayqil
HouseAl Fadl
FatherIsa ibn Muhanna

Fadl ibn Isa[note 1], also known as Fadl II, was a prince of the Al Fadl, an Arab dynasty that dominated the Syrian Desert beginning in the 13th century. Between 1311 and 1317, he served as amir al-ʿarab, which gave him authority over the Bedouin tribes of northern Syria on behalf of the Mamluk Sultanate.

Biography

Fadl was a son of Isa ibn Muhanna, the chieftain of the Al Fadl clan, a branch of the Tayyid tribe of Banu Rabi'ah. Beginning with Isa, members of the Al Fadl became the hereditary holders of the office of amir al-ʿarab (commander of the Bedouin) on behalf of the Mamluk Sultanate. After Isa's death in 1284, Fadl's brother Muhanna became amir al-ʿarab with iqta'at (fiefs) in Salamiyah, Palmyra and elsewhere in Syria. When Muhanna fell out with the Mamluk sultan an-Nasir Muhammad in 1311/12 and defected to the Mongol Ilkhanate, the sultan appointed Fadl in his place as amir al-ʿarab.[1][2]

Though Fadl appeared to oppose Muhanna's defection, the 14th-century Arab historian, al-Umari, noted that the two brothers cooperated in playing the Mamluks and Ilkhanids off of each other for their own interest.[3] He wrote "they were agreed at heart, but openly they were otherwise".[3] Muhanna was restored as amir al-ʿarab in 1317. The following year, Fadl visited Abu Sa'id, the son and successor of the Ilkhanid ruler Öljaitü, to give him a present of Arabian horses in Baghdad.[4] Soon after, it was reported that the Bedouin tribes of al-Ahsa and Qatif drove Fadl out of the region of Basra south of Baghdad.[4]

Muhanna was stripped of the post and exiled with his branch of the family in 1320, after which he was replaced by Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr, a distant relative.[4] In 1322, Fadl was appointed to the post for the second time.[4] During a visit to Salamiyah in 1324, it was apparent that Muhanna still held sway with the Bedouin in Syria while Fadl was the nominal emir who received a government salary.[4] In 1328, Fadl gave Muhanna's son Sulayman substantial sums after the latter defected from the Ilkhanids and agreed to submit to Mamluk authority in al-Rahba.[4] Fadl continued to rule the Bedouin, at least in name, until 1330 when Muhanna was restored.[4] Muhanna died in 1334 and Fadl likely died in the few years before or after Muhanna's death.[4] The office of amir al-ʿarab remained hereditary within the Al Fadl clan, but was primarily held by direct descendants of Muhanna.[5] On some occasions, Fadl's direct descendants held the office,[6] such as his sons Isa (r. 1342–1343) and Sayf (r. 1343–1345, 1347–1348).[7]

Notes

  1. ^ Full name and genealogy: Faḍl ibn ʿIsa ibn Muhannā ibn Maniʿ ibn Ḥadītha ibn Ghudayya ibn Faḍl ibn Rabīʿa ibn Ḥaẓim ibn ʿAlī ibn Mufarrij ibn Daghfal ibn al-Jarrāh at-Ṭaʾī

References

  1. ^ Tritton 1948, pp. 568–569.
  2. ^ Hiyari 1975, pp. 518–519.
  3. ^ a b Hiyari 1975, p. 519.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Tritton 1948, p. 569.
  5. ^ Hiyari 1975, pp. 519–520.
  6. ^ Hiyari 1975, p. 520.
  7. ^ Tritton 1948, p. 570.

Bibliography

  • Hiyari, Mustafa A. (1975). "The Origins and Development of the Amīrate of the Arabs during the Seventh/Thirteenth and Eighth/Fourteenth Centuries". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 38 (3): 509. doi:10.1017/s0041977x00048060. JSTOR 613705.
  • Tritton, A. S. (1948). "The Tribes of Syria in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries". Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. 12 (3/4). doi:10.1017/s0041977x00083129. JSTOR 608712.
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