Qays–Yaman rivalry

The Qays–Yaman rivalry refers to the rivalry between the tribal factions of Qays–Mudar and the Yaman. The history of the rivalry centers mainly within the armies and administrations of the Umayyad Caliphate in the 7th and 8th centuries, but persisted to varying degrees among the Arabs through Ottoman rule (1517–1918). Membership in either faction was rooted in the genealogical origins of the tribes, real or perceived, which divided them into south Arabian descendants of Qahtan (the Yaman) or north Arabian descendants of Adnan (Qays–Mudar).

The tribes which constituted the Yaman, most prominently the Kalb, Ghassanids, Tanukh and Judham, were well-established throughout the Syria (the Levant) since the pre-Islamic period, while the Qaysi tribes, namely the Sulaym, Banu Amir and Ghatafan migrated to northern Syria and Upper Mesopotamia with the Muslim armies in the 7th century. The feud did not effectively take shape until after the reign of Caliph Mu'awiya I (r. 661–680), who, along with his Sufyanid descendants, were tied to the Kalb, the leading tribe of Yaman, through marriage and military dependence. When the last Sufyanid caliph died in 684, the Kalb and its allies resolved to ensure continued Umayyad rule to maintain their stately privileges, while the Qays backed Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr's bid for the caliphate. That year, the Kalb routed the Qays at the Battle of Marj Rahit, leading to years of revenge-driven, tit-for-tat raids known as ayyam (days) because the battles were typically day-long affairs.

By 693, the raids had largely subsided as the Qays reconciled with the Umayyads under Caliph Abd al-Malik and were incorporated into the state. The Umayyads thereafter attempted to balance the powers and privileges of both factions, but the rivalry smoldered until the Third Muslim Civil War, in which the Yaman assassinated Caliph al-Walid II (r. 743–744) for his dependence on the Qays. Yamani opposition continued under Caliph Marwan II (r. 744–750), and they defected to the Abbasids as the latter conquered the Umayyad realm in 750. The Yaman and Qays briefly joined forces against the Abbasids later that year, but were defeated. The Qays–Yaman rivalry diminished significantly under the Abbasids who, unlike the Umayyads, did not derive the bulk of their military support from either faction. Nonetheless, the feud persisted at the local level to varying degrees in the following centuries, which saw occasional outbreaks of Qaysi–Yamani violence.

During the Ottoman period, the rivalry resurged in Mount Lebanon and Palestine, and affiliation with either faction transcended ethnicity and religion and was made by families with little consideration to genuine tribal lineage. In Mount Lebanon, the feud was mostly fought out between different Druze clans until the Battle of Ain Dara in 1711 led to the near complete exodus of Yamani Druze. Across Palestine, the rivalry encompassed Bedouin tribesmen, peasant clans and townspeople. Most actual fighting took place in Nablus and its hinterland and the area around Jerusalem. The feud gradually dissipated with the growth of Ottoman centralization in the mid-19th century.