The Taghlib were among the most powerful and cohesive nomadic tribes of the pre-Islamic era and were known for their bitter wars with their kinsmen from the Banu Bakr, as well as their struggles with the Lakhmid kings of al-Hira in Iraq (Lower Mesopotamia).

They allied with the Umayyads and engaged in numerous battles with the rebellious Qaysi tribes during the Qays–Yaman feuding in the late 7th century.

By the mid-9th century, much of the Taghlib converted to Islam, partly as a result of the persuasion of the Taghlibi governor of Diyar Rabi'a and founder of al-Rahba, Malik ibn Tawk.

[4] Information about the Taghlib's branches were in large part based on the records of the pre-Islamic Taghlibi genealogist al-Akhzar ibn Suhayma.

[6] Because of their size and strength, the Jusham and Malik were collectively referred to as al-Rawkān, which translated as "the two horns" or "the two numerous and strong companies".

[5] As early as the 4th century CE, the Taghlib were within the sphere of influence of the Persian Sasanian Empire and their Arab clients, the Lakhmid kings of al-Hira.

[5] It is mentioned during this time that the Sasanian king Shapur II sent Taghlibi captives to live in Darin and al-Khatt, both in the region of Bahrayn (eastern Arabia).

[5] The Basus War ended in the mid-6th century when the Taghlib and Bakr signed a peace treaty at the Dhu al-Majaz market near Mecca.

[5] As late as the 8th century, Taghlibi tribesmen glorified Amr ibn Kulthum as among the most preeminent Arabs of the pre-Islamic era, and noted his poetic skills, his struggle against the kings of al-Hira and his feats in the conflict with the Bakr.

[6] Sections of the Taghlib, particularly the Utba line of the Zuhayr branch, fought the Muslim armies in Iraq and Upper Mesopotamia during the Islamic conquest of Persia.

[15] The Taghlib's shared Christian faith and proximity to the Muslims' enemy, the Byzantine Empire, was the likely reason members of the tribe were not assigned important positions in the state during the Umayyad era.

[12] The Taghlibi chieftain Hammam ibn al-Mutarrif secured the peace and alliance of the two tribes by compensating the Bakr for their losses at the Battle of Dhi Qar.

[12] The Taghlib's champion during their conflict with the Qays was the well-known Taghlibi poet al-Akhtal, whose main poetic rival was the Qaysi Jarir, with whom he engaged in "verbal warfare" in the Umayyad court.

[17] The Taghlibi–Qaysi conflict culminated with a decisive Taghlibi victory at Yawm al-Hashshak in the Jazira near the Tigris River, in which the Sulaymi chief Umayr ibn al-Hubab was slain; the Taghlib sent the latter's head to Abd al-Malik, who was pleased with the death of the rebel leader.

[12] In the early 9th century, the Adi ibn Usama line of the Malik division, known as the ʿAdī Taghlib or al-ʿAdawīyya gained political prominence in the Jazira.

[12] Some years later, another Taghlibi linked to al-Hasan by marriage, Tawk ibn Malik of the Attab line of the Jusham division, became governor of Diyar Rabi'a under Caliph al-Ma'mun (r.

[19] Upon Abu al-Hayja's death, his son Nasir al-Dawla, who ruled as his father's deputy ruler in Mosul, struggled to secure the governorship of that city.

[20] His rule was opposed by his uncles Sa'id and Nasr, the Banu Habib (a rival Taghlibi clan) and Caliph al-Muqtadir (r. 908–929).

[21] In 942, Nasir al-Dawla became the effective ruler of the Abbasid Caliphate until being outmaneuvered by his rebellious Turkish officer, Tuzun, the following year.

[23] The Hamdanids did not depend on their Taghlibi tribesmen for matters of the state, relying instead on non-Arab ghilman and bureaucrats for military and fiscal affairs.

After the early years of the Hamdanid dynasty, the Taghlib, like many Arab tribes established in the region before and after the 7th-century Muslim conquests, "disappeared into obscurity".

[24] Small numbers of Taghlibi tribesmen converted to Islam during the Umayyad era (661–750) and early Abbasid era (8th century), including the small Taghlibi community of Kufa, some tribesmen in Qinnasrin and noted individuals, such as the Umayyad court poets Ka'b ibn Ju'ayl and 'Umayr ibn Shiyaym.

[12] Later in the Abbasid era, in the 9th century, significant numbers of Taghlibi tribesmen embraced Islam and attained higher office in the state.