Before the mid-6th century, the tribes of Najd (central and northern Arabia), generally grouped together under the Qays confederacy, had been under the sway of the Kindite kings.
As Kindite dominance faded around the mid-6th century, the Qays came under the supremacy of Zuhayr ibn Jadhima of the Banu Abs, who had the support of the Lakhmid kings of al-Hira in Iraq.
[2] Al-Harith gained protection from part of the Tamim led by Laqit ibn Zurara, provoking the ire of the Banu Amir, the leading branch of the Hawazin to which Khalid belonged.
In addition, contingents from the Banu al-Jawn, the Kindite rulers of Bahrayn, and the Lakhmid king al-Mundhir IV (r. 575–580) also joined the coalition.
[8] Laqit's coalition attacked the Banu Amir at an isolated mountain pass in their territory, called Shi'b Jabala, 150 kilometers (93 mi) south of Unaizah in the Najd.
[6] Shi'b Jabala was one of the three most famous ayyām ('battle days') of the pre-Islamic Arabs,[6][a] and the historian Franz Krenkow called it "the most remarkable deed recorded of the Kilāb", which was the branch of the Banu Amir which provided its overall chiefs.
[12] The Darim had prior knowledge of the planned raid and withdrew into the Wadi al-Rummah, placing before them another branch of the Tamim called the Yarbu.