History of the Arabs
[6] The Arabs forged the Rashidun (632–661), Umayyad (661–750) and the Abbasid (750–1258) caliphates, creating one of the largest land empires in history[7] reaching southern France in the west, China in the east, Anatolia in the north, and Sudan in the south.
[15][page needed] In the land of Laqē near Terqa, which was mentioned in an inscription by Adad-nirari II (911–891 BC), Aramaean and Arab clans formed a confederacy.
In the reign of Tiglath-Pileser III (744–727 BC), the "Arabāy" (Arabs) were among the Syrians integrated into the Assyrian administrative system, and were reportedly located in the regions of Damascus, Tadmor and Homs.
[18] The Nabaytau reportedly lived in the Babylonian border region, and were probably the namesake of the city of Nabatu mentioned in an inscription of Marduk-apla-iddina II (721–710 BC).
[15][17] During the campaigns of Ashurbanipal (669–631 BC) most Nabayatu clans shifted to the Syrian Desert, and by the 6th century had migrated to the area south of Wadi Sirhan.
[15] Ashurbanipal launched a punitive campaign against the Arabs in Hauran from his base in Damascus, capturing Abiyate the Qedarite and taking him to Assyria.
Assuming the side of Rome, the Palmyrenes united under Odaenathus and defeated the Sassanian armies in several battles, even reaching the capital city, Ctesiphon, twice.
Odaenathus' son Vaballathus succeeded him in 270 under the regency of his mother Zenobia, who declared the Palmyrene Empire, quickly capturing most of the Near East, including Egypt and most of Asia Minor in 271, reaching Ancyra.
The Tanukhids initially appear in 196 CE as a federation of Arab tribes roaming the western banks of the Euphrates who later made way into central and northern Syria, where they became part of the foederati of the Romans.
South of the Taurus range and in the region of Antioch were an Arab group ruled by a certain Aziz, who played an important role in the affairs of the last Seleucid king Antiochus XIII Asiaticus.
[21] The Itureans, another Arab group known since Alexander the Great, inhabited the Bekaa valley, Southern Lebanon and the Anti-Lebanon mountains, and from there they expanded their territories into the Phoenician coast, Aurinitis, Trachonitis and Batanaea, coming close to Damascus.
[26] Several Arab entities flourished during middle and late Antiquity; these included kingdoms and confederations of tribes that dominated large swaths of land in the Arabian Peninsula, Levant and Mesopotamia.
In central Arabia and Iraq, the Lakhmids assumed leadership from the Tanukhids and established themselves as clients for the Sasanians by 300 CE, ruling from their capital city of Al-Hirah and acting as a buffer between them and the Romans and unruly nomadic Arab tribes further south.
The Kingdom of Kinda was yet another Arab entity in central Arabia, established in 450 CE as a confederation of the Ma'ad tribes ruled by the Kindites.
The Kindites originally migrated from Yemen along with the Ghassanids, where they had served as nomad auxiliaries for the armies of the Sabaean and Himyarite kings,[28] but were turned back in Eastern Arabia by the Abdul Qais Rabi'a tribe.
They returned to Yemen and allied themselves with the Himyarites who installed them as a vassal kingdom that ruled Central Arabia from "Qaryah Dhat Kahl" (the present-day called Qaryat al-Faw).
However, the Arabs' higher status among non-Arab Muslim converts and the latter's obligation to pay heavy taxes caused resentment.
He rectified the disparity, demanding that all Muslims be treated as equals, but his intended reforms did not take effect, as he died after only three years of rule.
This new state was characterized by an expansion of trade, culture and knowledge, and saw the construction of masterpieces of al-Andalus architecture and the library of Al-Ḥakam II which housed over 400,000 volumes.
The Abbasids led a revolt against the Umayyads and defeated them in the Battle of the Zab effectively ending their rule in all parts of the Empire with the exception of al-Andalus.
[31] The Islamic Golden Age was inaugurated by the middle of the 8th century by the ascension of the Abbasid Caliphate and the transfer of the capital from Damascus to the newly founded city of Baghdad.
During this period the Muslim world became an intellectual centre for science, philosophy, medicine and education as the Abbasids championed the cause of knowledge and established the "House of Wisdom" (Arabic: بيت الحكمة) in Baghdad.
[33] The Abbasids ruled for 200 years before they lost their central control when Wilayas began to fracture in the 10th century; afterwards, in the 1190s, there was a revival of their power, which was ended by the Mongols, who conquered Baghdad in 1258 and killed the Caliph Al-Musta'sim.
The Fatimid state took shape among the Kutama Berbers, in the West of the North African littoral, in Algeria, in 909 conquering Raqqada, the Aghlabid capital.
Many traces of Fatimid architecture exist in Cairo today; the most defining examples include the Al-Hakim Mosque and the Al-Azhar University.
However, as the Ottoman authorities cracked down on the organization's activities and members, al-Fatat went underground and demanded the complete independence and unity of the Arab provinces.
[43] OPEC would cease the export of oil to America after the 1973 Yom Kippur War in an attempt to convince the United States to stop supporting Israel.
[45] During the Cold War the Arab world would be fought over by the West and East, with both sides supporting and sending troops into various conflicts.
