An exonym (from the , ''éxō'', "out" and , ''ónoma'', "name") is a name for a place or a personal name that differs from that used in the official or well-established language within that place or for that person by the local inhabitants, or a name for a people or language that is not native to the people or language to which it refers. Perhaps more simply, a name given to a place by foreigners. The name used by the people or locals themselves is called endonym, autonym (from the Greek , ''éndon'', "within" or , ''auto-'', "self" and ὄνομα, ''ónoma'', "name"), or self-appellation. For example, ''China'', ''India'', ''Germany'', ''Greece'', ''Japan'', and ''Korea'' are the English exonyms corresponding to the endonyms ''Zhongguo'', ''Bharat'', ''Deutschland'', ''Hellas'', ''Nippon''/''Nihon'', and ''Goryeo''.

Types of exonym

Exonyms may derive from different roots (as in the case of Germany for ''Deutschland''), they may be cognate words which have diverged in pronunciation or orthography, or they may be fully or partially translated from the native language. For example, London is known by the cognate exonyms ''Londres'' in Catalan, French, Portuguese and Spanish, ''Londino'' (Λονδίνο) in Greek, ''Londen'' in Dutch, ''Londra'' in Italian, Maltese, Romanian and Turkish, ''Londer'' in Albanian, ''Londýn'' in Czech and Slovak, ''Londyn'' in Polish, ''Lundúnir'' in Icelandic, ''Lontoo'' in Finnish, ''Lun Dun'' in Mandarin and ''Luân Đôn'' in Vietnamese. An example of a translated exonym is the name ''Soviet Union''.

Exonyms can also be divided into native and borrowed (i.e. from a third language). For example, Slovene uses the native exonyms ''Dunaj'' (Vienna) and ''Benetke'' (Venice), and the borrowed exonyms ''Kijev'' (Kiev) and ''Vilna'' (Vilnius), from Russian and Polish, respectively. A substantial proportion of English exonyms for places in continental Europe are borrowed (or adapted) from French, for example: Navarre (''Navarra/Nafarroa''), Belgrade (''Beograd''), Cologne (''Köln''), Munich (''München''), Prague (''Praha''), Turin (''Torino''), Copenhagen (''København'') etc.

Tendencies in the development of exonyms

Exonyms develop for places of special significance for speakers of the language of the exonym. Consequently, most European capitals have English exonyms, e.g. Athens (Αθήνα/Athína), Belgrade (Београд/Beograd), Bucharest (Bucureşti), Brussels (Bruxelles, Brussel), Copenhagen (København), Lisbon (Lisboa), Moscow (Москва/Moskva), Nicosia (Λευκωσία/Lefkosía), Prague (Praha), Rome (Roma), Vienna (Wien) or Warsaw (Warszawa), while for instance historically less prominent capitals Ljubljana and Zagreb do not (but do in, for example, German: Laibach and Agram). Madrid, Paris, Berlin and Amsterdam, with identical names in most major European languages, are exceptions. For places considered to be of lesser significance, attempts to reproduce local names have been made in English since the time of the Crusades. Livorno, to take an instance, was ''Leghorn'' because it was an Italian port essential to English merchants and, by the 18th century, to the British Navy; not far away, Rapallo, a minor port on the same sea, never received an exonym.

In earlier times, the name of the first tribe or village encountered became the exonym for the whole people beyond. Thus the Romans used the tribal names ''Graecus'' (Greek) and ''Germanus'', the Russians used the village name of ''Chechen'', medieval Europeans took the tribal name ''Tatar'' as emblematic for the whole Mongolic confederation (and then confused it with ''Tartarus'', a word for Hell, to produce ''Tartar''), and the Magyar invaders were equated with the 500-years-earlier Hunnish invaders in the same territory, and were called ''Hungarians''.

The Germanic invaders of the Roman Empire applied the word "Walha" to foreigners they encountered and this evolved in West Germanic languages as a generic name for all non-Germanic speakers; thence, the names Wallachia, Vlachs, Wallonia, Walloons, Wales, Wallasey, and even the Polish name for Italy, Włochy.

Mutes and gabblers

Some exonyms arise from describing others as "foreign-speaking", "non-speaking" or "nonsense-speaking". The classic example is the Slavic term for the Germans, ''Nemtsi'', possibly deriving from a plural of ''nemy'' ("mute"): standard etymology has it that the Slavic peoples referred to their Germanic neighbors as "mutes" because their language was unintelligible. The term survives to this day in the Russian ''nemtsy'' (''немцы''), Bulgarian ''nemtsi'' (''немци''), Polish ''Niemcy'', Czech ''Němci'', Slovak, Slovenian and Serbian ''Nemci'', Croatian and Bosnian ''Nijemci'', as well as in the Hungarian ''Német'' and Romanian ''Nemţi'' (both adopted from the Slavic), and even in the Turkish ''Nemçe'' and Arabic ''al-Nimsa'' (النمسا). (The Turkish was adapted from the Slavic, and the Arabic from the Turkish, the words in both cases referring specifically to Austria).

One of the more prominent theories regarding the origin of the term "Slav" suggests that it comes from the Slavic root ''slovo'' (hence "Slovenia," "Slovakia"), meaning "word" or "speech." In this context, the Slavs describing Germanic people as "mutes" — in contrast to themselves, "the speaking ones".

Another example of such development is the exonym "Sioux," an abbreviated form of ''Nadouessioux'', derived most likely from a Proto-Algonquian term, *-a·towe·, "foreign-speaking."

White settlers in South Africa thought that the Khoi-San natives gabbled nonsense syllables, and so called them "Hottentots."

Two millennia earlier, the Greeks had thought that all non-Greek-speakers spoke gibberish ("''bar-bar-bar''"), and so called them "barbarians," which eventually gave rise to the exonym "Berber."

While the Irish words for England and its people are ''Sasana'' and ''Sasanach'' ("Saxons"), the word for the English language is ''Béarla'', which derives ultimately from a word meaning "lips." In Old Irish, this word was applied to any foreign language, but by the medieval period it had come to be used exclusively for the English language.

Controversies and complications

In the late 20th century the use of exonyms often became controversial. Groups often prefer that outsiders avoid exonyms where they have come to be used in a pejorative way; for example, Romani people prefer that term over exonyms like ''Gypsy'' (from Egypt), or the French term ''bohémien, bohème'' (from Bohemia). People may also seek to avoid exonyms due to historical sensitivities, as in the case of German names for Polish and Czech places which used to be ethnically or politically German (e.g. Danzig/Gdańsk and Karlsbad/Karlovy Vary), much like Russian place names being used for locations once under its control (e.g. Kiev/Kyiv).

In recent years, geographers have sought to reduce the use of exonyms to avoid this kind of problem. For example, it is now common for Spanish speakers to refer to the Turkish capital as Ankara rather than use the Spanish exonym ''Angora''. However, according to the United Nations Statistics Division, "Time has, however, shown that initial ambitious attempts to rapidly decrease the number of exonyms were over-optimistic and not possible to realise in the intended way. The reason would appear to be that many exonyms have become common words in a language and can be seen as part of the language’s cultural heritage."

Other difficulties with endonyms have to do with pronunciation, spelling and word category. The endonym may include sounds which are highly unfamiliar to speakers of other languages, making appropriate usage difficult if not impossible for an outsider. Over the years, phonetic changes may happen to the endonym either in the original language or the borrowing language, thus changing an endonym into an exonym, as in the case of ''Paris'', where the ''s'' was formerly pronounced in French. Another example is the endonym for the German city of Cologne, where the Latin original of Colonia has evolved into ''Köln'' in German, while the Italian and Spanish exonym ''Colonia'' closely reflects the Latin original. In many cases no standardized spelling is available either because the language itself is unwritten (even unanalyzed) or because there are competing non-standard spellings. Use of a misspelled endonym is perhaps more problematic than the respectful use of an existing exonym. Finally, an endonym may be simply a plural noun and does not extend itself to adjectival usage in another language, like English, which has a propensity to use the adjectives for describing culture and language. The attempt to use the endonym thus has a bizarre-sounding result.

The name for a language and a people are often different terms, of course, which is a complication for an outsider.

Sometimes the government of a country tries to endorse the use of an endonym instead of traditional exonyms outside the country:

In 1985 the government of Côte d'Ivoire requested that the country's French name be used in all languages instead of exonyms such as ''Ivory Coast'', so that Côte d'Ivoire is now the official English name of that country in the United Nations and the International Olympic Committee (see Name of Côte d'Ivoire).

The Ukrainian government maintains that the capital of Ukraine should be spelled ''Kyiv'' in English because the traditional English exonym Kiev was derived from the Russian name ''Kiyev'' (Киев) (see Kiev: City name evolution).

The Belarusian government argues that the endonym ''Belarus'' should be used in all languages and has been rather successful in English, where the former exonym ''Byelorussia'', still used with reference to the Soviet Republic, has virtually died out, whereas in other languages exonyms like German Weißrussland, Dutch Wit-Rusland, Icelandic Hvíta-Rússland, Faroese Hvítarussland, Danish Hviderusland, Swedish Vitryssland, Greek Lefkorosía (Λευκορωσία), Turkish Beyaz Rusya, Estonian Valgevene, Finnish Valko-Venäjä (all literally 'White Russia'), or French Biélorussie are still much more common than ''Belarus'' (see History of the name Belarus).

In 1972 the government of Ceylon (the word is the anglicized form of Portuguese ''Ceilão'') changed the name to Sri Lanka, although the name Ceylon was retained as the brand name for tea.

In 1989 the government of Burma requested that the English name of the country be Myanmar, with ''Myanma'' as the adjective of the country and ''Bamar'' as the name of the inhabitants (see Names of Burma).

In 2006 the South Korean national government officially changed the Chinese name of its capital, Seoul, from the exonym ''Hancheng'' (汉城) to ''Shou'er'' (首尔). This use has now been made official within the People's Republic of China.

In 1935 Reza Shah requested that foreign nations use the name Iran rather than Persia in official correspondence. The name of the country had internally been Iran since the time of the Sassanid Empire (224–651), whereas the name Persia is descended from Greek ''Persis'' (Περσίς), referring to a single province.

Many Chinese endonyms have successfully replaced English exonyms, especially city and most province names in mainland China, following Hanyu Pinyin spelling, as the current standard romanisation in China, e.g. Beijing (北京 ''Běijīng''), Guangdong (广东 ''Guǎngdōng'') (province), Qingdao (青岛 ''Qīngdǎo''), although older English exonyms are sometimes used in certain contexts – e.g. Peking (duck, opera, etc.), Canton, Tsingtao, etc. However, the official romanized name of New Taipei (新北 Xīnběi) which has been the largest city of the Republic of China since late 2010 is based on an English exonym ''Taipei'' and a totally English word ''New''.

Confusion with renaming

Exonyms and endonyms must not be confused with the results of geographical renaming as in the case of Saint Petersburg, which became Petrograd (Петроград) in 1914, Leningrad (Ленинград) in 1924, and Saint Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург ''Sankt-Peterbúrg'') again in 1991. In this case, although ''St Petersburg'' has a German etymology, this was never a German exonym for the city between 1914 and 1991, just as Nieuw Amsterdam, the Dutch name of New York City until 1664, is not its Dutch exonym.

Old place names, which have become outdated after renaming, may afterwards still be used as historicisms. For example, even today one would talk about the Siege of Leningrad, not the Siege of St. Petersburg, because at that time (1941–1944) the city was called Leningrad. Likewise, one would say that Immanuel Kant was born in Königsberg in 1724, not in Kaliningrad (Калининград), as it has been called since 1946. Sometimes, however, historical names are deliberately not used because of nationalist tendencies to linguistically lay claim to a city's past. As a case in point, the Slovak Wikipedia article on the 1805 Peace of Pressburg does not use either of the city's names then in use (the Slovak ''Prešporok'' or the official, that is German, ''Pressburg''), but today's name ''Bratislava'', which became the city's name only in 1919.

The name Madras, now Chennai, may be a special case. When the city was first settled by Englishmen, in the early 17th century, both names were in use. Possibly they referred to different villages which were fused into the new settlement. In any case, Madras became the exonym, while more recently, Chennai became the endonym.

Likewise, Istanbul is still called Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολη) in Greek, despite the name having been changed in Turkish (and other languages) between 1923 and 1930. (Ironically, the name Istanbul itself derives from a Medieval Greek phrase.)

== Orthographic exonymy in languages with phonetic spelling ==

There are a few languages in Europe in which the use of seeming exonyms (in terms of spelling but not necessarily pronunciation) for places and people is actually the norm and not an exception: Latvian, Lithuanian, Turkish, Azerbaijani and Serbian (when written in Roman script), all having Latin-based script, transcribe foreign proper names whenever necessary, including those originally written in Latin script. The reasons are the respective nations' preference for their own consistent phonetic spelling and the need to add native inflectional endings to most nouns. The resulting advantage is that reading and spelling in these languages remain easy (knowledge of how to spell any unadapted foreign words is not required); a disadvantage is that foreigners may erroneously complain that their names have been "misspelled". In reality, the phonetic transcription is often more correct: e.g., ''Varšava'', ''Varšuva'', ''Varšava'', Varşova, Varşava (in Latvian, Lithuanian, Serbian, Turkish and Azerbaijani respectively), with and , is phonetically closer to the original Polish ''Warszawa'' than the English ''Warsaw'' . (The sound is usually perceived as closer to than by speakers of languages with those two sounds but not .)

See also

-onym

Shibboleth

List of indigenous language names

List of adjectival forms of place names

Romanian exonyms

German exonyms

Icelandic exonyms

Latin exonyms

Russian exonyms

German names for Central European towns

List of English exonyms for German toponyms

List of English exonyms for Italian toponyms

List of Welsh exonyms for English toponyms

Names of European cities in different languages

List of European exonyms

Slavic toponyms for Greek places

List of countries and capitals in native languages

List of alternative country names

List of country names in various languages

List of Latin place names in Europe

List of European regions with alternative names

List of European rivers with alternative names

List of traditional Greek place names

English exonyms of Arabic speaking places

Place names in Irish

List of cities in the Americas with alternative names

References

External links

2006 UN document discussing exonyms (PDF)

Jacek Wesołowski's Place Names in Europe, featuring endonyms and exonyms for many cities

"Does Juliet's Rose, by Any Other Name, Smell as Sweet?" by Verónica Albin.

Looking up in exonym database

European geographical names infrastructure and services (EuroGeoNames)

UN document describing EuroGeoNames (PDF)

Category:Ethnicity Category:Semantics Category:Toponymy Category:Place names

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Coordinates	50°15′″N19°0′″N
Group	Cree''nēhilaw''
Poptime	over 200,000
Popplace	Canada, United States
Languages	Cree, English, French
Related	Métis, Oji-Cree, Ojibwe, Innu }}

The Cree are one of the largest groups of First Nations/Native Americans in North America, with 200,000 members living in Canada. In Canada, the major proportion of Cree live north and west of Lake Superior, in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories, although 15,000 live in eastern Quebec.

In the United States, this Algonquian-speaking people lived historically from Lake Superior westward. Today, they live mostly in Montana, where they share a reservation with the Ojibwe (Chippewa).

The documented westward migration over historic time has been strongly associated with their roles as middle men and hunters in the North American Fur Trade.

Tribes

The Cree Nation is generally divided into eight groups (some political, others cultural):

# ''Naskapi'' (Innu) and # ''Montagnais'' (Innu) are inhabitants of an area they refer to as Nitassinan. Their territories comprise most of the present-day political jurisdictions of eastern Quebec and Labrador. Their cultures are differentiated, as the Naskapi are still caribou hunters and more nomadic than the Montagnais, but the Montagnais have more settlements. The total population of the two groups in 2003 was about 18,000 people, of which 15,000 lived in Quebec. Their dialects and languages are the most distinct from the Cree spoken by the groups west of Lake Superior. # ''Attikamekw'' are inhabitants of the area they refer to as Nitaskinan (Our Land), in the upper St. Maurice River valley of Quebec (about 300 km north of Montreal). Their population is around 4,500. # James Bay Cree - Grand Council of the Crees; approximately 16,357 Cree (''Iyyu'' in Coastal Dialect / ''Iynu'' in Inland Dialect) of the James Bay and Nunavik regions of Northern Quebec. # Moose Cree - Moose Factory in the Cochrane District, Ontario; this group lives on Moose Factory Island, near the mouth of the Moose River, at the southern end of James Bay. # Swampy Cree - this group lives in northern Manitoba along the Hudson Bay coast and adjacent inland areas to the south and west, and in Ontario along the coast of Hudson Bay and James Bay. Some also in eastern Saskatchewan around Cumberland House. It has 4,500 speakers. # Woods Cree group in northern Alberta and Saskatchewan. # Plains Cree 34,000 people in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Montana.

Collectively the Cree used the autonym ''Nēhilawē'' (those who speak our language). They used "Cree" to refer to their people only when speaking the languages of the European colonists, French or English.

Skilled American bison hunters and horsemen, the Plains Cree were allied with the ''Assiniboine'' and the ''Saulteaux'' before they encountered French settlers in the 18th century.

Name

The name "Cree" is derived from the Algonkian-language exonym ''Kiristino'', which the Ojibwa used for tribes around Hudson Bay. The French colonists and explorers, who spelled the term ''Kilistinon'', ''Kiristinon'', and ''Cristinaux'', used the term for numerous tribes which they encountered north of Lake Superior, in Manitoba, and west of there. The French used these terms to refer to various groups of peoples in Canada, some of which are now better distinguished as Severn Anishinaabe (Ojibwa), who speak languages different from the Algonkian or the Cree. Depending on the community, the Cree may call themselves by the following names: the ''nēhiyaw'', ''nīhithaw'', ''nēhilaw'', and ''nēhinaw''; or ''ininiw'', ''ililiw'', ''iynu'' (''innu''), or ''iyyu''. These names are derived from the historical autonym ''nēhiraw'' (uncertain meaning) or from the historical autonym ''iriniw'' (meaning "person"). Cree using the latter autonym tend to be those living in the territories of Quebec and Labrador.

Language

The Cree language (also known in the most broad classification as Cree-Montagnais, Cree-Montagnais-Naskapi, to show the groups included within it) is the name for a group of closely related Algonquian languages spoken by approximately 117,000 people across Canada, from the Northwest Territories to Labrador. It is the most widely spoken aboriginal language in Canada. The only region where Cree has official status is in the Northwest Territories, together with eight other aboriginal languages.

The two major groups: Nehiyaw and Innu, speak a mutually intelligible, Cree dialect continuum, which can be divided by many criteria. In a dialect continuum, "It is not so much a language, as a chain of dialects, where speakers from one community can very easily understand their neighbours, but a Plains Cree speaker from Alberta would find a Québec Cree speaker difficult to speak to without practice."

One major division between the groups is that the Eastern group palatalizes the sound to either (c) or to (č) when it precedes front vowels. There is also a major difference in grammatical vocabulary (particles) between the groups. Within both groups, another set of variations has arisen around the pronunciation of the Proto-Algonquian phoneme *l, which can be realized as or (th) by different groups. Yet in other dialects, the distinction between (ē) and (ī) has been lost, merging to the latter. In more western dialects, the distinction between and (š) has been lost, both merging to the former.

If the consonants and * used in Cree are compared to their English counterparts, it is noticeable that there is little distinction of voicing. In English, voicing marks the difference of meaning in words such as "bin : pin". Since there is not distinction of voicing in Cree, it is common for variants of to sound more like without any difference in meaning.

In Canada

The Cree are the largest group of First Nations in Canada, with over 200,000 members and 135 registered bands. This large population may be a result of the Crees' traditional openness to inter-tribal marriage. Together, their reserve lands are the largest of any First Nations group in the country. The largest Cree band and the second largest First Nations Band in Canada after the Six Nations Iroquois is the Lac La Ronge Band in northern Saskatchewan.

The Métis (from French Métis - any person of mixed ancestry) are people of mixed ancestry, such as Nehiyaw (or Anishinaabe) and French, English, or Scottish heritage. According to Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, the Métis were historically the children of French fur traders and Nehiyaw women or, from unions of English or Scottish traders and northern Dene women (Anglo-Métis). Generally in academic circles, the term Métis can be used to refer to any combination of persons of mixed Native American and European heritage, although historical definitions for Métis remain. Canada's Indian and Northern Affairs broadly define Métis as those persons of mixed First Nation and European ancestry.

In the United States

At one time the Cree were located in northern Minnesota, North Dakota and Montana. Today they live as part of the federally recognized Chippewa Cree tribe, located on the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation in Montana. They share the reservation with the Pembina Band of Chippewa Indians, who form the "Chippewa" half of the Chippewa Cree tribe. (In Canada the Chippewa are known as Ojibwa.) Traditionally, the southern limits of the Cree territory in the United States were the Missouri River and the Milk River in Montana.

Cree First Nation communities

1 Naskapi (''Iyiyiw'' and ''Innu'')

Kawawachikamach

Natuashish

2 Montagnais a Eastern Montagnais (''Innu'')

Mingan

Uashat-Maliotenam

Matimekosh

Natashquan

Pakua-Shipi

La Romaine

Sheshatshiu

b Western Montagnais (''Nehilaw'' and ''Ilniw'')

Mashteuiatsh

Betsiamites

Essipit

3 Atikamekw (''Nehiraw'')

Atikamekw d'Opitciwan

Les Atikamekw de Manawan

Conseil des Atikamekw de Wemotaci

4 James Bay Cree a Northern James Bay Cree (''Iyiyiw'')

Cree Nation of Chisasibi

Eastmain First Nation (also Southern James Bay Cree)

Cree Nation of Wemindji

Cree Nation of Whapmagoostui

b Southern James Bay Cree (''Iyniw'' (inland) and ''Iyyiw'' (coastal))

Eastmain First Nation (also Northern James Bay Cree)

Cree Nation of Mistissini

Cree Nation of Nemaska

Oujé-Bougoumou First Nation – Oujé-Bougoumou, Quebec

The Crees of the Waskaganish First Nation

Waswanipi Cree First Nation

5 Moose Cree (''Mōsonī'' / ''ililī'') Moose Cree First Nation – Moose Factory, Ontario

6 Swampy Cree (''Maškēkowak'' / ''nēhinawak'')

Attawapiskat First Nation – Attawapiskat, Ontario

Black Sturgeon First Nation

Brunswick House First Nation (also Ojibwa)

Chapleau Cree First Nation

Chemawawin Cree Nation (also Rocky Cree)

Constance Lake First Nation (also Ojibwa)

Cumberland House Cree Nation

Fisher River Cree Nation

Flying Post First Nation (also Ojibwa)

Fort Albany First Nation (also known as Albany First Nation) - Fort Albany, Ontario

Fort Severn First Nation

Fox Lake Cree Nation

Kashechewan First Nation

Marcel Colomb First Nation

Matachewan First Nation (also Ojibwa)

Mathias Colomb First Nation (also Rocky Cree)

Misipawistik Cree Nation (formerly known as Grande Rapids First Nation)(also Rocky Cree)

Missanabie Cree First Nation

Mosakahiken Cree Nation

Neskantaga First Nation

Opaskwayak Cree Nation – The Pas, Manitoba

Red Earth Cree Nation (also Woods Cree)

Sapotaweyak Cree Nation

Shamattawa Cree Nation

Shoal Lake Cree Nation (also Woods Cree)

Tataskweyak Cree Nation

Taykwa Tagamou Nation (formerly known as New Post First Nation)

War Lake First Nation

Weenusk First Nation

Wuskwi Sipihk First Nation

York Factory First Nation

7 Woodland Cree a Rocky Cree (''Asinīskāwiyiniwak'')

Barren Lands First Nation

Bunibonibee Cree Nation (formerly known as Oxford House First Nation)

Chemawawin Cree Nation (also Swampy Cree)

God’s Lake First Nation

Manto Sipi Cree Nation

Mathias Colomb First Nation (also Swampy Cree)

Misipawistik Cree Nation (formerly known as Grand Rapids First Nation)(also Swampy Cree)

Moose Lake First Nation

Nelson House Band of Cree (Historical)

* Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation

* O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation

Norway House Cree Nation

Pimicikamak

*Cross Lake First Nation

Split Lake First Nation

The Pas First Nation

b Woods Cree (''Sakāwithiniwak'' / ''nīhithawak'')

Bigstone Cree Nation

Canoe Lake First Nation(also Bush Cree)

Driftpile First Nation

Duncan's First Nation

Fort McMurray First Nation (also Chipewyan)

Grouard First Nation

Green Lake Band of Cree (historical)

*Lac La Ronge First Nation (formerly known as Lac La Ronge Indian Band)

** La Ronge & Stanley Mission Band of Cree Indians (Historical), which divided and then re-amalgamated:

*** James Roberts Band of Cree Indians (Historical)

*** Amos Charles Band of Cree Indians (Historical)

*Montreal Lake First Nation

*Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation

Heart Lake First Nation

Kapawe'no First Nation

Little Red River Cree Nation

Loon River First Nation

Lubicon Lake Indian Nation

Mikisew Cree First Nation

Red Earth Cree Nation (also Swampy Cree)

Sawridge First Nation

Shoal Lake Cree Nation (also Swampy Cree)

Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation

Sucker Creek First Nation

Swan River First Nation

Wabasca First Nation

Whitefish Lake First Nation 128

8 Plains Cree (''Paskwāwiyiniwak'' / ''nēhiyawak'') a Downstream People (''Māmihkiyiniwak'')

Cowessess First Nation

Little Black Bear First Nation

Muscowpetung First Nation (also Saulteaux)

Nekaneet First Nation

Ochapowace First Nation

One Arrow First Nation

Peepeekisis First Nation

Star Blanket First Nation

i Calling River / Qu'Appelle Cree (''Kātēpwēwi-sīpīwiyiniwak'')

Ocean Man First Nation (also Assiniboine and Saulteaux)

Pheasant Rump Nakota Nation (also Nakoda and Saulteaux)

Whitebear First Nation

ii Rabbit skins (''Wāpošwayānak'')

Kahkewistahaw First Nation

Okanese First Nation (also Saulteaux)

Pasqua First Nation (also Saulteaux)

Sakimay First Nation (also Saulteaux)

iii Touchwood Hills Cree (''Pasākanacīwiyiniwak'')(also Saulteaux) – Punnichy, Saskatchewan

Daystar First Nation

Gordon First Nation

Kawacatoose First Nation

Muskowekwan First Nation

iv Cree-Assiniboine / Young Dogs (''Nēhiyawi-pwātak'')

Piapot First Nation (also Assiniboine)

b Upstream People (''Natimiyininiwak'')

Beaver Lake Cree Nation – Lac la Biche, Alberta

Big Island Lake First Nation (also known as Joseph Bighead First Nation)

Chippewa-Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy’s Reservation, Montana (also Ojibwa)

Frog Lake First Nation

Kehewin Cree Nation

Lucky Man First Nation

Moosomin First Nation

Mosquito Grizzly Bear's Head First Nation (also Nakoda)

Muskeg First Nation

Pelican Lake First Nation

Saulteaux First Nation (also Saulteaux)

St. Peter's Band of Cree and Saulteaux (Historical)(also Saulteaux)

* Muskoday First Nation (formerly: John Smith First Nation) – Muskoday, Saskatchewan

* Peguis First Nation – Peguis, Manitoba

Sturgeon Lake First Nation

Thunderchild First Nation

Waterhen Lake First Nation

Witchekan Lake First Nation

i Beaver Hills Cree (''Amiskwacīwiyiniwak'')

Alexander First Nation (also Wapski Mahikan Society) – Morinville, Alberta

Alexis Nakota First Nation (also Nakoda)

Enoch Cree Nation – Winterburn, Alberta

Ermineskin Cree Nation – Hobbema, Alberta

Louis Bull First Nation – Hobbema, Alberta

Montana First Nation – Hobbema, Alberta

O'Chiese First Nation(also Saulteaux)

Onion Lake Cree Nation

Paul First Nation (also Nakoda) – Duffield, Alberta

Saddle Lake Cree First Nation

* Blue Quills Band of Cree (Historical)

* Saddle Lake Band of Cree (Historical)

* Wahsatenaw Band of Cree (Historical)

* Whitefish (Goodfish) Lake First Nation

Samson Cree Nation – Hobbema, Alberta

Sunchild First Nation

ii House Cree (''wāskahikaniwiyiniwak'')

Ahtahkakoop First Nation

Mistawasis First Nation

iii Parklands Cree / Willow Cree (''Paskokopāwiyiniwak'')

Beardy's and Okemasis First Nations

James Smith First Nation

Peter Chapman Cree Nation (incorporated into James Smith First Nation, but with some legal status as a separate entity).

iv River Cree (''Sīpīwininiwak'')

Little Pine First Nation

Poundmaker First Nation

Red Pheasant Cree Nation

Sweetgrass First Nation

v Northern Plains Cree / Western Woodland Cree / Bush Cree (''Sakāwiyiniwak'')

Big River First Nation

Canoe Lake First Nation (also Woods Cree)

Flying Dust First Nation

Island Lake First Nation

Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation

Notable Cree Chiefs

''Mistāwasis'' ("Big Child", also known as Pierre Belanger), Chief of the Parklands/Willow Cree (''Paskokopāwiyiniwak''), born about 1813. He was one of the influential chiefs of the House Cree or ''Wāskahikaniwiyiniwak'', supplied between 1852–1854 Fort Carlton with bison meat and pemmican, acquired in his youth by constant military conflicts the respect of Crowfoot, the chief of the Siksika, the Blackfoot called Mistāwasis respectfully “The Iron Buffalo of the Plains”) Ahtahkakoop ("Starblanket"), Chief of the House Cree (''Wāskahikaniwiyiniwak''). He was born about 1815-16, signed together with his cousin, ''Mistāwasis'' in 1876 the Treaty 6 at Fort Carlton, where he agreed that his group were settled into a reserve near the present-day Prince Albert, died 4th December 1896 at the age of 81 years) Ahchuchhwahauhhatohapit (''Ahchacoosacootacoopits'' - ‘Starblanket’, Chief of a band of Calling River Cree (''Kātēpwēwi-sīpīwiyiniwak''), born about 1845 in the lower Qu’Appelle Valley, son of ''Wāpiy-mōsētōsis'' ("White Calf"), his tribal group was closely associated with the ''Ka Kichi Wi Winiwak'' under the leadership of chief ''Kakeesheway'' (‘Loud Voice’), and a close ally of ''Payipwāt'' ("Piapot"), the chief of the Cree-Assiniboine or "Young Dogs", 1879 after the disappearance of the bison Ahchuchhwahauhhatohapit settled on a reserve in the File Hills of the lower Qu'Appelle Valley, died 1917 in the Star Blanket reserve, Saskatchewan) ''Payipwāt'' (or Piapot: "[One who Knows the] Secrets of the Sioux"), also known as "Hole in the Sioux" or ''Kisikawasan'' - ‘Flash in the Sky’, Chief of the Cree-Assiniboine or the Young Dogs with great influence on neighboring Assiniboine, ''Downstream People'', southern groups of the ''Upstream People'' and Saulteaux (Plains Ojibwa), born 1816, kidnapped as a child by the Sioux, he was freed about 1830 by Plains Cree, significant Shaman, most influential chief of the feared Young Dogs, convinced the Plains Cree to expand west in the Cypress Hills, the last refugee for bison groups, therefore disputed border area between Sioux, Assiniboine, Siksika Kainai and Cree, refused to participate in the raid on a Kainai camp near the present Lethbridge, Alberta, then the Young Dogs and their allies were content with the eastern Cypress Hills to the Milk River, Montana, does not participate at the negotiations on the Treaty 4 of 1874, he and ''Cheekuk '', the most important chief of the Plains Ojibwa in the Qu'Appelle area, signed on 9th September 1875 the treaty only as preliminary contract, tried with the chiefs of the River Cree ''Minahikosis'' ("Little Pine") and ''Mistahi-maskwa'' ("Big Bear") to erect a kind of Indian Territory for all the Plains Cree, Plains Ojibwa and Assiniboine - as Ottawa refused, he asked 1879-80 along with ''Kiwisünce'' (''cowessess''- 'Little Child')and the Assiniboine for adjacent reserves in the Cypress Hills, ''Payipwāt'' settled in a reserve about 37 miles northeast of Fort Walsh, ''Minahikosis'' ("Little Pine") and ''Papewes'' (‘Lucky Man’) asked successfully for reserves near the Assiniboine or ''Payipwāt'' - this allowed the Cree and Assiniboine to preserve their autonomy - because they went 1881 in Montana on bison hunting, stole Absarokee horses and alleged cattle killed, arrested the U.S. Army the Cree-Assiniboine group, disarmed and escorted them back to Canada - now unarmed, denied rations until the Cree and Assiniboine gave up their claims to the Cypress Hills and went north - in the following years the reserves changed several times and the tribes were trying repeated until to the Northwest Rebellion in 1885 to build an Indian Territory, ''Payipwāt'' remained under heavy guard, until his death he was a great spiritual leader, therefore Ottawa deposed ''Payipwāt'' on 15 April 1902 as chief, died in April 1908 on Piapot Reserve, Saskatchewan)

Kee-a-kee-ka-sa-coo-way (‘The Man Who gives the War Whoop’), Chief of the Plains Cree, was in the middle of the 19th century the leading chief of the Plains Cree, had also a large following among the Plains Ojibwa around Fort Pitt, his sub-chief was ''Mukitou'' (‘Black Powder’), the father of ''Mistahi-maskwa''.

''Mistahi-maskwa'' (recorded as Mistihui'muskwa or as Mistahimusqua; better known as Big Bear in English and as ''Gros Ours'' in French), Chief of the Plains Cree, born about 1825, son of the Ojibwa-Chief ''Mukitou (‘Black Powder’), mastered his native language, the Cree language, as well as Ojibwe language, led the last resistance to the dispersal of the Cree on many reservations and asked for a big total reserve, a revolt of the young warriors under the leadership of one of his sons in 1885 destroyed these plans, died 17 January 1888 on the Poundmaker reservation in North Battleford in Saskatchewan.

Kapapamahchakwew (''Kā-papāmahcahkwêw'', ''Kapapa Machatiwe'', ''Papamahchakwayo'', french: ‘Esprit Errant’, better known as Wandering Spirit, war chief of the Plains Cree under ''Mistahimaskwa'', born 1845 near Jackfish Lake, Saskatchewan, committed on 2 April 1885, the so-called Frog Lake massacre, killed the Indian Agent Thomas Quinn and eight whites and one Métis, surrendered in July at Fort Pitt, was hanged on 27 November 1885 in Battleford, Saskatchewan) Kamiokisihkwew (''Miyo Kisikaw'' - Fine Day,Chief of the Plains Cree, born 1850 in the Battle River region, died 193[?], was a shaman and war chief under Pitikwahanapiwiyin`s ''River Cree'', during the North-West Rebellion Battleford was sacked by River Cree, subsequently Fine Day was as war chief the leader in the uprising, defeated the Canadian army in the Battle of Cut Knife, later joined a group of Plains Cree under the leadership of Chief ''Wikaskokiseyin''(‘Sweet Grass’), whose chief he became later) Pitikwahanapiwiyin (''Pîhtokahânapiwiyin'' - ‘Poundmaker’,Chief of the ''River Cree'', born about 1842 in the North Battleford Region in Saskatchewan; son of ''Sikakwayan'' (‘Skunk Skin’), an shaman of the Assiniboine and a Franco-Canadian Métisse, the sister of Chief ''Mistāwasis'' ("Big Child"), Chief of a band consisting of Plains River Cree'' (''Sīpīwininiwak-paskwāwiyiniwak''), Woods River Cree (‘Sīpīwininiwak-sakāwiyiniwak’), Western Woodland Cree (''Sakāwiyiniwak'') and ''Nakoda (Stoney)'', was adopted in 1873 by the Siksika chief Crowfoot as son, lived several years by the Blackfeet-name ''Makoyi-koh-kin'' (‘Wolf Thin Legs’) under the Siksika, returned to the Cree, became counselor of the Chief ''Pihew-kamihkosit'' (‘Red Pheasant’), was involved in the negotiations for the Treaty 6 in 1876 ​​and went in 1879 in the Poundmaker reservation, later he participated in the siege of Battleford and the Battle of Cut Knife, died 4 July 1886 in Blackfoot Crossing, Alberta) Wikaskokiseyin (''Wee-kas-kookee-sey-yin'', better known as Chief Sweet Grass, Chief of the Plains Cree, his mother was a captured Absaroke, as he grew up he was also called ''Apistchi-okimas''- 'Little Chief', signed the Treaty 6 on 9 September 1876 at Fort Pitt, along with bands of Woodland Cree, Chipewyan, some Saulteaux, only a quarter of the participating groups were Plains Cree, while his successor as chief ''Wah-wee-oo-kah-tah-mah-hote'' ('Strike him on the back') signed the Treaty 6 at Fort Carlton on the 28th August 1876 together with the ''Willow Cree'', died 11 January 1877 in a shootout accident on the Plains, probably at Saint-Paul-des-Cris, Alberta) Peechee (Pesew - ‘Mountain Lion’, also known as ''Louis Piche''), Chief of the ''Asini Wachi Nehiyawak'' and later the head chief of the 'Rocky/Mountain Cree' or ''Asini Wachi Wi Iniwak'', born about 1821, introduced under the ''Asini Wachi Wi Iniwak'' the Catholic rite, his three sons, ''Piyesew Chak'', ''Keskayiwew''('Bobtail') and Ermineskin were also significant chiefs, Pesew and his elder son ''Chak Piyesew'' were killed during a gambling dispute in 1843, among his sons-in-law were the chiefs ''Samson'', ''Chiniki'', ''Bearspaw'', ''Capote Blank'' and ''Jacques Cardinal'') Ermineskin (‘One with teh skin like a ermine’, ''Sehkosowayanew'', ''Sikosew Inew'', also known as ''Baptiste Piche'', Chief of the Bear Hills Cree (''Maskwa Wachi-is Ininiwak''), son of ''Pesew'' (‘Mountain Lion’), brother-in-law of ''Pitikwahanapiwiyin'')

Keskayiwew (''Kiskiyew'', ''Kiskiyo'' - Bobtail, also known as Alexis Piche, Chief of the Bear Hills Cree (''Maskwa-wachi-is Ininiwak''), son of ''Pesew'' (‘Mountain Lion’), brother of ''Ermineskin'', became chief after the death of his older brother, was elected instead of ''Maskepetoon'' ('Broken Arm') to the chieftainship of the ''Rocky Cree'' and later became head chief of the ''Western Cree''(‘Pakisimotan Wi Iniwak’) and soon after became the head chief of all the groups of the ''Upstream People'')

Kamdyistowesit (''Kanaweyihimitowin'', ‘Beardy’, french: ‘Barbu’, Chief of the ''Parklands'' or ''Willow Cree'', born 1828 near Duck Lake, became in the 1870th chief, married ''Yaskuttsu-s'', the half-sister of chief ''Küpeyakwüskonam'' (‘One Arrow’), among the members of his tribal group were many Métis descendants of the Hudson's Bay Company employee George Sutherland) Küpeyakwüskonam (''Kupeyakwuskonam'', ''Kah-pah-yak-as-to-cum'' - One Arrow, French: ‘Une Flèche’, Chief of the ''Parklands'' or ''Willow Cree'', born 1815 in the Saskatchewan River Valley, son of George Sutherland (‘Okayasiw’) and his second wife ''Paskus'' (‘Rising’), tried to prevent in 1876 negotiations on the Treaty 6 at Fort Carlton along with ''Kamdyistowesit'' ('Beardy') and ''Saswaypew'' ('Cut Nose'), but finally signed on August 28 the treaty, in August 1884 he attended a meeting with chief ''Mistahimaskwa'' ('Big Bear') and ''Papewes'' (‘Papaway’ - 'Lucky Man'), his tribal group joined first the Métis in 1885, died on 25 April 1886 in the prison) Minahikosis (Little Pine, french: ‘Petit Pin’, Chief of the ''Plains Cree'', born about 1830 in the vicinity of Fort Pitt, Saskatchewan, his mother was a Blackfeet, became famous in the 1860s, as armed Plains Cree to find the last remaining bison, penetrated more and more into the territory of the Blackfoot Confederacy, led three years bitter resistance, signed however, in view of his starving people in 1879 the Treaty 6, and moved into a reserve at the foot of Blue Hill along the Battle River, his reputation was comparable to that of Mistahimaskwa'''' ('Big Bear')) Papewes (''Papaway'' - ‘Lucky Man’, Chief of the ''Plains River Cree'' (''Sīpīwininiwak-paskwāwiyiniwak''), born in the late 1830s near Fort Pitt, was in the 1870s a leader of ''Mistahimaskwa''´s Plains River Cree, as the bison disappeared, signed along with ''Little Pine'' on the 2nd July 1879 for the 470 members of his tribal group an annex to the Agreement No. 6 at Fort Walsh, in vain he asked for a reserve in the Cypress Hills and the Buffalo Lake, so many members went back to ''Mistahimaskwa'' ("Big Bear") or joined ''Minahikosis'' ("Little Pine"), Papewes asked 1884 in vain a reserve adjacent to the reserves of ''Pitikwahanapiwiyin'' (' Poundmaker'), ''Minahikosis'' and ''Mistahimaskwa'', during the rebellion of 1885 were the two groups of ''Papewes'' and ''Minahikosis'' scattered and some of their members fled in the U.S., 1886 settled the remaining members of the two groups in the Little Pine's reserve died 1901 nahe Fort Assiniboine, Montana)

Saswaypew (''Sayswaypus'', ''Seswepiu'' - ‘Cut Nose’, Chief of the Parklands or Willow Cree, son of ''Wimtchik'', a Franco-Canadian Métis, married ''One Arrow’s'' sister ''Nawapukayus'', his sisters ''Ayamis'' and ''Minuskipuihat'' were both married to ‘One Arrow’, ''Kamdyistowesit'' (‘Beardy’) and he were brother-in-law, because both were married to daughters of George Sutherland)

Maskepetoon (''Maski Pitonew'' - ‘Broken Arm’, ‘Crooked Arm’, later called ''Peacemaker'', Chief of a group of ''Rocky /Mountain Cree'' or ''Asini Wachi Wi Iniwak'', born about 1807 in the Saskatchewan River region, because of his bravery he was called by the hostile Blackfoot ''Mon-e-ba-guh-now'' or ''Mani-kap-ina'' (‘Young Man Chief’), turned later to the Methodist missionaries, what him and his followers brought into conflict with the Catholic ''free'' Rocky Cree under the leadership of ''Pesew'', moved to the reserve and was soon known as the ''Peacemaker'', was killed in 1869 in a Blackfoot camp in Alberta by the enemy war chief Big Swan, in an attempt to make peace between the two peoples unarmed) Pihew-kamihkosit (''Pee-yahn-kah-nihk-oo-sit'', better known as Red Pheasant, Chief of the Plains River Cree, brother and counselor of the chief ''Wuttunee'' (‘Porcupine’), signed on on behalf of his brother Wuttunee the Treaty 6, he was then regarded as a so called Treaty Chief by the Canadian government, moved with his tribal group 1878 onto the present Red Pheasant Reserve, about 33 km south of North Battleford, Saskatchewan)

Peayasis (better known as ''François Desjarlais'', Chief of the ''Beaver River Cree'' or ''Amisk Sipi Wi Iniwak'', a subgroup of the Woodland Cree (''Sakāwithiniwak''), born 1824 at the Beaver River, son of Ladoucoeur ''dit'' Desjarlais and Josephte Suzette Cardinal, signed on 8th August 1876 the Treaty 6, participated in battle of Battle River)

Kahkewistahaw, Chief of the ''Rabbit Skin Cree'' (''Wāpošwayānak'') and Saulteaux, signed in 15th September 1874 the Treaty 4, his tribal group was hunting in the area around Wood Mountain and the Cypress Hills and went back to the Qu'Appelle Valley to get once in the year their payments and gifts until a reserve was established in 1881) Paskwüw (''Paskwa'', ''Pisqua'', usually called Pasquah - ‘The Plain’; French: ''Les Prairies''), Chief of the ''Plains Cree'', born 1828, son of the famous chief ''Mahkaysis'', 1874 his tribal group were making their living with bison hunting in the vicinity of today's Leech Lake, Saskatchewan, they had also created gardens and raised a small herd of cattle, in September 1874 ''Pasqua'' took part in the negotiations on the Treaty 4 in Qu'Appelle Valley, he asked the Canadian government for the payment of £ 300,000 to the tribes, which the Hudson's Bay Company had received for the sale of Rupert's land to Canada, despite the refusal of Canada he finally signed the treaty and moved to a reserve five miles west of Fort Qu'Appelle, stayed out with his tribal group from the Northwest Rebellion of 1885, died in March 1889 he succumbed to the tuberculosis) Petequakey (‘Comes to Us With the Sound of Wings’, better known as Isidore Cayen ''dit'' Boudreau, Chief of the ''Parklands'' or ''Willow Cree'' at Muskeg Lake, born in St. Boniface, Manitoba, as son of Pierre Narcisse Cayen ''dit'' Boudreau and Adelaide Catherine Arcand (‘Kaseweetin’), though he he was a Métis he became chief of the ''Willow Cree'' an the Métis, who were living with the Cree, brother and counselor of chief ''Kee-too-way-how'' (a.k.a. Alexander Cayen ''dit'' Boudreau), after ''Kee-too-way-how'' had left the reserve on the Muskeg Lake to live around Batoche, became ''Petequakey'' chief (1880-1889) of the remaining Cree and Métis living in the reserve, he participated on 26 March 1885 along with the Métis leader Gabriel Dumont at the battle at Duck Lake, thereafter he led his tribal group to St. Laurent to participate in the defense of Batoche, one of the largest Métis settlements and the seat of the Saskatchewan's provisional government during the rebellion)

Kee-too-way-how (‘Sounding With Flying Wings’, better known as Alexander Cayen ''dit'' Boudreau, Chief of the ''Parklands'' or ''Willow Cree'' at Muskeg Lake, born 1834 St. Boniface, Manitoba, son of Pierre Narcisse Cayen ''dit'' Boudreau and Adelaide Catherine Arcand (‘Kaseweetin’), though he was of Métis descent he became chief of the '' Willow Cree'' and the Métis, who were living with the Cree, brother of ''Petequakey'' (‘Isidore Cayen ''dit'' Boudreau’), lived along Duck Lake, signed 1876 Treaty 6 and settled in a reserve at Muskeg Lake - that was later named after his brother ''Petequakey'' - but left the reserve in 1880 and lived again in the following years close to St. Laurent de Grandin mission, played a prominent role during the Northwest Rebellion of 1885 in which he participated in every battle, served also as an emissary of the Métis leader Gabriel Dumont to ask the Assiniboine for support, on 23 May 1885 he also submitted the declaration of surrender of ''Pitikwahanapiwiyin'' ('Poundmaker') to General Middleton, was captured on the 1st June 1885, in the subsequent trial of ''Kee-too-way-how'' at Regina, Louis Cochin testified that he and the carters in the camp of ''Pitikwahanapiwiyin'' survived only thanks to the intercession by Kee-way-too-how and its people, despite the positive testimony, he was on 14 August 1885 sentenced to imprisonment for seven years for his involvement in the Métis rebellion, died 1886).

Notable Cree

Janice Acoose, author, of Sakimay (Saulteaux) and Ninankawe Marival Métis ancestry

Nathaniel Arcand, actor

Irene Bedard, actress

Mary Katherine Campbell, former Miss America pageant titleholder

Harold Cardinal, writer, political leader, teacher, and lawyer

Lorne Cardinal, actor

Tantoo Cardinal, actor

Jonathan Cheechoo, NHL hockey player

Theoren Fleury, retired NHL hockey player, humanitarian, spokesperson, and author

Michael Greyeyes, actor

Tomson Highway, playwright, librettist of the first Cree-language opera

Tyson Houseman, actor

Cody Lightning, actor

Wilton Littlechild, lawyer, former Member of Parliament

Delia Opekokew, lawyer and activist

Bronson Pelletier, actor

Roméo Saganash, Member of Parliament for Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, Quebec

Buffy Sainte-Marie, singer

Cree Summer, singer/actress

Richard Throssel (1882–1933), photographer

Gordon Tootoosis, actor

Shania Twain, singer/songwriter

Alfred Young Man (b. 1948), educator, writer, curator, artist

See also

Cree language

Cree syllabics

Iynu

James Bay Cree hydroelectric conflict

Métis

Michif

Oji-Cree

Okichitaw

Politics of Saskatchewan

Notes

References

External links

Cree cultural site

The East Cree language web

The Cree-Innu linguistic atlas

Grand Council of the Crees (GCC) website

The Plains Cree - Ethnographic, Historical and Comparative Study by David Mandelbaum

Lac La Ronge Band website

Little Red River Cree Nation website

Brief history of Cree from Canadian Geographic

CBC Digital Archives - James Bay Project and the Cree

Pimooteewin, a first Cree language opera

Fisher River Cree Nation Official Website

The Gift of Language and Culture website

Cree language Wikipedia

CBC Digital Archives – Eeyou Istchee: Land of the Cree

On the Path of the Elders

Category:First Nations in the Northwest Territories Category:First Nations in Alberta Category:First Nations in Saskatchewan Category:First Nations in Manitoba Category:First Nations in Ontario Category:First Nations in Quebec Category:Native American tribes Category:First Nations in British Columbia Category:Algonquian peoples

ar:كري bar:Kri bs:Cree ca:Cree cy:Cree de:Cree es:Cree eo:Krioj eu:Cree etnia fr:Cris gl:Cree hr:Cree is:Cree it:Cree mg:Cree nl:Cree (volk) cr:ᐃᔨᔫᒡ ja:クリー oc:Cree nds:Cree pl:Kri pt:Cree ru:Кри (народ) sh:Kri fi:Creet sv:Cree uk:Крі

Coordinates	50°15′″N19°0′″N
Group	Limbu, Limboo, Yakthung, Drenjongka དརེན་འཛང་ཀ་ , Tsong, Chong, Shong or Xong འསང་)
Poptime	700,000 in Nepal/India
Region1
Region2
Region3	(Tibet)
Region4
Region5
Pop4	30,000
Region6
Pop5	46,100
Region7	*
Region8
Region9	*
Region10	*
Region11
Region12	*Later mass migration after Gurkha regiment.
Langs	Limbu (Yakthungpan), Nepali
Rels	Predominant Yuma Samyo, Mundhum, Yumaism, Hinduism, Shamanism, Buddhism }}

The Yakthung or Limbu tribes and clans belong to the Kirati nation or to the Kirat confederation. They are indigenous to the hill and mountainous regions of east Nepal between the Arun and Mechi rivers to as far as Southern Tibet, Bhutan and Sikkim.

The name Limbu is an exonym of an uncertain origin. The word ''Limbu'' roughly translates as an archer or 'the bearer of bows and arrows'. They call themselves Yakthumba/Yakthung (in Limbu language). They are also known as Shong, Xong or Drenjongka དརེན་འཛང་ཀ་ (in Tibet) or Chong, Tsong འསང་ in (Sikkim). Their estimated population of 700,000 is centered in the districts of Sankhuwasabha, Tehrathum, Dhankuta, Taplejung, Morang, Sunsari, Jhapa, Panchthar and Ilam in Nepal. These districts are all within the Mechi and Kosi zones also known as Limbuwan. Portions of the Limbu population are also located in the East and West districts of Sikkim. A smaller number are scattered throughout the cities of Darjeeling and Kalimpong in West Bengal, India, and in North and South Sikkim and Bhutan.

Limbu Clans and Tribes are divided into the Lhasa gotra (from Lhasa, Tibet) and Yunan gotra (from Yunan, China). The Limbu are known as Yakthung Thi-bon or Des Limbu (ten Limbu), from which thirteen Limbu sub-groups have emerged. According to legend, five of the groups came from Yunan, China and the other eight from Lhasa, Tibet.

Unlike the caste system which was brought to the Nepal region after the Hindu invasion, a caste system is not practised among the Limbu people and Limbu sub-groups. However, there are numerous different clans and family-sects.

The Chinese text called ''Po-ou-Yeo-Jing'' translated in 308 AD refers to the Yi-ti-Sai (barbarians bordering on the north), a name which is an exact equivalent of Kiratas.

Yakthungba or Yakthumba

The word Yakthungba is most likely a combination of three Limbu syllables: ''Yak'' meaning the animal yak, ''thum'' meaning herder, and ''ba'' or ''pa'' which means inhabitant. Together these syllables may be translated as "hill people". They are also known as Yak Herders because some clans belonging to the Lhasa Gotra people have legends about their migration from south-east Tibet through the Olang Tshung Gola pass (above Taplejung District). Limbu women are called "Yakthungma", in which ''Ba'' or ''Pa'' is replaced by the feminine Tibetan syllable ''Ma''.

Tsong people

Tsong people are divisional Limbu clans in Sikkim. They were oiginally native to the U-Tsang territory of Tibet. They migrated from Tibet, following their guru Matog Lama, and settled in Sikkim.

Kiranti or Limbu language

Limbu (Limbu:Yakthungpan; "Language of the Yakthung") is a Sino-Tibetan/Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Nepal, Sikkim, Kashmir and parts of Northern India by the Limbu and Monpa community.

Limbu language went through its own unique evolution from the Tibetan and Devanagiri writing systems. Far more Limbus are literate in Nepali than in Limbu, thus many Limbu publications are accompanied by Nepali translation.

Limbu language is one of the major spoken and written languages of Nepal, Sikkim, and other parts of Northern India. Today, linguists have reached the conclusion that pronominalization is an indigenous development of the Tibeto-Burman language, and Limbu language bears a close resemblance with Khambu Sampang and other unique Tibetan dialects. Limbu language has four main dialects: Panchthare, Tamarkhole, Phedape and Chatthare.

Before the introduction of Sirijonga script among Limbu Kiratas, Rong script was popular in East Nepal, especially in the early Maurong state. Sirijonga script nearly disappeared for 800 years, but it was brought back into practice by Te-Ongsi Sirijonga Thebe of Tellok Sinam.

Accounts with Sirijonga

Limbu, Lepcha and Newari are the only Sino-Tibetan languages of the Central Himalayas to possess their own scripts. (Sprigg 1959: 590), (Sprigg 1959: 591-592 & MS: 1-4) The Kiranti or Limbu script was devised during the period of the Buddhist expansion in Sikkim during the early 18th century when Limbuwan still constituted part of Sikkimese territory. The Kiranti script was probably composed during the same time as the Lepcha script, which was created by the third King of Sikkim, Phyag-rdor rNam-rgyal between 1700 and 1717. The Kiranti script is ascribed to the Limbu hero, Te-Ongsi Sirijonga (translated: "Re-incarnated Sirijonga", refers to Sirijonga Haang). Stiller 141,153). Both Kiranti and Lepcha were ostensibly devised with the intent of furthering the spread of Buddhism. However, Sirijonga was a Limbu Buddhist who studied under Sikkimese high Lamas. Sirijanga was given the title 'the Dorje Lama of Yangrup'.

The script's structure are a mixture of Tibetan and Devanagari. Unlike most other Brahmic scripts, it does not have separate independent vowel characters, instead using a vowel carrier letter with the appropriate dependent vowel attached.

The use of Limbu language and the creation of Limbu literature has declined in Nepal since the last eighteenth century. The use of the Limbu alphabet was banned and the possession of Limbu writings discouraged. There was not a specific law against the use of the Limbu language, but the Security Act was enforced for such cases. The cultural identity of any Limbu community was seen as a threat to the national unification of Nepal by the ruling elites until recent years.

Omniglot modern Limbu writing system:

Limbu culture

Limbus practice many of their own rituals. They believe that lineage is not transmitted patrilineally. Rather, a woman inherits her mother's goods, and when she marries and lives with her husband she brings with her the deities that will then be recognized as the household deities.

Limbu bury their dead and observe for two to three days through practiced death rituals. The length of the mourning period varies depending on the gender of the deceased. Weddings, mourning, gift exchanges, and settlement of conflicts involve consumption of liquor, especially the Limbu traditional beer popularly known as Tongba. Dancing parties are arranged for visitors to the village. These affairs give the young Limbu girls and boys a chance to meet and enjoy dancing and drinking.

Limbu flag

The Limbu people have their own flag. The blue represents the bodies of water and the sky, the white represents air and peace, and the red represents the earth and pure blood of the Limbu people. The sun in the centre represenys various Limbu spiritual practices and everyday living. The use and recognition of the flag ended in the 18th century during the Gorkha invasion. Recently, Limbuwan organisations have started to publish the flag in Limbuwan laaje areas.

Limbu economy

The Limbus traditionally practiced subsistence farming. Rice and maize comprised their principal crops. Although there is an abundance of arable land, productivity is greatly limited by insufficient technology. Excess crops are often traded for food that cannot be grown in the region.

A sizable number of Limbu youths are enlisted in the British and Indian Gurkha regiments, providing their families with a steady stream of income. This income from military service helped to improve the Limbu community as a whole in terms of health and education.

Wedding practices

Limbus generally marry within their own community (Jones and Jones, 1976). Cross-cousin marriage is not allowed in Limbu culture. Marriage between a man and the widow of his elder brother can take place if they mutually agree. Marriage between a man and a woman outside the clan is also possible either by arrangement or by mutual consent of the man and woman in question. It is conventionally said that the customs and traditions of Limbus were established in the distant past by Sawa Yethang (council of eight kings). The marriages are mostly arranged by parents or they can also result when a man elopes with a woman. Asking for a woman's hand is an important ceremony. In that system, the woman can ask for anything, including an amount of gold, silver, etc. This confirms to the woman's family that the man is financially secure enough to keep their daughter happy. A few days after the wedding, the man's family members have to visit the woman's house with a piglet and some alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, depending upon the financial standard of his house. The most important ceremonies of a Limbu wedding take place in the groom's house rather than the bride's because the bride has to stay with her husband. There are two special dances in this ceremony, one is called "yalakma" or ''dhan nach'' in Nepali (rice harvest dance) and "Kelangma" or ''Chyabrung'' in Nepali. The Yalakma is characterized by men and women dancing in a slow circle, whereas the Kelangam consists of complex footwork synchronized with the beat of the drums. Anyone can join the dance, which can last for many hours. The Yalakma can also be a celebration of the harvest season or other social occasions.

Limbu religion & festivals

The Limbus follow the Kirant Mundhum oral 'scripture' similar to the Bön, shaman. However, their religion is also influenced by Tibetan Buddhism and Hinduism. They have their own distinct religion known as "Yuma Samyo" or "Yumaism". They also have many different classes of ritual specialists, of which "Phedangma", "Yema/Yeba", and "Shamba" are some. Their supreme deity is Tagera Ningwaphuma, but the deity Yuma (literally: "Grandmother" or "Mother Earth") is the most important and popular among the Limbus and is worshiped in all occasions. Yuma is the mother of all the Limbus, therefore one regards his or her mother as a goddess. Their religion is enshrined in the evergreen Cynodondactylon (Dubo) grass. Traditionally, the Limbu bury their dead, but due to the influence from their Hindu neighbours, cremation is becoming more popular. Limbu people also have their own clergy, such as Phedangma, Samba, Yeba (male) Yewa-Yema (female). According to the Nepal Census of 2001, out of 359,379 Limbu, 86.29% were identified as practising the traditional Kiranti religion, and 11.32% were identified as Hindu and other religions. Modern Limbus have also been influenced by Christianity, especially those living in parts of India.

Limbu traditional music and singing styles

Limbus residing in Sikkim, Darjeeling, Assam, Nepal and Bhutan, have their own identity because of a strong belief in "Yumawad". Yumawad is a type of religious scripture which has been kept alive by their religious leaders and handed down verbally from generation to generation. Some of the retellings of Yumawad are also included in Limbu traditional music with social stories, dreams, and everyday life. There has been a rich tradition of Limbus singing their folk songs. Their folk songs can be divided into the following groups:

# ''Khyali'' - a conversational song in which young girls and boys sing with poetic expressions and in a very sweet tone. # Traditional Love Songs - ## ''Sakpa Palam Samlo'' - This song is sung during the Kusakpa Yeaalang dance in a fast beat. ## ''Kemba Palam Samlo'' - This song is sung during the Kemba Yeaalang dance in a slow beat. ## ''Domke Akma Palam Samlo'' - It is sung when doing the normal chores and also during the Domke Akma dance. # ''Hakpare Samlo'' - this song is sung by middle-aged men and women who have interest in Mundhum and who are well-known in it. One can find spiritual and worldly specialities in this song. # ''Nisammang Sewa Samlo'' - This song is sung during religious functions. It is a devotional song. Dancing is an important aspect of life among Limbus. Based on acting style, the following types of dances are performed: ## Dance performed after origin of life: This type of dance is known as Ke Lang or Chyabrung Lang. The dance imitates the actions of animals, insects and any form of living beings. ## Agricultural dance: Under this type of dance there are - ### ''Yea Kakma''- This dance is performed in the evening after the crops are reaped. ### ''Damke Akme''- This dance is performed while sowing crops. ## War dance: This form of dance is known as 'Nahangma' and is performed during "Nahangma"- their religious function. In this dance, only adult males and "Shamani" priests can take part. During the dance, they carry a sword in their right hand and a shield in their left hand, or an arrow in their right hand and a bow in their left hand. ## Historical dance: In this dance form, the historical war of ten Limbus fought in Aambepojoma Kamketlungma is depicted. ## Mysterious and ancient dance performed by Shamani priests: this type of dance is known as Yagrangsing Lang, Phungsok Lang, Tongsing Lang. The dance is performed only by the Shamani priests.

Folk musical instruments

Limbu musical instruments include the Niyari Hongsing Ke, Chyabrung, Miklakom, Simikla, Chethya/Yethala, Ta, Tungeba, Ungdung, Yalambar Baja, Tetlafakwa, Mephrama, Negra, Yea Pongey, Puttungey, Phakwa, Phamuk, Phenjekom, and Megphama.

Traditional sports

For the Limbu people, Archery has always been considered as the main traditional sport. Archery often involves religious demonstrations and rituals. Historically, Limbu cavalry archers were the important when resisting invasions before the pre-Nepal era. The word ''Limbu'' itself came from the word ''Lim-pfungh'' which in translation means "Shooting-Arrows" or "Act of archery".

There are legends about the beginning of the Limbuwan Gorkha war. In these legends, a Gorkha Military General met a Yakthung hunter in a forest. When the General asked the hunter about his presence and what he was doing, the Yakthung hunter replied "Lim-pfungh". The Gorkha army later experienced the fierceness from the Yakthung-Tribes' horseback archers for years during the Gorkha-Limbu war. Thus, the name "Limbu" was recorded on the papers of the Gorkhas to describe the Yakthung people. However, after the success of Gorkha invasion, horse breeding and keeping declined swiftly in Limbu territories.

Bare-hand Wrestling has also been practised among the Limbu men during festivals. This was also used to settle personal matters after a festive drinking in which the losing wrestler would have to pay the winner by buying him a drink or inviting him to his house for a drink of traditional tongba. ''Lakhpa'' is the term for wrestling in Yakthung-pan.

Limbus & Hindu caste system

Although Limbus aren't Hindu, they are recognized in Hindu Society. Nepal's pre-eminent sociologist, Professor Dor Bahadur Bista, asserted that of all the proverbial thirty-six caste and ethnic groups of Nepal, the Hindu caste system made the least impact on the Limbu. In part, this reflected not only their geographical distance from the seat of power in the capital city of Kathmandu but also their cultural independence.

Popular Limbu individuals

Picture gallery

See also

Limbuwan

*History of Limbuwan

Limbu Festivals

*Chasok Tangnam

Kiranti languages

Limbu language

*Limbu script

Rambahadur Limbu

Tongba beverage

Limbu Clans and Tribes

Mundhum religion

Ethnic groups in Nepal

Ethnic groups in Bhutan

Indigenous peoples of Sikkim

Notes

Further reading

External links

Limbu alphabet

Limbu language

www.limbulibrary.com.np - Online Library of Kirat books, history, short story, language, script etc.

History of kirat - historian authored by Iman Singh Chemjong, Nepal.

Category:Demographics of Nepal Category:Ethnic groups in Bhutan Category:Ethnic groups in China Category:Ethnic groups in India Category:Ethnic groups in Nepal Category:Himalayan peoples Category:Nepalese culture Category:Nepalese people Category:Social groups of West Bengal Category:Tribes of West Bengal Category:Indian wedding

bn:লিম্বু ne:लिम्बू जाति new:लिम्बू ru:Лимбу (народ) zh:林布族

Coordinates	50°15′″N19°0′″N
name	Abu Bakr
title	Khalifat-ul-Rasūl(Prophet's successor)
reign	8 June 632 – 23 August 634
predecessor	Muhammad
successor	Umar
birth date	c. 573
birth place	Mecca, Arabia
death date	August 23, 634
death place	Medina, Arabia
buried	Al-Masjid al-Nabawi, Madinah
other titles	Assiddiq الصدِّيق Companion of the CaveCompanion of the TombShaikh AkbarAttique }}

Abu Bakr (Abdullah ibn Abi Quhafa) (, c. 573 CE unknown exact date 634/13 AH) was a senior companion (''Sahabah'') and the father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He ruled over the Rashidun Caliphate from 632-634 CE when he became the first Muslim Caliph following Muhammad's death. As Caliph, Abu Bakr succeeded to the political and administrative functions previously exercised by the Prophet, since the religious function and authority of prophethood ended with Muhammad's death according to Islam. He was called ''Al-Siddiq'' (The Truthful) and was known by that title among later generations of Muslims.

As a young man, Abu Bakr became a cloth merchant and he traveled extensively in Arabia and neighboring lands in the Middle East, through which he gained both wealth and experience. He eventually came to be recognized as the chief of his clan. On his return from a business trip to Yemen, he was informed that in his absence Muhammad had openly declared his prophethood. Not long after, Abu Bakr accepted Islam and was the first person outside the family of Muhammad to openly become a Muslim. He was instrumental in the conversion of many people to the Islamic faith and early in 623, Abu Bakr's daughter Aisha was married to Muhammad, strengthening the ties between the two men.

Abu Bakr served as a trusted advisor and close friend to the Prophet. During the lifetime of Muhammad, he was involved in several campaigns such as the Battle of Uhud, the Battle of the Trench, the Invasion of Banu Qurayza, Battle of Khaybar, the Conquest of Mecca, the Battle of Hunayn, the Siege of Ta'if, and the Battle of Tabuk where he was reported to have given all of his wealth for the preparation of this expedition. He also participated in the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah and was made one of the witnesses over the pact.

In 631, three months after completing his Farewell Pilgrimage to Mecca, the Prophet became fatally ill. After his death Abu Bakr became the first Muslim Caliph. During his rule, he defeated the rebellion of several Arab tribes in a successful campaign, unifying the entire Arabian peninsula and giving it stability. This enabled him to launch successful campaigns against the Sassanid Empire (Persian Empire) and the East Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) who were threatening Arabia's borders. Prior to dispatching his army to Syria against the Romans, Bakr gave them the following commands which established the conduct of war for later Muslim generations: According to Tabari, these ten pieces of "advice" were given during the Expedition of Usama bin Zayd. Imam Shaffi (founder of the Shaffi school of thought) gave seemingly conflicting views on the authenticity of the same tradition. Abu Yusuf (based on the authority of Ibn Ishaq) mentioned a counter tradition about the instructions of Abu Bakr, which claimed that Abu Bakr ordered his commanders to lay waste to every village where he did not hear the call to prayer.

Abu Bakr's Caliphate lasted for a little over two years (or 27 months), ending with his death after an illness. Though the period of his caliphate was not long it included successful invasions of the two most powerful empires of the time, a remarkable achievement in its own right. He set in motion a historical trajectory that in few decades would lead to one of the largest empires in history.

Lineage and title

Abu Bakr's full name is 'Abd Allah ibn 'Uthman ibn Aamir ibn Amr ibn Ka'ab ibn Sa'ad ibn Tamim ibn Murrah ibn Ka'ab ibn Lu'ai ibn Ghalib ibn Fihr al-Quraishi at-Tamimi. In Arabic, the name 'Abd Allah' means (servant of God). Although he is most known by his title 'Abu Bakr', he has many other titles. One of his titles was 'atiqe' (the saved one) and he was known by this title before Islam. Muhammad confirmed this title later when he said that Abu Bakr is the 'atiqe' (the one saved from hell fire by God). He was called 'Al-Siddiq' (the truthful') by the Prophet after he believed him in the event of Isra and Mi'raj when other people didn't, and Ali confirmed that title several times.

He was mentioned in the Quran as the "second of the two who lay in the cave" in reference to the event of hijra, with the Prophet Muhammad where they hid in the cave in Jabal Thawr from the Meccan search party that was sent after them, thus being one of few who were given direct reference to in the Quran.

Fatima, the daughter of Allah's Apostle got angry and stopped speaking to Abu Bakr, and continued assuming that attitude till she died. She was angry with him because after the death of her father (Muhammad), Abu Bakr did not give her a share of her inheritance and mentioned that, ''prophets' property is not inherited but is left for charity''. Fatima remained alive for six months after the death of Allah's Apostle.

Imam Jafar al Sadiq famously narrated how the title ''Siddiq'' was given to Abu Bakr from Muhammad. He was also a direct descendant of Abu Bakr from his maternal side, as well as being a paternal descendant of Ali from his father's side. Jafar al-Sadiq was also the successor of the Naqshbandi Sufi order originating from Abu Bakr himself.

Imam Muhammad al Baqir, the father of Imam Jafar Sadiq also called Abu Bakr with the title Siddiq.

Early life

Abu Bakr was born in Mecca some time in 573 CE, to a rich family in the Banu Tamim branch of the Quraysh tribe. Abu Bakr's father's name was Uthman Abu Quhafa (nicknamed ''Abu Quhafa'') and his mother was Salma Umm-ul-Khair (nicknamed ''Umm-ul-Khair''). Abu Bakr was a thin man with white skin. Tabari relates (Suyuti also relates the same through Ibn Sa'd al-Baghdadi's report) from Aisha her description of Abu Bakr:

He was a man with fair skin, thin, emaciated, with a sparse beard, a slightly hunched frame, sunken eyes and protruding forehead, and the bases of his fingers were hairless.

He spent his early childhood like other Arab children of the time among the Bedouins who called themselves ''Ahl-i-Ba'eer''- the people of the camel, and developed a particular fondness for camels. In his early years he played with the camel foals and goats, and his love for camels earned him the nickname "''Abu Bakr''", the father of the foal of the camel.

When Abu Bakr was 10 years old, he went to Syria along with his father with the merchants' caravan. Muhammad, who was 12 years old at the time, was also with the caravan. In 591 at the age of 18, Abu Bakr went into trade and adopted the profession of cloth merchant, which was the family's business. In the coming years Abu Bakr traveled extensively with caravans. Business trips took him to Yemen, Syria, and elsewhere. These travels brought him wealth and added to his experience. His business flourished and he rose in the scale of social importance. Though his father, Uthman Abu Quhafa, was still alive, he came to be recognized as chief of his tribe. Abu Bakr was assigned the office of awarding blood money in cases of murder. His office was something like the office of an honorary magistrate.

Like other children of the rich Meccan merchant families, Abu Bakr was literate and developed a fondness for poetry. He used to attend the annual fair at Ukaz, and participate in poetical symposia. He had a very good memory and had a good knowledge of the genealogy of the Arab tribes, their stories and their politics.

Acceptance of Islam

On his return from a business trip from Yemen, he was informed by friends that in his absence Muhammad had declared himself the Messenger of God, and proclaimed a new religion. Abu Bakr was the first ''baligh'' (post-puberty) free male to accept Muhammad's prophethood (though Shias maintain Abu Talib and other adult members of Muhammad's immediate blood family were, i.e. the Hashemites). Scholars, as well as other Sunnis and all Shi'a Muslims maintain that the second person to publicly accept Muhammed as the messenger of Allah was Ali ibn Abi Talib, though to Shias Ali always knew of Muhammad's status through pre-knowledge. However, 'Ali was still a pre-pubescent child when he accepted Islam, and therefore may have been excluded from the duties of a Muslim. Also Abu Bakr was the first person outside the family of Muhammad to openly become a Muslim.

Life after accepting Islam

His wife Qutaylah bint Abd-al-Uzza did not accept Islam and he divorced her. His other wife, Um Ruman, became a Muslim. All his children except Abdu'l-Rahman ibn Abu Bakr‎ accepted Islam, and Abu Bakr separated from his son Abdu'l-Rahman.

His conversion brought the most benefit to Islam. Abu Bakr's brought many people to Islam. He persuaded his intimate friends to convert to Islam. and presented Islam to others in such a way that many of his friends accepted Islam.

Those who converted to Islam at the instance of Abu Bakr were:

Uthman Ibn Affan (who would became the 3rd Caliph)

Al-Zubayr (played a part in the Muslim conquest of Egypt)

Talha Ibn Ubayd-Allah

Abdur Rahman bin Awf (who would remain an important part of the Rashidun Caliphate)

Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas (played a part in the Islamic conquest of Persia)

Umar ibn Masoan

Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah (who remained commander in chief of the Rashidun army in Syria )

Abdullah bin Abdul Asad

Abu Salama

Khalid ibn Sa`id

Abu Hudhaifah ibn al-Mughirah

Abu Bakr's acceptance proved to be a milestone in Muhammad's mission. Slavery was common in Mecca, and many slaves accepted Islam. When an ordinary free man accepted Islam, despite opposition, he would enjoy the protection of his tribe. For slaves however, there was no such protection and they commonly experienced persecution. Abu Bakr felt compassion for slaves, so he purchased eight slaves(four men and four women) and then freed them, paying 40,000 dinar for their freedom.

The men were

Bilal ibn Ribah

Abu Fakih

Ammar ibn Yasir

Abu Fuhayra

The women were:

Lubaynah

Al-Nahdiah

Umm Ubays

Harithah bint al-Muammil

Most of the slaves liberated by Abu Bakr were either women or old and frail men. The father of Abu Bakr asked him to for why doesn't he liberate strong and young slaves who could be a source of strength for him, Abu Bakr replied that he was freeing the slaves for the sake of Allah, and not for his own sake. According to Sunni tradition the following verses of the Qur'an were revealed due to this:

He who gives in charity and fears Allah And in all sincerity testifies to the Truth; We shall indeed make smooth for him the path of Bliss {92:5-7}.

Those who spend their wealth for increase in self-purification; And have in their minds no favor from any one For which a reward is expected in return, But only the desire to seek the Countenance, Of their Lord, Most High; And soon they shall attain complete satisfaction {92:8-21}.

Shias maintain these verses were revealed about Ali.

Persecution by the Quraysh, 613

For three years after the advent of Islam, Muslims kept secret their faith, and prayed in secret. In 613 Muhammad decided to call people to Islam openly. The first public address inviting people to offer allegiance to Muhammad was delivered by Abu Bakr. In a fit of fury the young men of the Quraysh tribe rushed at Abu Bakr, and beat him mercilessly till he lost consciousness. Following this incident Abu Bakr's mother converted to Islam. Abu Bakr was persecuted many times by the Quraysh. Abu Bakr's beliefs would have been defended by his own clan, but not by the entire Quraysh tribe.

Migrations to Abyssinia, 615

Being the first man to go over to Islam, Abu Bakr had brought upon himself the special anger and hatred of the Meccan chiefs. Soon he felt hard pressed and asked permission of Muhammad to go to Abyssinia. The permission was granted and Abu Bakr set off on his journey. However, on the way he met Ibn-ud-Daghinna, the chief of Qara. Under Ibn-ud-Daghinna's protection, he soon came back to Makkah.

Last years in Mecca

In 617, the Quraysh enforced a boycott against the Banu Hashim. Muhammad along with his supporters from Banu Hashim, were shut up in a pass away from Mecca. All social relations with the Banu Hashim were cut off and their state was that of imprisonment. Before it many Muslims migrated to Abyssinia (now Ethiopia). Abu Bakr, feeling distressed, set out for Yemen and then to Abyssinia from there. He met a friend of his named Ad-Dughna (chief of the Qarah tribe) outside Mecca, who invited Abu Bakr to seek his protection against the Quraysh. Abu Bakr went back to Mecca, it was a relief for him, but soon due to the pressure of Quraysh, Ad-Dughna was forced to renounce his protection. Once again the Quraysh were free to persecute Abu Bakr.

In 620 Muhammad's wife and uncle died. Abu Bakr's daughter Aisha was engaged to Muhammad, however it was decided that the actual marriage ceremony would be held later. In 620 Abu Bakr was the first person to testify to Muhammad's Isra and Mi'raj (night Journey).

Migration to Medina

In 622, on the invitation of the Muslims of Medina, Muhammad ordered Muslims to migrate to Medina. The migration began in batches. Ali was the last to remain in Mecca, entrusted with responsibility for settling any loans the Muslims had taken, and famously slept in the bed of Muhammad when the Quraysh led by Ikrima attempted to murder Muhammad as he slept. Meanwhile Abu Bakr accompanied Muhammad in his migration for Medina. Due to the danger of the Quraysh, they did not take the road to Medina. They moved in the opposite direction, and took refuge in a cave in Jabal Thawr some five miles south of Mecca. `Abdullah ibn Abi Bakr, the son of Abu Bakr, would listen to the plans and talks of the Quraysh, and at night he would carry the news to the fugitives in the cave. Asma bint Abi Bakr, the daughter of Abu Bakr, brought them meals every day. Aamir, a servant of Abu Bakr, would bring a flock of goats to the mouth of the cave every night where they were milked. The Quraysh sent search parties in all directions. One party came close to the entrance to the cave, but was unable to sight them. Due to this the following verse of the Qur'an was revealed:

If ye help not (your Leader) (it is no matter): for Allah did indeed help him; when the unbelievers drove him out: he had no more than one companion: they two were in the cave, and he said to his companion "Have no Fear, for Allah is with us": then Allah sent down His peace upon him, and strengthened him with forces which ye saw not, and humbled to the depths the word of the Unbelievers. But the word of Allah is exalted to the heights: for Allah is Exalted in might, Wise.

'Aa'ishah, Abu Sa`eed al-Khudri and ibn 'Abbaas in interpreting this verse said

Abu Bakr was the one who stayed with the Prophet in that cave

It is narrated from al-Barra' ibn 'Azib, he said,

Once Abu Bakr bought a ride from 'Azib for 10 Dirham, then Abu Bakr said to 'Azib, "Tell your son the Barra to deliver that beast." Then 'Azib said, "No, until you tell us about your journey with the Messenger of Allah when he went out of Makkah while the Mushrikeen were busy looking for you." Abu Bakr said, "We set out from Makkah, walking day and night, until it came the time of Zuhr, so I was looking for a place so that we can rest under it, it came to be that I saw a big rock, so I came to it and there was the place, so I spread a matress for the Prophet, then I said to him, " Rest O' Prophet of Allah." So he rested, while I surveyed the area around me, are there people looking for us coming here to spy... Suddenly I saw there was a shepherd herding his sheep to the direction of the place under the rock wanting to shade himself like us, so I asked, "Who is your master O' slave?" He answered, "Slave of the fulan, someone of the Quraish." He mentioned the name of his master and I knew him, then I asked, "Does your sheep have milk?" He answered, "Yes!" So he took one of the sheep, after that I ordered him to clean the breasts of the sheep first from dirt and dust, then I ordered him to blow his hand from dust, so he pat his two hands and he started milking, while I prepared a vessel with its mouth wrapped with cloth to contain the milk, so I poured the milk that was milked to the vessel and I waited until the bottom was cold, then I brought to the Prophet and it was that he had waken up, instantly I told him, "Drink O' Messenger of Allah." So he started to drink until I saw that he was full, then I told him, "Are we not going to continue walking O' Messenger of Allah?" He answered, "Yes!" At last we continued the journey while the mushrikeen kept looking for us, not that could pursue us except Suraqah ibn Malik ibn Ju'sham who rode his horse, so I said to the Messenger of Allah, "This man has succeeded in pursuing us O' Messenger of Allah," but he answered, "ﻻ ﺗﺤﺰ ﻥ ﺇ ﻥ ﺍﷲ ﻣﻌﻨﺎ" (Do not worry, verily Allah is with us).

It is narrated from Anas from Abu Bakr he said,

I said to the Prophet when were in the cave, "If only they had looked under their feet we would assuredly be seen" The Messenger answered, "ﻣﺎ ﻇﻨﻚ ﻳﺎ ﺃ ﺑﺎ ﺑﻜﺮ ﺑﺎ ﺛﻨﻴﻦ ﺍﷲ ﺛﺎ ﻟﺘﻬﻤﺎ" (What do you think O' Abu Bakr about two people if Allah is the third, meaning God was with them.)

After staying at the cave for three days and three nights, Abu Bakr and Muhammad proceed to Medina, staying for some time at Quba, a suburb of Medina. While Sunni sources portray Abu bakr in an exalted light in the cave, Shia sources however generally tend to portray the incident in the cave as a Quranic condemndation of Abu Bakr for cowardice and fear.

Life in Medina

In Medina, Muhammad decided to construct a mosque. A piece of land was chosen and the price of the land was paid for by Abu Bakr. Muslims constructed a mosque named Al-Masjid al-Nabawi at the site and Abu Bakr also took part in construction. Abu Bakr was paired with Khaarij ah bin Zaid Ansari (who was from Medina) as a brother in faith. Abu Bakr's relationship with Khaarjah was most cordial, which was further strengthened when Abu Bakr married Habiba, a daughter of Khaarijah.

Khaarij ah bin Zaid Ansari used to live at Sukh, a suburb of Medina, and Abu Bakr also settled there. After Abu Bakr's family arrived in Medina he bought another house near Muhammad's.

The climate of Mecca was dry, but the climate of Medina was damp and this adversely affected the health of the immigrants, so that on arrival most of them fell sick. Abu Bakr also suffered from fever for several days and during this time he was attended to by Khaarijah and his family. At Mecca, Abu Bakr was a trader in cloth and he started the same business in Medina. He was a wholesaler, and had his store at Sukh, and from there cloth was supplied to the market at Medina. Soon his business flourished at Medina. Early in 623, Abu Bakr's daughter Aisha, who was already engaged to Muhammad, was handed over to Muhammad in a simple marriage ceremony, and this further strengthen the relation between Abu Bakr and Muhammad.

Military Campaigns under Muhammad

Battle of Badr and Uhud

In 624 Abu Bakr was involved in the first battle between the Muslims and the Quraysh of Mecca, known as the Battle of Badr, but did not fight, instead acting as one of the guards of Muhammad's tent. In 625 he participated in the Battle of Uhud which ended in a rout by the majority of the Muslims. Before the battle begun, Abu Bakr's son Abdu'l-Rahman ibn Abu Bakr, who was still non-Muslim and was fighting from the side of the Quraysh, came forward and threw down a challenge for a duel. Abu Bakr accepted the challenge but was stopped by Muhammad. His son later converted to Islam and gained fame during the Muslim conquest of Syria as a fierce warrior. In the second phase of the battle, Khalid ibn al-Walid’s cavalry attacked the Muslims from behind, changing a Muslim victory to defeat. Many Muslim warriors were routed from the battlefield but in Sunni accounts Abu Bakr remained, guarding Muhammad from the attacks of the Quraysh soldiers, while Shia and many Sunni accounts dispute this. Shia criticisms of his lack-lustre military achievements in comparison with the genuinely accomplised Ali should be put into context: Abu Bakr was a middle aged man during these battles, was not a soldier but a merchant by trade, and had never seen battle before - it may thus be unfair to directly compare him with Ali in this regard. In Sunni accounts during one such attack, two discs from Abu Bakr's shield penetrated into Muhammad's cheeks. Abu Bakr went forward with the intention of extracting these discs but Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah requested he leave the matter to him, losing his two incisors during the process. In these stories subsequently Abu Bakr, along with other companions, led Muhammad to a place of safety.

Conflict with Jewish tribes

Later in the year Abu Bakr was a part of campaign again the Jewish tribe of Banu Nadir.

In 627 he participated in the Battle of the Trench and also in the Invasion of Banu Qurayza.

In 628 he participated in Treaty of Hudaybiyyah and was made one of the witnesses over the pact.

In 628 he was a part of the Muslim campaign to Khaybar.

Military campaigns during final years of Muhammad

In 629 Muhammad sent 'Amr ibn al-'As to Zaat-ul-Sallasal from where he called for reinforcements and Muhammad sent Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah. Commanding an army under him were Abu Bakr and Umar and they attacked and defeated the enemy.

In 630 when Muslim armies rushed for the Conquest of Mecca, Abu Bakr was a part of the army. Before the conquest of Mecca his father Uthman Abu Quhafa converted to Islam. In 630 he was part of Battle of Hunayn and Siege of Ta'if. He was part of the Muslim army in the campaign of Tabuk under Muhammad's command and he was reported to have given all his wealth for the preparation of this expedition.

In 631, Muhammad sent a delegation of three hundred Muslims from Medina to perform the ''Hajj'' according to the new Islamic way. Abu Bakr was appointed as the leader of the delegates in some Sunni accounts. If this version is correct Abu Bakr had thus the honor of being the first Amir-ul-Haj in the history of Islam. In 632 Abu Bakr followed Muhammad to Mecca for the farewell Hajj.

Military campaigns as commander

Abu Bakr also led 1 military campaign as commander, known as Expedition of Abu Bakr As-Siddiq, which took place in Nejd, in July 628 AD,3rd Month 7AH, of the Islamic Calendar Abu Bakr led an large platoon in Nejd on the order of Muhammad. Many were killed and taken as prisoner. The Sunni Hadith collection, Sunan Abu Dawud mentions the event

Death of Muhammad

name	Saint Abu Bakr
titles	Rightly-Guided Caliph, Warrior, Reformer, ''Siddiq'', Disciple of Muhammad, Mystic, ''Companion of the Cave''
birth date	c. 573 C.E.
birth place	Mecca
death date	c. 634 C.E.
death place	Medina
venerated in	Islam
influences	Prophets of Islam
influenced	Countless future Muslim leaders and saints
attributes	}}

A short time after returning from the farewell pilgrimage, Muhammad became ill. In his fatal illness, Muhammad came out with a piece of cloth tied around his head and sat on the pulpit. After thanking and praising Allah he said,ﺇ ﻥ ﺍ ﷲ ﺧﻴﺮ ﻋﺒﺪﺍ ﺑﻴﻦ ﺍﻟﺪ ﻧﻴﺎ ﻭ ﺑﻴﻦ ﻣﺎ ﻋﻨﺪ ﻩ ﻓﺎ ﺧﺘﺎ ﺭ ﺫ ﻟﻚ ﺍﻟﻌﺒﺪ ﻣﺎ ﻋﻨﺪ ﺍﷲ "Allah has given one of His Slaves the choice of receiving the splendor and luxury of the worldly life whatever he likes or to accept the good which is with Allah. So he has chosen that good which is with Allah."

Abu Bakr wept profusely and said, "Our fathers and mothers be sacrificed for you." The companions were astonished by this (they wondered why Abu Bakr wept), and the people said, "Look at this old man! Allah's Apostle talks about a Slave of Allah to whom He has given the option to choose either the splendor of this worldly life or the good which is with Him, while he says "our fathers and mothers be sacrificed for you". It turned out Muhammad himself was that servant, as Abu Bakr later told the companions.

Muhammad continued:

No doubt, I am indebted to Abu Bakr more than to anybody else regarding both his companionship and his wealth. And if I had to take a Khalil from my followers, I would certainly have taken Abu Bakr, but the fraternity of Islam is sufficient. Let no Door of the Mosque remain open, except the door of Abu Bakr

The good referred in the first part means the good in the hereafter. Khalil means intimate friend. The door referred to here is the door to the mosque of Muhammad. When the fever developed he directed Abu Bakr to go to the war following Usama who was 18. When Muhammad died Muslims gathered in Al-Masjid al-Nabawi and there were suppressed sobs and sighs. Abu Bakr came from his house at As-Sunh (a village) on a horse where he had been with his new wife. He dismounted and entered the Prophet's Mosque, but did not speak to anyone until he entered upon 'Aa'isha. He went straight to Muhammad who was covered with Hibra cloth (a kind of Yemenite cloth). He then uncovered Muhammad's face and bowed over him and kissed him and wept, saying, "Let my father and mother be sacrificed for you. By Allah, Allah will never cause you to die twice. As for the death which was written for you, has come upon you." 'Umar was making a sermon to the people saying, "By Allah, he is not dead but has gone to his Lord as Musa ibn Imran went and remained hidden from his people for forty days. Musa returned after it was said that he had died. By Allah, the Messenger of Allah will come back and he will cut off the hands and legs of those who claim his death."

Abu Bakr arrived and said, "Sit down, O 'Umar!" But 'Umar refused to sit down. So the people came to Abu Bakr and left Umar. Abu Bakr said, "To proceed, if anyone amongst you used to worship Muhammad, then Muhammad has passed away, but if (anyone of) you used to worship Allah, then Allah is Alive and shall never die. Allah said, "And Muhammad is but a messenger; the messengers have come before him; if then he dies or is killed will you turn back upon your heels? And whoever turns back upon his heels, he will by no means do harm to Allah in the least and Allah will reward the grateful." (3.144)

'Umar said, "By Allah, when I heard Abu Bakr reciting it, my legs could not support me and I fell down at the very moment of hearing him reciting it, declaring that the Prophet had passed away."

Other Ahadith on Virtues of Abubakr

There are many ahadith that mention the virtues and special position of Abu Bakr:

Abu Huraira reported that the Islamic prophet Muhammad said, "There is not anyone who may have been kind to us, or helped us without my returning to him (his favor) except Abu Bakr. The kindness that he has shown us, only Allah will reward him for that on the Day of Resurrection. No one's property has been of benefit to me as much as Abu Bakr's. And if I were to take a Khaleel (close friend from my companions) then I would take Abu Bakr as one. But you must know that I am Allah's Khaleel.

Ayshah reported that Muhammad said, "It does not behoove a people who have Abu Bakr among them to have anybody other than him as their imam.

Ayshah also reported that the Muhammad said to her: "Call your father (Abu Bakr) and brother [`Abd al-Rahman] here so I will put something down in writing, for truly I fear lest someone forward a claim or form some ambition, and Allah and the believers refuse anyone other than Abu Bakr." from Sahih Muslim

Jubayr ibn Mut'im reported that a woman came and spoke to Muhammad about a matter. He asked her to come back later some time. She said, "Tell me if I come later and do not find you?" Jubayr ibn Mut'im said that it seemed that she meant he may not be alive when she came back. He said, "If you do not find me then go to Abu Bakr."

Abu Hurairah reported that Muhammad said, "Jibreel came to me, held my hand and pointed out to me the gate of Paradise through which my Ummah will enter it." Abu Bakr said, "O Messenger of Allah! I wish that I had been with you and seen the gate!" So, Muhammad said, "Know, O Abu Bakr, you will be the first of my Ummah to enter Paradise."

Ibn Umar said that one day, Muhammad came out and entered the masjid, Abu Bakr and Umar with him, to his right and left. Muhammad had held their hands and he said, "The three of us will be raised on the Day of Resurrection in this way."

Abu Saeed al Khudri reported that Muhammad said: "Every prophet has two wazeer (ministers) from the dwellers of the heaven (angels) and two wazeer from the inhabitants of the earth. So, my wazeer from the dwellers of heaven are Jibrael and Mikael and my wazeer from the earthlings are Abu Bakr and Umar."

Election of Abu Bakr to Caliphate

After Muhammad's death, previously dormant tensions between the Meccan immigrants, the Muhajirun, and the Medinan converts, the Ansar, threatened to break out and split the Ummah. Other Arabic tribes also wished to revert to local leadership and split from Medina's control. In some places, people claiming prophethood started to establish leaderships to oppose Medina, e.g. Al-Aswad Al-Ansi and Musaylimah. All of which are events that lead to splitting the Muslim community. The Ansar, the leaders of the tribes of Medina, met in a hall or house called saqifah, to discuss whom they would support as their new leader. When Abu Bakr was informed of the meeting, he, Umar, Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah and a few others rushed to prevent the Ansar from making a premature decision. Accounts of this meeting vary greatly. All agree that during the meeting Umar declared that Abu Bakr should be the new leader, and declared his allegiance to Abu Bakr, followed by Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah, and thus Abu Bakr became the first Muslim caliph, who was given the title, ''Khalifa-tul-Rasool'' (''Successor of messenger of Allah''), a title only accepted by Sunni Muslims. Shias criticise Abu Bakr for forsaking the funeral of Muhammad to attend the political gathering, and believe that Muhammad had already appointed Ali in his lifetime as his successor. This view portrays Abu Bakr and Umar as plotters in a political coup against the Alids. The Ismaili Shia Institute researcher Wilfred Madelung portrays Abu Bakr as a political opportunist whose character as the founder of Sunni Islam has been extensively embellished by subsequent kings and emperors (caliphs) making it difficult to openly criticise him. Some sects of Islam like Shia strongly believe that Abu Bakr deceived Ali, keeping Ali from his right as khilafat since he was true successor to Muhammad.

Reign as a Caliph

After assuming the office of Caliphate Abu Bakr's first address was as follow:

I have been given the authority over you, and I am not the best of you. If I do well, help me; and if I do wrong, set me right. Sincere regard for truth is loyalty and disregard for truth is treachery. The weak amongst you shall be strong with me until I have secured his rights, if God wills; and the strong amongst you shall be weak with me until I have wrested from him the rights of others, if God wills. Obey me so long as I obey God and His Messenger. But if I disobey God and His Messenger, ye owe me no obedience. Arise for your prayer, God have mercy upon you.

Abu Bakr's Caliphate lasted for 27 months, during which he crushed the rebellion of the Arab tribes throughout Arabia in the successful campaign against Apostasy. In the last months of his rule, he launched campaigns against the Sassanid Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) and thus set in motion a historical trajectory (continued later on by Umar and Uthman) that in just a few short decades would lead to one of the largest empires in history. He had little time to pay attention to the administration of state, though state affairs remained stable during his Caliphate. On the advice of Umar and Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah he agreed to have a salary from state treasury and abolish his cloth trade.

Ridda Wars

Troubles emerged soon after Abu Bakr's succession, threatening the unity and stability of the new community and state. Several Arabic tribes revolted against Abu Bakr. In four of the six centres of the insurrection, the rebells rallied around people who claimed to be prophets, the most prominent among these was Musaylimah. The tribes claimed that they had submitted to Muhammad only, and that with Muhammad's death, their allegiance had ended. This was common practice in pre-islamic Arabia. After the death of a tribal leader the alliance with the tribe of that leader was regarded as having ended. Thus several tribes acted in accordance to this pre-islamic practice and refused to pay ''Zakat''. Abu Bakr, however, insisted that they had not just submitted to a simple human leader but joined the Muslim religious community, of which he was the new head. So, in contrast to pre-islamic times, their allegiance was not seen as having ended at all.

This was the start of the ''Ridda wars'' (Arabic for the Wars of Apostasy). The apostasy of central Arabia was led by self-proclaimed prophet Musaylimah of in al-Yamama, while the other centers were to the south and east in Bahrain, Oman, Mahra region and Yemen. Abu Bakr planned his strategy accordingly and formed the Muslim army into 11 corps. The strongest corps, and this was the main punch of the Muslim army, was that of Khalid ibn al-Walid and was used to fight the most powerful of the rebel forces. Other corps were given areas of secondary importance in which to bring the less dangerous apostate tribes. Abu Bakr's plan was first to clear the area of west and central Arabia (the area nearest Medina), then tackle Malik ibn Nuwayrah, and finally concentrate against the most dangerous enemy Musaylimah. After series of successful campaigns, Khalid ibn al-Walid finally defeated Musaylimah and his tribe, the Banu Hanifa, in the Battle of Yamama. The Campaign of the Apostasy was fought and completed during the eleventh year after Hijra. The year 12 Hijri dawned, on 18 March 633, with Arabia united under the central authority of the Caliph at Medina.

This phenomenon was later regarded as primarily a religious movement by Arabic historians. However, the early sources indicate that in reality it was mainly political. After all, the revolting Arabs only refused to pay Zakat (Charity), but they did not refuse to perform the salah. This however is disputed and explained by Muslim scholars in that the dictation of Zakat was one of the Five pillars of Islam and its denial or withholding is an act of denial of a cornerstone of faith, and is therefore an act of apostasy. Bernard Lewis states that the fact that Islamic Historians have regarded this as a primarily religious movement was due to a later interpretation of events in terms of a theological world-view. The opponents of the Muslim armies were not only apostates, but also - if not most of them - tribes which were largely or even completely independent from the Muslim community. However, these revolts also had a religious aspect: Medina had become the centre of a social and political system, of which religion was an integral part; consequently it was inevitable that any reaction against this system should have a religious aspect.

The ''Qur'an'' — preservation

According to Sunni Islam, Abu Bakr was instrumental in preserving the Qur'an in written form. It is said that after the hard-won victory over Musaylimah in the Battle of Yamama fought in 632, Umar (the later ''Caliph'' Umar), saw that many of the Muslims who had memorized the ''Qur'an'' had died in battle. Fearing that the Qur'an may be lost or corrupted, Umar requested the Caliph Abu Bakr to authorize the compilation and preservation of the Book in written format. After initial hesitation, Abu Bakr made a committee headed by Zayd ibn Thabit which included the memorizers of the Qur'an and Umar and to collect all verses of the Book. After collecting all Qur'anic verses from texts in the possession of various sahaba, Zayd ibn Thabit and members of his committee verified the reading by comparing with those who had memorized the Qur'an. After they were satisfied that they had not missed out any verse or made any mistakes in reading or writing it down, the text was written down as one single manuscript and presented in a book form to the Caliph Abu Bakr. It is believed that this process happened within one year of the death of Muhammad when most of his sahaba (companions) were still alive.

Prior to his death, Abu Bakr gave this authorized copy of the Qur'an to Umar - his successor. It remained with him throughout his tenure as Caliph (10 years). Prior to his death, Umar gave this Book to his daughter Hafsa bint Umar, who was one of the wives of Muhammad. Umar did not nominate his successor on his deathbed, and thus preferred to leave this copy with Hafsa so as not to indicate his personal preference of who would be the next caliph. Later on, it became the basis of Uthman Ibn Affan's definitive text of the ''Qur'an'' which was published far and wide merely 18 years after the death of Muhammad. Later historians give Uthman Ibn Affan the principal credit for re-verification and publishing the ''Qur'an''. Shi'as reject the idea that Abu Bakr or Umar were instrumental in the collection or preservation of the ''Qur'an''.

Military expansion

Once the rebellions had been put down, Abu Bakr began a war of conquest. Whether or not he intended a full-out imperial conquest is hard to say; he did, however, set in motion a historical trajectory that in just a few short decades would lead to one of the largest empires in history. Abu Bakr began with Iraq, the richest province of Persian Empire. He sent his most brilliant general Khalid ibn al-Walid to invade the Sassanid Empire.

Conquest of Sassanid Persian Empire

After the Ridda Wars, a tribal chief of north eastern Arabia, Muthanna ibn Haris, raided the Persian towns in Iraq. With the success of the raids, a considerable amount of booty was collected. Muthanna ibn Haris went to Medina to inform Caliph Abu Bakr about his success and was appointed commander of his people, after which he began to raid deeper into Iraq. Using the mobility of his light cavalry he could easily raid any town near the desert and within moments could disappear again in to the desert, into which the Sassanid army was unable to chase them. Muthanna’s acts made Abu Bakr think about the expansion of the Rashidun Empire.

Abu Bakr started with the invasion of Iraq. The problems faced by Abu Bakr were that the Arabs feared the Persians with a deep, unreasoning fear which ran in the tribal consciousness as a racial complex and was the result of centuries of Persian power and glory. In return the Persian regarded the Arab with contempt. It was important not to suffer a defeat, for that would confirm and strengthen this instinctive fear. To make certain of victory, Abu Bakr decided on two measures; that the invading army would consist entirely of volunteers; and he put in command of the army his best general Khalid ibn al-Walid. After defeating the self-proclaimed prophet Musaylimah in the Battle of Yamama, Khalid was still at Al-Yamama when Abu Bakr sent him orders to invade the Sassanid Empire. Making Al-Hirah the objective of Khalid, Abu Bakr sent reinforcements and ordered the tribal chiefs of north eastern Arabia, Muthanna ibn Haris, Mazhur bin Adi, Harmala and Sulma to operate under the command of Khalid along with their men. In about third week of March 633 (first week of Muharram 12th Hijrah) Khalid set out from Al-Yamama with an army of 10,000. The tribal chiefs, with 2,000 warriors each, joined Khalid; Thus Khalid entered the Persian Empire with 18,000 troops. After entering Iraq with his army of 18,000, Khalid won decisive victories in four consecutive battles: Battle of Chains, fought in April 633; Battle of River, fought in the 3rd week of April 633; Battle of Walaja, fought in May 633 (where he successfully used a double envelopment manoeuvre), and Battle of Ullais, fought in the mid of May 633. By now the Persian court already disturbed by the internal problems, was down and out. In the last week of May 633, Hira capital city of Iraq fell to the Muslims after resistance in the Siege of Hira. After resting his armies, in June 633 Khalid laid siege of Al Anbar, which resisted and was eventually surrendered after a siege of a few weeks in July 633 after the Siege of Al-Anbar. Khalid then moved towards the south, and conquered the city of Ein ul Tamr after the Battle of Ein ut Tamr in the last week of July 633. By now, almost the whole of Iraq (Euphrates region) was under Islamic control. Khalid got a call of help from northern Arabia at Daumat-ul-Jandal, where another Muslim Arab general, Ayaz bin Ghanam, was trapped among the rebel tribes. Khalid went to Daumat-ul-jandal and defeated the rebels in the Battle of Daumat-ul-jandal in the last week of August 633. Returning from Arabia, he got news of the assembling of a large Persian army. He decided to defeat them all separately to avoid the risk of defeat to a large unified Persian army. Four divisions of Persian and Christian Arab auxiliaries were present at Hanafiz, Zumiel, Sanni and Muzieh. Khalid devised a brilliant plan to destroy the Persian forces. He divided his army in three units, and attacked the Persian forces in brilliantly coordinated attacks from three different sides at night, starting from the Battle of Muzieh, then the Battle of Sanni, and finally the Battle of Zumail during November 633. These devastating defeats ended Persian control over Iraq, and left the Persian capital Ctesiphon unguarded and vulnerable for Muslims attack, before attacking the Persian Capital Khalid decided to eliminate all Persian forces from south and west, he accordingly marched against the border city of Firaz, where he defeated the combined forces of the Sassanid Persians, Byzantine Romans and Christian Arabs in the Battle of Firaz in December 633. This was the last battle in his conquest of Iraq. While Khalid was on his way to attack Qadissiyah, a key fort in the way to Persian Capital Ctesiphon, he received the letter of Caliph Abu Bakr and was sent to Roman front in Syria to assume the command of Muslim armies to conquer Roman Syria.

Invasion of Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire

With a successful invasion of Sassanid Persian province of Iraq, Abu Bakr’s confidence grew. He concentrated four large corps at Zhu Qissah and sent them to Roman Syria. Each corps was assigned its own commander and its own target. The leaders of the different corps received intelligence of a concentration of large Byzantine armies at Ajnadayn while on the march. The army stopped its advance and the leaders wrote to Abu Bakr for help. Since the Moslem position in Iraq was stable by now, the Caliph accordingly wrote to Khalid to take half of his forces of Iraq to Syria and to assume command of all Muslim armies in Byzantine Syria. The Byzantine province of Syria in those days consisted of modern day Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Lebanon and southern Turkey. There were two routes towards Syria from Iraq, one was via Daumat-ul-Jandal and the other was through Mesopotamia passing though Ar Raqqah. Since it was believed that the Muslim armies in Syria were in need of urgent reinforcement, Khalid avoided the conventional route to Syria via Daumat ul Jandal because it was a long route and would take weeks to reach Syria. He also did not take the Mesopotamian route because Roman garrisons held northern Syria and northern Mesopotamia. A conflict with these Roman forces would have forced Khalid to spend too much time while Muslim armies were being outflanked in Syria. Khalid selected, instead, a short and unconventional route to Syria, passing though the Syrian Desert. Although probably hyperbole, some sources state that his soldiers marched for two days without a single drop of water before reaching an oasis that Khalid had selected in advance. Khalid thus entered Northern Syria at a point where he was least expected, catching the Byzantine forces on their right flank. More recent historians have suggested that this surprises attack unhinged the Byzantine defenses in Syria.

Khalid entered Syria in June 634 and quickly captured the border forts of

Sawa, Arak, Tadmur, Sukhnah. Qaryatayn and Hawarin after the battles of Qaryatayn and Hawarin. After dealing with all these cities, Khalid moved towards Damascus, passing though a mountain pass which is now known as Sanita-al-Uqab (Uqab pass) after the name of Khalid's army standard. From here he moved away from Damascus, towards Bosra, the capital of Ghassanid Arab kingdom, a vassal of Eastern Roman empire. He had ordered other Muslim commanders to concentrate their armies at Bosra, which were still near the Syrian-Arabia border. At Maraj-al-Rahab, Khalid defeated a Ghassanid army of Christian Arabs in a quick Battle of Marj-al-Rahit. Meanwhile Abu Ubaida ibn al-Jarrah, the supreme commander of Muslim armies in Syria had ordered Shurhabil ibn Hasana to attack Bosra.The later laid siege of Bosra with his small army of 4000 men. Roman and Ghassanid Arab garrison, noticing that this might be the advance guard of the larger Muslim army to come, decided to attack and destroy Shurhabil’s army. They came out of the fortified city and attacked Shurhabil, surrounding him from all sides; Khalid reached the arena with his advance guard cavalry and saved the day for Shurhabil. The combined forces of Khalid, Shurhabil and Abu Ubaidah then laid the siege of Bosra, which surrendered some time in mid July 634. thus effectively ending the Ghassanid Dynasty.

Here Khalid took over the command of Muslim armies in Syria from Abu Ubaidah, as per the instructions of Caliph. The massive Byzantine armies were concentrating at Ajnadayn to push the invading armies back to desert. Early Muslim sources have mentioned its size to be 90,000, while most of the modern historians doubt the figures, but consider this battle to be the key to breaking the Byzantine power in Syria. According to the instructions of Khalid all Muslim corps concentrated at Ajnadayn, where they fought a decisive battle against Byzantine on 30 July 634. Defeat at the Battle of Ajnadayn, left Syria vulnerable to the Muslim invaders. Khalid decided to capture Damascus, the Byzantine stronghold. At Damascus Thomas, son in law of Emperor Heraculis, was in charge. Receiving the intelligence of Khalid's march towards Damascus he prepared for the defences of Damascus. He wrote to Emperor Heraculis for reinforcement, who was at Emesa that time. Moreover Thomas, in order to get more time for preparation of a siege, sent the armies to delay or if possible halt Khalid's march to Damascus, one such army was defeated at Battle of Yaqusa in mid-August 634 near Lake Tiberias 90 miles from Damascus, another army that halted the Muslim advance to Damascus was defeated in Battle of Maraj as Saffer on 19 August 634. These engagements delayed Khalid’s advance and gave Thomas enough time to prepare for siege. Meanwhile Heraculis's reinforcement had reached the city, which he had dispatched after the bad news of Ajnadyn. Before Heraculis's another regiment could reach Damascus, Khalid had finally reached Damascus. Khalid reached Damascus on 20 August and besieged the city. To isolate the city from rest of the region, Khalid placed the detachments south on the road to Palestine and in north at Damascus-Emesa route, and several other smaller detachments on routes towards Damascus. Heraculis's reinforcement was intercepted and routed at the Battle of Sanita-al-Uqab, 20 miles from Damascus. Khalid's forces withstood three Roman sallies that tried to break the siege. Khalid finally attacked and conquered Damascus on 18 September 634 after a 30-day siege. According to some sources the siege lasted for four or six months. Heraculis, having received the news of the fall of Damascus, left for Antioch from Emesa. The citizens were given peace on the terms of annual tribute; the Byzantine army was given a three-day peace to go as far as they could. After the three-day deadline was over, the Muslim cavalry under Khalid's command attacked the Roman army, catching up to them using an unknown shortcut, at the Battle of Maraj-al-Debaj, 190 miles north of Damascus. Abu Bakr died during the siege of Damascus and Umar became the new Caliph. He dismissed his cousin Khalid ibn al-Walid from the command and appointed Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah the new commander in chief of Islamic army in Syria. Abu Ubaidah got the letter of his appointment and Khalid's disposal during the siege, but he delayed the announcement until the city was conquered.

Death

On 23 August 634, Abu Bakr fell sick and did not recover due to his old age. There are two accounts about the sickness of Abu Bakr. One account states that 8 August 634 was a cold day and when Abu Bakr took a bath, he caught a chill. Another account indicates that, about a year before, along with some other companions, Harith bin Kaladah and Attab bin Usaid, he had eaten some poisoned food which did not affect him for a year.

Abu Bakr developed high fever and was confined to bed. His illness was prolonged and when his condition worsened he felt that his end was near. Realizing his death was near, he sent for Ali and requested him to perform his ghusl since Ali had also done it for the Prophet Muhammad.

Abu Bakr felt that he should nominate his successor so that the issue should not be a cause of dissension among the Muslims after his death, though there was already controversy over Ali not having been appointed.

He appointed Umar as his successor after discussing with some companions. Some of them favored the nomination and others disliked it, due to the tough nature of Umar.

Abu Bakr thus dictated his last testament to Uthman Ibn Affan as follows:

Abu Bakr next asked Aisha as to how many pieces of cloth were used for Muhammad's shroud. Aisha said that three pieces had been used. Abu Bakr thereupon desired the same number for his own shroud. On Monday 23 August 634 Abu Bakr died. The funeral prayer was led by Umar. He was buried the same night by the side of Muhammad's grave in Aisha's house near Al-Masjid al-Nabawi

Family

:Father: Uthman ibn Amir Abu Quhafa :Mother: Umm al-Khair Salma bint Shakhr ibn Amir ibn Ka'ab ibn Sa'ad ibn Taim ::Brother: Mu'taq (presumably the middle) ::Brother: Utaiq (presumably the youngest) ::Brother: Quhafah ibn Uthman ::Himself: Atiq (presumably the eldest) ::Wife: Qutaylah bint Abd-al-Uzza ibn 'Abd ibn As'ad (divorced) :::Daughter: Aisha Siddiqua and Asma bint Abu Bakr ::::Grandson Abd-Allah ibn al-Zubayr - ''His birth spread happiness amongs muslims, killed by Hajjaj bin Yousef. ::::Grandson Urwa ibn al-Zubayr :::::Great grandson Hisham ibn Urwa :::Son: 'Abd Allaah ibn Abi Bakr ::Wife: Um Ruman bint Amir ibn Uwaymir ibn Zuhal ibn Dahman (from Kinanah) :::Step son: Tufail ibn Abdullah, The son of Abd-Allah ibn Harith :::Son: Abdu'l-Rahman ibn Abu Bakr :::Daughter: 'Aa'ishah :::Son in law: Muhammad, tree ::Wife: Asma' bint Umays ibn Ma'ad ibn Taym al-Khath'amiyyah (previously wife of Jafar ibn Abi Talib and after Abu Bakr's death, became the wife of Ali ibn Abi Talib) :::Son: Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr ::Wife: Habibah bint Kharijah ibn Zayd ibn Abi Zuhayr (from the tribe of Banu al-Haris ibn al-Khazraj :::Daughter: Umm Khultum bint Abu Bakr.

Today there are many families which are the descendants of Abu Bakr. Most of them are known by the name Al-Siddiqi And Al-Atiqi's Or Al-Atiqi (Al-Ateeqi) ((In Arabic)). But they are also known by some other names in different localities. For example, In East Ethiopia, Siddiqis are usually called Qallu, which means ''people of the religion'', as they were the first to bring Islam to this area. In Somalia, they are commonly known as Sheekhaal and they are well respected by other Somali clans. In Bangladesh, they are known by the name of Qureshi. There are also Al-Atiqi or Atiqi Families in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Syria,Yemen, Iraq and other places in the Arabia Peninsula. All the descendants of Abu Bakr, their Ancestors are: Abdurahman Ibn Abu Bakr and Muhammad Ibn Abu Bakr. The Al-Bakri Family in Egypt are the descendants of Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr while the sheekhaal or Fiqi Umar Family found in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya and the Aala Atiq Families found in the Arabia Peninsula are the descendants of Abdurahman Ibn Abu Bakr.

Legacy

Abu Bakr became the Caliph on 8 June 632 and he died on 23 August 634. Though the period of his caliphate covers only two years, two months and fifteen days, it included successful invasions of the two most powerful empires of the time: the Sassanid Empire and Byzantine Empire.

Abu Bakr had the distinction of being the first Caliph in the history of Islam and also the first Caliph to nominate a successor. He was the only Caliph in the history of Islam who refunded to the state treasury at the time of his death the entire amount of the allowance that he had drawn during the period of his caliphate.

He is revered for being the first Muslim ruler to establish:

Bayt al-mal

The Crown Pasture

'Ijtihad'.

He has the distinction of purchasing the land for Al-Masjid al-Nabawi.

Abu Bakr had given up drinking wine even in the time before Islam. He was the foremost genealogist of the Quraysh and was well accomplished at interpreting dreams according to Ibn Sirin.

Sunni view

Sunni Muslims also consider Abu Bakr as one of al-`Ashara al-Mubasharîn fi-l-Janna (The Ten Promised Paradise) whom Muhammad had testified were destined for Paradise. He is regarded as Khalifa Rasulullah ''The successor of Messenger of Allah'', and first of the Rightly Guided Caliphs - i.e. Rashidun and being the rightful successor to Muhammad. Abu Bakr had always been the closest friend and confidant of Muhammad throughout his life. He was always there beside Muhammad at every major event. It was Abu Bakr's wisdom that Muhammad always honored. Abu Bakr is regarded to be among best persons from the followers of Muhammad, as Umar ibn Khattab stated that ‘If the faith of Abu Bakr was weighed against the faith of the people of the earth, the faith of Abu Bakr would outweigh the others.’ During the last few weeks of his life, Muhammad preferred Abu Bakr to lead the Muslims in prayer while he was ill. Upon Muhammad's death, it was Abu Bakr who demonstrated sagacity to keep the ranks of the Muslims together. Muhammad had not left behind a clear will on who would succeed him. There was dissension between the two original tribes of Medina, namely Aws and Khazraj regarding who would become the ruler over the Muslims after Muhammad. This even led to drawing of swords between them. Abu Bakr, Umar and Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah rushed to the spot where the dispute almost turned bloody, and delivered his famous speech to show the path of unity between the Muslims and declared that Umar should become the first caliph. In turn, Umar declared his allegiance to Abu Bakr saying that there is no better man amongst the Muslims after Muhammad. The majority of the sahaba (companions of Muhammad) assembled there followed suit and pledged their allegiance to Abu Bakr. Sunnis point out this fact of avoiding bloodshed between Muslims and preserving the unity of the state as of paramount importance, or it would have led to self-destruction of the new state. The famous scholar Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal also stated that he is among the foremost companions (sahaba) of prophet Muhammad.

Shi'a view

Shi'a Muslims have a different view of Abu Bakr. They believe that Ali ibn Abi Talib was supposed to assume Caliphate, and had been appointed by Muhammad as his successor at Ghadir Khumm. It is also believed Abu Bakr and Umar conspired to take over power in the Muslim nation after Muhammad's death, in a coup d'état against Ali. According to them, they also met secretly with the tribal leaders of Mecca and Medina at Saqifah to elect Abu Bakr. The Shi'a do not view Abu Bakr's being with Muhammad in the cave when the two fled Mecca as a meritorious act.

The Shi'a criticize Abu Bakr for an alleged dispute between him and Muhammad's daughter, Fatimah, that, according to them, ended with her becoming angry with Abu Bakr and refusing to talk with him for the rest of her life, she died six months later. According to them, Abu Bakr had refused to grant her a piece of land which Muhammad had given to her as a gift before his death. However, Abu Bakr replied by saying that Muhammad had told him that the Prophets of God do not possess any worldly possessions and on this basis he refused to give her the piece of land. Some Shi'a also accuse him of participating in the burning of the house of Ali and Fatima. (''see Fadak'')

The Shi'a believe that Abu Bakr sent Khalid ibn Walid to crush those who were in favour of Ali's caliphate (''see Ridda Wars''). The Shi'a strongly refute the idea that Abu Bakr or Umar were instrumental in the collection or preservation of the ''Qur'an'', claiming that they should have accepted the copy of the book in the possession of Ali

Non-Muslim views

Edward Gibbon wrote about Abu Bakr as:

The moderation, and the veracity of Abu Bakr confirmed the new religion, and furnished an example for invitation.

William Muir states that:

Abu Bakr's judgment was sound and impartial; his conversation agreeable and his demeanor affable and much sought after by the Quraysh and he was popular throughout the city.... The faith of Abu Bakr was the greatest guarantee of Muhammad's sincerity in the beginning of his career, and indeed, in a modified sense, throughout his life. To have such a person as a staunch adherent of his claim, was for Muhammad a most important step.

William Montgomery Watt writes:

From 622 to 632 he (Abu Bakr) was Mohammed's chief adviser, but had no prominent public functions except that he conducted the pilgrimage to Mecca in 631, and led the public prayers in Medina during Mohammed's last illness.

Hadith transmitted by him

It has been transmitted from Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim that Abu Bakr related, "I said to the Prophet: 'O Messenger of Allah! Teach me a supplication which I may make in prayer.' He replied: 'Say: Oh Allah! I have done my soul a great harm and no one can forgive sins except You; so grant me forgiveness with Your Pleasure, and have Pity on me. You are Al Ghaffur, Ar-Rahim.'"

In al-Adab al-Mafrud of Imam Al-Bukhari and in ibn Majah and the Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal, it has been reported from Abu Bakr that Muhammad said, "Stick to speaking the truth because truth is a companion of birr (righteousness) and both these are in Paradise; and abstain from lying because it is a companion of fujur (sin) and both these are in Hell."

It is reported in Sunan Abu Dawood, Ahmad, and Tirmidhi that Abu Bakr said, "O people! You recite the verse (5:105): 'O you who believe! Guard your own souls; if you follow (right) guidance, no hurt can come to you from those who stray', but you misinterpret it and do not know what it means. I once heard the Messenger of Allah say, 'If people see someone practicing injustice and do not set him right, Allah will almost certainly visit them all with severe punishment." Another narration goes, "If they see evil practiced and do not attempt to change it..."

According to a narration of Abu Bakr as reported in Jami al Tirmidhi, Tafsir ibn Jarir and elsewhere, when Muhammed recited this verse (4:123), "And whoever does evil shall be requited for it" to him, he felt as if his back was broken. When Muhammed noticed the reaction on him, he asked, "What is the matter with you?" Thereupon, Abu Bakr submitted, "Ya RasulAllah, there is hardly anyone among us who can claim to have done nothing bad in one's life. Now if every evil deed has to be requited, who can hope to go unscathed from among us? He said, "O Abu Bakr, you and your believing brothers need not worry about it because worldly hardships that you face shall make amends for your sins." As it appears in another narration, he said, "O Abu Bakr, do you not get sick? Are you never tested by distress and sorrow?" Abu Bakr said, "No doubt, all this does happen." Then he said, "There, this is the requital of whatever evil you may have done."

See also

Rashidun Caliphate

* Umar

* Uthman

* Ali

Ridda wars

Qallu

Sahaba

* List of Sahaba

* Sunni view of the Sahaba

Muadh ibn Jabal

References

External links

Muslim:

* Sahaba.net: Abu Bakr

* AbuBakr.com

* Detailed Life of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq

* Abu Bakr's life

* Naqshbandi-Haqqani Sufi Order biography of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq

* Greatness of Abu Bakr

* Lengthy biography of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq by Adam Walker

Urdu Audio

* Virtues of Abu Bakr Urdu Audio

* Abu Bakr appearing in Narrations/Hadith recorded by Imam Bukhari - www.SearchTruth.com

* Abu bakr's appointment as Khalifah

* Searchable Family tree of Abu Bakr as-Siddeeq by Happy Books

Non-Muslim:

* quotes

* Abu Bakr

Unclassified:

* Abu Bakr

* Abu Bakr from Islamonline

* Sirah of Abu Bakr (Radia'Allahuanhu) Part 1 by Shaykh Sayyed Muhammad bin Yahya Al-Husayni Al-Ninowy.

Shia:

*Abu Bakr

Category:573 births Category:634 deaths Category:Arab people Category:Converts to Islam Category:Rashidun Category:Sahaba Category:7th-century caliphs Category:Sahaba witnessed the Battle of the Trench

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