The Azd or Al Azd, are an Arabian tribe. They were a branch of the Kahlan tribe, which was one of the two branches of Qahtan the other being Himyar.

In the ancient times, they inhabited Ma'rib, the capital city of the Sabaean Kingdom in modern-day Yemen. Their lands were irrigated by the Ma'rib Dam, which is thought by some to have been one of the Ancient World Wonders because of its size. When the dam collapsed for the third time in the 3rd century AD, a large number of the Azd tribe left Yemen and immigrated in many directions. Azd is also a widely used male name in Yemen.

Azd branches[link]

In the 3rd century AD. The Azd branched into four branches each led by one of the sons of Amr bin Muzaiqiya

Imran Bin Amr[link]

Imran bin Amr and the bulk of the tribe went to Oman where they established the Azdi presence in Eastern Arabia and later invaded Karman and Shiraz in Southern Persia, these came to be known as (Azd Daba). Another branch headed west back to Yemen and a group went further West all the way to Tihama on the Red Sea. This group will become known as Azd Uman after Islam.

Jafna bin Amr[link]

Jafna bin Amr and his family, headed for Syria where he settled and initiated the kingdom of the Ghassanids who was so named after a spring of water where they stopped on their way to Syria. This branch will produce:

• The Ghassanid Dynasty,
• A Roman Emperor (Philip the Arab)
• A Byzantine dynasty (Nikephoros)

The Ghassanids remained mostly Christian and today they makeup the majority of Arab Christians in Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, and Syria.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Thalabah bin Amr[link]

Thalabah bin Amr left his tribe Al-Azd for Hijaz and dwelt between Thalabiyah and Dhi Qar. When he gained strength, he headed for Yathrib where he stayed. Of his seed are the great Aws and Khazraj, sons of Haritha bin Thalabah. Those will be the Muslim Ansar and will produce the last Arab Dynasty in Spain (the Nasrids).

Haritha/Khuza'a bin Amr[link]

Khuza'a known as Haritha Amr bin Muzaqiba. Lead a branch of the Azd Qahtani tribes wandered with his tribe in Hijaz until they came to Mar al-Zahran. Later, they conquered the Haram, and settled in Mecca after having driven away its people, the tribe of Jurhum, They were later replaced by their Adnani allied tribe of Quraish. Banu Almustaliq will branch out of Khuza'a and settled Qadid on the Red Sea shore between Jeddah and Rabigh [1].

Azd 'Uman[link]

The Azd 'Uman were for a while the dominant Arab tribe in the eastern realms of the Caliphate being instrumental in the conquest of Fars, Makran and Sindh.^[6] They were the chief merchant group of Oman and Al-Ubulla who organized a trading diaspora with settlements of Persianized Arabs on the coasts of Kirman and Makran extending into Sindh since the days of Ardashir.^[6] They were strongly involved in the western trade with India and with the expansion of the Muslim conquests they began to consolidate their commercial and political authority on the eastern frontier. During the early years of the Muslim conquests the Azdi ports of Bahrain and Oman were staging grounds for Muslim naval fleets headed to Fars and Hind.^[6] From 637 A.D the conquests of Fars and Makran were dominated by the Azdi and allied tribes from Oman. Between 665 A.D and 683 A.D the Azdi 'Uman became especially prominent due in Basra on account of favors from Ziyad bin Abihi, the Governor of Muawiya I, and his son Ubaidullah.^[6] When a member of their tribe Abu Said Al- Muhallab ibn Abi Suffrah became governor their influence and wealth increased as he extended Muslim conquests to Makran and Sindh where so many other Azdi were settled.^[6] After his death in 702 though they lost their grip on power with the rise of Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf as governor of Iraq.^[6] Al-Hajjaj pursued a systematic policy of breaking Umayyad power as a result of which the Azdi also suffered.^[6] With the death of Hajjaj and under Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik as Caliph, their fortunes reversed once again with the appointment of Yazid ibn al-Muhallab.^[6]

Influential people or branches of Azd[link]

• The Ghassanids
• The Banu Tanukh
• Banu Ma'an (Part of the Tanukhi tribal Confederation)
• The Nasrid dynasty of Al-Andalus
• The Al Said dynasty of Oman
• The Al Nahyan dynasty of the United Arab Emirates and Abu Dhabi
• The Al Maktoum dynasty of Dubai
• Ibn Duraid
• Abu Dawood Collector of Hadith
• Khalil ibn Ahmad
• Kuthayyir,^[7], Arab poet
• Ibn al-Banna
• Jabir ibn Zayd Al-Azdi, the co-founder of the Ibadi sect of Islam
• Al Muhallab ibn Abi Suffrah
• Ibn Al-Thahabi
• Tribe Algamd
• Tribe al-Shehri
• Tribe of Zahran, Al Baha is the home land of the Ghamid and Zahran tribes.
• Bareg (tribe)
• Tribes of Arabia

See also[link]

• Rawadid

Footnotes[link]

References[link]

• http://www.uaeinteract.com/history/e_walk/con_3/con3_31.asp
• http://www.muslimaccess.com/sunnah/seerah/1.htm
• Wink, Andre, "Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World", Brill Academic Publishers, Aug 1, 2002, ISBN 0-391-04173-8