Jafnah ibn Amr

Jafnah ibn Amr
King of the Ghassanids
Reign	220–265 CE
Predecessor	Position started
Successor	Amr ibn Jafnah
Died	c. 265 CE
House	Ghassanids
Father	Muzayqiya
Religion	South Arabian polytheism (possibly)

Jafnah ibn 'Amr (Arabic: جفنة بن عمرو) or Jafna (died c. 265 CE) was the first of the Ghassanid rulers. He was succeeded by his son Amr ibn Jafnah who converted to Christianity.

Biography

Family

Jafnah is the son of the ancient Arabian king, Muzayqiya. His full lineage is given as Jafnah ibn 'Amr Muzayqiya ibn 'Amir Ma' as-Sama ibn Haritha ibn Imru' al-Qays ibn Tha'laba ibn Mazin ibn 'Azd, connecting his lineage to the historic Azd tribal group.[1] Jafnah had a brother named Tha'laba ibn 'Amr who would be the ancestor of the Aws and Khazraj tribes which dominated the Arabian city of Medina.[2]

Jafnah's son, 'Amr, became a Christian, and from there began the status of the Ghassanids as a Christian tribe and ruling dynasty.[1]

Rule

The reign of Jafnah ibn 'Amr has been dated to 220–265 CE, somewhere in the 3rd century CE.[3][4] Towards the end of this reign around 250 CE, Jafnah and his family may have migrated to Syria from Yemen as a result of the collapse of the Ma'rib Dam.[5]

Legacy

Jafnah was the ancestor of the Ghassanid line of rulers. In later years, the Ghassanid rulers would become powerful allies of the Byzantines.[6] Even after the decline of the Ghassanids in the 7th century CE, Christian and even Muslim ruling dynasties would claim to be descended from Jafnah.[7] Muslim dynasties who did such include the Rasulid dynasty (1229–1454) and also some of the sultans that were part of the Burji Mamluks.[8]

See also

• Ghassanids
• Rasulids

References

1. Ibn Sa'id al-Andalusi. Nashwat al-Tarab fi Tarikh Jahiliat al-Arab. Amman, Jordan: Maktabat Al-Aqsa.
2. Ulrich, Brian (2019). Arabs in the Early Islamic Empire: Exploring al-Azd Tribal Identity. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-1-4744-3682-3.
3. Fisher, Greg (2018). "Jafnids". In Oliver Nicholson (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity. Vol. 2: J–Z. Oxford University Press. p. 804. ISBN 978-0-19-866277-8.
4. "Laws of Succession". Sovereign Imperial & Royal House of Ghassan. Retrieved 2024-08-24.
5. Hoberman, Barry (March–April 1983). "The King of Ghassan". Saudi Aramco World. Archived from the original on 11 January 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
6. Shahîd, Irfan (1995). Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century. Vol. 1. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks. ISBN 978-0-88402-214-5.
7. Late Antiquity - Bowesock/Brown/Grabar, Harvard University Press, 1999, p. 469
8. Ghassan post Ghassan, Irfan Shahid, Festschrift "The Islamic World - From classical to modern times", for Bernard Lewis, Darwin Press 1989, p. 328