Kingdom of Kinda كِنْدَة الملوك | |
|---|---|
| c. 450 CE–c. 550 CE | |
 Map showing approximate extent of the Kingdom of Kinda, c. 500 CE | |
| Capital |
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| Common languages | Arabic |
| Religion | Christianity, Arabian polytheism |
| Demonym(s) | Kindites |
| Government | Monarchy |
| History | |
• Established | c. 450 CE |
• Disestablished | c. 550 CE |
| Today part of | Saudi Arabia |
The Kingdom of Kinda (Arabic: كِنْدَة الملوك, romanized: Kindat al-Mulūk, lit. 'Royal Kinda') also called the Kindite kingdom, refers to the rule of the nomadic Arab tribes of the Ma'add confederation in north and central Arabia by the Banu Akil al-Murar, a family of the South Arabian tribe of Kinda, in c. 450 – c. 550 CE. The Kinda did not belong to the Ma'add and their rule over them was likely at the confederation's initiative and engineered by the Kinda's South Arabian patron, the Himyarite Kingdom. The tribes may have sought a prominent, non-involved leader to bring stability to the Ma'add during a period of constant feuding among its constituents.
The roughly century-long rule of the Kinda was the first known nomadic Arab monarchy and the first attempt by the tribes to regulate their affairs in a centralized manner. The Kindite kingdom presaged the centralization movement under Islam in the early 7th century. Likely influenced by the sedentary civilization of Himyar, the Kindite monarchs ruled their domains from urban settlements. The rule of the kingdom's founder Hujr Akil al-Murar was characterized by domestic peace. He was succeeded by his sons Amr al-Maqsur and Mu'awiya al-Jawn, who ruled over Najd and the Yamama, respectively. The tribes of the Rabi'a faction revolted and likely killed Amr. His son and successor al-Harith is the first Kindite king attested in contemporary Byzantine sources. His sons' assaults on the Byzantine frontier provinces in the Levant likely precipitated the Byzantines' establishment of an alliance with the Kinda to serve as tribal federates of the empire, alongside the Ghassanids, in 502.
After al-Harith's death, his four sons, each ruling over a different grouping of tribes within the Ma'add confederation, became absorbed in their constituents' blood feuds, greatly weakening the kingdom in Najd. The Kindite kings in the Yamama similarly became entangled in conflicts between their subject tribes. Several Kindite kings in Najd and the Yamama were slain in the internecine fighting. The heavy losses and their fraying control over the tribes prompted the Kinda's abandonment of their kingdom and return to the Hadramawt. There, many of their tribesmen had remained and controlled parts of the region. Several Kindites attained power and influence in the Caliphate, the Islamic empire established after the Islamic prophet Muhammad's death in 632. However, these Kindites hailed from different branches of the tribe, the Banu Akil al-Murar having lost their leadership role.