Beate Dignas & Engelbert Winter - Kaveh Farrokh

24 The Arab prince Imru ulqais 165
century. Odaenathus’ activities on behalf of Rome (260–6/7) reveal the
impact of individual Arab leaders and how much these could further their
own position. The early Persian attempt to include Arab tribes outside their
territory in their political strategies accelerated this development. 82
During the reign of the first Sasanian king Ardaˇsīr I, Hīra was the other
important centre apart from Hatra (map 10). 83 For the numerous Arabs in
this region the fall of Arsacid rule entailed a period of change. According
to the author Tabarī many Arab tribes did not want to remain on Sasanian
territory because they feared that they would lose their autonomy under
Sasanian rule. 84 When towards the end of Parthian rule the people of Hatra
concluded an alliance with the Romans (22) Ardaˇsīr I turned his attention to
Hīra. Here the family of the Lahmids, who had been of importance already
during the Arsacid period, were the focus of attention. During Ardaˇsīr’s
reign the leading man was Amr ibn Adī. 85 Ardaˇsīr I wanted to cooperate
with him in order to weaken Rome and to control new Arab Bedouin tribes.
Tabarī informs us about the position of the son and successor of Amr ibn
Adī, Imruulqais as follows. 86
Tabarī, Ta rīh i 833–4
After the death of Amr b. Adī b. Nasr b. Rabīa, one of his sons called Imruulqais
al Bad was at that time a governor of ˇ Sāpūr I, 87 then of Hormizd I and (finally)
of Bahrām I, ruling over the frontier territory of the Arabs of Rabīa, Mudar and
the other tribes who lived in the deserts of Iraq, the Hi˘gāz and of Mesopotamia.
He was the first of the kings of the clan of Nasr b. Rabīa and the governors of the
Persian kings to convert to Christianity. According to Hiˇsām b. Muhammad, he
lived as a vassal king in his district for 114 years, 88 of which 23 years and one month
were under ˇ Sāpūr I, one year and ten days under Hormizd I, three years, three
months and three days under Bahrām I, and eighteen years under Bahrām II.
If Tabarī is right, Imruulqais was appointed Sasanian governor over the
Arabs in the vast deserts of ‘Irāq, Hi˘gaz and Mesopotamia during the
82 For a survey of this development see Bosworth 1983: 593–612 and 1985–7: 201–3.
83 On Hīra’s role in particular with regard to the protection of the Sasanian Western frontier see
Bosworth 1983: 597–604 and Shahîd 1971a: 462–3.
84 Tabarī, tr. Nöldeke, 23–4; Bosworth 20–2 (822).
85 On Amr ibn Adī, whose historical biography escapes us for most parts (in contrast to that of his
successor Imruulqais ), see Rothstein 1968: 39–40; Pellat 1971: 450 with further references.
86 On Imruulqais see Bowersock 1983: 138–47.
87 In the Arabic text ‘of ˇ Sāpūr son of Ardaˇsīr’; for ease of understanding here and below the conventional
names and numbers of the Sasanian kings are used.
88 This must be one of the frequently attested ‘oriental exaggerations’; Arabic sources often show
legendary years of age with regard to the birth and death of individual rulers. It could also be the
case, however, that mistakes were made when the manuscripts were copied.