Ghassanids in the context of "Banu Thaqif"

The Golan Heights, or simply the Golan, is a basaltic plateau at the southwest corner of Syria. It is bordered by the Yarmouk River in the south, the Sea of Galilee and Hula Valley in the west, the Anti-Lebanon mountains with Mount Hermon in the north and Wadi Raqqad in the east. It hosts vital water sources that feed the Hasbani River and the Jordan River. Two thirds of the area was depopulated and occupied by Israel following the 1967 Six-Day War and then effectively annexed in 1981. The international community largely considers the area Israeli-occupied Syrian territory. The United States recognized it as part of Israel in 2019 during the first Trump administration. In 2024, Israel occupied parts of the remaining one third of the area.

The earliest evidence of human habitation on the Golan dates to the Upper Paleolithic period. It was home to the biblical Geshur, and was later incorporated into Aram-Damascus, before being ruled by several foreign and domestic powers, including the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Itureans, Hasmoneans, Romans, Ghassanids, several caliphates, and the Mamluk Sultanate. It was ruled by the Ottoman Empire from the 16th century until its collapse, and subsequently became part of the French Mandate in Syria and the State of Damascus in 1923. When the mandate terminated in 1946, it became part of the newly independent Syrian Arab Republic, spanning about 1,800 km (690 sq mi).

Khosrow I (also spelled Khosrau, Khusro or Chosroes; Middle Persian: 𐭧𐭥𐭮𐭫𐭥𐭣𐭩), traditionally known by his epithet of Anushirvan (Middle Persian: 𐭠𐭭𐭥𐭱𐭫𐭥𐭡𐭠𐭭, lit. 'the Immortal Soul'), was the Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from 531 to 579. He was the son and successor of Kavad I (r. 488–496, 498/9–531).

Inheriting a reinvigorated empire at war with the Byzantines, Khosrow I signed a peace treaty with them in 532, known as the Perpetual Peace, in which the Byzantine emperor Justinian I paid 11,000 pounds of gold to the Sasanians. Khosrow then focused on consolidating his power, executing conspirators, including his uncle Bawi. Dissatisfied with the actions of the Byzantine clients and vassals, the Ghassanids, and encouraged by Ostrogoth envoys from Italy, Khosrow violated the peace treaty and declared war against the Byzantines in 540. He sacked the major city of Antioch and deported its population to Persia. In 541, he invaded Lazica and made it an Iranian protectorate, thus initiating the Lazic War. In 545, the two empires agreed to halt the wars in Mesopotamia and Syria while continuing to fight in Lazica. A truce was declared in 557, and by 562 the fifty-year peace treaty was signed.

The Bani Utbah (Arabic: بَنِيّ عُتبَة, romanized: banī ‘utbah, plural Utub; Arabic: الْعُتُوب al-‘utūb, singular Utbi; Arabic: الْعُتبِيّ al-‘utbī) is an Arab tribal confederation in the Arabian Peninsula. The confederation is thought to have been formed when a group of clans from Najd migrated to Eastern Arabia in the late 17th century and early 18th century. Most of the Utub clans and families, such as the Al-Sabah and Al-Khalifa, trace their lineage back to the Anizah tribe, with the exception of some, such as the Al Bin Ali, whose lineage goes back to the Banu Sulaym tribe. The Al Bin Ali along with the current ruling families of Bahrain and Kuwait were the rulers of the federation. The name of the confederation is found in the form Attoobee or Uttoobee in English sources up to the late 19th century.

The tribes of Arabia (Arabic: القبائل العربية) have inhabited the Arabian Peninsula for thousands of years and traditionally trace their ancestry to one of two forefathers: Adnan, whose descendants originate from West Arabia, North Arabia, East Arabia, and Central Arabia; or Qahtan, whose descendants originate from South Arabia. Further, it is held in the Abrahamic religions—particularly Islam—that the Arab people are descended from Abraham through his son Ishmael.

From the 7th century onward, concurrent with the spread of Islam, many of these tribes' members began migrating and settling in the various regions that were subdued during the early Muslim conquests, including the Levant, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Khuzestan, the Maghreb, and Sudan. This phenomenon triggered a process of Arabization that significantly influenced demographic shifts across most of West Asia and North Africa, culminating in the growth of the Arab population far beyond the Arabian Peninsula.

The Quraysh (Arabic: قُرَيْشٍ) are an Arab tribe who controlled Mecca before the rise of Islam. Their members were divided into ten main clans, most notably including the Banu Hashim, into which Islam's founder prophet Muhammad was born. By the seventh century, they had become wealthy merchants, dominating trade between the Indian Ocean, East Africa, and the Mediterranean. The tribe ran caravans to Gaza and Damascus in summer and to Yemen in winter, while also mining and pursuing other enterprises on these routes.

When Muhammad began preaching Islam in Mecca, the Quraysh initially showed little concern. However, their opposition to his activities quickly grew as he increasingly challenged Arab polytheism, which was prevalent throughout pre-Islamic Arabia. As relations deteriorated, Muhammad and his followers migrated to Medina (the journey known as the Hijrah) after negotiating with the Banu Aws and the Banu Khazraj to mediate their conflict. However, the two sides proved unable to reach a peaceful resolution, and the Quraysh continued to obstruct Muhammad's community's attempts to perform the Islamic pilgrimage at Mecca, prompting him to confront them through armed conflict, primarily by conducting raids on their caravans. These raids eventually escalated into several major battles, including those at Badr, Uhud, and "the Trench" (Medina's outskirts). Following these engagements and changes in Medina's political landscape, including the expulsion of three Jewish tribes, Muhammad reportedly shifted the focus of his military campaigns from Quraysh caravans to the northern Arab tribes, such as the Banu Lahyan and the Banu Mustaliq.

Arab Christians (Arabic: ﺍﻟْﻤَﺴِﻴﺤِﻴُّﻮﻥ ﺍﻟْﻌَﺮَﺏ, romanized: al-Masīḥiyyūn al-ʿArab) are the Arabs who adhere to Christianity. The number of Arab Christians who live in the Middle East was estimated in 2012 to be between 10 and 15 million, although most predominant in Lebanon. Arab Christian communities can be found throughout the Arab world, but are concentrated in the Eastern Mediterranean region of the Levant and Egypt, with smaller communities present throughout the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa.

The history of Arab Christians coincides with the history of Eastern Christianity and the history of the Arabic language; Arab Christian communities either result from pre-existing Christian communities adopting the Arabic language, or from pre-existing Arabic-speaking communities adopting Christianity. The jurisdictions of three of the five patriarchates of the Pentarchy primarily became Arabic-speaking after the early Muslim conquests – the Church of Alexandria, the Church of Antioch and the Church of Jerusalem – and over time many of their adherents adopted the Arabic language and culture. Separately, a number of early Arab kingdoms and tribes adopted Christianity, including the Nabataeans, Lakhmids, Salihids, Tanukhids, Ibadis of al-Hira, and the Ghassanids.