Tayy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tayy (Arabic: طيء) is a large and ancient Arabian tribe belonging to the southern or Qahtanite branch of Arab tribes. Their original homeland was the area of the two mountains Aja and Salma in north central Arabia (currently Ha'il Province, Saudi Arabia), though, like all Qahtanite tribes, it is believed they originally moved there from Yemen. The tribe shared the area with Bani Assad and Bani Tamim, and its members included both nomads and settled town-dwellers.
The tribe is believed to have included a number of Christians before Islam, though most of the tribe's members are reported to have been pagan. The most famous figure from Tayy in that period was the legendary Hatim Al-Ta'i (Hatim of Tayy), said to be a Christian, and reknowned among the Arabs for genorosity and hospitality. He also figures in the Arabian Nights. The early Islamic historical sources report that his son, 'Adiyy ibn Hatim, whom they sometimes refer to as the "king" of Tayy, converted to Islam before Muhammad's death. He is particularly revered by the Shi'a, who consider him a partisan of Ali. Another figure from Tayy during this period was Zayd al-Khayr, a prominent member of Tayy who is said to have led Tayy's delegation to Muhammad accepting Islam.
Though sections of Tayy began migrating to neighboring regions such as Iraq and Syria before Islam, Tayy participated heavily in the Muslim Conquests of the early centuries of Islam, with sections or individual members of the tribe settling in many parts of the Islamic Empire, including Lebanon and Egypt. Most of these, however, were later assimilated into the general populations of these areas or into other tribes.
Though no longer existing as an autonomous tribal grouping since the early Islamic era, Tayy has been the progenitor of several other tribes in Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. Among the tribes that are descendent of Tayy are Banu Lam, the Fudhool tribal confederation, and some sections of Bani Khalid. However, the most prominent descendent of Tayy is the large tribe of Shammar, one of the largest Arab tribal confederations, established by the 'Abdah branch of Tayy, and including many other clans both from Tayy itself and from other tribes as well (this practice of joining of unrelated tribes under one banner, called "alliance", is common among Arab tribes). Though its territories extend as far north as Mosul in Iraq, and individual families belonging to the tribe could be found as far south as Riyadh even before the foundation of modern Saudi Arabia, the tribe was historically centered in Tayy's historic territory of Ha'il, which is also known by the alternative term Jebel Shammar ("Shammar's Mountain"). Shammar have therefore always considered themselves as the true heirs of Tayy. Many individuals in Iraq use the surname "Al-Ta'ii", as well, though they mostly belong to Bani Lam and other tribes descendent of Tayy.
