Abd al-Qays

The name of the tribe means 'servant of the [god] Qays'.[1] It belonged to the tribal groups originally resident in the area of al-Arid in South Arabia and which migrated northwestward to an area extending north to Sudayr and south to al-Kharj. Later, in the Arab genealogical tradition, these tribes were called the Rabi'a,[1] a branch of the northern Arab Ma'add confederation.

In pre-Islamic times, the Abd al-Qays frequently raided Iran.[2] The Sasanian king Shapur II (r. 309–379) led an expedition against the Arabian tribes, during which he massacred most of the Abd al-Qays.[2] Later, several Abd al-Qays tribesmen were relocated by Shapur to the Iranian province of Kirman.[2]

By the 5th century, the Abd al-Qays had shifted to nomadism, dwelling outside of the Tuwaiq escarpment in the southern Najd (central Arabia). In the 6th century, the tribe migrated northeastward the oases of al-Ahsa and Qatif in eastern Arabia.[1]

During the Arab conquest of Iran, considerable numbers of Abd al-Qays tribesmen entered southeastern, launching extensive raids in the region.[2] Several groupings of Abd al-Qays settled near Tavvaz in the Iranian coastal mountains and Basra in lower Mesopotamia.[2] In the early 8th century, 4,000 Abd al-Qays warriors formed part of the army of Qutayba ibn Muslim on his campaign into Khorasan.[2]

There are many gaps and inconsistencies in the genealogies of Abd al-Qays in Bahrain, thus Baharna are probably descendants of an ethnically mixed population.[3]