Hussam-ad-Din Muhanna

Husam ad-Din Muhanna ibn Isa (also known as Muhanna II; d. 1335) was the Arab lord of Palmyra and amir al-ʿarab (commander of the Bedouins) under the Mamluk Sultanate. He served between 1284 and his death, but was dismissed and reinstated four times during this period. As the chieftain of the Al Fadl, a clan of the Tayy tribe, which dominated the Syrian Desert, Muhanna wielded considerable influence among the Bedouin. He was described by historian Amalia Levanoni as "the eldest and most senior amir" of the Al Fadl during his era.

Muhanna was first appointed amir al-ʿarab to replace his father Isa ibn Muhanna in 1284. He was imprisoned by Sultan al-Ashraf Khalil in 1293, but released two years later. In 1300, he commanded a wing of the Mamluk army in the Third Battle of Homs against the Mongol Ilkhanate. He defected to the latter in the early years of Sultan an-Nasir Muhammad's reign (1310–1341), ushering in a policy of playing off the Mamluks and the Mongols to further his own interests. An-Nasir eventually banished Muhanna and his tribe to the depths of the Syrian Desert. Through mediation by the Ayyubid prince, al-Afdal Muhammad, Muhanna reconciled with an-Nasir in 1330 and remained loyal to the Mamluks until his death five years later.

Muhanna was succeeded by his son Musa, and his descendants filled the office of amir al-ʿarab for the next seven decades with minor interruption. Throughout his reign, Muhanna was granted numerous iqtaʿat (fiefs) by an-Nasir, including Palmyra, Salamiyah, Sarmin and Douma. Muhanna later criticized an-Nasir's generous iqtaʿ distribution to the Bedouin tribes, believing it would ultimately degrade the character of the Bedouin and in turn, weaken the Muslim armies.

Ancestry Muhanna, also known as Muhanna II, belonged to the Al Fadl clan, a branch of the large Arab tribe of Tayy. His grandfather Muhanna ibn Mani' ibn Haditha ibn Ghudayya ibn Fadl ibn Rabi'a al-Ta'i or "Muhanna I" was the head of the clan and sometimes referred to as the "king of the Arabs" by the Mamluk government; his son Isa became the first lord of Palmyra as a reward for supporting the Mamluk sultan Qalawun in the Second Battle of Homs in 1281.

Lord of Palmyra

First and second reigns

Muhanna succeeded his father 'Isa as lord of Palmyra and amir al-ʿarab in 1284, In 1293, after celebrating the wedding of his granddaughter, Al-Ashraf Khalil had Muhanna and his family arrested and imprisoned in the Cairo Citadel. Muhanna was replaced by his distant cousin, Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr, from the Al Ali branch of Al Fadl. To that end, in 1312, Muhanna sent his son Musa to confer with Öljaitü of the Ilkhanate, and afterward he defected to the latter with his son Sulayman; unlike his father, Musa remained loyal to the Mamluks. Öljaitü gave Muhanna iqtaʿat (fiefs) in al-Hillah, south of Baghdad. Muhanna avoided meeting the sultan, and sent his brothers and sons instead. He was able to gain the sultan's forgiveness and was restored to his position in 1317. In addition to Palmyra, Sarmin and Salamiyah, Muhanna was also given the town of Douma in the Ghouta near Damascus as an iqta. Muhanna criticized an-Nasir for the lavish distribution of iqtaʿat to his tribesmen out of belief that such excesses would ruin the character of the Bedouin and ultimately weaken the Muslim armies. According to Ibn Abi al-Fada'il, Muhanna was punished because he went back on an agreement his son Sulayman made with an-Nasir in 1319. This marked the end of Muhanna's policy of playing the Mamluks and Ilkhanids against each other.

Legacy Genealogy of the Banu Tayy tribe of Syria. The Al Fadl branch is depicted by the blue line

Historian Amalia Levanoni described Muhanna as "the eldest and most senior amir" of the Al Fadl during his era. By 1352, Muhanna's descendants amounted to 110 men, all with their own clans, iqtaʿ and princely titles. According to Levanoni, Muhanna's warning to an-Nasir about the effects of distributing and subsequently seizing iqtaʿat "came true only a short time" after Muhanna's death, when his son and successor, Musa, threatened to start a Bedouin revolt and defect to the Ilkhanate if an-Nasir did not return iqtaʿat confiscated from the Al Fadl.