Umayr ibn al-Hubab al-Sulami

ʿUmayr ibn al-Ḥubāb al-Sulamī (died 689) was a chieftain of the Banu Sulaym tribe, an erstwhile Umayyad general and a main leader of the Qaysi tribes in the factional wars with the Banu Kalb and Taghlib.

Umayr was the son of a certain al-Hubab and belonged to the prominent Dhakwan section of the large Arab tribe of Banu Sulaym. His mother was a black African woman. The family lived in the Balikh River area of the Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia) region. Umayr served in the army of Umayyad caliph Mu'awiyah I (r. 661–680). Fighting under the command of his fellow Sulaymi tribesman, Safwan ibn Mu'attal, Umayr played an instrumental role in the Umayyads' capture of an Armenian fortress known as "Ḥiṣn Kamkh" (Kamacha) in 678. He acquired fame during this operation, with 9th-century historian al-Baladhuri writing:

... Umair ibn al-Hubab as-Sulami, who climbed the wall [of the fortress] and kept struggling single-handed until the Greeks [Byzantines] gave way and the Moslems climbed up. Thus the reduction of Kamkh was due to Umair ibn al-Hubab and was the thing in which he boasted and others boasted for him. — Al-Baladhuri

According to historian Patricia Crone, Umayr is better known for his role in the Second Muslim Civil War. Despite being a member of the Qaysi tribal faction, he maintained his allegiance to the Umayyads under Marwan I (r. 684–685) and the latter's son Abd al-Malik (r. 685–705) following the devastating Qaysi defeat in the Battle of Marj Rahit at the hands of the Umayyads and their Yamani allies, particularly the Banu Kalb tribe. However, the battle still left him and his tribesmen bitter toward their Kalbi rivals and the Umayyads, and this became apparent during the Battle of Khazir in 686. During that engagement, Umayr commanded the left wing of the Umayyad army led by Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad against the pro-Alid forces led by Ibrahim ibn al-Ashtar; before the two sides met, Umayr secretly met with Ibn al-Ashtar and offered to defect with his Qaysi-dominated regiment in the middle of battle. The result was an Umayyad rout and Ubayd Allah's slaying.

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