Jund Filastin
| Jund Filastin | |||||
| Province of the Umayyad, Abbasid and Fatimid Caliphates | |||||
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| Capital | Ludd, Ramla, Jerusalem | ||||
| History | |||||
| • | Established | 660s/680s | |||
| • | Seljuk attacks, First Crusade | late 11th century | |||
| Today part of |  Israel State of Palestine Jordan |
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Jund Filastin (Arabic: جند فلسطين, "military district of Palestine") was one of the military districts of the Ummayad and Abbasid Caliphate province of Bilad al-Sham (Syria), organized soon after the Muslim conquest of the Levant in the 630s.
History and structure
According to al-Biladhuri, the main towns of the district, following its conquest by the Rashidun Caliphate, were Gaza, Sebastia, Nablus, Caesarea, Ludd, Yibna, Imwas, Jaffa, Rafah, and Bayt Jibrin. At first, under the early Umayyad caliphs, Ludd served as the district capital. After the caliph Suleiman ibn Abd al-Malik founded the nearby city of Ramla, he designated it the capital, and most of Ludd's inhabitants were forced to settle there.[1] In the 9th century, during Abbasid rule, Jund Filastin was the most fertile of Syria's districts, and contained at least twenty mosques, despite its small size.[2]
The Arab tribes that settled Jund Filastin after the Muslim conquest were the Lakhm, Kindah, Qais, Amilah, Judham and the Kinanah;[1] at the time of the Arab conquest, the region had been inhabited mainly by Aramaic-speaking Miaphysite Christian peasants. The population of the region did not become predominantly Muslim and Arab in identity until several centuries after the conquest. At its greatest extent, Jund Filastin extended from Rafah in the south to Lajjun in the north, and from the Mediterranean coast well to the east of the southern part of the Jordan River. The mountains of Edom, and the town of Zoar (Sughar) at the southeastern end of the Dead Sea were included in the district. However, the Galilee was excluded, being part of Jund al-Urdunn in the north.[1]
After the Fatimids conquered the district from the Abbasids, Jerusalem eventually became the capital, and the principal towns were Ashkelon, Ramla, Gaza, Arsuf, Caesarea, Jaffa, Jericho, Nablus, Bayt Jibrin, and Amman.[1] The district persisted in some form until the Seljuk invasions and the Crusades of the late 11th century.[citation needed]
See also
References
Bibliography
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External links
- Articles containing Arabic-language text
- Articles with unsourced statements from September 2013
- Subdivisions of the Abbasid Caliphate
- History of Palestine
- History of Israel
- Military history of the Umayyad Caliphate
- 7th century in Asia
- 8th century in Asia
- 9th century in Asia
- 10th century in Asia
- 11th century in Asia
- 7th-century establishments in the Umayyad Caliphate
- States and territories established in the 7th century
- States and territories disestablished in the 11th century
- 11th-century disestablishments in Asia
