PEOPLEsettled in Basra by 641,79 Bishr al-Jariid, who was the leader of this
group, had been a Christian before his conversion to Islam but led the
opposition of his tribe to the apostacy during the Ridda Wars, settled
in Basra with those of the 'Abd al-Qays who remained faithful to
Islam, and died there in 641.^80 His sons, al-Mundhir and al-I:Iakam,
were notables of Basra. AI-Mundhir was appointed governor of Istakhr
by 'All, married his daughter to 'Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad, and was put
in charge of the Indian border by 'Ubaydullah, where he died in about
681 at the age of sixty.8i Malik ibn al-Mundhir commanded this tribe
in the army sent by Mu~'ab against al-Mukhtar.82 The 'Abd al-Qays
had their own district in Basra by the time of 'Uthman.^83
The Bakr ibn Wa'il had fewer members at Basra than the Tamim,
although the Bakr were the main representatives of the local pastoral
Arab population. They were represented in Basra by the clans of Sadiis,
Dhuhl, Shayban, Yashkur, and r;>ubay'a, as well as by the Lahazim
group of clans.^84
The last major tribal group in early Basra were the Azd. The earliest
representatives of this group were the Azd Sarat, who had joined the
Muslim armies of conquest and settled around two or three of the
ruined dasakir in Basra.^85 In 656 the masjid of the I:Iuddan was located
in the district of the Azd.^86 In that year the Azd and other Yam ani
Arabs in Basra joined the side of Talqa and az-Zubayr in the civil war
against 'All. This served both to crystallize the enmity between the
Azd and Tamim and to establish an anti-'Alid reputation for the Azd
that was transformed into an alliance with the Sufyanis in the time of
Mu'awiya. In 664 a member of the Azd was sent by Mu'awiya to
govern Basra.^87 By 670 the Azd had several masajid in Basra.^88 The
presence of the Azd at Basra was increased at the end of the reign of
79 Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqiit, VII(1), 60--62.
80 Ibid., VII(1), 61.
81 Dinawari, Akhbiir at-tiwiil, p. 246; Ibn al-Faqih, Buldiin, p. 170; Ibn Sa'd, Tabaqiit,
VII(I), 61.
82 Baliidhuri, Ansiib, V, 114.
83 Tabari, Ta'rlkh, I, 2922.
84 Dinawari, Akhbiir at-tiwiil, p. 183; Massignon, "Ba~ra," p. 160; Pellat, Milieu
ba~rien, p. 24; Tabari, Ta'rzkh, 11, 448. Massignon locates the district of the Bakr ibn
Wii'i! at Batina and Zabuqa in the northeastern part of Basra.
85 Baliidhuri, Futu~, pp. 341, 342, 350; Tabari, Ta'rlkh, I, 3217.
86 Tabari, Ta'rlkh, I, 3178, 3180.
87 Dinawari, Akhbiir at-tiwiii, pp. 291-92; Pellat, Milieu ba~rien, p. 24; TabarJ:,
Ta'rlkh, I, 3178, 3415; 11, 68.
88 Tabari, Ta'rtkh, 11, 91.