{ "id": "epm744s854", "slug": "salihids", "title": "Salihids", "updated": "2026-10-15", "topic_path": [ { "id": "society", "label": "Society and history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society" }, { "id": "society.history", "label": "History and archaeology", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history" }, { "id": "society.history.other", "label": "Other history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.other" }, { "id": "society.history.other.middle-east", "label": "Middle East and North Africa", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.other.middle-east" }, { "id": "society.history.other.middle-east.pre-islamic-arabia", "label": "Pre-Islamic Arabia (to 622)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.other.middle-east.pre-islamic-arabia" }, { "id": "society.history.other.middle-east.pre-islamic-arabia.ancient-kingdoms-and-states", "label": "Ancient kingdoms and states", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.history.other.middle-east.pre-islamic-arabia.ancient-kingdoms-and-states" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society.history.other.middle-east.pre-islamic-arabia.ancient-kingdoms-and-states", "label": "Middle East and North Africa · 500 BC to AD 999: Ancient kingdoms and states", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society.history.other.middle-east.pre-islamic-arabia.ancient-kingdoms-and-states", "path": [ { "id": "geo.mena", "label": "Middle East and North Africa", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500", "label": "Middle East and North Africa · 500 BC to AD 999", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society", "label": "Society and history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society.history", "label": "History and archaeology", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society.history" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society.history.other", "label": "Other history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society.history.other" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society.history.other.middle-east", "label": "Middle East and North Africa", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society.history.other.middle-east" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society.history.other.middle-east.pre-islamic-arabia", "label": "Pre-Islamic Arabia (to 622)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society.history.other.middle-east.pre-islamic-arabia" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t500.society.history.other.middle-east.pre-islamic-arabia.ancient-kingdoms-and-states", "label": "Ancient kingdoms and states", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t500.society.history.other.middle-east.pre-islamic-arabia.ancient-kingdoms-and-states" } ] } ], "excerpt": "The Salihids (سليح) were an Arab tribal group serving Byzantium as federates in fifth-century Syria, the empire's principal Arab allies before the Ghassanids displaced them.", "snippet": "The Salihids (سليح) were an Arab tribal group serving Byzantium as federates in fifth-century Syria, the empire's principal Arab allies before the Ghassanids displaced them.", "node": "society.history.other.middle-east.pre-islamic-arabia.ancient-kingdoms-and-states", "markdown": "# Salihids\n\nThe Salihids (سليح) were an Arab tribal group that served the [Byzantine Empire](https://www.edgepedia.org/byzantine-empire) as federates in Syria during the fifth century, acting as the empire's principal Arab allies in the region before being displaced by the [Ghassanids](https://www.edgepedia.org/ghassanids) in the early sixth century.[1](https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-4791) • [2](https://archive.org/details/byzantium-and-the-arabs-in-the-fifth-century_202102) \n\n| Fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| What they were | Arab federates (foederati) of Byzantium in fifth-century Syria[2](https://archive.org/details/byzantium-and-the-arabs-in-the-fifth-century_202102) |\n| Period of prominence | Fifth century AD, sometimes called the Zokomids in Byzantine sources[1](https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-4791) |\n| Role | Principal Arab allies of Byzantium[2](https://archive.org/details/byzantium-and-the-arabs-in-the-fifth-century_202102) |\n| Religion | Staunchly orthodox Christians; attended the councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon[2](https://archive.org/details/byzantium-and-the-arabs-in-the-fifth-century_202102) |\n\n## Founding and history\n\nThe origins of the Salihids are obscure. It is not entirely clear whence they wandered into Oriens, the Byzantine name for Syria, or where they settled there.[1](https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-4791) Their rise to prominence belongs to the fifth century.[2](https://archive.org/details/byzantium-and-the-arabs-in-the-fifth-century_202102)\n\nTheir dominance lasted up to the end of the fifth century, when they were the main phylarchs (Byzantine frontier military commanders over allied Arab tribes) of Syria. \n\n## Structure, functions, and principal holders\n\nAccording to a Bryn Mawr Classical Review of Shahid's work, the Salihids' position was that of federates: tribes subsidized by the empire with cash and provisions in return for military service.[4](https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2010/2010.09.18) The name Zokomos is the only one of their chiefs that Byzantine sources preserve from the beginning of their service.[1](https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-4791) A Salihid king named Dawud (David) is associated with the group's cultural activity.[2](https://archive.org/details/byzantium-and-the-arabs-in-the-fifth-century_202102)\n\n## Political influence\n\nAccording to *Byzantium and the Arabs in the Fifth Century*, the Salihids, as Byzantium's main Arab allies, formed the military arm of imperial policy on the Syrian desert frontier for most of the fifth century. Federate-imperial relations were smooth under them: the Arab federate horse operated as far west as Pentapolis, and possibly took part in Emperor Leo's expedition against the Vandals.[2](https://archive.org/details/byzantium-and-the-arabs-in-the-fifth-century_202102) The arrangement was one of subsidy for service, with the empire paying the tribes in cash and provisions.[4](https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2010/2010.09.18)\n\nThe Salihids were also part of the Christian establishment of the frontier. They were staunchly orthodox Christians and participated in two ecumenical councils, Ephesus and Chalcedon, where their voice was audible.[2](https://archive.org/details/byzantium-and-the-arabs-in-the-fifth-century_202102) Their federate culture is credited with giving impetus to the rise of the [Arabic script](https://www.edgepedia.org/arabic-script), [Arabic poetry](https://www.edgepedia.org/arabic-poetry), and a simple form of an Arabic liturgy, which Shahid describes as a foundation for cultural achievements in subsequent centuries.[2](https://archive.org/details/byzantium-and-the-arabs-in-the-fifth-century_202102)\n\n## End and later history\n\nIn the early sixth century Constantinople shifted its Arab alliance away from the Salihids, first toward the Kindites and especially the Ghassanids, who came to dominate Arab-Byzantine relations through the reign of [Heraclius](https://www.edgepedia.org/heraclius).[5](https://archive.org/details/byzantium-and-the-arabs-in-the-sixth-century-v-1-p-1)\n\nThe name Salihid should not be confused with the Sulayhids of Yemen, the dynasty of [Ali ibn Muhammad](https://www.edgepedia.org/ali-ibn-muhammad) al-Sulayhi, who ruled from AH 439 to 459 (with AH 459 corresponding to 1066–1067); the two share a similar Arabic root but belong to different periods and regions.[6](https://en.civilica.com/doc/2278285/)\n\n## Assessment and legacy\n\nModern scholarship treats the Salihids as one of a sequence of Arab federate groups, [Tanukhids](https://www.edgepedia.org/tanukhids), Salihids, and Ghassanids, through which [Byzantium](https://www.edgepedia.org/byzantium) managed its Arab frontier, rather than as a state in the full sense; Greg Fisher frames such groups as small numbers of individuals allied to the Roman Empire rather than kingdoms or dynasties.[7](https://almuslih.org/wp-content/uploads/Library/Fisher%2C%20G%20-%20Kingdoms.pdf) Shahid's assessment gives the group a double legacy: militarily, a century of smooth federate-imperial cooperation that extended Byzantine reach into the western Mediterranean, and culturally, an impetus to the Arabic script, poetry, and liturgy that preceded the better-attested achievements of the Ghassanid era.[2](https://archive.org/details/byzantium-and-the-arabs-in-the-fifth-century_202102) Their history remains obscure in comparison with the Ghassanids who followed them, and the circumstances of their arrival in Syria and of their defeat are told differently in different accounts.[1](https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-4791) • [3](https://islamichistory.com/pre-islam/the-ghassans-of-syria/)\n## References\n\n1. [Ṣāliḥids – Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, Oxford Reference](https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-4791)\n2. [Irfan Shahîd, Byzantium and the Arabs in the Fifth Century](https://archive.org/details/byzantium-and-the-arabs-in-the-fifth-century_202102)\n3. [The Ghassans of Syria – Islamic History](https://islamichistory.com/pre-islam/the-ghassans-of-syria/)\n4. [Review of Shahid, Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century, Vol. II Part 2 – Bryn Mawr Classical Review](https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2010/2010.09.18)\n5. [Irfan Shahîd, Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century, Volume 1, Part 1](https://archive.org/details/byzantium-and-the-arabs-in-the-sixth-century-v-1-p-1)\n6. [زمینه ها و عوامل موثر بر شکل گیری و تداوم حکومت علی بن محمد صلیحی در یمن (Civilica)](https://en.civilica.com/doc/2278285/)\n7. [Greg Fisher, Kingdoms or Dynasties? Arabs, History, and Identity before Islam](https://almuslih.org/wp-content/uploads/Library/Fisher%2C%20G%20-%20Kingdoms.pdf)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › History and archaeology › Other history › Middle East and North Africa › Pre-Islamic Arabia (to 622) › Ancient kingdoms and states*\n\n*Initially written Sep 23, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/salihids", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/salihids.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Salihids\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/salihids. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Salihids](https://www.edgepedia.org/salihids)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/salihids](https://www.edgepedia.org/salihids). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Salihids\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/salihids. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "The Salihids were an Arab tribal group serving Byzantium as federates in fifth-century Syria, the empire's principal Arab allies before the Ghassanids displaced them." }