ere derived from the Bedouins of the surrounding
lands as well as from its own subjects at home. About 602 the Lakhmid
dynasty fell, and the Persian Chosroes (Khosrau) II. appointed as
governor an Arab of the tribe of Tai. Shortly after it came into
relation with Islam.

See G. Rothstein's _Die Dynastie der Lakhmiden in al-Hira_ (Berlin,
1899); Th. Noldeke's _Geschichte der Perser und Araber zur Zeit der
Sassaniden_ (Leiden, 1879).

[Illustration: ARABIA]

Ghassan.

In the beginning of the 6th century A.D. a dynasty known as the Jafnids,
enter into the history alike of the Roman and Persian empires. They
ruled over the tribe of Ghassan in the extreme north-west of Arabia,
east of the Jordan, from near Petra in the south to the neighbourhood of
Rosafa in the north-east. Of their origin little is known except that
they came from the south. A part of the same tribe inhabited Yathrib
(Medina) at the time of Mahomet. The first certain prince of the Jafnid
house was Harith ibn Jabala, who, according to the chronicle of John
Malalas, conquered Mondhir (Mundhir) of Hira in 528. In the following
year, according to Procopius, Justinian perceived the value of the
Ghassanids as an outpost of the Roman empire, and as opponents of the
Persian dependants of Hira, and recognized Harith as king of the Arabs
and patrician of the Roman empire. He was thus constantly engaged in
battles against Hira. In 541 he fought under Belisarius in Mesopotamia.
After his death about 569 or 570 the friendly relations with the West
continued, but about 583 there was a breach. The Ghassanid kingdom split
into sections each with its own prince. Some passed under the sway of
Persia, others preserved their freedom at the expense of their
neighbours. At this point their history ceases to be mentioned in the
Western chronicles. There are references to the Ghassanid Nu'man in the
poems of Nabigha. Arabian tradition tells of their prince Jabala ibn
Aiham who accepted Islam, after fighting against it, but finding it too
democratic, returned to Christianity and exile in the Roman empire. As
Islam advanced, some of the Ghassanids retreated to Cappadocia, others
accepted the new faith.

See Th. Noldeke, _Die ghassanischen Fursten aus dent Hause Gafna's_
(Berlin, 1887).

Kinda.

In the last decade of the 5th century a new power arose in central
Arabia. This was the tribe of Kinda under the sway of the family of Aqil
ul Murar, who came from