Banu Ghani

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The Banu Ghani were an Arab tribe that lived between Bisha and Diriyah in pre-Islamic times. Some members later moved to Syria during the Muslim conquest. Their line goes back to Ghanī ibn Aʿṣur ibn Sʿad ibn Qays ʿAylān, and they were part of the Qays confederation, being brothers of the Bahila. They were a relatively small subtribe of Qays. In the mid-6th century, their leader Riyah ibn Ashall killed the son of Zuhayr ibn Jadhima, a powerful chief of the Banu Abs; Zuhayr’s daughter later married Ja’far ibn Kilab, founder of the Banu Amir. From then on, the Banu Ghani acted as allies of the Banu Amir, fighting with them at Shi’b in 580 and at Raqam near the century’s end. They suffered heavy casualties with the Banu Kilab and Banu Kaʿb against the Banu Tayy at Muhajjar in the early 7th century, and they later retaliated against the Tayy. Abu Marthad al-Ghanawi was an early companion of the Prophet Muhammad, and most of the tribe converted to Islam after the Battle of Hunayn in 630, remaining Muslim through the Ridda wars after 632. Many Ghani migrated to Syria during the Muslim conquest (634–638). After the Qays were defeated at Marj Rahit in 684, the Qaysi–Yamani wars began, and the Banu Ghani fought with their Qaysi kin against Yamani tribes and Taghlib.