Historical Overview Section
After the Abbasid Arab caliphate collapsed, several dynasties took over Syria and Iraq.
The Hamdanid dynasty ruled northern Iraq and Syria between 890-1004.The Hamdanid dynasty was founded by Hamdan ibn Hamdun (after whom it is named), when he was appointed governor of Mardin in SE Anatolia by the Abbasid Caliphs in 890. His son Abdallah (904-929) was in turn appointed governor of Mosul in northern Iraq (906) and even governed Baghdad (914). His sons were installed as governors in Mosul and Aleppo. The rule of Hassan Nasir ad-Daula (929-968), governor of Mosul and Diyarbakır, was sufficiently tyrannical to cause him to be deposed by his own family ! However his lineage still ruled in Mossul, a heavy defeat by the Buyids in 979 notwithstanding, until 990. After this, their area of control in northern Iraq was divided between the Uqailids and the Marwanids. Ali Saif al-Daula 'Sword of the State' ruled (945-967) Northern Syria from Aleppo, and became the most important opponent of the Byzantine Empire's expansion. To stop the Byzantine advance, Said al-Daula converted to Shiism in 969 and put Aleppo under the suzerainty of the Fatimids in Egypt, but in 1003 the Fatimids deposed the Hamdanids anyway.
The army includes contingents of Ghazi warriors - Ghazi's - organised themselves into semi-independant bodies which depended upon plunder for their livelihood, and were prone to brigandage and sedition in times of peace, attracting adventurers, zealots and religious and political dissidents of all ethnicities. In time, though, soldiers of Turkic ethnicity predominated, mirroring the acquisition of Mamluks, Turkic slaves in the Mamluk retinues and guard corps of the caliphs and emirs and in the ranks of the ghazi corporation, some of whom would ultimate rise to military and later political dominance in various Muslim states.
Using the army in ADLG
- This army gets about as many Dailami as you need - so in some ways a viable alternative to the Dailami themselves
- A Strategist is always welcome
- The A'Bid are now better at supporting the cavalry in v4 than they were in v4
Useful Links
User-contributed links about this army. Add links in this format:
- name of link description of link
as an example
- Dynastic Bedouin Army usage statistics from the ADLG ranking site
Army Lists
Sample army lists for this army
200 Points German Open 2022
4 Bedouin and Kurdish nobles* Heavy cavalry impact
2 Bedouin horsemen Light cavalry impact
Competent General
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2 Sudanese abid ½ Medium spearmen ½ Bowmen
2 Bowmen Bowmen
1 Bedouin horsemen Medium cavalry impact
Competent General
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4 Dailami infantry Medium swordsmen impact support Elite
2 Ghazis Medium swordsmen impetuous ------
2 Light infantry bow Light infantry bow ------
4 Bedouin horsemen Medium cavalry impact ------
Strategist