Kalbits (tribes)

Kalbits (also Kelbits , from Arabic. بنو كلب "Banu Kalb" or Yemenites ) - Arab tribes from South Arabia .

From Arabia in the IV – V centuries they spread to Palestine , Zaordanje , and also to Syria , where they were the support of the first caliphs (Umayyads).

The Kalbits adopted the culture of the peoples conquered during the Arab conquests and supported the idea of ​​a common Muslim state, unlike the Qaisites , who remained faithful to the Arab Bedouin traditions and considered the non-Arab population their slaves. The rivalry between the Kalbits and the Kaysites reached armed clashes (the battle of Marge-Rakhit in 684 ).

After the death of the Umayyads in 750, the Kalbits succeeded in gaining power in Sicily , where representatives of the Kalbits established the dynasty of the same name . They also helped the only surviving Umayyad seize power on the Iberian Peninsula and establish the Cordoba Emirate (later the Caliphate).