Jund facts for kids
The word jund (pronounced "joond") comes from Arabic and means a military group or division. In the early days of the Caliphates (large Islamic empires), a jund was a special military unit. It also referred to places where Arab soldiers settled after conquering new lands. Most famously, jund was used for the different provinces, or regions, that made up Greater Syria (which is also known as the Levant). Over time, the meaning of jund changed and was used in different ways across the Muslim world.
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What Does Jund Mean?
The word jund actually comes from an older Iranian word, "Gund." This word was adopted by Islamic armies after they conquered Iran. Even today, "Gund" can mean "town" or "village" in Kurdish, and it also refers to a gathering, like a military group. In Arabic, jund means a group of supporters or a general group of people, like those in a city. It even appears in the Quran to describe an armed troop.
During the Umayyad Caliphate, jund started to mean something more specific. It referred to military settlements and districts where Arab soldiers lived. These soldiers could be called upon for short campaigns or longer expeditions. It also meant the actual army groups themselves. For example, there's a castle called Qalat Al-Gundi (or Qalat Al-Jundi) in the Sinai Peninsula, which was built by Kurdish troops of Saladin.
Over time, the meaning of jund grew. Besides being used for the provinces in Syria, it also came to mean the entire armed forces of a state. There was even a government department called the diwan al-jund, which managed the soldiers' pay and supplies. Some writers from the 9th and 10th centuries used ajnad (the plural of jund) to mean large towns.
Jund in Syria
The most famous use of jund was in Syria. It's believed that the Rashidun Caliph Umar divided Syria into four ajnad: Hims (Jund Hims), Damascus (Jund Dimashq), Jordan (Jund al-Urdunn), and Palestine (Jund Filastin). Later, the Umayyad Caliph Yazid I added a fifth district, Qinnasrin (Jund Qinnasrin).
This system of dividing a region into ajnad was unique to Syria. Other provinces of the Caliphates usually had just one governor. Because of this special division, Syria was often called al-Shamat, meaning "the Syrias."
The borders of these ajnad mostly followed the old Byzantine provincial lines, but with some changes. These divisions were created to help defend Syria and protect it from attacks by the Byzantines. The capitals of these new provinces were placed at equal distances from each other. This made them good centers for control and for gathering soldiers. They were also located safely inland, away from any attacks by sea.
The army groups in Syria's ajnad were made up only of Arabs. They received a regular salary (called ʿatāʾ) from the land tax (kharāj). They also received land grants. When they went on campaigns, they were joined by helpers (shākiriyya) and volunteers (mutaţawwiʿa).
The division into ajnad continued in Syria under the Abbasid Caliphate and even much later, into Mamluk times. Under the Abbasids, a main governor often oversaw all the districts. In 785, Harun al-Rashid added a new district called Jund al-'Awasim in the north. This area was along the border with the Byzantines.
Jund in Egypt
Soon after Egypt was conquered by Muslims, a military settlement (called a miṣr) was set up in Fustat. The Arab settlers there became known as the jund of Egypt. Like the Syrian ajnad, these soldiers were listed on army rolls (dīwān) and received a regular salary. For a long time, they were the only Muslim military force in Egypt. They played a big part in the country's politics and protected their special position for about 200 years. Their power was eventually broken during the troubles of the Fourth Fitna.
Jund in Spain
The jund system also appeared in Muslim Spain, known as al-Andalus. In 742, the troops who were conquering the peninsula were given lands in nine districts (called mujannada). By the 10th century, the term jund included these men and also enlisted volunteers (ḥushud). This was different from foreign soldiers who were paid to fight (ḥasham).
Jund in North Africa
In the Maghrib (North Africa), starting with the Aghlabid rulers of Ifriqiya, the word jund began to refer to the ruler's personal guards. From then on, it had a more limited meaning. It rarely referred to the entire army. A similar use was seen in Mamluk Egypt, where jund referred to a specific part of the sultan's personal troops, but not his main bodyguards.
See also
In Spanish: Yund para niños
Sources
- Blankinship, Khalid Yahya (1994). [Jund at Google Books The End of the Jihâd State: The Reign of Hishām ibn ʻAbd al-Malik and the Collapse of the Umayyads]. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-1827-7. Jund at Google Books.
- Kennedy, Hugh (1998). "Egypt as a Province in the Islamic Caliphate, 641–868". The Cambridge History of Egypt, Volume 1: Islamic Egypt, 640–1517. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 62–85. ISBN 0-521-47137-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=y3FtXpB_tqMC&pg=PA62.
- Sourdel, D. (1965). "D̲j̲und". The Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition, Volume II: C–G. Leiden: E. J. Brill. 601–602.
