Sharaf ad-Din Isa ibn Muhanna at-Ta'i, better known as Isa ibn Muhanna (d. 1284/85), was an Arab emir (commander/prince) of the Al Fadl, a Bedouin dynasty that dominated the Syrian Desert and steppe during the 13th–15th centuries. He was appointed amir al-ʿarab (commander of the Bedouin) by the Mamluks after their conquest of Syria in 1260. Isa's father served the same post under the Ayyubids. His assignment gave him command over the nomadic Arab tribes of Syria and obliged him to provide auxiliary troops in times of war and guard the desert frontier from the Mongol Ilkhanate in Iraq. As part of his emirate, he was granted Salamiyah and Sarmin. He participated in numerous campaigns against the Mongol Ilkhanate on behalf of the Mamluks during Sultan Baybars' reign (1260–1277).
In 1279/80, Isa defected from Baybars' successor, Qalawun, and joined the rebellion of the Mamluk viceroy of Syria, Sunqur al-Ashqar. However, Isa dissuaded Sunqur from joining the Ilkhanids' army, and was dismissed from his post when Qalawun's forces suppressed the rebellion. Isa was reinstalled by 1280, and in the following year, played a decisive role as a commander in the Mamluk victory over the Ilkhanate at the Second Battle of Homs. After his death, Isa was succeeded by his son Muhanna, and throughout the 14th century, Isa's direct descendants held the office of amir al-ʿarab with occasional interruption.
Ancestry
Isa's clan, the Al Fadl, were direct descendants of the Jarrahid ruler of Palestine, Mufarrij ibn Daghfal (d. 1013), himself a member of the ancient tribe of Tayy; Isa's laqab was "Sharaf ad-Din al-Tayyi", denoting his Tayyid roots. By the early 13th century, the Al Fadl dominated the desert region between Homs in the west to the Euphrates valley in the east and from Qal'at Ja'bar southward through central Najd. Isa's great-grandfather, Haditha (grandson of the Al Fadl's progenitor, Fadl ibn Rabi'ah), served as the first amir al-ʿarab (commander of the Bedouin tribes) under Ayyubid sultan al-Adil (r. 1200–1218), beginning a tradition of Al Fadl tribesmen being appointed to the office. Isa's father Muhanna and grandfather Mani (d. 1232) both served the post.
Amir al-ʿarab
It is not evident in medieval Muslim sources when Muhanna died or when the post of amir al-ʿarab was stripped from him. It is known for certain that prior to the Mamluk conquest of Syria in 1260, the amir al-ʿarab was Muhanna's uncle Ali ibn Haditha. The circumstances of Isa's replacement of Ali are also unclear. In some versions, Isa was appointed by Sultan Qutuz as a reward for his support in the Battle of Ain Jalut against the Mongols in the latter half of 1260, though the sources indicate that Isa and his Bedouin horsemen refrained from actually participating in the battle. In another version, Qutuz's successor Baybars appointed Isa as a reward for assisting him during his 1250s exile in Syria (in this version, Ali was stripped of the title as punishment for denying Baybars refuge). In any case, it is known that Baybars issued a diploma confirming Isa as amir al-ʿarab and recognizing his iqtaʿat (fiefs) in 1260/61. Among his iqta'at were half of Salamiyah, which was separated from the iqtaʿ of Hama, and Sarmin. Baybars also entrusted the Al Fadl and the other Bedouin tribes of the Syrian desert and steppe with guarding the Syrian frontier with Mongol Ilkhanid-held Iraq.
Service with Baybars
Isa's relations with Baybars were generally on good terms, though there were occasional exceptions. Following the Mongol destruction of the Abbasid Caliphate of Baghdad in 1258, two Abbasid princes escaped; Abu al-'Abbas (later known as al-Hakim), was the first to reach Syria under Isa's protection. However, the second surviving prince, Abu al-Qasim (known by the regnal name al-Mustansir), was chosen by Baybars and inaugurated as the Abbasid caliph in Cairo. Isa accompanied al-Mustansir on his Mamluk-sponsored campaign to reclaim Iraq from the Mongols. However, al-Mustansir was killed en route to Baghdad in a Mongol ambush in October 1261. The next year, Isa was present in Cairo to bear witness that al-Mustansir's successor and kinsman, al-Hakim, was indeed a member of the Abbasid line.