In the A. D. 500s and early 600s, new powerful forces arose on the Arabian Peninsula. There were the Ghas-sanids (GAHS-uh-nidz), who migrated from Yemen northward to the area of modern-day Jordan. They became allies of the Byzantine Empire, which used their help in battling the Persians and Arabs in Hira to the east. At about the same time, a group called the Kinda, loyal to the kings in Yemen, conquered parts of central Arabia as well as Bahrain (BAH-rain), a small kingdom on the Persian Gulf to the east.
By A. D. 600, most of the eastern coast of Arabia, including Oman (oh-MAHN), was either controlled by the Persians, or at least on friendly terms with them. Cities of the western coast either were allied with Yemen or were independent. In the interior of Arabia, it was every tribe for itself, as they waged almost constant war with each other. As with the feuds between the Hatfield and McCoy families in the mountains of West Virginia during the nineteenth century, or the wars between gangs such as the Bloods and the Crips in large cities during the late twentieth century, the causes of these conflicts were unclear to outsiders.
Into this very unpromising environment was born one of the most extraordinary figures in human history, Muhammad (moo-HAH-med; a. d. 570?-632). A merchant from the town of Mecca (MEH-kah) on the western side of the peninsula, he is said to have received a vision from God, or Allah (uh-LAH), which led him to establish a new religion, Islam (IZ-lahm). In 622, a group of his enemies in Mecca tried to murder him, and he and his small group of followers fled to a town that came to be known as Medina (meh-DIE-nah). There Muhammad founded a government based on the teachings of the Koran (koe-RAHN), Islam's holy book.
World History
