Salihids

The Salīḥids (Arabic: بنو سليح, romanized: Banū Salīḥ), also known simply as Salīḥ or by their royal house, the Zokomids (Arabic: Ḍajaʿima) were the dominant Arab foederati of the Byzantine Empire in the 5th century. They succeeded the Tanukhids, who were dominant in the 4th century, and were in turn defeated and replaced by the Ghassanids in the early 6th century. The Salihids were originally concentrated in the Wadi Sirhan and Balqa regions of modern Jordan, but spread as far as northern Syria after entering the service of the Byzantine Empire. The Salihids were charged with collecting tax from Bedouins dwelling within the Limes Arabicus (Byzantine frontier with the Syrian and Arabian deserts) and protecting the frontier from Bedouin raiders. They were ardent Christians and at least one of their phylarchs and kings, Dawud, built a Christian monastery, Deir Dawud.