Jabalah 1 | Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire |
| Floruit | E/M VII |
| Variant Names | Gabala |
| Religion | Muslim; Christian |
| Ethnicity | Arab |
| Locations | Cappadocia; Cappadocia (residence) |
| Textual Sources | Baladhuri, al-, Kitab futuh al-Buldan, tr. P. K. Hitti, The Origins of the Islamic State (London, 1916, reprint Beirut, 1966) (history); Bar Hebraeus, Chronographia, tr. E. A. W. Budge, The Chronography of Abu 'l-Faraj (London, 1932; repr. Amsterdam, 1976) (history) |
An Arab, Jabalah 1 was the king of Christian Arabs in the time of the caliph Omar 1; he became a Muslim under Omar 1, but fled to Cappadocia after an incident in which it was made clear to him by Omar 1 that although a king he was in the eyes of Islam only the equal of ordinary people; in Cappadocia he and his companions reverted to Christianity; he was allegedly an ancestor of the emperor Nicephorus (Nikephoros 8): Bar Hebr., pp. 120-121, cf. Baladhuri, p. 136 (pp. 208-210 Hitti). He is identical with Gabala, in PLRE III, p. 497.
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