Thetribes of Arabia (Arabic:القبائل العربية) have inhabited theArabian Peninsula for thousands of years and traditionally trace their ancestry to one of two forefathers:Adnan, whose descendants originate fromWest Arabia,North Arabia,East Arabia, andCentral Arabia; orQahtan, whose descendants originate fromSouth Arabia.^[1] Further, it is held in theAbrahamic religions—particularlyIslam—that theArab people are descended fromAbraham through his sonIshmael.

From the 7th century onward, concurrent with thespread of Islam, many of these tribes' members began migrating and settling in the various regions that were subdued during theearly Muslim conquests, including theLevant,^[2]Mesopotamia,^[3]Egypt,^[4]Khuzestan,^[5] theMaghreb,^[6] andSudan.^[7] This phenomenon triggered a process ofArabization that significantly influenced demographic shifts across most ofWest Asia and North Africa, culminating in thegrowth of the Arab population far beyond the Arabian Peninsula.^[8]

Today, these regions collectively comprise what is known as theArab world, excluding Khuzestan, which, although home to a considerable Arab minority, is part of theIranian world. The Arab tribes' migrations played a vital role in ethnically, culturally, linguistically, andgenetically Arabizing these regions' populations.^[9]

The general consensus among 14th-century Arab genealogists is that Arabs are of three kinds:

• Al-Arab al-Ba'ida (Arabic:العرب البائدة), "The Extinct Arabs", were an ancient group of tribes inpre-Islamic Arabia that included the‘Ād, theThamud, theTasm and the Jadis, thelaq (who included branches ofBanu al-Samayda), and others. The Jadis and the Tasm are said to have been exterminated bygenocide.^[10] TheQuran says that the disappearance of the 'Ad and Thamud came about due to their decadence. Recent^[when?] archaeological excavations have uncovered inscriptions that reference 'Iram, once a major city of the 'Aad.
• Al-Arab al-Ariba (Arabic:العرب العاربة), "The Pure Arabs", came fromQahtanite Arabs.^[11][12]
• Al-Arab al-Mustarabah (Arabic:العرب المستعربة), “The Arabized Arabs”, also known as theAdnanite Arabs, were the progeny ofIsmail, the firstborn son of the patriarchAbraham.

TheHawazin tribe and theQuraysh tribe are considered‘Adnani Arabs. Much of the lineage provided beforeMa'ad relies onbiblical genealogy, so questions persist concerning the accuracy of this segment of Adnanite Arab genealogy.^[13] Adnanites are believed to be the descendants of Ishmael through Adnan but the traditional Adnanite lineage does not match the biblical line exactly. According to Arab tradition, the Adnanites are called Arabised because it is believed that Ishmael spokeAramaic andEgyptian then learnt Arabic from a Qahtanite Yemeni woman that he married. Therefore, the Adnanites are descendants of Abraham. Modern historiography "unveiled the lack of inner coherence of this genealogical system and demonstrated that it finds insufficient matching evidence".^[14]

The tribes of Arabia were engaged innomadic herding and agriculture by around 6000 BCE. By about 1200 BCE, a complex network of settlements and camps was established. Kingdoms in the southern region of Arabia began to form and flourish. The earliest Arab tribes emerged fromBedouins.^[15] A major source of income for these people was the taxation of caravans, as well as tributes collected from non-Bedouin settlements. They also earned income by transporting goods and people in caravans pulled by domesticated camels across the desert.^[16] Scarcity of water and of permanent pastoral land required them to move constantly.^{[citation needed]}

TheNabataeans andQedarites were Arabian tribes on the edges of the fertile Crescent who expanded into the Southern Levant by the 5th century BCE, causing the displacement ofEdomites. Their inscriptions were in predominantly inAramaic, but it's assumed their native spoken language was a variant ofOld Arabic, one of manyAncient North Arabian languages, which is attested in inscriptions as early as the 1st century^{[citation needed]}, the same period in which theNabataean alphabet slowly evolved into theArabic script by the 6th century.^{[citation needed]} This is attested bySafaitic inscriptions (beginning in the 1st century BCE) and the many Arabic personal names in other Nabataean inscriptions. From about the 2nd century BCE, a few inscriptions fromQaryat al-Faw reveal a dialect no longer consideredproto-Arabic, butpre-classical Arabic. FiveSyriac inscriptions mentioning Arabs have been found atSumatar Harabesi, one of which dates to the 2nd century CE.^{[citation needed]}

TheGhassanids,Lakhmids andKindites were the last major migration of pre-Islamic Arabs out of Yemen to the north. The Ghassanids increased the Arabian presence in theSyria, They mainly settled in theHauran region and spread to modern-dayLebanon,Israel,Palestine, andJordan.^{[citation needed]}

Around the 4th century CE, there developed a dominantJewish presence in pre-Islamic Arabia, with many Jewish clans and tribes settling around theRed Sea coast. At the mid to the end of the fourth century, theHimyarite Kingdom adopted Judaism, thus spreading Judaism in the region even further. The German OrientalistFerdinand Wüstenfeld believed that the Jews established a state in northern Hejaz.^[17] The Quran details early encounters between early Muslim tribes and Jewish tribes in major cities in western Arabia, with some clans likeBanu Qurayza andBanu Nadir being described as having a seat of power in the region.

Following theearly Muslim conquests in the 7th and 8th centuries, the tribes of Arabia begun migrating beyond the Arabian Peninsula in large numbers into different lands and regions across the Middle East and North Africa.

On the eve of theRashidun Caliphate'sconquest of the Levant, 634 AD, Syria's population mainly spoke Aramaic; Greek was the official language of administration.^{[citation needed]}Arabization andIslamization of Syria began in the 7th century, and it took several centuries for Islam, the Arab identity, and language to spread;^[18] the Arabs of the caliphate did not attempt to spread their language or religion in the early periods of the conquest, and formed an isolated aristocracy.^[19] The Arabs of the caliphate accommodated many new tribes in isolated areas to avoid conflict with the locals; caliphUthman ordered his governor,Muawiyah I, to settle the new tribes away from the original population.^[20] Syrians who belonged toMonophysitic denominations welcomed the peninsular Arabs as liberators.^[21]

The migration of Arab tribes toMesopotamia began in the seventh century, and by the late 20th century constituted about three quarters of the population ofIraq.^[22] A large Arab migration to Mesopotamia followed theMuslim conquest of Mesopotamia in 634, which saw an increase in the culture and ideals of the Bedouins in the region.^[23] The second Arab tribal migration tonorthern Mesopotamia was in the 10th century when theBanu Numayr migrated there.^[24]

After theArab conquest of Persia in the 7th century, many Arab tribes settled in different parts of Iran, notablyKhorasan andAhwaz, it is the Arab tribes ofKhuzestan that have retained their identity in language and culture to the present day while other Arabs especially in Khorasan were slowly Persianised. Khorasani Arabs were mainly contingent from Nejdi tribes such asBanu Tamim.

There was a great influx of Arab tribes into Khuzestan from the 16th to the 19th century, including the migration of theBanu Ka'b andBanu Lam from theArabian desert.^[25][26]Tribalism is a significant characteristic of Arab population in Khuzestan.^[27]

Subsequent Arab migrations into Iran, primarily across the Gulf, involved movements of Arabs from eastern Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States into the Hormozgan and Fars provinces after the 16th century. These include SunniHuwala andAchomi people, who compromise of both fully Arab and mixed Arab-Persian families. The Arabs on the Iranian side of the Gulf tend to speak a dialect much closer toGulf Arabic opposed to theKhuzestani Arabic which is closer toIraqi Arabic.

Ancient Bedouins and nomadic groups inhabited theSinai Peninsula,^[28] located inAsia, ever since ancient times.Prior to theMuslim conquest of Egypt, Egypt was underGreek and Roman influence. Under theUmayyad Caliphate, Arabic became the official language in Egypt rather thanCoptic orGreek. Thecaliphate also allowed the migration of Arab tribes to Egypt.^[29] The Muslim governor of Egypt encouraged the migration of tribes from the Arabian Peninsula to Egypt to strengthen his regime by enlisting warrior tribesmen to his forces, encouraging them to bring their families and entire clans.^{[citation needed]} TheFatimid era was the peak of Bedouin Arab tribal migrations to Egypt.^[30]

The first wave of Arab immigration to the Maghreb began with theconquest of the Maghreb in the 7th century, with the migration of sedentary and nomadic Arabs to the Maghreb from the Arabian Peninsula.^[31] Arab tribes such asBanu Muzaina migrated, and the Arab Muslims in the region had more impact on the culture of the Maghreb than the region's conquerors before and after them.^[32] The major migration to the region by Arab tribes was in the 11th century when the tribes ofBanu Hilal andBanu Sulaym, along with others, were sent by the Fatimids to defeat aBerber rebellion and then settle in the Maghreb.^[32] These tribes advanced in large numbers all the way toMorocco, contributing to a more extensive ethnic, genetic, cultural, and linguistic Arabization in the region.^[33] The Arab tribes ofMaqil migrated to the Maghreb a century later and even immigrated southwards toMauritania.Beni Hassan defeated both Berbers and Black Africans in the region, pushing them southwards to theSenegal river while the Arab tribes settled in Mauritania.^[34] The Arab descendants of the original Arabian settlers who continue to speak Arabic as a first language currently form the single largest population group in North Africa.^[35]

In the 12th century, the ArabJa'alin tribe migrated intoNubia and Sudan and formerly occupied the country on both banks of theNile fromKhartoum toAbu Hamad. They trace their lineage toAbbas, uncle of the Islamic prophetMuhammad. They are of Arab origin, but now of mixed blood mostly withNilo-Saharans andNubians.^[36][37] Other Arab tribes migrated into Sudan in the 12th century and intermarried with the indigenous populations, forming theSudanese Arabs.^[7] In 1846, many ArabRashaida migrated fromHejaz in present-day Saudi Arabia into what is nowEritrea and north-east Sudan after tribal warfare had broken out in their homeland. The Rashaida of Sudan and Eritrea live in close proximity with theBeja people. Large numbers ofBani Rasheed are also found on the Arabian Peninsula. They are related to theBanu Abs tribe.^[38]

According to Arab traditions, tribes are divided into different divisions called Arab skulls (جماجم العرب‎), which is a term given to a group of tribes of the Arabian Peninsula, which are described in the traditional custom of strength, abundance, victory, and honor. A number of them branched out, which later became independent tribes (sub-tribes). They are called "Skulls" because it is thought that the skull is the most important part of the body, and the majority of Arab tribes are descended from these major tribes.^{[39][40][41][42][43]}

They are:^[41]

• Bakr, has descendants inArabia andIraq since 3700 BCE.^[44]
• Kinanah, has descendants inArabia,Iraq,Egypt,Sudan,Palestine,Tunisia,Morocco, andSyria andYemen.^[45]
• Hawazin, has descendants inArabia,Libya,Algeria,Morocco,Sudan, andIraq.^[46][47][48]
• Tamim, has descendants inArabia,Iraq,Iran,Palestine,Algeria, andMorocco^[49]
• Azd, has descendants inArabia,Iraq,Levant, andNorth Africa.^[50]
• Ghatafan, has descendants inArabia and theMaghreb.^[51]
• Madhhij, has descendants inArabia,Syria andIraq.^[52][53]
• Abd al-Qays, has descendants inArabia.
• Al Qays, has descendants inArabia,Syria andIraq.^[52][53]
• Quda'a, has descendants inArabia,Syria, andNorth Africa.

• Tribes of Yemen
• Arab tribes of Iraq
• Arab tribes of Algeria
• Arabian tribes that interacted with Muhammad

• The dwelling places and wanderings of the Arabian tribes, by Heinrich Ferdinand Wüstenfeld, in German

• Tribes of Arabia
• Arab people
• Arab ethnic groups
• Yemeni tribes

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