Bedouins have been referred to by various names throughout history, includingArabaa by theAssyrians (ar-ba-ea), being anisba of the nounArab, a name still used for Bedouins today. They are referred to as theʾAʿrāb (أعراب) "aɛrāb" inArabic. While many Bedouins have abandoned their nomadic and tribal traditions for a modern urban lifestyle, others retain traditional Bedouin culture such as the traditionalʿašāʾir clan structure,traditional music, poetry, dances (such assaas), and many other cultural practices and concepts. Someurbanized Bedouins often organise cultural festivals, usually held several times a year, in which they gather with other Bedouins to partake in and learn about various Bedouin traditions—from poetry recitation and traditionalsword dances to playing traditional instruments and even classes teaching traditional tent knitting. Traditions likecamel riding and camping in the deserts are still popular leisure activities for urban Bedouins who live in close proximity to deserts or other wilderness areas.
A widely quoted Bedouin statement is "I am against my brother, my brother and I are against my cousin, my cousin and I are against the stranger"[26] sometimes quoted as "I and my brother are against my cousin, I and my cousin are against the stranger."[27] This saying signifies a hierarchy of loyalties based on the proximity of some person to oneself, beginning with theself, and proceeding through thenuclear family as defined by male kinship, and then, in principle at least, to an entire genetic or linguistic group (which is perceived as akin to kinship in the Middle East and North Africa generally). Disputes are settled, interests are pursued, and justice and order are dispensed and maintained by means of this framework, organized according to an ethic of self-help and collective responsibility (Andersen 14). The individual family unit (referred to as a tent orbayt) usually traditionally comprised three or four adults (a married couple plus siblings or parents) and any number of children.[28]
The Bedouins' ethos comprises courage, hospitality, loyalty to family and pride of ancestry. Bedouin tribes were not controlled by a central power, like a government or empire, but rather were led by tribal chiefs. Some chiefs exercised their power from oases, where merchants would organise trade through the territory controlled by the tribe. The structure of Bedouin tribes were held together more so by shared feelings of common ancestry rather than a tribal chief atop the hierarchy.[29]
Bedouin traditionally had strong honor codes, and traditional systems of justice dispensation in Bedouin society typically revolved around such codes. Thebisha'a, or ordeal by fire, is a well-known Bedouin practice oflie detection. See also:Honor codes of the Bedouin,Bedouin systems of justice.
Weaving lengths of fabric for tent making using ground loom. Palestine,c. 1900
Livestock andherding, principally of goats,sheep anddromedary camels comprised the traditional livelihoods of Bedouins. These were used for meat, dairy products, and wool.[30] Most of the staple foods that made up the Bedouins' diet were dairy products.[30]
Camels, in particular, had numerous cultural and functional uses. Having been regarded as a "gift from God", they were the main food source and method of transportation for many Bedouins.[31] In addition to their extraordinary milking potentials under harsh desert conditions, their meat was occasionally consumed by Bedouins.[32] As a cultural tradition, camel races were organized during celebratory occasions, such as weddings orreligious festivals.[33]
Some Bedouin societies live inarid regions. In areas where rainfall is very unpredictable, a camp will be moved irregularly, depending on the availability of green pasture. Where winter rainfall is more predictable in regions further south, some Bedouin people plant grain along their migration routes. This proves a resource for the livestock throughout the winter. In regions such as western Africa, where there is more predictable rainfall, the Bedouin practicetranshumance. They plant crops near permanent homes in the valleys where there is more rain and move their livestock to the highland pastures.[34]
Oral poetry is the most popular art form among Bedouins. Having a poet in one's tribe was highly regarded in society. In addition to serving as a form of art, poetry was used as a means of conveying information andsocial control.[35] Bedouin poetry, also known asnabati poetry, is often recited in thevernacular dialect. In contrast, the more common forms ofArabic poetry are often inModern Standard Arabic.
Murder of Ma'sum Beg, the envoy of the Safavid ShahTahmasp, by Bedouins in theHejaz, 16th century
Historically, the Bedouin engaged in nomadic herding, agriculture and sometimes fishing in the Syriansteppe since 6000 BCE. By about 850 BCE, a complex network of settlements and camps was established. The earliest Arab tribes emerged from Bedouins.[34]
By the time of the Roman Empire's establishment, the Bedouin national identity had been established and they were recognizable as a single people with often warring "families, clans, and tribes".[37] A major source of income for this people was the taxation of caravans, and tributes collected from non-Bedouin settlements. They also earned income by transporting goods and people in caravans pulled by domesticated camels across the desert.[38] Scarcity of water and of permanent pastoral land required them to move constantly.
The Moroccan travellerIbn Battuta reported that in 1326 on the route toGaza, the Egyptian authorities had a customs post atQatya on the north coast ofSinai. Here Bedouin were being used to guard the road and track down those trying to cross the border without permission.[39]
TheEarly Medieval grammarians and scholars seeking to develop a system ofstandardizing the contemporaryClassical Arabic for maximal intelligibility across theArabophone areas, believed that the Bedouin spoke the purest,most conservative variety of the language. To solve irregularities of pronunciation, the Bedouin were asked to recite certain poems, whereafter consensus was relied on to decide the pronunciation and spelling of a given word.[40]
Arab Christian Bedouin woman from the settled town ofKerak, Jordan, who probably was the wife of a sheikh. Braids were predominantly worn by Arab Christian Bedouin women of the tribes of Jordan.[22]
Aplunder and massacre of the Hajj caravan by Bedouin tribesmen occurred in 1757, led by Qa'dan al-Fayez of theBani Sakher tribe (modern-day Jordan) in his vengeance against the Ottomans for failing to pay his tribe for their help protecting the pilgrims. An estimated 20,000 pilgrims were either killed in the raid or died of hunger or thirst as a result including relatives of the Sultan and Musa Pasha. Although Bedouin raids on Hajj caravans were fairly common, the 1757 raid represented the peak of such attacks which was also likely prompted by the major drought of 1756.[41][42][43][44][45]
Under theTanzimat land reforms of 1858, a new Ottoman land law was issued, which offered legal grounds for the displacement of the Bedouin (Turkish: Bedeviler). As the Ottoman Empire gradually lost power, this law instituted an unprecedented land registration process that was also meant to boost the empire's tax base. Few Bedouin opted to register their lands with the OttomanTapu, due to lack of enforcement by the Ottomans, illiteracy, refusal to pay taxes and lack of relevance of written documentation of ownership to the Bedouin way of life at that time.[46] Some scholars, such as Nora Elizabeth Barakat, believe the displacement of the Bedouin had its roots in events even earlier than the 1858 land reforms, for example in an 1844 Anatolia-specific decree recognizing the "tribe" as a formal unit of administration. The goal of these early reforms was to weaken local Bedouin magistrates and limit what she terms as "rural mobility", the ability of these local Bedouins to, independently of the Ottoman state, accumulate wealth through the wheat trade and other means.[47]
At the end of the 19th century, SultanAbdülhamid II settled Muslim populations (Circassians) from theBalkans and theCaucasus among areas predominantly populated by the nomads in the regions of modern Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine, and also created several permanent Bedouin settlements, although the majority of them did not remain. The settlement of non Arabs in the traditionally Bedouin areas was a big cause of discontent. This became even severe because every Arab tribe, including the settled ones, have ancestry as a Bedouin.[48]
Ottoman authorities also initiated private acquisition of large plots of state land offered by the sultan to the absentee landowners (effendis). Numerous tenants were brought in order to cultivate the newly acquired lands. Often it came at the expense of the Bedouin lands.
Palestine Exploration Fund list of Bedouin tribes living West of the River Jordan in 1875.
In the late 19th century, many Bedouin began transition to a semi-nomadic lifestyle. One of the factors was the influence of the Ottoman authorities[49] who started a forcedsedentarization of the Bedouin living on its territory. The Ottoman authorities viewed the Bedouin as a threat to the state's control and worked hard on establishing law and order in theNegev.[48] During theFirst World War, the Negev Bedouin initially fought with theOttomans against theBritish. However, under the influence of British agentT. E. Lawrence, the Bedouins switched side and fought against the Ottomans. Hamad Pasha al-Sufi (died 1923), Sheikh of the Nijmat sub-tribe of theTarabin, led a force of 1,500 men who joined the Ottomanraid on the Suez Canal.[50]
InOrientalist historiography, the Negev Bedouin have been described as remaining largely unaffected by changes in the outside world until recently. Their society was often considered a "world without time".[51] Recent scholars have challenged the notion of the Bedouin as 'fossilized,' or 'stagnant' reflections of an unchanging desert culture.Emanuel Marx has shown that Bedouin were engaged in a constantly dynamic reciprocal relation with urban centers.[52] Bedouin scholar Michael Meeker explains that "the city was to be found in their midst."[53]
Ghazzu was still relevant to the Bedouin lifestyle in the early 20th century. After a 1925 stay with SheikhMithqal Al-Fayez of theBani Sakher,William Seabrook wrote about his experience of a ghazzu from the Sardieh tribe on Mithqal's 500 Hejin racing camels. The ghazzu was intercepted by Mithqal when he was notified about the Sardieh tribe's intentions from a man from the Bani Hassan tribe, who rode continuously for over 30 hours to reach Mithqal before their plot matured. Mithqal, using the information, prepared a trap for them, which resulted in the imprisonment of one of the Sardieh warriors. William notes that although the warrior was a prisoner, he was nonchalant and was not treated aggressively, and that the ghazzu wasn't a war, but a game in which camels and goats were the prizes.[55]
In the 1950s and 1960s, large numbers of Bedouin throughout Midwest Asia started to leave the traditional, nomadic life to settle in the cities of Midwest Asia, especially as hot ranges shrank and populations grew. For example, inSyria, the Bedouin way of life effectively ended during a severe drought from 1958 to 1961, which forced many Bedouin to abandon herding for standard jobs.[56][57] Similarly, governmental policies inEgypt,Israel,Jordan,Iraq,Tunisia, oil-producing Arab states of thePersian Gulf andLibya,[58][59] as well as a desire for improved standards of living, effectively led most Bedouin to become settled citizens of various nations, rather than stateless nomadic herders.
Governmental policies pressing the Bedouin have in some cases been executed in an attempt to provide service (schools, health care, law enforcement and so on—seeChatty 1986 for examples), but in others have been based on the desire to seize land traditionally roved and controlled by the Bedouin. In recent years, some Bedouin have adopted the pastime of raising and breeding whitedoves,[60] while others have rejuvenated the traditional practice offalconry.[61][62]
TheArabian Peninsula was one of the original homes of the Bedouin. From there, they started to spread out to surrounding deserts, forced out by the lack of water and food. According to tradition, Arabian Bedouin tribes are descendants of two groups:Qahtanis, also known asYaman, who originate from the mountains of Southwestern Arabia, and claim descent from a semi-legendary ancestral figure, Qahtan (often linked to the biblicalJoktan), andAdnanis, also known asQays, who originate in North-Central Arabia and claimed descent fromAdnan, a descendant of the BiblicalIshmael.[63]
A number of Bedouin tribes reside in Saudi Arabia. Among them areAnazzah,Juhaynah,Shammar,al-Murrah,Mahra,Dawasir,Harb,Ghamid,Mutayr,Subay','Utayba,Bani khalid,Qahtan,Rashaida, andBanu Yam. Saudi Arabia pursued a policy of sedentarization in the early 20th century, which was initially linked with the establishment of theIkhwan. As a result of this policy and subsequent modernization, the number of bedouin that retain their nomadic lifestyle has decreased rapidly.
According toAli Al-Naimi, the Bedouin, or Bedu, would travel in family and tribal groups, across theArabian Peninsula in groups of fifty to a hundred. A clan was composed of a number of families, while a number of clans formed a tribe. Tribes would have areas reserved for their livestock called dirahs, which included wells for their exclusive use. They lived in black goat-hair tents called bayt al-shar, divided by cloth curtains into rug-floor areas for males, family and cooking. InHofuf, they bartered their sheep, goats and camels, including milk and wool, for grain and other staples. Al-Naimi also quotes Paul Harrison's observation of the Bedouin, "There seems to be no limit at all to their endurance."[64]
The Syrian Desert was the original homeland of the Arab Bedouin tribes[18] which have been mentioned as far back as theNeo-Assyrian era where they're referred to byTiglath-Pileser III as being among the Syrians integrated into the Assyrian administrative system.[65] Today there are over a million Bedouin living in Syria, making a living herding sheep and goats.[66] The largest Bedouin clan in Syria is calledRuwallah who are part of the'Anizzah' tribe. Another famous branch of the Anizzah tribe is the two distinct groups ofHasana and S'baa who largely arrived from the Arabian peninsula in the 18th century.[67]
Herding among the Bedouin was common until the late 1950s, when it effectively ended during a severe drought from 1958 to 1961. Due to the drought, many Bedouin were forced to give up herding for standard jobs.[68][better source needed] Another factor was the formal annulling of the Bedouin tribes' legal status in Syrian law in 1958, along with attempts of the rulingBa'ath Party regime to wipe out tribalism. Preferences for customary law ('urf) in contrast to state law (qanun) have been informally acknowledged and tolerated by the state in order to avoid having its authority tested in the tribal territories.[69] In 1982 theal-Assad family turned to the Bedouin tribe leaders for assistance during theMuslim Brotherhood uprising against al-Assad government (see1982 Hama massacre). The Bedouin sheikhs' decision to supportHafez al-Assad led to a change in attitude on the part of the government that permitted the Bedouin leadership to manage and transform critical state development efforts supporting their own status, customs and leadership.
ManySyrians have someArab origin if not predominantly Arab. Religion does not play a role in the genetic makeup of a Syrian. There are Christian Syrians who have a more predominant Arab origin than Muslim Syrians. Therefore many Syrians have some sort of Bedouin Arab origin, since Arabs migrated fromYemen &Saudi Arabia intoSyria. TheGhassanids were Christian Bedouins who played a huge role in the genetic admixture of Syrian Christians.
As a result of theSyrian Civil War, some Bedouins becamerefugees and found shelter in Jordan,[70] Turkey, Lebanon, and other states.
Bedouins are concentrated in theBeqaa Governorate, although they form a minority there. ManyLebanese people from all over Lebanon have someArabBedouin origins, sinceArabs migrated to Lebanon fromYemen &Saudi Arabia. TheGhassanids were Christian Bedouins who played a huge role in the genetic admixture of theLebanese people.
In the present day, Bedouin communities, particularly in Lebanon’s southern border region, have undergone significant socio-cultural changes, shifting from a traditionally nomadic lifestyle to settled farming, including tobacco cultivation.[71] Additionally, increased border demarcations, such as those between Lebanon and Israel, have separated many Bedouin families, although kinship ties do remain.[71]Bedu have become increasingly connected to the sectarian political system. According to Munira Khayyat, ''[t]oday the main identifying quality ofbedu, like all of the communities that inhabit the borderland (and all citizens of Lebanon), is their sectarian identity'',[71] with Bedouin communities being ''claimed and cultivated''.[71]
Palestinian Bedouins were originally from theNegev Desert. In the course of the1948 Palestine war, they fled or were displaced from their land.[12] Other Bedouins were expelled from the Negev in 1953 and had relocated to theWest Bank, which at the time belonged toJordan.[72] Today, there are 40,000 Bedouins in the whole of the West Bank, including 27,000 people under Israeli military control inArea C.[72] UnlikeNegev Bedouins, West Bank Bedouins are notIsraeli citizens.[72] Bedouin communities in the West bank have been targeted with forcible relocations to townships to accommodate the growth of illegalIsraeli settlements on the outskirts ofEast Jerusalem.[72] Bedouins also live in theGaza strip, including 5,000 inOm al-Nasr.[73] However, the number of nomadic Bedouins is shrinking and many are now settled.[74]
Prior to the 1948Israeli Declaration of Independence, an estimated 65,000–90,000 Bedouins lived in theNegev desert. According toEncyclopedia Judaica, 15,000 Bedouin remained in the Negev after 1948; other sources put the number as low as 11,000.[75] Another source states that in 1999 110,000 Bedouins lived in the Negev, 50,000 in the Galilee and 10,000 in the central region of Israel.[76] All of the Bedouins residing in Israel were granted Israeli citizenship in 1954.[77]
As of 2020, there are 210,000 Bedouins in Israel: 150,000 in the Negev, 50,000 inGalilee and theJezreel Valley, and 10,000 in the central region of Israel.[78]
Galilee Bedouins have been living in the northern part of Israel for four centuries. Today, they live in 28 settlements in the north. They also live in mixed villages with other non-Bedouin Arabs.[79]
The Bedouin who remained in the Negev belonged to theTiaha confederation[80] as well as some smaller groups such as the'Azazme and theJahalin. After 1948, someNegev Bedouins were displaced. TheJahalin tribe, for instance, lived in theTel Arad region of the Negev prior to the 1950s. In the early 1950s, the Jahalin were among the tribes that, according toEmanuel Marx, "moved or were removed by the military government".[81] They ended up in the so-calledE1 area East ofJerusalem.
Bedouin wedding procession in the Jerusalem section of the pike at the1904 World's Fair.
About 1,600 Bedouin serve as volunteers in theIsrael Defense Forces, many as trackers in the IDF's elite tracking units.[82]
Famously, Bedouin shepherds were the first to discover theDead Sea Scrolls, a collection of Jewish texts from antiquity, in theJudeancaves of Qumran in 1946. Of great religious, cultural, historical and linguistic significance, 972 texts were found over the following decade, many of which were discovered by Bedouins. Successive Israeli administrations tried to demolish Bedouins villages in the Negev. Between 1967 and 1989, Israel built seven legal townships in the north-east of the Negev, withTel as-Sabi or Tel Sheva the first. The largest, city ofRahat, has a population of over 58,700 (as of December 2013);[83] as such it is the largest Bedouin settlement in the world. Another well-known township out of the seven of them that the Israeli government built, isHura. According to the Israel Land Administration (2007), some 60 per cent of the Negev Bedouin live inurban areas.[84] The rest live in so-calledunrecognized villages, which are not officially recognized by the state due to general planning issues and other political reasons. Despite these communities often predating the state of Israel, many are considered to be located in areas deemed unsuitable by the Israeli government, including military fire zones,natural reserves,landfills, etc.[85]
On 29 September 2003, Israeligovernment adapted a new "Abu Basma Plan" (Resolution 881), according to which a new regional council was formed, unifying a number of unrecognized Bedouin settlements—Abu Basma Regional Council.[86] This resolution also regarded the need to establish seven new Bedouin settlements in the Negev,[87] literally meaning the official recognition of unrecognized settlements, providing them with a municipal status and consequently with all the basic services and infrastructure. The council was established by theInterior Ministry on 28 January 2004.[88] Israel is currently building or enlarging some 13 towns and cities in the Negev. According to the general planning, all of them will be fully equipped with the relevant infrastructure: schools, medical clinics, postal offices, etc. and they also will have electricity, running water and waste control. Several new industrial zones meant to fight unemployment are planned, some are already being constructed, likeIdan HaNegev in the suburbs of Rahat.[89] It will have a hospital and a new campus inside.[90] The Bedouins of Israel receive free education and medical services from the state. They are allotted child cash benefits, which has contributed to the high birth rate among the Bedouin[citation needed] of 5% per year.[91]
In September 2011, the Israeli government approved a five-yeareconomic development plan called thePrawer plan.[92] One of its implications is a relocation of some 30.000-40.000 Negev Bedouin from areas not recognized by the government to government-approvedtownships.[93][94] In a 2012 resolution the European Parliament called for the withdrawal of the Prawer plan and respect for the rights of the Bedouin people.[95] In September 2014,Yair Shamir, who heads the Israeli government's ministerial committee on Bedouin resettlement arrangements, stated that the government was examining ways to lower the birthrate of the Bedouin community in order to improve its standard of living. Shamir claimed that without intervention, the Bedouin population could exceed half a million by 2035.[96][97]
A young Bedouin lighting a camp fire inWadi Rum, JordanA significant percentage of Jordanian Christians are ethnically Bedouin, the picture shows a Bedouin Christian family fromMadaba in 1904
Most of the Bedouin tribes migrated from the Arabian Peninsula to what isJordan today between the 14th and 18th centuries.[99] They are often referred to as a backbone of the Kingdom,[100][101] since Bedouin clans traditionally support the monarchy.[102]
Most of Jordan's Bedouin live in the vast wasteland that extends east from the Desert Highway.[103] The eastern Bedouin are camel breeders and herders, while the western Bedouin herd sheep and goats. Some Bedouin in Jordan are semi-nomads, they adopt a nomadic existence during part of the year but return to their lands and homes in time to practice agriculture.
The largest nomadic groups of Jordan are the Bani Hasan (Mafraq, Zarqa, Jarash, Ajloun and parts of Amman)Bani Ṣakher (Amman and Madaba) Banū Laith (Petra), andBanū al-Ḥuwayṭāt (they reside inWadi Rum).[citation needed] There are numerous lesser groups, such as the al-Sirḥān, Banū Khālid, Hawazim, ʿAṭiyyah, and Sharafāt. The Ruwālah (Rwala) tribe, which is not indigenous, passes through Jordan in its yearly wandering from Syria to Saudi Arabia.[104] The region encompassingWadi Musa and Petra is inhabited by the prominent Liyathnah tribe alongside the smallerBedul community, believed to haveJewish orNabataean ancestry.[105][106][107]
The Jordanian government provides the Bedouin with different services such as education, housing and health clinics. However, some Bedouins give it up and prefer their traditional nomadic lifestyle.
In the recent years, there is a growing discontent of the Bedouin with the ruling monarchAbdullah II of Jordan. In August 2007, police clashed with some 200 Bedouins who were blocking themain highway between Amman and the port of Aqaba. Livestock herders were protesting the government's lack of support in the face of the steeply rising cost of animal feed and expressed resentment about government assistance to refugees.[100]
Arab Spring events in 2011 led to demonstrations in Jordan, and Bedouins took part in them. But theHashemites did not see a revolt similar to turbulence in other Arab states. The main reasons for that are the high respect to the monarch and contradictory interests of different groups of the Jordanian society. The King Abdullah II maintains his distance from the complaints by allowing blame to fall on government ministers, whom he replaces at will.[108]
Bedouins in Egypt mostly reside in theSinai peninsula,Matruh,Red Sea governate, eastern parts ofSharqia governate,Suez,Ismailia and in the suburbs of the Egyptian capital of Cairo.[109] Traditional Bedouin culture was affected by the establishment of resort towns on the Red Sea coast, such asSharm el-Sheikh. In the wake of urbanization and educational opportunities, many Bedouins now marry outside their tribe, a practice that once was frowned upon.[109]
Bedouins living in the Sinai peninsula did not benefit much from the construction boom due to the low wages offered. Sudanese and Egyptian workers were brought in as construction workers instead. When the tourist industry started to bloom, local Bedouins became cab drivers, tour guides and managers of campgrounds and coffee shops. Tarabin and other Bedouin tribes living along the border between Egypt and Israel have been involved in inter-border smuggling of drugs and weapons,[109] as well as infiltration of prostitutes andAfrican labour workers.
In most countries in the Middle East, the Bedouin have no land rights, only users' privileges,[110] and it is especially true for Egypt. Since the mid-1980s, the Bedouins who held desirable coastal property have lost control of much of their land as it was sold by the Egyptian government to hotel operators. The Egyptian government did not see the land as belonging to Bedouin tribes, but rather as state property.
In the summer of 1999, the Egyptian army bulldozed Bedouin-run tourist campgrounds north of Nuweiba as part of the final phase of hotel development overseen by the Tourist Development Agency (TDA). The director of the Tourist Development Agency dismissed Bedouin rights to most of the land, saying that they had not lived on the coast prior to 1982. Their traditional semi-nomadic culture has left Bedouins vulnerable to such claims.[111]
TheEgyptian Revolution of 2011 brought more freedom to the Sinai Bedouin, but since they were involved in drug smuggling into Gaza, the Egyptian army demolished over 120 tunnels that were used as smuggling channels, compelling them to cooperate with state troops and officials. After negotiations, the military campaign ended with a new agreement between the Bedouin and Egyptian authorities.[112]
TheArab migration to the Maghreb had been a centuries-long process that continuously occurred since the 7th century. The initial waves of migration from the 7th to the 10th centuries mostly involved sedentary Arabs who established communities in cities, towns and surrounding rural areas. However, the Arab migrations from the 11th to the 15th centuries involved a significant influx of a great amount of nomadic Bedouin tribes to the region.[113]
In the 11th century, the Bedouin tribes ofBanu Hilal andBanu Sulaym, who originated from central and north Arabia respectively,[113] living at the time in a desert between theNile and theRed Sea, moved westward into the Maghreb areas and were joined by the Bedouin tribe ofMa'qil, which had its roots in South Arabia, as well as other Arab tribes.[113]
The 11th century witnessed the most significant wave of Arab migration, surpassing all previous movements. This event unfolded when theZirid dynasty of Ifriqiya proclaimed its independence from theFatimid Caliphate of Egypt. In retribution against the Zirids, the Fatimids dispatched large Bedouin Arab tribes, mainly theBanu Hilal andBanu Sulaym, to defeat the Zirids and settle in the Maghreb. These tribes followed anomadic lifestyle and were originally from theHejaz andNajd.[114][113] They were later joined by the Bedouin tribe ofMa'qil, which had its roots in South Arabia, as well as other Arab tribes.[113]
According toIbn Khaldun, they were accompanied by their wives, children and stock. They settled in the Maghreb after repeatedly fighting battles against the Berbers, such as theBattle of Haydaran. They heavily transformed the culture of the Maghreb intoArab culture, and spread nomadism in areas where agriculture was previously dominant.[114] It played a major role in spreading Bedouin Arabic to rural areas such as the countryside and steppes, and as far as the southern areas near theSahara.[115] In addition, they destroyed the Berber Zirid state and most of its cities, sparing only the Mediterranean coastal strip atal-Mahdiyya, and deeply weakened the neighboringHammadid dynasty and theZenata. Their influx was a major factor in the linguistic, cultural, genetic and ethnicArabization of theMaghreb.[114] According to Ibn Khaldun, the lands ravaged by Banu Hilal invaders had becomedesertified and turned into completely arid desert. The journey of Banu Hilal is recounted in the Arabic oral poem ofSirat Bani Hilal.[114]
To persuade the Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym to migrate to the Maghreb, the Fatimid caliph gave each tribesman a camel and money and helped them cross from the east to the west bank of theNile river. The severe drought in Egypt at the time also persuaded these tribes to migrate to the Maghreb, which had a better economic situation at the time. The Fatimid caliph instructed them to rule the Maghreb instead of the Zirid emirAl-Mu'izz and told them "I have given you the Maghrib and the rule of al-Mu'izz ibn Balkīn as-Sanhājī the runaway slave. You will want for nothing." and told Al-Mu'izz "I have sent you horses and put brave men on them so that God might accomplish a matter already enacted".[116]
Bedouin mothers carrying their children on their shoulders. Hand-coloured print of a late 19th century black-and-white photo taken by French photographerFélix Bonfils.
Berber armies were defeated in trying to protect the walls ofKairouan.[117] TheZirids abandonedKairouan to take refuge on the coast where they survived for a century.Ifriqiya, theBanu Hilal andBanu Sulaym spread is on the high plains ofConstantine where they gradually choked theQal'a of Banu Hammad, as they had doneKairouan few decades ago. From there, they gradually gained the upperAlgiers andOran plains, some were taken to theMoulouya valley and inDoukkala plains by theCaliph ofMarrakesh in the second half of the 12th century.[117]Ibn Khaldun, aMuslimhistorian wrote: "Similar to an army of locusts, they destroy everything in their path."[117] As Arab nomads spread, the territories of the local Berber tribes were moved and shrank. TheZenata were pushed to the west and theKabyles were pushed to the north. The Berbers took refuge in the mountains whereas the plains were Arabized.[118] The arrival of the Banu Hilal, followed by the Banu Sulaym in the 12th century, broke the balance between nomads andsedentary populations in favor of the nomads. For strategic reasons, theAlmohads gave over theAtlantic plains of the western Maghreb to them.[119]
Sources estimated that the total number of Arab nomads who migrated to the Maghreb only in the 11th century was at around 1 million Arabs.[116]
TheMa'qilis also entered the Maghreb during this wave of Arabian tribal immigration in the 11th century. They later allied with the Banu Hilal and entered under their protection.[120] They adapted to the climatic desert conditions of the Maghreb, discovering the same way of life as in the Arabian Peninsula.[121] In the 13th century, they occupied southernAlgeria and dominated the oases ofTuat and Gourara. For some authors, at this point, the Maqil group had already disintegrated into different populations in the Maghreb and had given rise to theBeni Hassan along with other related groups.[122] The Beni Hassan expanded southwest and occupiedSanhaja lands in the 13th century after invading and defeating the Berber confederation.[122] The Sanhaja has long had to pay tribute to the nomadic Bedouin Hassani invaders.[122] This took place during theChar Bouba War in modern-dayWestern Sahara andMauritania from 1644 to 1674, which after decades of confrontations ended up completely Arabizing the native Berber population, destroying their language and culture and giving rise to the contemporarySahrawi people.[123][124][125] Harry Norris noted "the Moorish Sahara is the western extremity of the Arab World. Western it certainly is, some districts further west than Ireland, yet in its way of life, its culture, its literature and in many of its social customs, it has much in common with the heart lands of the Arab East, in particular with the Hijaz and Najd and parts of the Yemen".[126]
InMorocco, Bedouin Arabic dialects are spoken in plains and in recently founded cities such asCasablanca. Thus, the city Arabic dialect shares with the Bedouin dialectsgal 'to say' (qala); they also represent the bulk of modern urban dialects (Koinés), such as those ofOran andAlgiers.[113]
There are a number of Bedouin tribes, but the total population is often difficult to determine, especially as many Bedouin have ceased to lead nomadic or semi-nomadic lifestyles. Below is a partial list of Bedouin tribes and their historic place of origin.
Bedouin shepherd inSyrian DesertBedouins onhorseback, 1950sBedouin camp in Saudi Arabia in the 1970s
Otaibah, located inNajd andHijaz, found mainly in theArabian Peninsula in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates.
Beni Sakher, located in Jordan, Egypt, Syria, and Iraq. Families in the tribe such as theAl-Fayez, Al-Zaben, Al Hgeish, Al-Jboor, and the Al-Khreisheh represent the tribe in Jordan and wield significant political power in the country after theHashemites. There are other families that are smaller in size including Al-Mteirat, Al-Hamed, Al-Badarin, and Al-Othman.
al-Amad (alAmad, Al Amad, Al-Amad family) of al-Umdah clan ("The Mayors Tribe"), one of the smaller yet prominent tribes of the Arabian Peninsula. Mostly scattered across Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Palestine and United Arab Emirates. This tribe is also associated with Samaritan[133] ancestry (Samaritans).
al-Abadi "Abadi clan" mostly based in Jordan. Very well respected across the country with influential positions in the Army and national services.
Ghamid, large tribe fromAl-Bahah Province, Saudi Arabia, mostly settled, but with a small Bedouin section known asBadiyat Ghamid.
al-Hadid, large Bedouin tribe found in Iraq, Syria and Jordan. Now mostly are settled in cities such as Haditha in Iraq, Homs & Hama in Syria, and Amman in Jordan.
al-Howeitat, one of the largest tribes in Jordan, northern Saudi Arabia, and eastern Egypt. The descends fromJudham, an ancient north Arabian Qahtanite tribe.
Qahtan, one of the largest tribes in the Arabian Peninsula. The Bedouin portion of the tribe roamed an area extended from the South of Najd to the Southwest of Saudi Arabia.
Al-Dhafeer in Northeast Saudi Arabia, Southern Iraq, and Kuwait.
Bani Khalid, some of its clans are Bedouins in Eastern Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt and Syria.
Al Murrah are one of the largest and powerful tribes of the Arabian Peninsula covering Southeastern Saudi Arabia, Qatar and United Arab Emirates. The tribe historically roamed theEmpty Quarter desert.
Shahran (al-Ariydhah), a very large tribe residing in the area between Bisha, Khamis Mushait and Abha. Al-Arydhah 'wide' is a famous name for Shahran because it has a very large area, in Saudi Arabia.
Shammar, a very large and influential tribe. The Bedouins of this tribe live in Iraq, northern Saudi Arabia, Syria and Jordan. Descended from the ancient tribe ofTayy fromNajd.
Subay', Some of the clans of this tribe are bedouins and live in the far south of the Najd region.
Al Wahiba, a large tribe in Oman residing in theSharqiya Sands, also known as the Wahiba Sands
Al Rashaida is originally a tribe from the Hejaz, but large portions of it have migrated to Eritrea and Eastern Sudan. Although bedouins from other tribes have migrated with them as well, the name has come to refer to all of them.
^Eveline van der Steen,Near Eastern Tribal Societies During the Nineteenth Century: Economy, Society and Politics Between Tent and Town, chapter "Raiding and robbing". Routledge, 2014[1]
^Pearson, Patricia O'Connell; Holdren, John (May 2021).World History: Our Human Story. Versailles, Kentucky: Sheridan Kentucky. p. 255.ISBN978-1-60153-123-0.
^Shafir, Gershon (1989).Land, Labor and the Origins of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict 1882–1914. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-0-52135-300-7.
^Barakat, Nora Elizabeth (April 2023).Bedouin Bureaucrats: Mobility and Property in the Ottoman Empire. Stanford University Press. pp. 126-132 (Ebook).ISBN9781503635630.
^abFrantzman, Seth J.; Kark, Ruth (2011). "Bedouin Settlement in Late Ottoman and British Mandatory Palestine: Influence on the Cultural and Environmental Landscape, 1870–1948".New Middle Eastern Studies.1 (1).British Society for Middle East Studies.doi:10.29311/nmes.v1i0.2600 (inactive 1 November 2024).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)
^Heidemann, Stefan (2005)."Arab Nomads and Seljuq Military". In Leder, S.; Streck, B. (eds.).Shifts and Drifts in Nomad-Sedentary Relations. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag. pp. 289–306.ISBN3-89500-413-8.
^Al-Naimi, Ali (2016).Out of the Desert. Great Britain: Portfolio Penguin. pp. 5–7.ISBN9780241279250.
^Graf, David (2003)."ARABS IN SYRIA: DEMOGRAPHY AND EPIGRAPHY".Topoi. Orient-Occident.4 (1):319–340.In the reign of Tiglath-Pileser III, the Arbay are included among the Syrians integrated into the Assyrian administrative system, and are located in the region between Homs, Damascus and Palmyra.
^abcdKhayyat, Munira (2022).A landscape of war: ecologies of resistance and survival in South Lebanon. Oakland, California: University of California Press.ISBN978-0-520-38999-1.
^Khoury, Jack (8 July 2013)."European Parliament condemns Israel's policy toward Bedouin population".Haaretz.The European Parliament Calls for the protection of the Bedouin communities of the West Bank and in the Negev, and for Israeli authorities to respect their rights and condemns any violations (e.g., house demolitions, forced displacements, and public service limitations). It calls also, in this context, for the withdrawal of the Prawer Plan by the Israeli Government.
^Ibn Khaldun, Abderahman (1377).تاريخ ابن خلدون: ديوان المبتدأ و الخبر في تاريخ العرب و البربر و من عاصرهم من ذوي الشأن الأكبر. Vol. 6. دار الفكر. p. 77.
^abcdefg"Statement of 'Ali Aba al-Rus [Bedouins Tribes Of Buraimi]".Arabian Gulf Digital Archives. 6 December 1954 [1917].Archived from the original on 6 November 2024.We spent about six months with Su'ayyid Al Faisal and went from Buraimi with seventy-six riding-camels as gifts from all the Bedouins: Nu'aim, Al Bu Shamis, Bani Kitab [Qitab], Bani Ka'b, The Balush, ...
Chatty, DMobile Pastoralists 1996. Broad introduction to the topic, specific focus on women's issues.
Chatty, Dawn.From Camel to Truck. The Bedouin in the Modern World. New York: Vantage Press. 1986
Cole, Donald P. "Where have the Bedouin gone?"Anthropological Quarterly. Washington: Spring 2003.Vol.76, Iss. 2; pg. 235
Falah, Ghazi. "Israeli State Policy Towards Bedouin Sedentarization in the Negev",Journal of Palestine Studies, 1989 Vol. XVIII, No. 2, pp. 71–91
Falah, Ghazi. "The Spatial Pattern of Bedouin Sedentarization in Israel",GeoJournal, 1985 Vol. 11, No. 4, pp. 361–368.
Gardner, Andrew. "The Political Ecology of Bedouin Nomadism in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia". InPolitical Ecology Across Spaces, Scales and Social Groups, Lisa Gezon and Susan Paulson, eds. Rutgers: Rutgers University Press.
Gardner, Andrew. "The New Calculus of Bedouin Pastoral Nomadism in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia".Human Organization 62 (3): 267–276.
Gardner, Andrew and Timothy Finan. "Navigating Modernization: Bedouin Pastoralism and Climate Information in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia".MIT Electronic Journal of Middle East Studies 4 (Spring): 59–72.
Gardner, Ann. "At Home in South Sinai."Nomadic Peoples 2000.Vol.4, Iss. 2; pp. 48–67. Detailed account of Bedouin women.
Jarvis, Claude Scudamore.Yesterday and To-day in Sinai. Edinburgh/London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1931;Three Deserts. London: John Murray, 1936;Desert and Delta. London: John Murray, 1938. Sympathetic accounts by a colonial administrator in Sinai.
Lancaster, William.The Rwala Bedouin Today 1981 (Second Edition 1997). Detailed examination of social structures.
S. Leder/B. Streck (ed.):Shifts and Drifts in Nomad-Sedentary Relations. Nomaden und Sesshafte 2 (Wiesbaden 2005)
Lithwick, Harvey. "An Urban Development Strategy for the Negev's Bedouin Community". Center for Bedouin Studies and Development and Negev Center for Regional Development, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, August 2000
Mohsen, Safia K.The quest for order among Awlad Ali of the Western Desert of Egypt.
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