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| Hawwara Ihuwwaren الهوارة | |
|---|---|
| Tribal confederation | |
| Ethnicity | Arab-Berber |
| Location | MainlyTripolitania |
| Demonym(s) | Al-Hawwari |
| Branches | Addasa, Andara, Awtita, Baswa, Gharyan, Haragha, Banu Irmazyan, Kaldin, Kamlan, Karkuda, Lahan or Lahana, Maghar, Malila, Maslata, Mindasa or Mindas (Mandasa, Mandas), Misrata, Razin, Satat, Tarhuna, Wannifan, Warfalla, Wargha, Warsatifa, Washtata, Yaghmorasen, Zakkawa and Zanzafa |
| Religion | Islam |
TheHawwara (Arabic:الهوارة) is anArab-Berber[1][2] tribal confederation in theMaghreb, primarily inTripolitania, with descendants inUpper Egypt andSudan.[3] Hawwara are amongst the most prominent tribes in Upper Egypt, with branches found mainly inQena. In Sudan, they are labelled asHawwaweer (Arabic:هواوير) (plural of Hawwara), and have a significant political presence.[4]
The Hawwara are composed of numerous tribes and clans. Some of them are: the Addasa, the Andara, the Awtita, the Baswa, the Gharyan, the Haragha, the Banu Irmazyan, the Kaldin, the Kamlan, the Karkuda, the Lahan or Lahana, the Maghar, the Malila, the Maslata, the Mindasa or Mindas (Mandasa, Mandas), the Misrata, the Razin, the Satat, the Tarhuna, the Wannifan, theWarfalla, the Wargha, the Warsatifa, the Washtata, the Yaghmorasen, the Zakkawa and the Zanzafa.[3]
The Hawwara are the heirs of the ancient westernBavares. Inclassical antiquity, the Hawwara were one of the principal tribes located within theMasaesyli state.[5][6] The traditional territory that was called Avaritana/Abaritana provincia byQuodvultdeus of Carthage later became known as “bilad Haouara”, country of the Haouara (of theAurès) in the middle ages.[7] During the Byzantine period, the area called “Abaritana atque Getulia provincia” was a tribal principality, and the Hawwara were one of the two major ruling confederations.[7] Medieval historians have also attested the presence of the Hawwara in the Aurès region well before the arrival of the Arabs in the seventh century.[7] Edrici placed the location of the Hawwara in the plains ofM’Sila.[8] From the eighth century to twelfth century, the eastern boundaries of their land ran throughTawergha,Waddan, andZella.[citation needed] Hawwara's territory was bordered to the east by the Mazata tribe.[3]
Families originating from the Hawwara founded and ruled small Islamic kingdoms inal-Andalus (theIberian peninsula) during the eleventh century, including theDhulnunid dynasty, which ruled theTaifa of Toledo and the Banu Razin, who ruled theTaifa of Albarracín.[9] The latter still being the name of a Spanish town namedAlbarracín or Al Banu Razin, a sub-tribe of Hawwara. Other Spanish cities includingAlhaurín el Grande andAlhaurín de la Torre also get there name from the Hawwara (Al Hawwariyin).[citation needed]
A fraction of the Hawwara were part the Fatimid army that conqueredEgypt,Syria,Palestine andJordan. After the conquest, they were given land grants by the Fatimid caliphs.[3] The Hawwara tribe became dominant inEl Beheira in Egypt. In 1380/1381,Barquq, Sultan of the Mamluks, established some Hawwara groups in Upper Egypt and granted the Iqta' ofGirga to the Hawwari chief, Isma'il ibn Mazin. Isma'il was succeeded by Umar, the eponymous of theBanu Umar clan.[10] According toAl-Maqrizi in his book ‘kitāb as-sulūk’, a group of Hawwara together with a group of Arabs from Upper Egypt attacked thewali ofAswan in the month ofRajab 798 AH (April 1396) and allied with theArab tribe ofBanu Kanz who inhabited Aswan.Al-Maqrizi also writes in his bookAl Khetat that in the month ofMuharram 815 AH (1412) the Hawwara tribesmen proceeded to Aswan and attacked the Banu Kanz. The Arab men fled, but many of them were killed while the women and children were taken into slavery. They destroyed the walls of the city and left it in ruins, without inhabitants. After sackingal-Fayyum in 1485, the Hawwara tribes became the true rulers of Upper Egypt.[11]
In Egypt's history, the Southern region is the cradle of tribal settlements. By the nineteenth century, Southern Egypt and NorthernNubia were completely ruled-over by the Egyptian Hawwara tribe. Governance had become decentralized as the Hawwara spread their sovereignty over ten provinces and parts of the other remaining twenty-one provinces in Upper Egypt.[12] The Egyptian Hawwara branch was deemed to be the de facto rulers of Upper Egypt and their authority spanned across North Africa, up until the campaigns ofIbrahim Pasha in 1813, which finally crushed their dominant influence,[13] and made them flee in masses to the Sudan.[14]
In past times, and before fleeing into Sudan due to the campaigns ofIbrahim Pasha of Egypt, the Hawwara were the most influential tribe inUpper Egypt under the leadership of Sheikh Hammam.[15] SultanBarquq (d. 1399) made relationships with the Hawwara to keep the Arab tribes from becoming powerful.[16] Towards the end of the Mamluk dynasty, the Hawwara and Arabs began cooperating to kill Mamluks. Due to their cooperation, the Mamluks labeled the Hawwara as Arab. Although like many they are rather arabized, the term "Sheikh of the Arabs" is usually bestowed upon any tribal leaders, however, according to Burckhardt, the Hawwara claim their ancient origin to be from the Maghreb region.