Jarm (Arabic:جرم) (also spelledJurm orBanu Jurum) were anArab tribe that, in the Middle Ages, lived inPalestine,Hawran and coastalEgypt. The Jarm were a branch of the Tha'laba clan, a subbranch of the Al Jadilah, itself a branch of the large Arab tribe ofTayy.[1][2] Some sources, however, consider the Jarm to be from the non-Tayyid tribe ofQuda'a. Both the Tayy and the Quda'a wereQahtanite tribes (Arabs originally from Yemen).[2]
In the Middle Ages, during Ayyubid and Mamluk rule, the Jarm inhabited the region betweenGaza and through the coastal plain of Palestine.[3] Their main encampments were betweenDeir al-Balah and Gaza,[2][4] while they often migrated to the vicinity ofHebron in the summer.[5] Beginning with SultanBaybars, theMamluks entrusted the Jarm, along with other Tayyid clans with protecting the countryside, providingArabian horses for thebarid (postal route), and levied taxes on them.[3][6] The chieftains of Jarm and other Tayyid clans were known as "emirs" (princes).[3] In the Mamluk hierarchy, the military rank of the preeminent emir of the Jarm was equal to that of aDamascus-basedamir ashara (emir of ten cavalry) or anAleppo-basedamir ashrin (emir of twenty cavalry).[7] In the Mamluk records, the strength of the Jarm was 1,000 cavalry, making them one of the smaller leading tribes ofBilad al-Sham (the Levant); the largest wasAl Fadl, the most powerful Tayyid clan.[8]
In 1415, there was heavy fighting between the Jarm and the A'id tribe in the triangle of Gaza,Ramla andJerusalem.[8] In 1494, a dispute arose regarding the official nomination of the preeminent emir of the Jarm, a duty normally entrusted to the Mamluk governors of Gaza or Jerusalem. SultanQaytbay ultimately intervened and chose the Jerusalem nominee because that district's governor paid a bribe of five hundreddinars.[9] The Jarm chieftains preserved the title of emir during earlyOttoman rule in the 16th century and were listed in the tax registers for theGaza Sanjak.[1] At the time, it had twelve branches and encamped in the vicinity of Ramla.[10] It paid 10,000akçe to the treasury of the Ottoman sultan.[10]