| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 150,000-500,000[1][2] or 800,000[3] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Turkey,Syria,Iraq,Lebanon,Germany,Sweden,Denmark,Netherlands,Belgium | |
| Languages | |
| North Mesopotamian Arabic | |
| Religion | |
| Sunni Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Assyrians,Kurds,Levantine Arabs |
TheMhallami,Mahallami, orMardelli (Arabic:المُحَلَّمِيَّة,romanized: Al-Muḥallamiyya;Kurdish:Mihellemî;Syriac:ܡܚܠ̈ܡܝܐ,romanized: Mḥallmāye;Turkish:Mıhellemi) is anArabic-speaking tribal ethnic group traditionally living in and around the city ofMardin,Turkey.[4] Due to migration since 1920 they have a large presence inLebanon as well. As a result of theLebanese Civil War, large numbers fled to Europe, particularlyGermany. They typically identify themselves asArabs, but are sometimes associated with other ethnic groups such asKurds orAssyrians. However, their historical roots are not definitively established.[4][5][6][7] They areSunni-Muslims and primarily speakers of anArabic dialect that has Turkish, Kurdish, andAramaic influences.[4]
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The date of their appearance in Anatolia is unknown, but likely sometime in the 5th century. There are no known written records by their ancestors of this period. Among the Mhallami there is a view that they are descended fromBanu Hilal tribes, but historical sources and research indicate that this is somewhat unlikely. Arab ancestry is more probably fromRabi'ah tribes, possiblyBanu Shayban, though this does not preclude Kurdish and/or Assyrian roots. Some sources view the group as ethnically or denominationally Assyrian.[4]
This theory is also confirmed by orientalist Ishaq Armala and by the Syriac Orthodox patriarchIgnatius Aphrem I who indicated that theSyriac Christians who converted to Islam under pressure started calling themselvesMhalmoye at the end of the 17th century.[8][9]
English travellerMark Sykes wrote in 1907:This tribe has a peculiar history. They state that 350 years ago they were Christians. During a famine of corn they asked the Patriarch permission to eat meat during Lent. The Patriarch refused, and they became Moslems. They speak a bastard Arabic, and the women wear red clothes and do not veil. Ibrahim Pasha says they are now a mixed race of Arabs and Kurds. Some families are still supposed to be Christians.[10]
In 2015, the founding chairmanMehmet Ali Aslan became the first Mhallami to be elected a member of theTurkish Parliament from theHDP party.[11] The last leader of the Mhallami in Turkey is lawyer Şeyhmus Miroğlu, member of beytil emir.[12][13]
The migration of the Mhallami from Turkey to Lebanon began in the 1920s. In the 1940s, tens of thousands more came to Lebanon, mostly in the cities of Beirut and Tripoli.[14] The Mhallami had traditionally settled in large numbers in Lebanese regions such asTripoli, theBeqaa Valley andBeirut where they have become an integral part of the country's Sunni community after migrating from theMardin Province in Turkey.Lebanon had a population between 70,000 and 100,000 Mhallami prior toLebanese Civil War.[15] Their origin and legal status became a particular concern when they started to seek asylum inWestern European countriesen masse in the early 1980s.[16]
The Mhallami were among theLebanese Civil War refugees from Lebanon who came to Germany and other European countries such as the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden during the Lebanese civil war since 1976[17] and have since been partially tolerated or live as asylum seekers.[18] With around 8,000 people,Berlin has the largest Mhallami diaspora community in Europe (as of June 2003).[19]
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