Saudi Arabia , 1964. The
Arabian 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 as
Yaman, who originate from the mountains of Southwestern Arabia, and claim descent from a semi-legendary ancestral figure, Qahtan (often linked to the biblical
Joktan), and
Adnanis, who originate in North-Central Arabia and claimed descent from
Adnan, a descendant of the Biblical
Ishmael.,
Oman. A number of Bedouin tribes reside in Saudi Arabia. Among them are
Anazzah,
Juhaynah,
Shammar,
al-Murrah,
Mahra,
Dawasir,
Harb,
Ghamid,
Mutayr,
Subay',
'Utayba,
Bani Khalid,
Qahtan,
Rashaida, and
Banu Yam. Saudi Arabia pursued a policy of sedentarization in the early 20th century, which was initially linked with the establishment of the
Ikhwan. As a result of this policy and subsequent modernization, the number of Bedouin that retain their nomadic lifestyle has decreased rapidly. According to
Ali Al-Naimi, the Bedouin, or Bedu, would travel in family and tribal groups, across the
Arabian 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 , 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. In
Hofuf, 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."
Kuwait In the 1960s and 1970s in Kuwait, politicians enfranchised Bedouin at the
Saudi Arabian border and gave them passports to increase support for the fragile
parliament. Despite Kuwait being a highly urbanized state with little to no remaining nomadic population, politicians have also since weaponized perceived differences between the hadar (sedentary Arabs) and Bedouins, to emphasize who does and does not deserve citizenship.
Qatar After the
1996 Qatari coup attempt, the Qatari government jailed multiple members of the
al-Murrah tribe which supported Saudi Arabia, and temporarily revoked the citizenship of 4,000-10,000 tribe members. Many remained incarcerated until 2010, when
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia requested their release. Qatar obliged, flying them to Saudi Arabia. During the
2017 Gulf blockade of Qatar, the Saudi government encouraged Qatari Bedouin to assemble on the Saudi side of the
Saudi Arabia-Qatar border, leading Qatar to revoke the passports of about fifty al-Murrah members. Among those targeted was al-Murrah head Shaikh Taleb bin Lahom bin Shuraim. In Qatar, according to David B. Roberts, many citizens use passports to obtain schooling, health care, unemployment benefits, and job opportunities.
Syria The Syrian Desert was the original homeland of the Arab Bedouin tribes Today there are over a million Bedouin living in Syria, making a living herding sheep and goats. The largest Bedouin clan in Syria is called
Ruwallah who are part of the
'Anizzah' tribe. Another famous branch of the Anizzah tribe is the two distinct groups of
Hasana and S'baa who largely arrived from the Arabian peninsula in the 18th century. 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. Another factor was the formal annulling of the Bedouin tribes' legal status in Syrian law in 1958, along with attempts of the ruling
Ba'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. In 1982 the
al-Assad family turned to the Bedouin tribe leaders for assistance during the
Muslim Brotherhood uprising against al-Assad government (see
1982 Hama massacre). The Bedouin sheikhs' decision to support
Hafez 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. There are numerous types of Bedouins in Syria: Hourani Bedouins, which are from the
Daraa Governorate &
Quneitra Governorate, these Bedouins are closely related to Jordanians. Mesopotamian Bedouins, which are from East and South of the
Aleppo Governorate,
Raqqa Governorate,
Al-Hasakah Governorate &
Deir ez-Zor Governorate, these Bedouins are closely related to Iraqis. There are also a few Bedouin tribes in the
Rif Dimashq Governorate,
Homs Governorate, and
Hama Governorate. Many
Syrians have some
Arab 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 from
Yemen and
Saudi Arabia into
Syria. As a result of the
Syrian Civil War, some Bedouins became
refugees and found shelter in Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon, and other states.
Lebanon Bedouins are concentrated in the
Beqaa Governorate, although they form a minority there. Many
Lebanese people from all over Lebanon have some
Arab Bedouin origins, since
Arabs migrated to Lebanon from
Yemen &
Saudi Arabia. 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. Additionally, increased border demarcations, such as those between Lebanon and Israel, have separated many Bedouin families, although kinship ties do remain. Other Bedouins were expelled from the Negev in 1953 and had relocated to the
West Bank, which at the time was under the administration of
Jordan. Unlike
Negev Bedouins, West Bank Bedouins are not
Israeli citizens. However, the number of nomadic Bedouins is shrinking and many are now settled.
Israel Prior to the 1948
Israeli Declaration of Independence, an estimated 65,000–90,000 Bedouins lived in the
Negev desert. According to
Encyclopedia Judaica, 15,000 Bedouin remained in the Negev after 1948; other sources put the number as low as 11,000. 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. All Bedouins residing in Israel were granted citizenship in 1954. As of 2020, there are 210,000 Bedouins in Israel: 150,000 in the Negev, 50,000 in
Galilee and the
Jezreel Valley, and 10,000 in the central region of Israel.
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 non-Bedouin Arabs..The Bedouin who remained in the Negev belonged to the
Tiaha confederation as well as some smaller groups such as the
'Azazme and the
Jahalin. After 1948, some
Negev Bedouins were displaced. The
Jahalin tribe, for instance, lived in the
Tel Arad region of the Negev prior to the 1950s. In the early 1950s, the Jahalin were among the tribes that, according to
Emanuel Marx, "moved or were removed by the military government". They ended up in the so-called
E1 area East of
Jerusalem. Famously, Bedouin shepherds were the first to discover the
Dead Sea Scrolls, a collection of Jewish texts from antiquity, in the
Judean caves 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. Bedouin man.In September 2011, the Israeli government approved a five-year
economic development plan called the
Prawer plan. One of its implications is a relocation of some 30,000-40,000 Negev Bedouin from areas not recognized by the government to government-approved
townships. In a 2012 resolution the European Parliament called for the withdrawal of the Prawer plan and respect for the rights of the Bedouin people. 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 population could exceed half a million by 2035. In May 2015, the
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees have combined forces. Both organizations called on Israel to stop its plans to relocate Bedouin communities currently living in the
West Bank to land outside of
Jerusalem for better access to infrastructure, health, and education. Officials stated that a "forcible transfer" of over 7000 Bedouin would "destroy their culture and livelihoods."
Jordan , Jordan in 1895 Most of the Bedouin tribes migrated from the Arabian Peninsula to what is
Jordan today between the 14th and 18th centuries. They are often referred to as a backbone of the Kingdom, since Bedouin clans traditionally support the monarchy. Most of Jordan's Bedouin live in the vast wasteland that extends east from the Desert Highway. 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 Sakher (Amman and Madaba) Banū Laith (Petra), and
Howeitat (they reside in
Wadi Rum). 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. The region encompassing
Wadi Musa and Petra is inhabited by the prominent
Liyathnah tribe alongside the smaller
Bedul community, believed to have
Jewish or
Nabataean ancestry. The Hijazeen are a
Christian Bedouin tribe located in Jordan with roots in the
Hejaz of present-day Saudi Arabia. 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 monarch
Abdullah II of Jordan. In August 2007, police clashed with some 200 Bedouins who were blocking the
main 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.
Egypt . Bedouins in Egypt mostly reside in the
Sinai Peninsula,
Matruh,
Red Sea governate, eastern parts of
Sharqia governate,
Suez,
Ismailia and in the suburbs of the Egyptian capital of Cairo. Traditional Bedouin culture was affected by the establishment of resort towns on the Red Sea coast, such as
Sharm el-Sheikh. In the wake of urbanization and educational opportunities, many Bedouins now marry outside their tribe, a practice that once was frowned upon. and it is especially true for Egypt. Since the mid-1980s, Bedouins who held desirable coastal property have lost control of much of their land, which 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 TDA 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. The
Egyptian 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 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.
Maghreb in
Algeria,
Banu Hilal. in
Libya, 1950s The
Arab 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. living at the time in a desert between the
Nile and the
Red Sea, moved westward into the Maghreb areas and were joined by the Bedouin tribe of
Ma'qil, which had its roots in South Arabia, as well as other Arab tribes. In addition, they destroyed the Berber Zirid state and most of its cities, sparing only the Mediterranean coastal strip at
Mahdia, and deeply weakened the neighboring
Hammadid dynasty and the
Zenata. Their influx was a major factor in the linguistic, cultural, genetic and ethnic
Arabization of the
Maghreb. .
Berber armies were defeated in trying to protect the walls of
Kairouan. As Arab nomads spread, the territories of the local Berber tribes were moved and shrank. The
Zenata were pushed to the west and the
Kabyles were pushed to the north. The Berbers took refuge in the mountains whereas the plains were Arabized. The arrival of the Banu Hilal, followed by the Banu Sulaym in the 12th century, broke the balance between nomads and
sedentary populations in favor of the nomads. For strategic reasons, the
Almohads gave over the
Atlantic plains of the western Maghreb to them. 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. They adapted to the climatic desert conditions of the Maghreb, discovering the same way of life as in the Arabian Peninsula. In the 13th century, they occupied southern
Algeria and dominated the oases of
Tuat 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 the
Beni Ḥassān along with other related groups. The Beni Hassan expanded southwest and occupied
Sanhaja lands in the 13th century after invading and defeating the Berber confederation. 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". These Bedouin tribes emerged into several contemporary sub-tribes. The most well known Bedouin tribes in
Algeria include
Awlad Sidi Shaykh,
Ouled Naïl,
Chaamba,
Doui-Menia and
Hamyan, who primarily live in the
Algerian Desert. The
Maghrebi Bedouin dialects, often called
Hilalian dialects, are used in the regions of Morocco Atlantic coast, in regions of
High Plains and
Sahara in
Algeria, in regions of
Tunisian Sahel and in regions of
Tripolitania. The Bedouin dialects has four major varieties: • Sulaym dialects,
Libya and southern
Tunisia; • Eastern Hilal dialects, central
Tunisia and eastern
Algeria; • Central Hilal dialects, south and central
Algeria, especially in border areas of
Sahara; • Western Hilal dialects, Atlantic plains of western
Morocco • Maqil dialects, western
Algeria and
Morocco; In
Morocco, Bedouin Arabic dialects are spoken in plains and in recently founded cities such as
Casablanca. Thus, the city Arabic dialect shares with the Bedouin dialects
gal 'to say' (qala); they also represent the bulk of modern urban dialects (
Koinés), such as those of
Oran and
Algiers. == Tribes and populations ==