Pre-Islamic Arabia Its original abode, like that of its related tribes, was the
Najd. Its history during
pre-Islamic times is bound with other tribes of the Banū ʿĀmir ibn Ṣaʿṣaʿa, especially in the (battle days of the Arabs) and in affairs related to the rise of Islam in the region, such as that of
Massacre of Bi'r Ma'una. The Banu Hilal likely did not accept
Islam until after
Muhammad's victory at the
Battle of Hunayn in 630, but like other ʿĀmirid tribes, they also did not join in the
Ridda Wars that followed
Muhammad's death in 632.
Migration to Egypt, Iraq and the Levant The tribe does not appear to have played any significant role in the
early Muslim conquests, and for the most part remained in the Nejd. Only in the early 8th century did some of the Banu Hilal (and the
Banu Sulaym) move to
Egypt. Many followed, so that the two groups became numerous in Egypt. During the
Abbasid Caliphate, the Hilal were known for their unruliness. In the 9th century, Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym migrated from Najd to
Iraq, and later to the
Levant, before migrating to the Maghreb in the 11th century. In the 970s, the Hilal and the Sulaym joined the radical sect of the
Qarmatians in their attacks on the
Fatimid Caliphate, which had just
conquered Egypt and was pushing into
Syria. As a result, after his victory over the Qarmatians in 978, the Fatimid caliph
al-Aziz () forcibly relocated the two tribes to
Upper Egypt. As they continued to fight among themselves and pillage the area, they were prohibited from crossing the
Nile River or leaving Upper Egypt.
Migration to the Maghreb The Banu Hilal first began migrating to the Maghreb when the
Zirid dynasty of Ifriqiya proclaimed its independence from the
Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. In retribution against the Zirids, the Fatimids dispatched large
Bedouin Arab tribes, mainly the Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym, to defeat the Zirids and settle in the Maghreb. These tribes followed a
nomadic lifestyle and were originally from the
Hejaz and Najd. To persuade the Bedouin into migrating 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 the
Nile 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 emir
al-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". Upon arriving in
Cyrenaica, the Arab nomads found the region almost empty of its inhabitants, except a few
Zenata Berbers that al-Mu'izz had already mostly destroyed. Cyrenaica was left to be settled by Banu Sulaym while the Hilalians marched westwards. As a result of the settlement by Arab tribes, Cyrenaica became the most Arab place in the
Arab world after the interior of
Arabia. The Fatimids used the tribe, which began their journey as allies and vassals, to punish the particularly difficult to control
Zirids after the conquest of
Egypt and the founding of
Cairo. As the dynasty became increasingly independent and abandoned
Shia Islam, they quickly defeated the Zirids after the
battle of Haydaran and deeply weakened the neighboring
Hammadid dynasty and the
Zenata. The
Zirids abandoned
Kairouan to take refuge on the coast where they survived for a century. The Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym spread on the high plains of
Constantine where they gradually obstructed the
Qal'at Bani Hammad as they had done to
Kairouan a few decades ago. From there, they gradually gained control over the
high plains of
Algiers and
Oran. In the second half of the 12th century, they went to the
Moulouya valley and the
Atlantic coast in the western Maghreb to areas such as
Doukkala. Their influx was a major factor in the linguistic, cultural and ethnic
Arabization of the
Maghreb and in the spread of
nomadism in areas where
agriculture had previously been dominant. They had also heavily transformed the culture of the Maghreb into
Arab culture, and spread nomadism in areas where agriculture was previously dominant. Historians estimate the total number of Arab nomads who migrated to the Maghreb in the 11th century to be 250,000 (only the first few decades) to 700,000 to 1,000,000 Historian
Mármol Carvajal states that more than a million Arabs migrated to the Maghreb in the 11th century, an estimation that he attributes to Ibn Al-Raquiq. == Social organization ==