Huwala people

Huwala (Arabic: الهولة), is a plural Arabic term for Huwali (Arabic: هولي). The meaning of the word remains unclear, and many Gulf historians continue to debate its origins and significance. Contrary to popular belief, there is very little evidence to support the claim that it means "to change over." It appears that the Huwala was a tribal confederation formed in Coastal Oman, similar to the Al-Utub confederation, who were at times their arch rivals. However, it appears that the term was abandoned shortly thereafter, which explains its disappearance in the oral tradition of the Huwalas themselves. A book by Dejanirah Couto and Rui Loureiro into Portuguese interactions in Hormuz defines Huwala as "migrant Arabs". Author Lawrence G. Potter defines Huwala as == History ==

In the 18th century, the Arab Al Qasimi tribal affiliation, once a major maritime power, took control of southern Iranian coasts and islands around Bandar Lengeh. In 1779 the Iranian Zand dynasty acknowledged a fait accompli and recognized a Qasimi as local ruler (farmandar) of Bandar Lengeh. At about the same time the Zands allowed the British East India Company to establish its residency and presence in Bushehr. The Qasimis remained in control of Bandar Lengeh and surrounding region until 1887, when they were defeated by the British in their self proclaimed “anti-piracy” campaign which Emirati based scholars (including current Sharjah ruler Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi) argue was a myth used to dominate trade routes to India and Iraq. The Qasimis retreated to the southern coast of the Gulf, and their Iranian domains reverted to nominal rule by Tehran. The Achomi (Larestani) Iranian population lived on the coast alongside the Qasimis. They prospered under Al Qasimi rule as merchants in pearl trading. Author John W. Limbert argues that in response to Reza Shah Pahlavi's policies of centralization, conscription, civil status reforms, and, most important, the forced unveiling of women led to many of the Achomis to follow the Qasimis back to the Arabian Peninsula, further mixing the Huwala's Arabic and Persian roots. == Identity and origin ==

Contemporary historians of that period, such as Niebuhr, Lorimer, David Seton, and others, did not neglect to record for us a huge number of political and social events in the Gulf during the period preceding the period of the recent migration of the inhabitants of the southern Iranian region to the Gulf states during the reign of Shah Reza Pahlavi at the beginning of the twentieth century AD. We find in these historians a clear description of the identity of the true Huwala Arabs according to geographical and social standards. • The first type consists of the original Arabs who migrated to Southern Iran from Coastal Eastern Arabia during the 16th and 17th centuries, such as the Bani Hammad, Qawasim, Obaidli, and Al-Haram. • The second type of Huwalas refers to the indigenous people of Southern Iran who resided under the rule of the aforementioned tribes and later migrated back with them to Arabia during the 20th century after the invasion by the Iranian government. ==Huwala families==

Historical sources tell us that the "Al-Hawla Arabs" do not descend from a single tribe, but rather they descend from a union of several specific Arab tribes. We must focus here on the word “specific,” as the tribes belonging to the "Huwala Arabs" are the following tribes: • Al Qasimi or Al-Qawasim • Al Marzooqi or Al-Marazeeq • Al-Ali • Bani Bishr • Bani Hammad or Al-Hammadi • Bani Obaidel or Al-Obaidly • Al-Haram or Al-Harami • Bani malik or Al-Malki • Bani Tamim or Al Tamim • Al Nasur/Nassour or Al-Mathkur == Intentional confusion with Achomis ==

Many Achomi sunni families changed their names (especially in Bahrain), having added Arabic "Al-" (ال) to their names, The same study also claims that Sunni Achomis did not face any systematic racism. == See also ==