Anizah in Hejaz According to the historians
al-Hamdani and
Abu'l-Hasan Bayhaqi, the Anizah tribe settled in the
Hijaz region, specifically in
Khaybar, at the end of the 10th century AD. The
Uyunid prince and poet
Ali bin al Mugrab Al Uyuni mentioned the news of the Anizah tribe fighting rulers of Khaybar, the descendants of
Ja'far al-Tayyar, and expelled them from it. With the passage of time, a part of the Anizah become urban, while the other part remained on the nomadic lifestyle. The 13th-century historian
Ibn Sa'id al-Maghribi says about himself that he came to the Arabian Peninsula and asked about the rest of the
Rabi’a tribes, saying about that 'I entered the Arabian Peninsula and asked: Are there any Rabi'ah tribes left in its regions? They said: There is no one left who rides horses, settles and migrates except for the Anazah, and they are in the regions of
Khaybar, and the Banu Shu'bah are famous for highway robbery and tearing down veils in the outskirts of the Hijaz near Yemen and the sea, and the Banu Anz are in the region of
Tabalah; and other than that we do not know of in the East or the West'". The 14th-century historian
Ibn Fadlallah al-Umari notes that the Anazah were one of the tribes allied with the
Al Fadl, along with several other tribes, the most prominent of which were
Khath'am,
Adwan, and
Dhafeer. In the 19th century, the
Swiss traveler
Burckhardt and the
British traveler
Doughty visited the tribe in their stronghold of
Khaybar and gathered from them many details of Bedouin life
Anizah in Levant and Mesopotamia The Anizah tribe participated with the other Rabi'a tribes in the side of the fourth
Rashidun caliph,
Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, in the
Battle of Siffin. Historian Naṣr Ibn Muzahim mentions that 4,000 armored warriors joined Ali's army. The modern tribe of Anizah became prominent in the
Ottoman era, as masters of the oasis towns of northwestern Arabia, particularly
Khaybar and
Al-'Ula. Although not farmers themselves, the Anizah levied crops from the inhabitants, and only spent the winter months in the area, while migrating northwards into southern
Syria in the summer months, where they collected tribute from the inhabitants of the
Hawran region. The tribute was known as khuwwa ("brotherhood"), and in exchange, the tribesmen pledged to protect the farmers from other tribes. Other clans of the tribe spread across the northern Arabian steppes as far north and east as the Euphrates. According to Encyclopedia of Islam, "it is not known whence they came", while many such as the Western travelers
Philby and
Anne Blunt simply assumed they had recently migrated from Nejd, having been pushed northwards into Syria by other tribes. The first Anizah tribe to enter Syria was the
Hasana in the mid-18th century. They established themselves as the dominant tribe in the plains around
Hama and
Homs. Around the same time entered the Wuld Ali in the Hawran. The Ruwallah followed the Wuld Ali in the early 19th century and rivaled them for influence in the Hawran, while the Fad'an and the Sba'a entered the central Syrian plains and often entered into conflict with the Hasana in the early 19th century. One branch of the Anizah in that area, centered around
Al-Jouf and the valley of
Wadi Sirhan and extending into
Jordan and Syria, became so large and powerful that it practically developed into an independent tribe, known as the
Ruwallah. The Ruwallah engaged in battle with other branches of Anizah, and also became the arch-enemy of the large tribe of
Shammar, who inhabited roughly the same area and dominated Nejd in the late 19th century after temporarily deposing the
Al Saud. A 19th century oral poetic epic telling the tale of a rivalry between two heroes from Shammar and Anizah was published in 1992. The Ruwallah were among the tribes that took part in the "
Arab Revolt" against the Ottomans in 1916. Another northern branch of Anizah, the `Amarat, was centered in the deserts of
Iraq.
Anizah in Nejd The sparse chronicles of Nejd relating to the pre-
Wahhabi era relate a process of penetration of the tribe into northern and western Nejd, where they began to claim pastures during the winter months. One 19th-century historian, Ibn La'bun, a descendant of Anizah who went by the tribal appellation of "Al-Wa'ili", recorded the story of the settlement of several `Annizi families in Nejd, which he placed in the 14th century CE. In the 15th century, the region of
Al-Qassim in northern
Nejd was being rapidly settled through migration and the majority of this activity was by members of Anizah. In the early 18th century the Bedouins of Anizah are recorded to have reached as far as the gates of
Riyadh, killing its ruler, Zayd Abazara'a, in battle. This battle was part of a tribal war in which Riyadh and its neighboring villages took sides. With the rise of the
First Saudi State in the late 18th century, Anizah were among the tribes that adopted a favorable attitude towards this new power, but took little active part in supporting it militarily, due to their geographical location. The royal family of Saudi Arabia
Al Saud family are from the 'Anizah tribe, with Al Saud having ancestry from Wa'il, the region's native inhabitants as well as the migratory Anizah. The Saud intermarried with their 'Anizah rivals, al Shammar, along with other powerful tribes to solidify their dynasty. Ibn Saud sired dozens of children by his many wives. He had at most four wives at a time, divorcing many times, making sure to marry into many of the noble clans and tribes within his territory, including the chiefs of the
Bani Khalid,
Ajman, and
Shammar tribes, as well as the
Al ash-Sheikh. In the 19th century, Sheikh Mashaan Ibn Hathal was cavalier, leader, and poet who gained his fame from leading the Bedouin clans of the Anizah tribe across the Arabian peninsula and unifying it against the tribe's enemies at the Battle of Al Shimasiyah on 18 June 1825. Sheikh Mashaan died in the battle of
Al Shimasiyah but the Anezis won consequently.
20th century Limited settlement of Bedouin tribesmen in nearby towns and villages has always been an ongoing process in the region. Settled families in Anizah are to be found not only in
Saudi Arabia, where they are most numerous, but also in
Kuwait,
Jordan,
Iraq,
Syria,
Lebanon,
United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Ahwaz (Iran) and the
West Bank, where the village of
Anzah near
Jenin is reportedly named after the tribe. The establishment of the modern borders of the
Middle East dealt a severe blow to the Bedouin lifestyle of tribes such as Anizah, which were accustomed to raising their animals over wide areas spanning many modern states. Special arrangements were made in the early 20th century for these tribes, but the vast majority ended up settling within these new states and taking Saudi, Kuwaiti, Iraqi, Lebanese, Syrian, or Jordanian citizenship. These recently settled tribesman are often distinguished from their sedentary cousins by retaining tribal appellations such as al-`Annizi or Al-Ruwaili as their surnames. == Notable people ==