![Map of Arabia 600 AD](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Map_of_Arabia_600_AD.svg)
The Banu Hilal ( ar, بنو هلال, translit=Banū Hilāl) was a confederation of
Arabian tribes from the
Hejaz and
Najd regions of the
Arabian Peninsula that emigrated to
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
in the 11th century. Masters of the vast plateaux of the
Najd, they enjoyed a somewhat infamous reputation, possibly owing to their relatively late (for the Arabian tribes) conversion to Islam and accounts of their campaigns in the borderlands between
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
and
Syria. When the
Fatimid Caliphate became masters of
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
and the founders of
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
in 969, they hastened to confine the unruly
Bedouin in the south before sending them to Central North Africa (
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
,
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
and
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
) and then to
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...
.
Origin
![Arbre généalogique des Banou Souleim & Banou Hilal](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Arbre_g%C3%A9n%C3%A9alogique_des_Banou_Souleim_%26_Banou_Hilal.png)
According to Arab genealogists, the Banu Hilal were a sub-tribe of the
Mudar
The Mudar ( ar, مُضَر) are one of the most powerful northern Arab tribal groupings.
History
The Mudar and Rabi'a are recorded in central Arabia in the Arabic histories of the pre-Islamic period; the kings of the Kindah bore the title o ...
tribal confederation, specifically of the
Amir ibn Sa'sa'a, and their
progenitor was Hilal. According to traditional Arab sources, their full genealogy was the following: Hilāl ibn
''ʿ''Āmir ibn Ṣaʿṣaʿa ibn Muʿāwiya ibn Bakr ibn
Hawāzin ibn Manṣūr ibn ʿIkrima ibn K̲h̲aṣafa ibn
Qays
Qays ʿAylān ( ar, قيس عيلان), often referred to simply as Qays (''Kais'' or ''Ḳays'') were an Arab tribal confederation that branched from the Mudar group. The tribe does not appear to have functioned as a unit in the pre-Islamic e ...
ibn ʿAylān ibn
Muḍar
The Mudar ( ar, مُضَر) are one of the most powerful northern Arab tribal groupings.
History
The Mudar and Rabi'a are recorded in central Arabia in the Arabic histories of the pre-Islamic period; the kings of the Kindah bore the title o ...
ibn
Nizār ibn
Ma'ad
Ma'ad ibn Adnan ( ar, مَعَدّ ٱبْن عَدْنَان, Maʿadd ibn ʿAdnān) is an ancient ancestor of Qusai ibn Kilab and his descendant the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He is featured in ancient Arabic literature.
Origin
According to tra ...
ibn
ʿAdnān. The Banu Hilal were very numerous, effectively a nation divided into its own sub-tribes, of which the most notable were the Athbaj, Riyah, Jusham, Zughba, Adi, and Qurra.
Ibn Khaldun described their genealogy, which consisted of two mother tribes: themselves and the
Banu Sulaym. In Arabia, they lived on the Ghazwan near
Ta'if
Taif ( ar, , translit=aṭ-Ṭāʾif, lit=The circulated or encircled, ) is a city and governorate in the Makkan Region of Saudi Arabia. Located at an elevation of in the slopes of the Hijaz Mountains, which themselves are part of the Sarat M ...
while the
Banu Sulaym attended nearby
Medina
Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the second-holiest city in Islam, and the capital of the ...
, sharing a common cousin in the Al Yas branch of the
Quraysh. At the time of their migration, Banu Hilal comprised six sub-tribes: Athbadj, Riyah, Jusham, Adi, Zughba, and Rabi'a.
History
Pre-Islamic Arabia
Its original habitat, like that of its related tribes, was the
Najd, and its history during
pre-Islamic times is bound with other tribes of Banu''ʿ''Āmir ibn Ṣaʿṣaʿa, especially in Ayyām al-ʿArab and in affairs related to the rise of Islam in the region, such as that of
Biʾr Māʿūna. Banu Hilal likely did not accept the rule of Islam until after
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
's victory at the
Battle of Hunayn
:''This is a sub-article to Muhammad after the conquest of Mecca.''
The Battle of Hunayn ( ar, غَزْوَة حُنَيْن, Ghazwat Hunayn) was between the Muslims of Muhammad and the Bedouins of the Qays, including its clans of Hawazi ...
in 630, but like other Āmirid tribes, they also did not join in the
Ridda Wars
The Ridda Wars ( ar, حُرُوْبُ الرِّدَّةِ, lit=Apostasy Wars) were a series of military campaigns launched by the first caliph Abu Bakr against rebellious Arabian tribes. They began shortly after the death of the Islamic proph ...
that followed
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...
's death in 632.
Migration to Egypt
The tribe does not appear to have played any significant role in the
early Muslim conquests
The early Muslim conquests or early Islamic conquests ( ar, الْفُتُوحَاتُ الإسْلَامِيَّة, ), also referred to as the Arab conquests, were initiated in the 7th century by Muhammad, the main Islamic prophet. He estab ...
, and for the most part remained in the Nejd. Only in the early 8th century did some of the Hilal (and the
Banu Sulaym) move to
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
. Many followed, so that the two groups became numerous in Egypt. During the
Abbasid Caliphate
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
, the Hilal were known for their unruliness.
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
Abu Mansur Nizar ( ar, أبو منصور نزار , Abū Manṣūr Nizār; 10 May 955 – 14 October 996), known by his regnal name as al-Aziz Billah ( ar, العزيز بالله, al-ʿAzīz bi-llāh, the Mighty One through God), was the fifth ...
() forcibly relocated the two tribes to
Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt ( ar, صعيد مصر ', shortened to , , locally: ; ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the lands on both sides of the Nile that extend upriver from Lower Egypt in the north to Nubia in the south.
In ancient E ...
. 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
According to
Ibn Khaldun, the Banu Hilal were accompanied by their wives and their children when they came to the
Maghreb
The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...
. They settled in
Ifriqiya after winning some battles against some
Berber tribes, eventually going on to coexist with them.
Abu Zayd al-Hilali
Abu Zayd Ibn Rizq Al-Hilali (, ) was an 11th-century Arab leader and hero of the 'Amirid tribe of Banu Hilal.
On the orders of the Ismaili Fatimid caliph, Abu Zayd moved his tribe to Tunisia via Egypt to punish the Zirids for adopting Sunnii ...
led between 150,000 and 300,000
Arabs
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
into the
Maghreb
The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...
, who assimilated and intermarried with the indigenous peoples.
The Fatimids used the tribe, which began their journey as allies and vassals, to punish the particularly difficult to control
Zirids
The Zirid dynasty ( ar, الزيريون, translit=az-zīriyyūn), Banu Ziri ( ar, بنو زيري, translit=banū zīrī), or the Zirid state ( ar, الدولة الزيرية, translit=ad-dawla az-zīriyya) was a Sanhaja Berber dynasty from ...
after the conquest of
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
and the founding of
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
. As the dynasty became increasingly independent and abandoned
Shia Islam
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, m ...
, they quickly defeated the Zirids after the
battle of Haydaran
The Battle of Haydaran () or the Battle of Jabal Haydaran () was an armed conflict which took place on 14 April 1052 between the Arab tribes of Banu Hilal and the Zirid dynasty in modern-day South-East Tunisia, it was part of the Hilalian invasi ...
and deeply weakened the neighboring
Hammadid dynasty
The Hammadid dynasty () was a branch of the Sanhaja Berber dynasty that ruled an area roughly corresponding to north-eastern modern Algeria between 1008 and 1152. The state reached its peak under Nasir ibn Alnas during which it was briefly the m ...
and the
Zenata
The Zenata ( Berber language: Iznaten) are a group of Amazigh (Berber) tribes, historically one of the largest Berber confederations along with the Sanhaja and Masmuda. Their lifestyle was either nomadic or semi-nomadic.
Etymology
''Iznaten ( ...
. Their influx was a major factor in the linguistic, cultural and ethnic
Arabization of the
Maghreb
The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...
and in the spread of
nomad
A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the po ...
ism in areas where
agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...
had previously been dominant.
Ibn Khaldun noted that the lands ravaged by Banu Hilal invaders had become completely arid desert.
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
when the entire population of the Maghreb at the time was 5,000,000.
The Banu Hilal later came under the rule of various subsequent dynasties, including the
Almohad Caliphate,
Hafsid dynasty,
Zayyanid dynasty
The Zayyanid dynasty ( ar, زيانيون, ''Ziyānyūn'') or Abd al-Wadids ( ar, بنو عبد الواد, ''Bānu ʿabd āl-Wād'') was a Berber Zenata dynasty that ruled the Kingdom of Tlemcen, mainly in modern Algeria centered on the town of ...
and
Marinid dynasty. Finding their continued presence intolerable, the Almohad Caliphate defeated the Banu Hilal in the
Battle of Setif and forced many of them to leave Ifriqiya and settle in Morocco. Upon the arrival of the
Turks
Turk or Turks may refer to:
Communities and ethnic groups
* Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages
* Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
* Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...
, the Banu Hilal rose against the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
near the
Aurès region and south
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
. In
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...
during the 17th century, the sultan
Ismail Ibn Sharif
Moulay Ismail Ibn Sharif ( ar, مولاي إسماعيل بن الشريف), born around 1645 in Sijilmassa and died on 22 March 1727 at Meknes, was a Sultan of Morocco from 1672–1727, as the second ruler of the Alaouite dynasty. He was the se ...
created a
guich
''Guich'' tribes, ''Gish'' tribes, or ''Jaysh'' tribes ( jaysh, literally "Army"), or sometimes ''Makhzen'' tribes, were tribes of Arab origin organized by the sultans of Moroccan dynasties to serve as troops and military garrisons, as well as t ...
army made up of Arab warriors from the Banu Hilal and the
Banu Maqil which was one of the main parts of the Moroccan army. They were garrisoned in their own lands of water and pastures and served as troops and military garrisons to fight in wars and suppress rebellions.
Social organization
Originally, the Banu Hilal embraced a nomadic lifestyle, rearing cattle and sheep. Despite several tribes living in arid and desert areas, they became experts in the field of agriculture. The Banu Hilal embrace the
Maliki
The ( ar, مَالِكِي) school is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas in the 8th century. The Maliki school of jurisprudence relies on the Quran and hadiths as primary ...
school of
Sunni Islam and are conservative, though the vast majority of the population does embrace Sunni Islam. Initially
Shia
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mo ...
, after their conquest of the Sunni
Maghreb
The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...
majority of Banu Hilal converted to the
Maliki
The ( ar, مَالِكِي) school is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas in the 8th century. The Maliki school of jurisprudence relies on the Quran and hadiths as primary ...
school of
Sunni Islam. Other tribes
Arabized
Arabization or Arabisation ( ar, تعريب, ') describes both the process of growing Arab influence on non-Arab populations, causing a language shift by the latter's gradual adoption of the Arabic language and incorporation of Arab culture, aft ...
the
Berbers to a considerable extent in
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
, where
intermarriage occurred frequently during their shared history.
Taghribat Banu Hilal
The accounts and records that the folk poet Abdul Rahman al-Abnudi gathered from the bards of Upper Egypt culminated in the
Taghribat Bani Hilal
Al-Sirah al-Hilaliyyah (), also known as the Sirat Bani Hilal (سيرة بني هلال ''Sīra Banī Hilāl'') or the al-Hilali epic, is an Arabic epic
oral poem
that recounts the tale of the journey of the Bedouin tribe of the Banu Hilal fr ...
, an Arab epic describing the journey of the tribe from Arabia to the Maghreb. The tale is divided into three main cycles. The first two bring together unfolding events in Arabia and other countries of the east, while the third, called ''Taghriba'' (march west), recounts the migration of the Banu Hilal to North Africa.
[Musique et spectacle: Le théâtre lyrique arabe - Esquisse d'un itinéraire... Par Mohamed Garfi, .]
File:Abouzid-al-hileli.png,
File:Zanati-khalifa.png,
File:Rare Arabic manuscript of the orally transmitted epic poem about the Bedouin Banu Hilal, by Hussein Al-Ulaimi, 1849 CE, origin unknown.jpg, A rare Arabic manuscript of the orally-transmitted epic poem about the Banu Hilal, by Hussein Al-Ulaimi, 1849 CE, origin unknown
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
{{Authority control
Tribes of Arabia
Tribes of Saudi Arabia
Arab tribes in Morocco
Arab tribes in Algeria
Former confederations