The Banu Hilal (Arabic: بنو هلال, romanized: Banū Hilāl) was a confederation of Arabian tribes from the Hejaz and Najd regions of the Arabian Peninsula that emigrated to North Africa 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 and Syria. When the Fatimid Caliphate became masters of Egypt and the founders of Cairo in 969, they hastened to confine the unruly Bedouin in the south before sending them to Central North Africa (Libya, Tunisia and Algeria) and then to Morocco.
According to Arab genealogists, the Banu Hilal were a sub-tribe of the Mudar 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 ʿĀmir ibn Ṣaʿṣaʿa ibn Muʿāwiya ibn Bakr ibn Hawāzin ibn Manṣūr ibn ʿIkrima ibn K̲h̲aṣafa ibn Qays ibn ʿAylān ibn Muḍar ibn Nizār ibn Ma'ad ibn ʿAdnān.[1] 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.[2]
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 while the Banu Sulaym attended nearby Medina, 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.[3]
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 BanuʿĀmir 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.[1] Banu Hilal likely did not accept the rule of Islam until after Muhammad's victory at the Battle of Hunayn in 630, but like other Āmirid tribes, they also did not join in the Ridda Wars that followed Muhammad's death in 632.[1]
Migration to Egypt
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.[1] Only in the early 8th century did some of the Hilal (and the Banu Sulaym) move to Egypt. Many followed, so that the two groups became numerous in Egypt.[1] During the Abbasid Caliphate, the Hilal were known for their unruliness.[1]
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.[1][4] As a result, after his victory over the Qarmatians in 978, the Fatimid caliph al-Aziz (r. 975–996) forcibly relocated the two tribes to Upper Egypt.[1][4] As they continued to fight among themselves and pillage the area, they were prohibited from crossing the Nile River or leaving Upper Egypt.[1]
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. They settled in Ifriqiya after winning some battles against some Berber tribes, eventually going on to coexist with them.
Abu Zayd al-Hilali led between 150,000 and 300,000 Arabs into the Maghreb, who assimilated and intermarried with the indigenous peoples.[5] 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. 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.[6]Ibn Khaldun noted that the lands ravaged by Banu Hilal invaders had become completely arid desert.[7]
Historians estimate the total number of Arab nomads who migrated to the Maghreb in the 11th century to be 250,000[8] (only the first few decades) to 700,000[9] to 1,000,000[5] when the entire population of the Maghreb at the time was 5,000,000.[10]
The Banu Hilal later came under the rule of various subsequent dynasties, including the Almohad Caliphate, Hafsid dynasty, Zayyanid dynasty 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, the Banu Hilal rose against the Ottoman Empire near the Aurès region and south Algeria. In Morocco during the 17th century, the sultan Ismail Ibn Sharif created a guich 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.[11][12]
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 school of Sunni Islam and are conservative, though the vast majority of the population does embrace Sunni Islam. Initially Shia, after their conquest of the Sunni Maghreb majority of Banu Hilal converted to the Maliki school of Sunni Islam.
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, 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.[13]
Egyptian engraving Abu Zeyd beheads Hijazi bin Rafa
Egyptian engraving Dhiab bin Ghanim against Al Muiz bin Badis
A rare Arabic manuscript of the orally-transmitted epic poem about the Banu Hilal, by Hussein Al-Ulaimi, 1849 CE, origin unknown
^Populations Crises and Population Cycles May 27, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, Claire Russell and W. M. S. Russell
^Shillington, Kevin (2018-08-28). History of Africa. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 206. ISBN978-1-137-52481-2.
^John, Ronald Bruce St (2014-06-04). Historical Dictionary of Libya. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 44. ISBN978-0-8108-7876-1.
^Shatzmiller, Maya (1993-12-31). Labour in the Medieval Islamic World. p. 58. ISBN978-90-04-09896-1.
^Hamet, Ismaël (1932). "Notice sur les Arabes hilaliens". Outre-Mers. Revue d'histoire. 20 (87): 241–264. doi:10.3406/outre.1932.2836.
^Coulet, Louise (1967). "J. le Coz, Les tribus Guichs au Maroc. Essai de Géographie agraire. Extrait de la revue de Géographie du Maroc". Méditerranée. 8 (3): 256–258.
^Musique et spectacle: Le théâtre lyrique arabe - Esquisse d'un itinéraire... Par Mohamed Garfi, p. 38.
Sources
Baadj, Amar S. (2015). Saladin, the Almohads and the Banū Ghāniya: The Contest for North Africa (12th and 13th centuries). Leiden and Boston: Brill. ISBN978-90-04-29620-6.
Schuster, Georg (2006). Die Beduinen in der Vorgeschichte Tunesiens. Die "Invasion" der Banū Hilāl und ihre Folgen (in German). Berlin: Klaus Schwarz. ISBN3-87997-330-X.
May 05, 2023
banu, hilal, arabic, بنو, هلال, romanized, banū, hilāl, confederation, arabian, tribes, from, hejaz, najd, regions, arabian, peninsula, that, emigrated, north, africa, 11th, century, masters, vast, plateaux, najd, they, enjoyed, somewhat, infamous, reputation,. The Banu Hilal Arabic بنو هلال romanized Banu Hilal was a confederation of Arabian tribes from the Hejaz and Najd regions of the Arabian Peninsula that emigrated to North Africa 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 and Syria When the Fatimid Caliphate became masters of Egypt and the founders of Cairo in 969 they hastened to confine the unruly Bedouin in the south before sending them to Central North Africa Libya Tunisia and Algeria and then to Morocco Banu Hilalبنو هلالQaysi Arab tribeHilali Emir of Mascara in western Algeria 1856EthnicityArabNisbaal HilaliLocationArabia origin Maghreb EgyptDescended fromHilal bin Amir bin Sa sa bin Mu awiya bin Bakr bin HawazinParent tribeBanu AmirBranchesAthbaj Riyah Jusham Zughba Adi QurraLanguageArabicReligionIslam 1 Arab tribes in 600 AD Contents 1 Origin 2 History 2 1 Pre Islamic Arabia 2 2 Migration to Egypt 2 3 Migration to the Maghreb 3 Social organization 4 Taghribat Banu Hilal 5 References 6 SourcesOrigin Edit Patrilineal genealogy table According to Arab genealogists the Banu Hilal were a sub tribe of the Mudar 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 Hilal ibn ʿAmir ibn Ṣaʿṣaʿa ibn Muʿawiya ibn Bakr ibn Hawazin ibn Manṣur ibn ʿIkrima ibn K h aṣafa ibn Qays ibn ʿAylan ibn Muḍar ibn Nizar ibn Ma ad ibn ʿAdnan 1 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 2 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 while the Banu Sulaym attended nearby Medina 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 3 History EditPre Islamic Arabia Edit 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 BanuʿAmir ibn Ṣaʿṣaʿa especially in Ayyam al ʿArab and in affairs related to the rise of Islam in the region such as that of Biʾr Maʿuna 1 Banu Hilal likely did not accept the rule of Islam until after Muhammad s victory at the Battle of Hunayn in 630 but like other Amirid tribes they also did not join in the Ridda Wars that followed Muhammad s death in 632 1 Migration to Egypt Edit 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 1 Only in the early 8th century did some of the Hilal and the Banu Sulaym move to Egypt Many followed so that the two groups became numerous in Egypt 1 During the Abbasid Caliphate the Hilal were known for their unruliness 1 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 1 4 As a result after his victory over the Qarmatians in 978 the Fatimid caliph al Aziz r 975 996 forcibly relocated the two tribes to Upper Egypt 1 4 As they continued to fight among themselves and pillage the area they were prohibited from crossing the Nile River or leaving Upper Egypt 1 Migration to the Maghreb Edit According to Ibn Khaldun the Banu Hilal were accompanied by their wives and their children when they came to the Maghreb They settled in Ifriqiya after winning some battles against some Berber tribes eventually going on to coexist with them Abu Zayd al Hilali led between 150 000 and 300 000 Arabs into the Maghreb who assimilated and intermarried with the indigenous peoples 5 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 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 6 Ibn Khaldun noted that the lands ravaged by Banu Hilal invaders had become completely arid desert 7 Historians estimate the total number of Arab nomads who migrated to the Maghreb in the 11th century to be 250 000 8 only the first few decades to 700 000 9 to 1 000 000 5 when the entire population of the Maghreb at the time was 5 000 000 10 The Banu Hilal later came under the rule of various subsequent dynasties including the Almohad Caliphate Hafsid dynasty Zayyanid dynasty 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 the Banu Hilal rose against the Ottoman Empire near the Aures region and south Algeria In Morocco during the 17th century the sultan Ismail Ibn Sharif created a guich 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 11 12 Social organization EditOriginally 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 school of Sunni Islam and are conservative though the vast majority of the population does embrace Sunni Islam Initially Shia after their conquest of the Sunni Maghreb majority of Banu Hilal converted to the Maliki school of Sunni Islam Taghribat Banu Hilal EditThe accounts and records that the folk poet Abdul Rahman al Abnudi gathered from the bards of Upper Egypt culminated in the Taghribat Bani Hilal 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 13 Egyptian engravingAbu Zeyd beheads Hijazi bin Rafa Egyptian engravingDhiab bin Ghanim against Al Muiz bin Badis A rare Arabic manuscript of the orally transmitted epic poem about the Banu Hilal by Hussein Al Ulaimi 1849 CE origin unknownReferences Edit a b c d e f g h i j Idris 1971 p 385 Baadj 2015 pp 24 25 Fromherz Allen James 2011 09 30 Ibn Khaldun Edinburgh University Press ISBN 978 0 7486 5418 5 a b Baadj 2015 p 24 a b Idris El Hareir Ravane Mbaye The Spread of Islam Throughout the World UNESCO p 409 The Great Mosque of Tlemcen MuslimHeritage com Populations Crises and Population Cycles Archived May 27 2013 at the Wayback Machine Claire Russell and W M S Russell Shillington Kevin 2018 08 28 History of Africa Bloomsbury Publishing p 206 ISBN 978 1 137 52481 2 John Ronald Bruce St 2014 06 04 Historical Dictionary of Libya Rowman amp Littlefield p 44 ISBN 978 0 8108 7876 1 Shatzmiller Maya 1993 12 31 Labour in the Medieval Islamic World p 58 ISBN 978 90 04 09896 1 Hamet Ismael 1932 Notice sur les Arabes hilaliens Outre Mers Revue d histoire 20 87 241 264 doi 10 3406 outre 1932 2836 Coulet Louise 1967 J le Coz Les tribus Guichs au Maroc Essai de Geographie agraire Extrait de la revue de Geographie du Maroc Mediterranee 8 3 256 258 Musique et spectacle Le theatre lyrique arabe Esquisse d un itineraire Par Mohamed Garfi p 38 Sources EditBaadj Amar S 2015 Saladin the Almohads and the Banu Ghaniya The Contest for North Africa 12th and 13th centuries Leiden and Boston Brill ISBN 978 90 04 29620 6 Idris H R 1971 Hilal In Lewis B Menage V L Pellat Ch amp Schacht J eds The Encyclopaedia of Islam Second Edition Volume III H Iram Leiden E J Brill pp 385 387 OCLC 495469525 Schleifer J 1971 Hilal The Saga of the Banu Hilal In Lewis B Menage V L Pellat Ch amp Schacht J eds The Encyclopaedia of Islam Second Edition Volume III H Iram Leiden E J Brill p 387 OCLC 495469525 Schuster Georg 2006 Die Beduinen in der Vorgeschichte Tunesiens Die Invasion der Banu Hilal und ihre Folgen in German Berlin Klaus Schwarz ISBN 3 87997 330 X Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Banu Hilal amp oldid 1152795512, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
