Hawwara

For the Egyptian archaeological site, see Hawara. For the Palestinian town in the West Bank, see Huwara. For the town in northern Jordan, see Huwwarah. For the ancient town in southern Jordan, see Humayma.

The Hawwara (Berber languages: Ihuwwaren, Arabic: الهوارة), also spelled Huwwara, Howwara, Hewwara or Houara, is an Arab-Berber^[1][2] tribal confederation in the Maghreb, primarily in Tripolitania, with descendants in Upper Egypt and Sudan.^[3] Hawwara are amongst the most prominent tribes in Upper Egypt, with branches found mainly in Qena. In Sudan, they are labelled as Hawwaweer (Arabic: هواوير) (plural of Hawwara), and have a significant political presence.^[4]

Hawwara Ihuwwaren الهوارة
Tribal confederation
Ethnicity	Arabized Berber
Location	Mainly Tripolitania
Demonym	Al-Hawwari
Branches	Addasa, Andara, Awtita, Baswa, Gharyan, Haragha, Banu Irmazyan, Kaldin, Kamlan, Karkuda, Lahan or Lahana, Maghar, Malila, Maslata, Mindasa or Mindas (Mandasa, Mandas), Misrata, Razin, Satat, Tarhuna, Wannifan, Warfalla, Wargha, Warsatifa, Washtata, Yaghmorasen, Zakkawa and Zanzafa
Religion	Islam

Branches

The Hawwara were composed of numerous tribes and clans. Some of them are: the Addasa, the Andara, the Awtita, the Baswa, the Gharyan, the Haragha, the Banu Irmazyan, the Kaldin, the Kamlan, the Karkuda, the Lahan or Lahana, the Maghar, the Malila, the Maslata, the Mindasa or Mindas (Mandasa, Mandas), the Misrata, the Razin, the Satat, the Tarhuna, the Wannifan, the Warfalla, the Wargha, the Warsatifa, the Washtata, the Yaghmorasen, the Zakkawa and the Zanzafa.^[5]

History

The Hawwara are the heirs of the ancient western Bavarians, in antiquity the Hawwara were one of the principal tribes located within the Masaesyli state.^[6][7] The traditional territory that was called Avaritana/Abaritana provincia by Quodvultdeus of Carthage later became known as “bilad Haouara”, country of the Haouara (of the Aurès) in the middle ages.^[8] During the Byzantine period the area called “Abaritana atque Getulia provincia” was a tribal principality and the Hawwara were one of the two major ruling confederations.^[8] Medieval historians have also attested the presence of the Hawwara in the Aurès region well before the arrival of the Arabs in the 7th century.^[8] Edrici placed the location of the Hawwara in the plains of M’Sila.^[9] From the 8th century to 12th century, the eastern boundaries of their land ran through Tawergha, Waddan, and Zella.^{[citation needed]} Hawwara's territory was bordered to the east by the Mazata tribe.^[5]

Families originating from the Hawwara founded and ruled small Islamic kingdoms in Al-Andalus (present-day Spain) during the 11th century, including the Dhulnunid dynasty which ruled the Taifa of Toledo and the Banu Razin who ruled the Taifa of Albarracín.^[10] The latter still being the name of a Spanish town named Albarracín or Al Banu Razin, a sub-tribe of Hawwara. Other Spanish cities including Alhaurín el Grande and Alhaurín de la Torre also get there name from the Hawwara (Al Hawwariyin).^{[citation needed]}

A fraction of the Hawwara were part the Fatimid army that conquered Egypt, Syria, Palestine and Jordan. After the conquest, they were given land grants by the Fatimid caliphs.^[5] The Hawwara tribe became dominant in al-Buhayra in Egypt. In 1380/1381, Barquq, Sultan of the Mamluks, established some Hawwara groups in Upper Egypt and granted the Iqta' of Girga to the Hawwari chief, Isma'il ibn Mazin. Isma'il was succeeded by Umar, the eponymous of the Banu Umar clan.^[11] According to Al-Maqrizi in his book ‘kitāb as-sulūk’, a group of Hawwara together with a group of Arabs from Upper Egypt attacked the wali of Aswan in the month of Rajab 798 (April 1396 A.D.) and made an alliance with the Arab tribe of Banu Kanz who inhabited Aswan. Al-Maqrizi also writes in his book ‘Al Khetat’ that in the month of Muharram 815 (1412 A.D.) the Hawwara tribesmen proceeded to Aswan and attacked the Banu Kanz Arabs. The Arab men fled, but many of them were killed while the women and children were taken into slavery. They destroyed the walls of the city and left it in ruins, without inhabitants. After sacking al-Fayyum in 1485, the Hawwara tribes became the true rulers of Upper Egypt.^[12]

In Egypt's history, the Southern region is the cradle of tribal settlements. By the 19th century, Southern Egypt and Northern Nubia were completely ruled-over by the Egyptian Hawwara tribe. Governance had become decentralized as the Hawwara spread their sovereignty over ten provinces and parts of the other remaining twenty-one provinces in Upper Egypt.^[13] The Egyptian Hawwara branch was deemed to be the de facto rulers of Upper Egypt and their authority spanned across North Africa, up until the campaigns of Ibrahim Pasha in 1813, which finally crushed their dominant influence,^[14] and made them flee in masses to the Sudan.^[15]

In past times, and before fleeing into Sudan due to the campaigns of Ibrahim Pasha targeting them, during the Mamluk era in Egypt, the Hawwara were the most influential tribe in Upper Egypt under the leadership of Sheikh Hammam.^[16] Sultan Barquq made relationships with the Hawwara in order to keep the Arab tribes from becoming powerful.^[17] Towards the end of the Mamluk dynasty, the Hawwara and Arabs began cooperating to kill Mamluks. Due to their cooperation, the Mamluks labelled the Hawwara as being Arab. Although like many they are rather arabized, the term "Sheikh of the Arabs" is usually bestowed upon any tribal leaders, however, according to Burckhardt, the Hawwara claim their ancient origin to be from the Maghreb region.

Notable Hawaris

• Sheikh Al-Arab Hammam [arz], Sheikh of the Egyptian Hawwara tribe during the 18th century.
• Amin Mekki Medani, Sudanese human rights lawyer and political activist.

References

1. Irwin, Robert (2019-11-05). Ibn Khaldun: An Intellectual Biography. Princeton University Press. p. 91. ISBN 978-0-691-19709-8.
2. Gibb, Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen (1997). The Encyclopaedia of Islam. Brill. p. 347. ISBN 978-90-04-10422-8.
3. Lewicki, T. (1986) [1971]. "Hawwāra". In Lewis, B.; Ménage, V. L.; Pellat, C.; Schacht, J. (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. III (2nd ed.). Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. BRILL. p. 296. ISBN 9004081186.
4. "الهواوير".
5. Lewicki, T. (1986) [1971]. "Hawwāra". In Lewis, B.; Ménage, V. L.; Pellat, C.; Schacht, J. (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. III (2nd ed.). Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. BRILL. p. 296. ISBN 9004081186.
6. Mcharek, Ahmed. "Babari de l’Aurès et Babari Transtagnenses." p.491.
7. Barges, Jean-Jacques-Louis., Muhammad ibn 'Abd-al-jalil al-Tanasi, 'Abu Abdallah. Histoire des Beni Zeiyan, rois de Tlemeen, par Abou-Abd'Allah-Mohammed ibn-Abd'el-Djelyl et Tenessy, ouvrage trad. par J(ean) J(acques) L(ouis) Barges. Duprat, 1852.
8. M'Charek, Ahmed. "Continuité de l’ethnonymie, continuité du peuplement au Maghreb, de l’Antiquité à nos jours: le cas des Avares (Haouara) et Dianenses ou Zanenses (Zanāta)." Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 159, no. 1 (2015): 445-477.
9. Carette, Antoine Ernest Hippolyte. Recherches sur l'origine et les migrations des principales tribus de l'Afrique septentrionale et particulièrement de l'Algérie. Imprimerie impériale, 1853.
10. Kennedy, Hugh (2014). Muslim Spain and Portugal: A Political History of al-Andalus. Routledge. p. 139. ISBN 978-1-317-87041-8.
11. Holt, P.M. (1986) [1971]. "Hawwāra". In Lewis, B.; Ménage, V. L.; Pellat, C.; Schacht, J. (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam. Vol. III (2nd ed.). Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. BRILL. p. 299. ISBN 9004081186.
12. Levanoni, Amalia (2010). Fierro, Maribel (ed.). The New Cambridge History of Islam. Vol. 2, The Western Islamic World, Eleventh to Eighteenth Centuries. Cambridge University Press. p. 269. ISBN 978-1-316-18433-2.
13. Zaalouk, Malak (2006). The pedagogy of empowerment : community schools as a social movement in Egypt. American University in Cairo Press. ISBN 9789774160264.
14. Baer, Gabriel. "Studies in the Social History of Modern Egypt." (1969).
15. "Om Durman University - Research", search.mandumah.com
16. Petry, Carl F., ed. The Cambridge History of Egypt. Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press, 2008.
17. Petry, Carl F. "A Geniza for Mamluk Studies? Charitable Trust (Waqf) Documents as a Source for Economic and Social History." Mamluk Studies Review 2 (1998): 51-60.