Banu Nahd

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Banu Nahd (Arabic: بنو نهد) is a tribe across the Arabian peninsula that has ancient origins and is known to be rather wealthy. They are the sons of Nahd bin Zaid bin Laith bin Sud bin Aslam bin Al-Hafi bin Quda’ah bin Malik bin Himyar. Banu Nahd originates from the Quda'ah tribal federation which is mostly agreed upon to be Qahtanite, originating from Himyar. However, it is still debated between genealogists if it originates from Ma'ad which is Adnanite. There are 4 main branches of Banu Nahd in Yemen. These 4 branches are Banu Radwan, Banu Maqarim, Banu Yazid and Banu Daalfan.[1][2][3]

It is a possibility that the father of Quda'ah was a stepson of a Ma'adite, which is where the confusion stems from. There is also a Nahdi War cry that goes "Qahtan, Oh Father!" Implying that the Nahd believe they are Qahtanite. They have a symbol of "811" but the meaning is unknown.[1][4][5][6]

Simplified Lineage of Nahd

They are sometimes referred to being Bedouins, it is said by Ibn Khaldun that most Nahdis are of mixed race and partially have descent from Banu Khath'am and Bajilah. Banu Nahd are now mostly sedentary but they have preserved Bedouin laws and customs of Hadhramaut throughout their existence.[7][2][8][9]

The tribe of Nahd are well built, being a decently sized tribe, having a unique dual chieftainship and don't widely have an ex-slave/maskin class, contrary to other Arab tribal societies.[10][11]

"Their reputation for hospitality is such that they have been known to fire on cars, if the occupants did not stop for a meal".[10]

Location[edit]

The Banu Nahd have a presence across Arabia, most notably in Wadi Hadhramaut where their capital, Qa'udah is situated. However, Qaydun was also described as the center of the Nahd. Nahd claims a large area from Al Qatun to Sayhad and also inhabit Taribah (Wadi Bin Salman) in Seiyun District.[10][12][8][13]

Banu Nahd in Hadhramaut

The Nahd have a presence in Wadi 'Amd where they are neighbors with the Ja'adah tribe, they are also in the Sarawat Mountains including Hejaz where they live in Wadi al Safra between Mecca and Medina and in the North of Hejaz in Wadi al Qura. Nahd has a large population in the Najran Province in the cities of Sharurah and Najran, where the tribe originally came from. They also reside in Tathleeth.[1][14][15][2]

The Nahd have also been across Najd and have a degree of presence in Khaleej, mostly in UAE[16][17]

The Nahd have begun migrating to North Africa starting in the 11th century where they now inhabit close to the border of Algeria and Tunisia living around the city of El Kala in El Taref province. Nahdi tribes have migrated across the Indian Ocean to Indonesia (Java), Somaliland, India, and Saudi Arabia (Jeddah).[18][19][11]⠀

History[edit]

The Nahd before Islam despite the Himyarites following Judaism were polytheists. Prophet Muhammad sent a message to the Banu Nahd along with other tribes in Yemen to follow Islam, to which the Nahd agreed however not initially. The Nahd were described to be well equipped with weapons, they offered milk to Muhammad however it was declined by the Prophet because he wouldn't accept a gift from pagans. Despite this, he offered to buy the milk which surprised them and gave them respect for the Prophet because the Banu Nahd has always had their treasures robbed. The Banu Nahd agreed to join the religion with no war.[20][21]

After Islam, the Banu Nahd participated in the battle of al Qadisiyyah where they were led by a general named Qays bin Hidhyam bin Jurthumah.

"O Banu Nahd, attack because you were called Nahd only in order to do that"

However Khalid bin Urfutah told him to stop this advance, warning that he would be replaced by someone else.[22]

A Bedouin belonging to the Nahd[23]

There has been a battle narrated Abu Muhammad al Hasan al Hamdani who lived from 890s-940s in his work of Al Iklil (Volume 2) that stated the Madhhaj allied to Nahd and Khawlan were engaged in conflict against the tribe of Hawazin which instigated a large war between Quda'ah and the Qaysi tribes[24]

The Nahd, along with their allies of the time, Banu al Harith were attacked by the Yahya bin al Hussein during 910 AD. They were in support of the Sulayhid Dynasty under King Ali al Sulayhi. In 1140 they would declare support for the Sulaymanids and would attack the Banu Yam tribe that has a huge presence over the province of Najran in 1154. They would begin mass migrating to Hadhramaut in 1195 due to multiple possible reasons such as:

1 - Drought situations

2 - Pressure from the Zaydi Imamate

3 - Interest into the agriculture of Wadi Hadhramaut.

After their migration, the Nahd would begin intense conflict with Local Hadhrami tribes and would establish a strong presence in Hadhramaut to this day[25]

Nahd in the 1220s would attack Umar Bin Mahdi who was appointed by the Al Ma'sud Yusuf, the ruler of Ayyubid Yemen to govern Hadhramaut. Umar Bin Mahdi, using strict rule to govern Wadi Hadhramaut would quickly make tribal enemies with the most major being Nahd. Nahd would go on to take over Tarim, killing Umar Bin Mahdi and ending his rule in Shibam during 1223 AD. Wadi Hadhramaut now without a governor would fall into constant fighting between tribes. the Iqbal Dynasty which controlled much of Hadhramaut took over Tarim from the Nahd. Nahd relaunched a counterattack taking it back in 1238 AD. Mas'ud Bin Yamani who belonged to a sub-tribe (Banu Haram) of Nahd would establish the Al Yamani dynasty in Tarim in 1250 AD ruling it until the Kathiri take over in the 1520s.[26][27]

In Algeria and Tunisia, the Banu Nahd has had a long rivalry with the Khoumir, which is also an Arab tribe that resides in El Kala. Nahd would pay light tributes to the Bey of Constantine. When the Bastion De France, a trading company abandoned their old outpost they would move to El Kala during 1677, which the Nahd claimed east of the city. In 1772 Nahd, along with another tribe, Arid engaged in war against Banu Mazen in El Kala cutting the supply lines to the city until peace was established. General Guingret of the French would suppress the Nahd in the 1840s among others such as the Khoumirs and Beni Saleh pillaging their tribes. In 1881 February Nahd would launch an attack against the Khoumirs. In response, the Khoumirs would launch a counterattack of 400-500 men until the French halted them in late March same year.[19][28]

During 1888 Hadhramaut would be under the claim of Aden protectorate which was ruled by Britain. Unlike the other tribes, the Nahd (also the Karab) was independent from both the Hadhrami Sultanates (Qu'aiti and Kathiri)[29][30]

Nahd and the Aden Protectorate during the 1930s[31]

As the British sought peace in Hadhramaut (1937-1940), which was engaged in constant tribal warfare there would be negotiations between the Nahd and Ja'adah which were the biggest barrier to establishing peace among tribes in Hadhramaut, the signing between the two tribes went good and the Brits would move onto the al Thabit. The al Thabit is a branch of Nahd that split off, fighting specifically against al 'Ajaj. This was a struggle and peace was only established by the Brits threatening al Thabit with destruction. Nahd has also been on bad terms with the Se'iar but they signed a truce with Nahd at Henin. Under Ingram's peace Hadhramaut would have no major conflict until the independence of South Yemen in 1967.[10][5][32]

Pro-STC Nahdite tribal members attend a meeting in wadi Hadhramout[33]

The Nahd supported the SAL (South Arabian League) during the Aden Emergency which was against the NLF (National Liberation Front). The South Arabian League was a nationalist organization formed in 1951 being one of the first modern political groups of South Yemen. The SAL wanted the Aden protectorates to all unite in one nation, rejecting Britain's colonial acts. It was founded by the al Jifri family in Lahij and by Sheikhan al Habshi, a Hadrami. The SAL got a great amount of support from Saudi Arabia and Nahd was among many that gave the SAL tribal support. Their support later died down and the SAL was disbanded. Qahtan al Sha'bi who was the co-founder of SAL before joining the NLF went on to become the first ruler of South Yemen.[34][35]

What the Nahd support in the Modern Yemeni Civil War is rather divided between STC and the De jure Yemeni Government. There has been some instances where some Nahdi tribes would rally in support for Aidarus al-Zoubaidi, the president of the STC, but the current tribal leader, Al-Hakam Saleh bin Ali bin Thabit has declared support for the Yemeni Government under Rashad al Alimi.[36][33]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Hosny, Mohammed (March 19, 2024). "النهدي وش يرجع ؟ وما هو اصل تلك العائلة". Qabila net.
  2. ^ a b c Khaldun, Ibn (1892). كتاب تاريخ اليمن [Book of History of Yemen] (in Arabic). pp. Page 177-178, 218.
  3. ^ "نهد (قبيلة)". marefa org.
  4. ^ Siddiqi, Mohammed Yazin Mazhar (1987). Organisation of Government Under the Prophet. Idarah Adabiyat Delli. p. 119.
  5. ^ a b Mikhail, Rodionov (1996). New Arabian Studies Volume 3. B. R. Pridham, G. Rex Smith, J. R. Smart. pp. 120–124.
  6. ^ Roger, Upton (1881). Gleanings from the Desert of Arabia. Paul. p. 107.
  7. ^ Ingrams, W.H. The Hadhramaut: Present and Future. The Royal Geographical Society. pp. 299–306.
  8. ^ a b Toy, Barbara (September 30, 2009). Travelling the Incense Route. I.B.Tauris. pp. 58–59.
  9. ^ Chatty, Dawn (2018). Nomadic Societies in the Middle East and North Africa. Brill. p. 249.
  10. ^ a b c d Ingrams, Harold. Arabia and the Isles. pp. 299–326.
  11. ^ a b Freitag, Ulrike (1997). Hadhrami Traders Scholars and Statesmen in the Indian Ocean 1750s to 1960. Brill. pp. 149–151.
  12. ^ Crone, Patricia (2016). The Quranic Pagans. Brill. p. 474.
  13. ^ Muqhafi, Ibrahim. معجم البلدان والقبائل اليمنية [Dictionary of Yemeni countries and tribes] (in Arabic). IslamKotob. p. 807.
  14. ^ al Badry, Kiro. "من وين قبيلة نهد؟ قبائل نهد الحضرمية". mr7baska.
  15. ^ Brill, E.J (1993). E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam Vol 8. Brill. p. 988.
  16. ^ "تاريخ القبايل الجنوبيه". South Arabia Blogspot. 2008.
  17. ^ "شعراء قبيلة نهد يتغنون بأمجاد الإمارات". albayan. 2013.
  18. ^ "قبيلة آل النهدي وش يرجعون، أفخاذ وبطون قبيلة النهدي". Madelim org.
  19. ^ a b Feraud, Charles (2018). Histoire des Villes de la Province de Constantine: La Calle [History of the Cities of the Province of Constantine: La Calle] (in French). Forgotten Books. pp. 33–72, 366.
  20. ^ Ahmad, Bashiruddin Mahmud (1988). Life of Muhammad. Islam International. p. 139.
  21. ^ Haymalaz, Harpci, Resit, Fatah (2013). Sultan of Hearts Vol 1. Tughra Books. p. 959.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  22. ^ Al Tabari, Abu Ja'far Muḥammad ibn Jarir ibn Yazid (1992). The history of Al Tabari vol 12. State University of New York Press. p. 91.
  23. ^ Stark, Freya (2001). The Southern Gates of Arabia. Modern Library. pp. 233–257.
  24. ^ Mahoney, Daniel. Genealogies as means for constructing Communities. Brill. p. 175.
  25. ^ Ali bin Muhammad bin Abdullah Bakhil, alBabteen alNa (1994). إدراك الفوت في ذكر قبائل تاريخ حضرموت [Realizing the missingness in mentioning the tribes of the history of Hadhramaut] (in Arabic). alZahrani Books. pp. 2–68.
  26. ^ Jafri, Muhammad Abdullah Hassan (1995). الأزمة اليمنية مظهر حديث لارث تاريخي قديم [Yemeni Crisis, a modern look for an ancient historical legacy] (in Arabic). Dar al Hilal Foundation. pp. 81–83.
  27. ^ Edaibat, Omar (2021). The Bā ʿAlawī Sāda of the Hadhramaut Valley. McGill University Libraries. pp. 87–89.
  28. ^ Touissant, Eric (April 23, 2019). The Debt System. Haymarket Books. pp. Chapter 7.
  29. ^ Smith, Nicholos W.S (2021). Colonial Chaos in the Southern Red Sea. Cambridge University Press. p. 19.
  30. ^ Philby, H. StJ. B (2016). The Land of Sheba. geographicalj. pp. 113–114.
  31. ^ Boxberger, Linda (2002). On the Edge of Empire: Hadhramawt. State University of New York Press. p. 28.
  32. ^ Ingrams, William Harold (1936). A Report on the Social, Economic and Political Condition of the Hadhramaut. H.M. Stationery Office. p. 124.
  33. ^ a b "بحضور رئيس تنفيذية انتقالي حضرموت.. أبناء قبائل نهد بوادي حضرموت يعقدون لقاءً تشاورياً حاشداً".
  34. ^ Freiteg, Ulrike (2003). Indian Ocean Migrants and State Formation in Hadhramaut. Brill. pp. 469–524.
  35. ^ Burrowes, Robert D (2010). Historical Dictionary of Yemen. Scarecrow Press. pp. 453–454.
  36. ^ "مقادمة قبيلة نهد يلتقون محافظ حضرموت ويعلنون موقفهم من قرار وقف توريد الإيرادات". AdenGad.
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