Hamyan () is a large

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( ; , singular ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Sy ...

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

tribe in western

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

to the southwest of

Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

and north of the

Atlas Mountains The Atlas Mountains are a mountain range in the Maghreb in North Africa. They separate the Sahara Desert from the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean; the name "Atlantic" is derived from the mountain range, which stretches around through M ...

. They are divided into two main groups, Hamyan Sheraga (easterners) in the east and Hamyan Gheraba (westerners) in the west, and these are further divided into several factions. In the 19th century, they had a force of 2,000 cavalry, and herds of 200 camels and 8,000 sheep, not including oxen, horses and donkeys. They follow a

nomadic Nomads are communities without fixed habitation who regularly move to and from areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the population of nomadic pa ...

lifestyle, and they emigrated every year to the Tell to trade. They constantly fought with the neighboring Arab tribe of Chaamba in Metlili. The region of Ain Sefra was under the political suzerainty of Hamyan Gheraba. They never submitted to French colonization.

References

{{Arab tribes in Algeria Arab tribes in Algeria