The Black people of Yarmouk Basin are an

Afro-Arab Afro-Arabs are Arabs of full or partial Black African descent. These include populations within mainly the Sudanese, Emiratis, Yemenis, Saudis, Omanis, Sahrawis, Mauritanians, Algerians, Egyptians and Moroccans, with considerably long est ...

ethnic group in Syria. Most live in southwestern

Daraa Governorate Daraa Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة درعا / ALA-LC: ') is one of the fourteen governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in the south-west of the country and covers an area of 3,730 km2. It is bordered by Jordan to the south, Qu ...

History

Though their exact origin is unknown, some local stories report Sudan as ancestral homeland of the Yarmouk Basin's black people; in any case, they have lived in the area for a long time, and are culturally and linguistically assimilated into the local Arab population. While the number of black people in the basin is considered relatively large by locals, their existence is little known throughout wider Syria. In course of the Syrian Civil War, most of the black population of the Yarmouk Basin came under control of the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

through first the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade and then the

Khalid ibn al-Walid Army The Khalid ibn al-Walid Army ( ar, جيش خالد بن الوليد ''Jaysh Khalid ibn al-Waleed'') was an armed Salafi jihadist group active in southern Syria. It was formed by a merger of the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade, the Islamic Muthanna Move ...

Population

Geographic distribution

While a few villages and towns in the Yarmouk Basin have larger black populations, smaller numbers of the ethnic group can be found throughout the whole area.

Known clans

* Bayt al-Sudi: The largest and best known Black clan of the region, which is centered in the small village of al-Sudi in the northern basin. The Bayt al-Sudi has also a presence in Jamla, Nawa and al-Sheikh Sa'ad (south of Nawa). * Bayt Abu Samir: A smaller clan in Jamla. * Bayt Abu Marah: Another clan in Jamla. * A clan in the village of al-Shajra. * Larger black populations of unknown tribal affiliation live in

Jalin Jalin ( ar, جلين, also spelled Jileen or Jillin) is a village in southern Syria, administratively part of the Daraa Governorate, located northwest of Daraa. Nearby localities include Muzayrib to the southeast, Tafas to the east, al-Shaykh ...

and

Tasil Tasil ( ar, تسيل, also spelled Tsil) is a town in southern Syria, administratively part of the Izra District of the Daraa Governorate. Nearby localities include Nawa to the northeast, Adwan and al-Shaykh Saad to the east, Jalin and Tafas ...

. * Bayt Al-Masri whose name means "Egyptian" in Arabic

Notes

References