The Athbaj () is a sub-tribe of the

Banu Hilal The Banu Hilal ( ar, بنو هلال, translit=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 th ...

, a large confederation of

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...

tribes that migrated from the Arabian Peninsula to North Africa in the 11th century.

History

The Athbaj were one of the three main divisions of the Banu Hilal along with the

Riyah Riyah () is an Arab tribe and one of the most powerful sub-tribes of Banu Hilal, a confederation of Arabian tribes that emigrated from Najd to the Maghreb in the 11th century. At the time of the Arab migration to the Maghreb in the 11th century, th ...

and

Zughba Zughba () was an Arab tribe and a sub-tribe of Banu Hilal, a confederation of Arabian tribes that migrated to the Maghreb in the 11th century. They primarily live in western Algeria and Morocco. An example of a sub-tribe of this is Beni Amer. O ...

. According to

Ibn Khaldun Ibn Khaldun (; ar, أبو زيد عبد الرحمن بن محمد بن خلدون الحضرمي, ; 27 May 1332 – 17 March 1406, 732-808 AH) was an Arab The Historical Muhammad', Irving M. Zeitlin, (Polity Press, 2007), p. 21; "It is, o ...

, the Athbaj which was one of the most important tribes of the Banu Hilal at the time of the Hilalian invasion was compromised of the Garfa and the . In the 12th century, the Athbaj inhabited areas to the south and east of the Zughba who inhabited an area stretching from

Tlemcen Tlemcen (; ar, تلمسان, translit=Tilimsān) is the second-largest city in northwestern Algeria after Oran, and capital of the Tlemcen Province. The city has developed leather, carpet, and textile industries, which it exports through the po ...

in the west and Algiers to the east.

Leo Africanus Joannes Leo Africanus (born al-Hasan Muhammad al-Wazzan, ar, الحسن محمد الوزان ; c. 1494 – c. 1554) was an Andalusian diplomat and author who is best known for his 1526 book ''Cosmographia et geographia de Affrica'', later ...

writes concerning the Athbaj'':'' With the defeat of the Banu Hilal by the

Almohads The Almohad Caliphate (; ar, خِلَافَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِينَ or or from ar, ٱلْمُوَحِّدُونَ, translit=al-Muwaḥḥidūn, lit=those who profess the unity of God) was a North African Berber Muslim empire fo ...

, the Banu Hilal tribes were resettled around the Maghreb al-Aqsa on a large scale during the region of Almohad ruler

Abd al-Mu'min Abd al Mu'min (c. 1094–1163) ( ar, عبد المؤمن بن علي or عبد المومن الــكـومي; full name: ʿAbd al-Muʾmin ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿAlwī ibn Yaʿlā al-Kūmī Abū Muḥammad) was a prominent member of the Almohad mov ...

after his conquest of the Central Maghreb and Ifriqya. This policy continued under other Almohad rulers like

Yaqub al-Mansur Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb ibn Yūsuf ibn Abd al-Muʾmin al-Manṣūr (; c. 1160 – 23 January 1199 Marrakesh), commonly known as Yaqub al-Mansur () or Moulay Yacoub (), was the third Almohad Caliph. Succeeding his father, al-Mansur reigned from 118 ...

recorded the distribution of resettled Arab tribes in his

Kitab al-Ibar ''Kitāb al-ʻIbar'' ("Book of Lessons") is a 14th-century book written by the Arab sociologist and historian Ibn Khaldun. Its full name is a rhyming couplet: ''Kitāb al-ʻIbar, wa-Dīwān al-Mubtadaʼ wa-l-Khabar, fī Taʼrīkh al-ʻArab wa-l ...

and says that some clans of the Athbaj were settled in the plains of

Tamasna Tamasna (Berber: Tamesna, ⵜⴰⵎⵙⵏⴰ, Arabic: تامسنا) is a historical region between Bou Regreg and Tensift in Morocco. It includes the modern regions of Chaouia, Doukkala, Abda, Rhamna, Sraghna and Chiadma. The indigenous pop ...

Subdivisions

The Athbaj are divided into the following tribes: * Drid (also written as Durayd) * Garfa * Amour * Dahhak and Iyad * Latif

References

{{reflist Arab tribes in Algeria Arab tribes in Morocco Bedouin groups Tribes of Arabia