The Beni Halba () is an

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 ...

group located in the western

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

ese region of

Darfur Darfur ( ; ) is a region of western Sudan. ''Dār'' is an Arabic word meaning "home f – the region was named Dardaju () while ruled by the Daju, who migrated from Meroë , and it was renamed Dartunjur () when the Tunjur ruled the area. ...

. The Beni Halba is one of the major Darfuri

Baggara The Baggāra ( "heifer herder"), also known as Chadian Arabs, are a nomadic confederation of people of mixed Arab and Arabized indigenous African ancestry, inhabiting a portion of the Sahel mainly between Lake Chad and the Nile river near sou ...

groups, along with the Habbaniya,

Rizeigat The Rizeigat (also spelled Rizigat, Rezeigat, and in standard Arabic, Rizayqat) are a Muslim and an Arab tribe of the nomadic Baggara people predominantly in Sudan's Darfur region and Chad. The Rizeigat belong to the greater Baggara Arabs fra ...

and Ta’isha, and was granted a large '' hakura'' (land grant) in southern Darfur by the

sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

s of independent Dar Fur. During the 1980s, recurring

drought A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, ...

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

prompted several clans of Beni Halba to migrate eastwards and join their kinspeople between

Geneina Geneina (sometimes Al-Junaynah or ElGeneina; , lit. ''the little garden'') is a city in West Darfur, part of the dar Masalit region, in Sudan. It joined British Sudan at the end of 1919 through the Gilani Agreement, signed between the Masalit ...

and Kebkabiya and

Kutum Kutum is a town in the Sudanese state of North Darfur. It lies northwest of the state capital, Al-Fashir. The town is located along a wadi and therefore also known as Wadi Kutum. It lies north along the Marrah Mountains; the Kutum volcanic fi ...

. In the late 1980s, the ideology then sweeping through the region combining Arab supremacy and

Islamic extremism Islamic extremism refers to extremist beliefs, behaviors and ideologies adhered to by some Muslims within Islam. The term 'Islamic extremism' is contentious, encompassing a spectrum of definitions, ranging from academic interpretations of Is ...

was taken up by many Beni Halba. Under Nazir al-Hadi Issa Debaker, the Beni Halba were actively involved in attacks upon the

Fur people The Fur ( Fur: ''fòòrà'', Arabic: فور ''Fūr'') are an ethnic group predominantly inhabiting Darfur, the western part of Sudan, where they are the largest ethnic group.Gettleman, Jeffrey, "Chaos in Darfur on rise as Arabs fight with Ara ...

starting in 1987 through 1989. In this period a new militia called the

Janjaweed The Janjaweed () are an Sudanese Arabs, Arab nomad militia group operating in the Sahel, Sahel region, specifically in Sudan, particularly in Darfur and eastern Chad. They have also been speculated to be active in Yemen. According to the United ...

, partially drawing upon the Beni Halba, was first formed. In 1991 the

Sudan People's Liberation Army The South Sudan People's Defence Forces (SSPDF), formerly the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), is the military force of South Sudan. The SPLA was founded as a guerrilla movement against the government of Sudan in 1983 and was a key parti ...

, then fighting the

Second Sudanese Civil War The Second Sudanese Civil War was a conflict from 1983 to 2005 between the central Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement, Sudan People's Liberation Army. It was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil Wa ...

in the south of the country, sent a force under Daud Bolad to expand the conflict into Darfur. However, Bolad's force was annihilated by a combination of the army and Beni Halba ''fursan'' ("horsemen"), who then carried out reprisal attacks against Fur civilians. As a result, the Beni Halba district town of Idd al Ghanam ("Well of Goats") was renamed Idd al Fursan ("Well of Horseman"). The tribe has a major existence in both Sudan and Tchad. Within the tribe, Bani Helba includes over 10 major clans. The Main Clans are Dar Nimir, Wolad Gumaan, Zanateet, Wolad Ghanim, Ghieth, Wolad Ali, Hathalil, Bani Monzoor, Isharia, Mosawiyaih, Bani Labid, Wolad Furkha, Hazazra, Gimailat, Mistinan and Alwanaih As the

Darfur conflict The War in Darfur, also nicknamed the Land Cruiser War, was a major armed conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan that began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel groups ...

erupted in the beginning of the 2000s, the Sudanese government attempted to convince al-Hadi Issa Debaker to merge his Beni Halba with the Janjaweed. Debaker refused, stating that he would defend himself if attacked on Beni Halba land. Regardless, members of the Beni Halba and other Baggara groups continue to be recruited into the Janjaweed.

Notes

{{Sudanese Arab Tribes , state=expanded War in Darfur Baggara tribes

See also

Notes