The Beni Halba () is an
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
group located in the western
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
ese region of
Darfur
Darfur ( ; ar, دار فور, Dār Fūr, lit=Realm of the Fur) is a region of western Sudan. ''Dār'' is an Arabic word meaning "home f – the region was named Dardaju ( ar, دار داجو, Dār Dājū, links=no) while ruled by the Daju, ...
. The Beni Halba is one of the major Darfuri
Baggara groups, along with the
Habbaniya,
Rizeigat and
Ta’isha, and was granted a large ''
hakura The ''hakura'' system was a method of land allocation in the Sultanate of Darfur. The system was based on charters or ''hawakir'' (singular ''hakura'') issued by the sultan entitling one to ownership of a certain estate, usually as a freehold, somet ...
'' (land grant) in southern Darfur by the
sultan
Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) 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 ...
s of independent Dar Fur. During the 1980s, recurring
drought
A drought is defined as 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, an ...
in
Chad
Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...
prompted several clans of Beni Halba to migrate eastwards and join their kinspeople between
Geneina and
Kebkabiya and
Kutum. In the late 1980s, the ideology then sweeping through the region combining
Arab supremacy
Racism in the Arab world covers an array of forms of intolerance against non-Arabs and the expat majority of the Arab states of the Persian Gulf coming from ( Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh) groups as well as Black, European, and Asian ...
and
Islamic extremism
Islamic extremism, Islamist extremism, or radical Islam, is used in reference to extremist beliefs and behaviors which are associated with the Islamic religion. These are controversial terms with varying definitions, ranging from academic unde ...
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 starting in 1987 through 1989. In this period a new militia called the
Janjaweed
The Janjaweed ( ar, جنجويد, Janjawīd, lit=mounted gunman; also transliterated ''Janjawid'') are a Sudanese Arab militia group that operate in Sudan, particularly Darfur, and eastern Chad. Using the United Nations definition, the Janjaweed ...
, 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 army of the South Sudan, Republic of South Sudan. The SPLA was founded as a guerrilla movement against the government of Sudan in 198 ...
, then fighting the
Second Sudanese Civil War 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 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 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.
See also
*
Baggara
Notes
{{Sudanese Arab Tribes , state=expanded
War in Darfur
Baggara tribes