Mhallami

The Mhallami people, also known as Mardelli or alternatively spelled as Mahallami (; ; ; ) are an Arabic-speaking tribal ethnic group traditionally living in and around the city of Mardin, Turkey. Although they originate from a diverse mosaic in West Asia, their historical roots have not been definitively established and most of their traditions were recorded orally. While the Mhallami identify with each other, their ethnic affiliation was disputed. The Mhallami typically identified as Arabs, but many identified as Kurds, and some identified as Assyrians. They are Sunni Muslims with a small Syriac Christian minority. They speak Mhallami, a distinct dialect of North Mesopotamian Arabic with heavy Turkish, Kurdish, and Aramaic influence.

Determining the exact number of Mhallami today is difficult for a number of reasons, but sources generally state numbers as low as 150,000 and as high being around 1 million. Due to migration since 1920 they have a large presence in Lebanon, but as a result of the Lebanese Civil War, large numbers fled to Europe, particularly Germany, where they now form the largest community in the diaspora. Mhallami generally have a poor reputation due to their affiliation with low education, criminal activities, and clan structure; however, a number are also affiliated with positions of law and politics, and are regarded as having been mild-mannered.

Etymology

The term Mhallami is believed to be a combination of the Arabic words ''mahalam'' () and ''mia'' (). Differing pronunciations in the word exist since ''mahalam'' doesn't have any unique vowels, and most Mhallami aren't opposed to them. The name traces its origins to the Hasankeyf Chronicle, which details the region that the Mhallami lived in as Madin-Midyat.

Alternatively, the term Mardelli is used in reference to the city of Mardin, where many Mhallami originate from.

Another theory proposes that the term Mhallami is derived from ''Beth Ahlam'' (, ''Beth Mḥallam''), a historical settlement in Tur'Abdin, which is believed to have been named after the ancient Ahlamu-Aramean tribe from whom the Mhallami are thought to possibly descend.

Origin

The origins of the Mhallami in Anatolia are believed to be in the early periods of the Middle Ages, and they lived a nomadic lifestyle. However, research on their origins is difficult since there are no known written records by their ancestors of this period. Among the Mhallami there is a view that they are descended from Banu Hilal tribes, but historical sources and research indicate that this is somewhat unlikely. Arab ancestry is more probably from Rabi'ah tribes, possibly Banu Shayban, though this does not preclude other possible roots. Today, many Mhallami retain Arabic names and use them to refer to themselves or their families/clans, and speak a unique dialect of North Mesopotamian Arabic (Qeltu) which is distinct from other dialects.

There also exist theories that the origins of the Mhallami are ethnically Assyrian, given that their roots trace back to the ancient history of the region as well as Tur Abdin. The theory is supported by orientalist Ishaq Armala and by Syriac Orthodox patriarch Ignatius Aphrem I, who indicated that the Syriac Christians who converted to Islam under pressure started calling themselves ''Mhalmoye'' at the end of the 17th century. Some sources view the group as ethnically or denominationally Assyrian. The causes of the Islamization of the Mhallami are cited as salvation from persecution, inner divisions of the Syriac-rite churches, and conflict preceding the Treaty of Nasuh Pasha. Some Mhallami who still live in Turkey have identified with Assyrian roots, and to this day, the group shares traditions and cultural elements with Assyrians in Turkey such as the dance of Kathfothe ().

The Mhallami are also sometimes associated with ethnic Kurds, and theories have persisted that they may be of Kurdish origin, stating that after the original migration of the Arab tribes to Mesopotamia, the Mhallami adopted several Kurdish traditions. While most Mhallami identified as Arabs, a large part of the Mhallami identified as Kurds. As the dispute was widespread, there was no Mhallami tribe which fully identified with either the Arabs or Kurds. Even nuclear families had disputes amongst each other over whether they were Arabs or Kurds.Organized Crime in the 21st Century: Motivations, Opportunities, and Constraints, 2023, pp. 91,

Some Arabs took offense when asked if they were Mhallami, with one interviewee, Abu Jasir, a tribal leader from Al-Rashidiyya tribe, stating in 2019 that "we regard the Mhallami like gypsies. For us, a Mhallami has no honor, no courage, and no character. We see ourselves as the historical rulers of the region."

English traveler Mark Sykes wrote in 1907: ''This tribe has a peculiar history. They state that 350 years ago they were Christians. During a famine of corn they asked the Patriarch permission to eat meat during Lent. The Patriarch refused, and they became Moslems. They speak a bastard Arabic, and the women wear red clothes and do not veil. Ibrahim Pasha says they are now a mixed race of Arabs and Kurds. Some families are still supposed to be Christians.'' This theory, however, was not supported by Ignatius Aphrem I, who details in his publication ''The History of Tur Abdin'' that the conversion of the Mhallami tribes occurred due to growing oppression and persecution under Ottoman governors between 1583 and 1609, not as a result of a refusal to eat meat during Lent.

History

Early modern history

Many Mhallami are originally from the Mardin area of southeastern Turkey, namely the district of Midyat. Although many had since migrated outside of Mesopotamia, there were still a community of Mardelli living in the Tur Abdin region as of the late 90's, with some reported to have performed maintenance of the Mor Gabriel Monastery. Today, many of these Mhallami still inhabit Assyrian villages in southeastern Turkey such as Gercüş and İçören.

The first migration of the Mhallami was to Lebanon in the 1920s to flee persecution under the government of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. By the 1940s, tens of thousands more came to Lebanon, but they were not naturalized as citizens and as a result, their clan structures grew tighter to ensure their survival. The Mhallami had traditionally settled in large numbers in Lebanese regions such as Tripoli, the Beqaa Valley and Beirut, having a population between 70,000 and 100,000 Mhallami prior to Lebanese Civil War.Die Libanon-Flüchtlinge in Berlin
Ralph Ghadban Typically, they would find settlement in the parts of Beirut that were poorer than others, and they often received little to no education.

The Mhallami were among the Lebanese Civil War refugees from Lebanon who came to Germany and other European countries such as the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden during the Lebanese civil war since 1976 and have since been partially tolerated or live as asylum seekers. Their origin and legal status became a particular concern when they started to seek asylum in Western European countries ''en masse'' in the early 1980s, since many were considered stateless peoples and some had even discarded their previous documentation.

Modern history

In 2015, the founding chairman of the first Mhallami association in Turkey, Mehmet Ali Aslan, became the first Mhallami to be elected a member of the Turkish Parliament from the HDP party. The group has also become more active in preserving culture and uniting their community, with 1st International Mhallami Symposium being held in 2008 to discuss their origins and bring the community together.

As of 2014, the leader of the Mhallami in Turkey was lawyer Şeyhmus Miroğlu, whose family was politically active in the leading Justice and Development Party of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Miroğlu's brother, Orhan Miroğlu, is also active in Turkish politics.

With around 8,000 people, Berlin has the largest Mhallami diaspora community in Europe (as of June 2003).''Es muss dringend etwas passieren''
die tageszeitung, 6. Juni 2003. Essen also has a sizable population of Mhallami, with the majority of the „Lebanese“ community there being of Mardelli origin.

Certain families of Mhallami have been known to engage in criminal activities following their move to the diaspora, owing to their tightly knitted clan structure and their larger inability to integrate with their new society. In Sweden, some families in places such as Gothenburg and Jönköping are part of these activities, while in Germany, the Miri-Clan and the Remmo family have also been involved with the criminal scene of Europe. Often times, the level of crime is due to familial conflicts, which originates from their tribal structures. These groups also exist in the Netherlands.

See also

* Arabs in Turkey
* Miri-Clan
* Al-Zein clan
* Ömerli, Mardin

References

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Arab ethnic groups
Turkish Arab people
Ethnic groups in Turkey
Semitic-speaking peoples
Mardin Province