The Ruwallah ( ar, الرولة, singular Ruweili/Ruwaili) are a large
Arab tribe of northern
Arabia and the
Syrian Desert
The Syrian Desert ( ar, بادية الشام ''Bādiyat Ash-Shām''), also known as the North Arabian Desert, the Jordanian steppe, or the Badiya, is a region of desert, semi-desert and steppe covering of the Middle East, including parts of sou ...
, including modern-day
Jordan.
History
Until the demarcation of borders in the
Middle East in the early 20th century, the Ruwallah were an almost entirely
warrior tribe centered in the region of
al-Jauf and Wadi al-Sirhan
Sirhan Valley
Wadi Sirhan ( ar, وَادِي سِرْحَان, Wādī Sirḥān; translation: "Valley of Sirhan") is a wide depression in the northwestern Arabian Peninsula. It runs from the Azraq oasis in Jordan southeastward into Saudi Arabia, where most of ...
in northern
Arabia, though their tribal territories extended as far southwards as
al-Qasim, and as far northwards as
Damascus
)), is an adjective which means "spacious".
, motto =
, image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg
, image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg
, seal_type = Seal
, map_caption =
, ...
. The tribe apparently came to being sometime in the 16th century, or shortly thereafter, and belongs to the Dhana Maslam branch of the large
'Anizzah
Anizah or Anazah ( ar, عنزة, ʻanizah, Najdi pronunciation: ) is an Arabian tribe in the Arabian Peninsula, Upper Mesopotamia, and the Levant.
Genealogy and origins
Anizah's existence as an autonomous tribal group, like many prominent m ...
tribal confederation. They were active in the "
Arab Revolt" during the reign of
Nuri al-Shaalan against the
Ottomans
The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922).
Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
during the
First World War. The leadership of the tribe is with the house of Sha'lan (or the Al Sha'lan), who in recent decades have had close ties with the Lebanese Government and
Saudi royal family
The House of Saud ( ar, آل سُعُود, ʾĀl Suʿūd ) is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. It is composed of the descendants of Muhammad bin Saud, founder of the Emirate of Diriyah, known as the First Saudi state (1727–1818), and ...
. Most of the tribe's members have settled into sedentary or urban life in
Saudi Arabia,
Jordan, and
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
.
Branches
The Ruwallah tribe mostly consists of five major branches:
* Al-Kwakbah – singular (Kwikbi)
* Al-Doughman – singular (Doughmani)
* Al-Murre 'eth – singular (Murr 'ethee)
* Al-Frrejah – singular (Frreeji)
* Al-Ga' 'a' 'gaah – singular (Ga 'ee'ga'ae)
* Al-Alrahmoun
References
Sources
*
*
Further reading
*
Musil, Alois, 1928, ''The Manners and Customs of the Rwala Bedouins''
*
Lancaster, William, 1981, ''The Rwala Bedouin Today'' (Changing Cultures series) Cambridge University Press
*Michael E. Meeker, 1979, ''Literature and Violence in Northern Arabia'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
See also
*
'Anizzah
Anizah or Anazah ( ar, عنزة, ʻanizah, Najdi pronunciation: ) is an Arabian tribe in the Arabian Peninsula, Upper Mesopotamia, and the Levant.
Genealogy and origins
Anizah's existence as an autonomous tribal group, like many prominent m ...
*
Bani Sakhr
The Beni Sakhar confederacy is one of the largest and most influential tribal confederacies in Jordan. The Bani Sakher began migrating to Jordan as early as the 16th century and grew to become an influential tribe as by around the mid 18th century. ...
*
Majali
Majali (Arabic: المجالي) is a prominent Jordanian political family that has been based in the town of Al Karak since at least the 1770s. The Majali family originate from the Tamimi family and were named Al-Majali when they were exiled from A ...
{{Authority control
Tribes of Arabia
Tribes of Saudi Arabia
Tribes of Syria
Wadi Sirhan