The Bedouins were divided into related tribes. These tribes were organized on several levels?a widely quoted Bedouin saying is "I and my brothers against my cousins, I and my brothers and my cousins against the world." The saying signifies a hierarchy of loyalties based on closeness of kinship that runs from the nuclear family through the lineage, the tribe, and even, in principle at least, to an entire ethnic or linguistic group (which is perceived to have a kinship basis). Disputes are settled, interests are pursued, and justice and order are maintained by means of this organizational framework, according to an ethic of self-help and collective responsibility *(Andersen 14). The individual family unit (known as a tent or bayt) typically consisted of three or four adults (a married couple plus siblings or parents) and any number of children.
When resources were plentiful, several tents would travel together as a goum. These groups were sometimes linked by patriarchical lineage but just as likely linked by marriage (new wives were especially likely to have male relatives join nealogies to take in new members).
The largest scale of tribal interactions is of course the tribe as a whole, led by a Sheikh (literally, "elder"). The tribe often claims descent from one common ancestor?as mentioned above, this appears patrilineal but in reality new groups could have genealogies invented to tie them in to this ancestor. The tribal level is the level that mediated between the Bedouin and the outside governments and organisations.
BUSTAN Archives: Goats grazing beneath disused garbage bins in the government township of Tel Sheva, on the Israeli side of the Green Line.
Starting in the late 19th century, many Bedouins under British rule began to transition to semi-nomadism. In the 1950s as well as the 1960s, large numbers of Bedouin throughout the Middle East started to leave the traditional, nomadic life to settle in the cities of the Middle East, especially as hot ranges have shrunk and population levels have grown. In Syria, for example, the Bedouin way of life effectively ended during a severe drought from 1958 to 1961, which forced many Bedouin to give up herding for standard jobs. Similarly, government policies in Egypt and Israel, oil production in Libya and the Persian Gulf, as well as a desire for improved standards of living, effectively led most Bedouin to become settled citizens of various nations, rather than stateless nomadic herders.
Government policies pressuring the Bedouin have in some cases been executed in an attempt to provide services (schools, health care, law enforcement and so on (see Chatty 1986 for examples), but in others have been based on the desire to seize land traditionally roved and controlled by the Bedouin.
Partial list of Bedouin tribes and populations
A Bedouin man at the Desert
A young Bedouin lighting a camp fire in Wadi Rum, Jordan
There are a number of Bedouin tribes, but the total population is often difficult to determine, especially as many Bedouin have ceased to lead nomadic or semi-nomadic lifestyles (see above) and joined the general population. Below is a partial list of Bedouin tribes and their historic place of origin (the list does not include tribes of Negev Bedouins (in Israel and the Palestinian Territories):
Bani Khalid, a large tribe spanning Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, UAE, Jordan, Syria, Iraq and other countries, said to be descendants of Mohammed's companion "Khaled ibn Al-Waleed".
Juhayna, a large tribe, many of its warriors were recruited as mercenaries during World War I by Prince Faisal, surrounds the area of Mecca, and extends to Southern Medina
Murad, a tribe living 150 miles south-east of the capital of Yemen.
Mutair, estimated at about 1,200,000 members; live in the Nejd plateau, many families from the Mutair tribe live in the Gulf States, especially Kuwait.
Rwala, a large clan from the Aniza tribe, live in Saudi Arabia, but extend through Jordan into Syria and Iraq, in the 1970s, according to Lancaster, there were 250,000-500,000 Rwala
Al-Hadid Large Bedouin tribe found in Iraq, Syria and Jordan. Now mostly are settled in cities such as Haditha in Iraq, Homs & Hama in Syria, and Amman Jordan. Yet tribal law still exists within their families as their Sheikh still governs the tribe. Sheikh Barjas Al-Hadid now leads the tribe in Jordan and previously Sheikh Raslan Al-Hadid in Syria.
Andersen, Roy R., Robert F. Seibert, Jon G. Wagner.Politics and Change in the Middle East: Sources of Conflict and Accommodation. Eighth edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. 2007.
Chatty, D Mobile Pastoralists 1996. Broad introduction to the topic, specific focus on women's issues.
Chatty, Dawn. From Camel to Truck. The Bedouin in the Modern World. New York: Vantage Press. 1986
Cole, Donald P. "Where have the Bedouin gone?". Anthropological Quarterly. Washington: Spring 2003.Vol.76, Iss. 2; pg. 235
Falah, Ghazi. ?Israeli State Policy Towards Bedouin Sedentarization in the Negev,? Journal of Palestine Studies, 1989 Vol. XVIII, No. 2, pp. 71-91
Falah, Ghazi. ?The Spatial Pattern of Bedouin Sedentarization in Israel,? GeoJournal, 1985 Vol. 11, No. 4, pp. 361-368.
Gardner, Ann. "At Home in South Sinai." Nomadic Peoples 2000.Vol.4,Iss. 2; pp. 48-67. Detailed account of Bedouin women.
Lancaster, William. The Rwala Bedouin Today 1981 (Second Edition 1997). Detailed examination of social structures.
S. Leder/B. Streck (ed.): Shifts and Drifts in Nomad-Sedentary Relations. Nomaden und Sesshafte 2 (Wiesbaden 2005)
Lithwick, Harvey. "An Urban Development Strategy for the Negev?s Bedouin Community;" Center for Bedouin Studies and Development and Negev Center for Regional Development, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, August 2000
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