Editing Bedouin (section)

== History ==
===Early history===
[[File:Sehname-i Selim Han 68a.jpg|thumb|Murder of Ma'sum Beg, the envoy of the Safavid Shah [[Tahmasp I|Tahmasp]], by Bedouins in the [[Hejaz]], 16th century]]
Historically, the Bedouin engaged in nomadic herding, agriculture and sometimes fishing in the Syrian [[steppe]] since 6000 BCE. By about 850 BCE, a complex network of settlements and camps was established. The earliest Arab tribes emerged from Bedouins.<ref name=":0"/>

By the time of the Roman Empire's establishment, the Bedouin national identity had been established and they were recognizable as a single people with often warring "families, clans, and tribes".<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Pearson |first1=Patricia O'Connell |title=World History: Our Human Story |last2=Holdren |first2=John |date=May 2021 |publisher=Sheridan Kentucky |isbn=978-1-60153-123-0 |location=Versailles, Kentucky |pages=255}}</ref> A major source of income for this people was the taxation of caravans, and tributes collected from non-Bedouin settlements. They also earned income by transporting goods and people in caravans pulled by domesticated camels across the desert.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hidden History, Secret Present: The Origins and Status of African Palestinians |first=Susan|last=Beckerleg |url=http://members.tripod.com/~yajaffar/african.html |publisher=London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine}} Translated by Salah Al Zaroo.</ref> Scarcity of water and of permanent pastoral land required them to move constantly.

The Moroccan traveller [[Ibn Battuta]] reported that in 1326 on the route to [[Gaza City|Gaza]], the Egyptian authorities had a customs post at [[Katia, Egypt|Qatya]] on the north coast of [[Sinai Peninsula|Sinai]]. Here Bedouin were being used to guard the road and track down those trying to cross the border without permission.<ref>{{cite book |author=[[Ibn Battuta]] |year=1929 |title=Travels in Asia and Africa. 1325–1354 |publisher=Low Price Publications |location=Delhi |isbn=81-7536-174-3 |page=54}} Translated and selected by [[H.A.R. Gibb]].</ref>

The [[Early Medieval]] grammarians and scholars seeking to develop a system of [[Standard language|standardizing]] the contemporary [[Classical Arabic]] for maximal intelligibility across the [[Arabophone]] areas, believed that the Bedouin spoke the purest, [[Conservative (language)|most conservative]] variety of the language. To solve irregularities of pronunciation, the Bedouin were asked to recite certain poems, whereafter consensus was relied on to decide the pronunciation and spelling of a given word.<ref name="holes12">{{cite book|last=Holes|first=Clive |title=Modern Arabic: Structures, Functions and Varieties |url=https://archive.org/details/modernarabicstru00cliv|url-access=limited |date=2004|edition=Revised|publisher=Georgetown University Press |location=Washington DC |page=[https://archive.org/details/modernarabicstru00cliv/page/n15 12]|isbn=978-1-58901-022-2}}</ref>

===Ottoman period===
[[File:Bedouin woman (1898 - 1914).jpg|thumb|[[Arab Christian]] Bedouin woman from the settled town of [[Al-Karak|Kerak, Jordan]], who probably was the wife of a sheikh. Braids were predominantly worn by Arab Christian Bedouin women of the tribes of Jordan.<ref name="loc.gov"/>]]

A [[1757 Hajj caravan raid|plunder and massacre of the Hajj caravan]] by Bedouin tribesmen occurred in 1757, led by Qa'dan al-Fayez of the [[Bani Sakher]] tribe (modern-day Jordan) in his vengeance against the Ottomans for failing to pay his tribe for their help protecting the pilgrims. An estimated 20,000 pilgrims were either killed in the raid or died of hunger or thirst as a result including relatives of the Sultan and Musa Pasha. Although Bedouin raids on Hajj caravans were fairly common, the 1757 raid represented the peak of such attacks which was also likely prompted by the major drought of 1756.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Cohen|first1=Amnon|title=Palestine in the 18th century: Patterns of Government and Administration|date=1973|publisher=Magnes Press|isbn=9780196479033|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hwyDAAAAIAAJ&q=1757+bedouin}} p. 20.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Abu-Rabia|first1=Aref|title=A Bedouin Century: Education and Development Among the Negev Tribes in the 20th Century|date=2001|publisher=Berghahn Books|isbn=9781571818324|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kEJKW1IaynwC&q=1757+famous+Hajj&pg=PA2}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Damascus: A History|first1=Ross|last1=Burns|publisher=Routledge|year=2005|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1_bQTrpf62cC&q=damascus|isbn=0-415-27105-3|location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Ahmad D.|last=Al-Damurdashi|editor=Abd al-Wahhāb Bakr Muḥammad|title=Al-Damurdashi's Chronicle of Egypt, 1688–1755|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nnOHEYxc6PwC&q=Amir+al+hajj&pg=PA20|publisher=BRILL|year=1991|isbn=9789004094086}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Joudah|first=Ahmad Hasan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zQAdAAAAMAAJ&q=dayr+hanna|title=Revolt in Palestine in the Eighteenth Century: The Era of Shaykh Zahir Al-ʻUmar|year=1987|publisher=Kingston Press|isbn=9780940670112}}</ref>

Under the [[Tanzimat]] land reforms of 1858, a new Ottoman land law was issued, which offered legal grounds for the displacement of the Bedouin ([[Turkish language|Turkish]]: Bedeviler). As the Ottoman Empire gradually lost power, this law instituted an unprecedented land registration process that was also meant to boost the empire's tax base. Few Bedouin opted to register their lands with the Ottoman [[Tapu (Ottoman history)|Tapu]], due to lack of enforcement by the Ottomans, illiteracy, refusal to pay taxes and lack of relevance of written documentation of ownership to the Bedouin way of life at that time.<ref>{{cite book |first=Gershon |last=Shafir |title=Land, Labor and the Origins of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict 1882–1914 |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1989 |isbn=978-0-52135-300-7}}</ref> Some scholars, such as Nora Elizabeth Barakat, believe the displacement of the Bedouin had its roots in events even earlier than the 1858 land reforms, for example in an 1844 Anatolia-specific decree recognizing the "tribe" as a formal unit of administration. The goal of these early reforms was to weaken local Bedouin magistrates and limit what she terms as "rural mobility", the ability of these local Bedouins to, independently of the Ottoman state, accumulate wealth through the wheat trade and other means.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barakat |first=Nora Elizabeth |title=Bedouin Bureaucrats: Mobility and Property in the Ottoman Empire |date=April 2023 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=9781503635630 |pages=126-132 (Ebook)}}</ref>
[[File:'A Bedaween Encampment near the Dead Sea' by Edwin Weeks.jpg|thumb|Bedouin encampment near the [[Dead Sea]]]]
At the end of the 19th century, Sultan [[Abdülhamid II]] settled Muslim populations ([[Circassians]]) from the [[Balkans]] and the [[Caucasus]] among areas predominantly populated by the nomads in the regions of modern Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine, and also created several permanent Bedouin settlements, although the majority of them did not remain. The settlement of non Arabs in the traditionally Bedouin areas was a big cause of discontent. This became even severe because every Arab tribe, including the settled ones, have ancestry as a Bedouin.<ref name=Frantzman />

Ottoman authorities also initiated private acquisition of large plots of state land offered by the sultan to the absentee landowners ([[effendi]]s). Numerous tenants were brought in order to cultivate the newly acquired lands. Often it came at the expense of the Bedouin lands.

[[File:Tribes West.jpg|thumb|Palestine Exploration Fund list of Bedouin tribes living West of the River Jordan in 1875.]]
In the late 19th century, many Bedouin began transition to a semi-nomadic lifestyle. One of the factors was the influence of the Ottoman authorities<ref>{{cite book|last=Magness|first=Jodi |title=The Archaeology of the Early Islamic Settlement in Palestine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GYrPd2H1cjcC&q=bedouin+negev+sedentarization+ottoman&pg=PA82 |date=2003|publisher=Eisenbrauns|isbn=978-1-57506-070-5|page=82}}</ref> who started a forced [[sedentarization]] of the Bedouin living on its territory. The Ottoman authorities viewed the Bedouin as a threat to the state's control and worked hard on establishing law and order in the [[Negev]].<ref name=Frantzman>{{cite journal|first1=Seth J.|last1=Frantzman|first2=Ruth|last2=Kark|title=Bedouin Settlement in Late Ottoman and British Mandatory Palestine: Influence on the Cultural and Environmental Landscape, 1870–1948|journal=New Middle Eastern Studies|issue=1|year=2011|volume=1|publisher=[[British Society for Middle East Studies]]|doi=10.29311/nmes.v1i0.2600|doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |doi-access=free}}</ref> During the [[World War I|First World War]], the Negev Bedouin initially fought with the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]] against the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|British]]. However, under the influence of British agent [[T. E. Lawrence]], the Bedouins switched side and fought against the Ottomans. Hamad Pasha al-Sufi (died 1923), Sheikh of the Nijmat sub-tribe of the [[Tarabin bedouin|Tarabin]], led a force of 1,500 men who joined the Ottoman [[raid on the Suez Canal]].<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Notes on the Bedouin Tribes of Beersheba District |first=S. |last=Hillelson |journal=Palestine Exploration Quarterly |volume=69 |issue=4 |date=October 1937 |pages=242–252 |publisher=[[Palestine Exploration Fund]] |doi=10.1179/peq.1937.69.4.242}}</ref>
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Scan EugeneRogan TheArabs AHistory BedouinsDuring ArabRevolt Colorized.jpg|thumb|Bedouins from the Arab Army in the city of [[Aqaba]] (modern Jordan) on March 28, 1918. They had raided the [[Hejaz railway]] and Ottoman desert fortresses. Photo from Eugene Rogan's The Arabs: A History.]] -->

In [[Orientalism|Orientalist]] historiography, the Negev Bedouin have been described as remaining largely unaffected by changes in the outside world until recently. Their society was often considered a "world without time".<ref name = Kurt>{{cite journal |first=Kurt|last=Goering |title=Israel and the Bedouin of the Negev |journal=[[Journal of Palestine Studies]] |year=1979 |volume=9 (Autumn 1979)|issue=1 |pages=3–20|doi=10.1525/jps.1979.9.1.00p0173n}}</ref> Recent scholars have challenged the notion of the Bedouin as 'fossilized,' or 'stagnant' reflections of an unchanging desert culture. [[Emanuel Marx]] has shown that Bedouin were engaged in a constantly dynamic reciprocal relation with urban centers.<ref>{{cite book |last=Marx |first=Emanuel |author-link=Emanuel Marx|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-zbxF-m_am4C&q=Nomads+and+Cities:+The+Development+of+a+Conception&pg=PA31 |chapter=Nomads and Cities: The Development of a Conception |editor-first1=S. |editor-last1=Leder |editor-first2=B. |editor-last2=Streck |title=Shifts and Drifts in Nomad-Sedentary Relations |year=2005 |location=Wiesbaden |publisher=Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag |pages=3–16 |isbn=3-89500-413-8}}</ref> Bedouin scholar Michael Meeker explains that "the city was to be found in their midst."<ref>{{cite book |last=Heidemann |first=Stefan |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/222910 |chapter=Arab Nomads and Seljuq Military |editor-first1=S. |editor-last1=Leder |editor-first2=B. |editor-last2=Streck |title=Shifts and Drifts in Nomad-Sedentary Relations |year=2005 |location=Wiesbaden |publisher=Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag |pages=289–306 |isbn=3-89500-413-8}}</ref>

At the time of [[World War I]], a [[Qays]] Bedouin tribe from [[Harran]], not far from [[Urfa]], settled in [[Lüleburgaz]] in [[East Thrace]] under their last [[Sheikh]] Salih Abdullah. It is said that this tribe was originally from [[Tihamah]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.trakyagezi.com/luleburgazda-bir-asiret-reisi-salih-abdullah/ | title=Lüleburgaz'da Bir Aşiret Reisi; Salih Abdullah – Trakya Gezi | date=July 2016 }}</ref>

===In the 20th century===
[[File:Bedoeïnen met hun schapen, Bestanddeelnr 255-6075.jpg|thumb|Bedouins in Syria in the 1950s]]
[[Raid (military)#Bedouin ghazzu|Ghazzu]] was still relevant to the Bedouin lifestyle in the early 20th century. After a 1925 stay with Sheikh [[Mithqal Al Fayez|Mithqal Al-Fayez]] of the [[Bani Sakher]], [[William Seabrook]] wrote about his experience of a ghazzu from the Sardieh tribe on Mithqal's 500 Hejin racing camels. The ghazzu was intercepted by Mithqal when he was notified about the Sardieh tribe's intentions from a man from the Bani Hassan tribe, who rode continuously for over 30 hours to reach Mithqal before their plot matured. Mithqal, using the information, prepared a trap for them, which resulted in the imprisonment of one of the Sardieh warriors. William notes that although the warrior was a prisoner, he was nonchalant and was not treated aggressively, and that the ghazzu wasn't a war, but a game in which camels and goats were the prizes.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Seabrook|first=William|title=Adventures in Arabia|publisher=George C. Harrap & Co. Ltd|year=1928|isbn=|location=Parker St. Kingsway, London, England.|pages=120–125}}</ref>

In the 1950s and 1960s, large numbers of Bedouin throughout Midwest Asia started to leave the traditional, nomadic life to settle in the cities of Midwest Asia, especially as hot ranges shrank and populations grew. For example, in [[Syria]], the Bedouin way of life effectively ended during a severe drought from 1958 to 1961, which forced many Bedouin to abandon herding for standard jobs.<ref>{{cite book |last=Etheredge |first=Laura |title=Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rLZQrmRQafcC&q=syria+drought+1958+bedouin&pg=PA12 |date=2011 |publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group |isbn=978-1-61530-329-8 |page=12}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first1=Marina |last1=Leybourne |first2=Ronald |last2=Jaubert |first3=Richard N. |last3=Tutwiler |url=http://www.odi.org.uk/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/5397.pdf |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20171010110548/http://www.odi.org.uk/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/5397.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 October 2017 |title=Changes in Migration and Feeding Patterns Among Semi-nomadic pastoralists in Northern Syria |date=June 1993 |publisher=[[Overseas Development Institute]] }}</ref> Similarly, governmental policies in [[Egypt]], [[Israel]], [[Jordan]], [[Iraq]], [[Tunisia]], oil-producing Arab states of the [[Persian Gulf]] and [[Libya]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Peters |first=Emrys L. |title=The Bedouin of Cyrenaica: Studies in Personal and Corporate Power |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1q6Slx7opyoC&q=Libyan+Bedouin&pg=PA1 |date=1990 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-38561-9 |access-date=19 October 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Cole |first1=Donald Powell |last2=Altorki |first2=Soraya |title=Bedouin, Settlers, and Holiday-makers: Egypt's Changing Northwest Coast |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ADV09ZIKNasC&q=Libyan+Bedouin&pg=PA103 |date=1998 |publisher=American University in Cairo Press |isbn=978-977-424-484-1 |page=103 |access-date=19 October 2015}}</ref> 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.

Governmental policies pressing the Bedouin have in some cases been executed in an attempt to provide service (schools, health care, law enforcement and so on—see [[Dawn Chatty|Chatty]] 1986 for examples), but in others have been based on the desire to seize land traditionally roved and controlled by the Bedouin. In recent years, some Bedouin have adopted the pastime of raising and breeding white [[dove]]s,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nataliepeart.wordpress.com/2010/06/12/bedouin-hospitality-the-beauty-of-the-white-desert |title=Bedouin hospitality & the beauty of the White Desert |first=Natalie |last=Peart |website=Part of this World |access-date=19 October 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160804095533/https://nataliepeart.wordpress.com/2010/06/12/bedouin-hospitality-the-beauty-of-the-white-desert/ |archive-date=4 August 2016}}</ref> while others have rejuvenated the traditional practice of [[falconry]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sheikhmohammed.com/vgn-ext-templating/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2bec4c8631cb4110VgnVCM100000b0140a0aRCRD |title=Falconry |website=sheikhmohammed.com |access-date=19 October 2015 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924101206/http://www.sheikhmohammed.com/vgn-ext-templating/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2bec4c8631cb4110VgnVCM100000b0140a0aRCRD |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/chi-travel-visiting-egypt-20130522-032,0,697845.photo |title=Falconry in the desert |agency=Reuters |date=22 May 2013 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |access-date=19 October 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140514141531/http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/chi-travel-visiting-egypt-20130522-032,0,697845.photo |archive-date=14 May 2014}}</ref>