Huwala

Infobox Ethnic group

group = Huwala
poptime =
region1 = flag|Bahrain
pop1 =
region2 = flag|United Arab Emirates
pop2 =
region3 = flag|Kuwait
pop3 =
region4 = flag|Qatar
pop4 =
langs = Gulf Arabic - Persian Language - Lori language
rels = Sunni Islam, Shafi`i

The Huwala (also spelt: howala, howila, huwalah) (Arabic: الهولة) meaning "Those that have changed or moved". Originally the "Huwala" word is Arabic, but since Persian does not contain the emphatic ḥ "ح" present in Arabic, it pronounced it Huwala. Huwala are the descendants of Sunni Arabs, and the word is also mistakenly used to call Sunni Persians who migrated from Persia, or Iran to the Arabian peninsula. The Huwala are much different from the Sunni Persians who also have migrated from their "Original" Homeland "Persia" to Arabia. Except that the two ethincity share the same Islamic Sunni faith.

The Original Huwala

The word Huwala (Arabic: الهولة) or (Arabic: حولة - متحولين) also means those who have moved from location to another. However the Huwala naming was meant mainly for the Arabs who lived in parts of current day Iran when those parts were ruled by Arabs. Such parts includes the majority of Iranian islands and portions of the coast all the way from the north to the south excluding cost in Arab sea which mainly constituted of Beluch tribes. Arab ruling of these parts started with Omar bin Al Khatab (second Khalif after Mohammed) commanded for his armies to invade Persia from the sea with help of the Oman navy at that time which was mainly constituted of Azd tribes. Later ruling was carried by Al Qawasim after invading the east coast. Al busaeed during handful of year from Alqawasim Al Ali state in Qish island, Al Marazeq state in main Iran land, AlMaean ruling in Qishem island before arrival of Qwasim etc. Arabs are clearly distinguished by their long sequence names of Arabic origin (self, father, grandfather, greatgrandfather, .......etc, tribe) while non arabs only keep father and family names and their older names (greagrandfather(S)) are of non Arabic origin. However this action is not an official prove, since many of the Immigrating families change their Family names and Cultures to the opposite side, Arab to Persian or Persian to Arab dependaly on the culture influence around them [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iran/arabs.htm] [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9012121/Bandar-e-Abbas] .

Some other Arabs left the Arabian peninsula to Iran for hunting and vacations as well as doing business because of the proximity of the Persian coast. And this journey began since the arrival of Islam in Persia. Some suggest they were going there to teach Qur'an and Sunni faith, while other argue they moved there to have a better life from the desert, however those facts are unclear.

Some of the Arabs that were moving to Iran turned to be business men and some had a better life and settled in Iran for decades, others were left there since the arrival of Islam and the victory over the Persian Empire. They went to live in some Persian ports like Bandar Lengeh and Bandar Charak, both of them were ports in the south east coast of Iran, in the Hormozgān Province, indeed those Arabs there were Persianized as some may suggest since those ports were consisting of mix races, hence many of them had huge influence from the Persian culture and Language. Persian even became their first language by time.

However after some Persians sought moving from Iran to the Arabian peninsula due to many diffrent reasosn such as job opportunities and Pearl Diving as well as business, many Persians both Shia and Sunni moved to the GCC countries at the time, but the confusing issue was the true identity of the Sunni Persians and Huwala, since both were speaking Persian and had the same Sunni faith and had the same Persian culture influence as well as being outsiders. However both of them were favored by the Arab rulers of the Arabian peninsula since they had the same Sunni faith, but obviously the most one whom were favored were the original Huwala themselves.

Huwala Tribes

The original Huwala tribes that left Arabia to Iran were mainly from the Bani Tamim, Bani Malek, Bani Aubaidel, Al Manaser, Al Haram, Al- Nesor, Al Ali, Al Qawasim, Bani Bushor and Al Marazeeq tribes. Since the modern state of Iran under the Previous Shah of Iran and his Persian policy of identity especially against those non-arabs, most of the Arabian tribes were exiled out from the ports and villages of Iran, to many GCC countries. This was at the other hand a historical point for the original Huwala were they called it "Returning to the mother land of Arabia" since they were already called "Huwala" which means people who moved from place to another.

List of Arabian tribes who lived in some places in Persia:

# Al S'aie Family.
# Al 'Abadela tribe.
# Al Hamad tribe.
# Al Jaboor tribe. Parts of this tribe became know as Al Nassour Tribe. They originated in Saudi Arabia and then went on to rule Bahrain before moving to Persia. In Persia, the Al Nassour became the ruling family of Kangaan in the province of Bushehr; however, after the Islamic revolution they moved to and are currently living in Abu-Dhabi, UAE. Their last Sheikh was Sheikh Soleiman Bin Hatam Al-Nassour, grandson of Shaikh Jabbara (Ruler of Bahrain - Please See External Links Below). They have had and still hold close ties with the current Bahraini ruling family too.
# Al Matareesh tribe.
# Al 'Abadi tribe.
# Al Ali tribe (Created A state in Qais Island).
# Al Haram tribe.
# Al Naim tribe (Ruled Qishm Island before Al Qawasim tribe).
# Al Tamimi tribe.
# Al Bu 'Ainain tribe (were with Al Ali tribe in Qais Island).
# Al Ansari tribe (some of them are original Arabs while the other are Persians).
# Al Ka'abi tribe (Khuzestan of Iran).
# Al Marzoqi tribe (Independent state on the shore).
# Al Suwaidi tribe (had a presence in both Abu Mosa and Qishm Islands).
# Al Qawasom Tribe (ruled some of the shores and Islands of Persia that were opposite to U.A.E in different eras between 1100 and 1890).
# Al Bosaidi Tribe (ruled Qishm Island for short periods when it was acquired from Al Qawasims).
# Al Dawasir tribe clans (from Wadi Al-Dawasir in Najd, nowadays Saudi Arabia)
# Al Ajman Tribe.
# Al Mora tribe (Morah Island).
# Al Bosmait (Bandar Lengeh).
# al Khonji Tribe ( in Oman, Qais Mahmood al-Khonji is the 4th generation leader of the tribe and Mahmood Abdulla al-Khonji is the leader of the 3rd generation ).
# Al Naama tribe
# Al Jaber family

Common Confusing with Sunni Persians

Ironically, some people still think that all of the Sunni Persians in Iran are from Arabian descent, thanks to the arrival of the Huwala and Sunni Persians to Arabia and their claims to be Arabs.

Iran still has some big cities which include Sunni Muslims, else of Bandar Lengeh and Bandar Charak there is Ahvaz near the Iraqi border and Mashhad except that the latter two cities didn't have the Huwala whom only travelled to the west cost of Persia, Ahvaz especially had and still has Arabs from Iraq. there are still Sunni mosques in both Bandar Lengeh and Bandar Charak.

The other groups whom arrived to Arabia were original Sunni Persians. Their villages are many and can still be located mostly in the Fārs Province as well as Hormozgān Province. And these locations obviously still has Sunni mosques up until now. In later years Some of the those Sunni Persians left Iran to the GCC countries to work or to make Business, many of them moved to the GCC countries in the same period when the Arabian Huwala tribes were exiled from Iran, thus creating a confusing issue of how to distinguish between Persians and Arabs, since both had the same faith and Persian Language as well as influence.

Of the reasons Sunni Persians left for the Arabian peninsula, was that most had the anti-relegious pressure of Iran's former king Muhammad Reza Shah. The Shah forced everyone to accept his Liberal ideas or what he called it the White Revolution, and he disliked religious people from both faiths.

Under his father, Reza Shah, women were ordered to lose the scarves.

This led many to leave Persia, both Shia and Sunni Persians, not only to the Arabian peninsula, but to other parts of the world too. But because the GCC countries were the nearest point, it was the Persians first choice to leave for. It had also many job opportunities by that time so they could start a new life. One of the famous people to leave Iran in that period too, was Iran's former leader Ruhollah Khomeini who was opposing the White Revolution by that time, which meant that both Sunni and Shia muslims were facing exile due to the Shah's regime.

Until recent years, Iran official census still shows such coastal areas as mostly populated by Arabic ethnic people which confirms origins of Huwala that migrated back to Arabia are arabs since they lived in same areas. This however is usefull to distinguish between sunni Persians and Sunni Arabs in Iran [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Iran] .

Many of the other Sunni Persians, or at least most of them, claimed to be Huwala or "originally Arabs" too. The reason was that at the beginning of their arrival to the Persian Gulf countries, they weren't accepted that much, and were to many foreigners, or as what the Arab call them "Ajams" (Arabic: عجم) which means in Arabic a foreigner or whom didn't speak Arabic.

Arab Origins and DNA

Current day science has developed so much that one can know his arabic purity simply by testing (Y-DNA) (male descendant gene markers). Studies show arabic Y-DNA largest cluster to be of J1 and J2 types (could be interpreted by some as Qahtanite and Adnanite origins of Arabs in arabian peninsula). One interesting factor is that Jews also share J2 YDNA type which confirms known semitic lineage between arabs and jews. Main institute that carry out such gene test is family tree DNA in coordination with National Geographic [(https://www.familytreedna.com/)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup_J_(YDNA)] .

The Social Issue of Huwala and Sunni Persians in the GCC countries

In Bahrain especially, the Huwala's issue is very controversial today. Not only they weren't accepted in the society that much at the first, the Huwela were the minority of people in the Bahraini Society besides the original Sunni Arabs themselves. The majority were the Baharna, or they had at least 50% of the total population in Bahrain by that time, and this number has even increased today.

Due to racist movements against them, and not being accepted as citizens especially during the time of the Arab Nationalist Movement, some of the Huwala and Sunni Persians changed their family names, costumes and accent to fit and get mixed in the Arabian society. This was also a huge step toward getting a passport and a citizenship, since there was a time in Bahrain that foreigners and Persians or those who had non Arabic family names weren't granted passports.

Another thing that supported them, was the same Sunni faith the shared with Arabs, despite following the Shafi'i school of Islamic jurisprudence, whereas in Bahrain the Al Khalifa royal family and its supporting tribes adhere to the Maliki school, thus was the main factor that made them get close to the Arabs since they share the same general Sunni faith.

This method even resulted of many Huwela and Sunni Persians getting religious today, and leading large Islamic societies most famously Al-Islah Society. To this day, most of the Sunni Persians or Huwala in Bahrain don't speak their native Persian language and accent. Currently this habit or method is increasing more and more at their 4th generation.

By time, the government and public views to the Huwala was beginning to change, many feel free now to declare themselves to be from Holi origin, the government also had no problem giving them passports and recognize them as official citizens of Bahrain. Despite other Sunni Persian families whom didn't change anything from their culture and history and still proudly admit of being descendants from Persian origin, the majority of Sunni Persians in Bahrain, and the Huwala lack the enough information of their exact origins in Persia, and most of them believe that they are all persianized Arabs which is wrong.

Their Location

In Bahrain, the Sunni Persians and the Huwala originally settled in the cities of Manama and Muharraq, and their skills in trade and administration have meant that today they now comprise a large portion of the country's educated upper middle class.

In The U.A.E, Sunni Persians and Huwala are found mainly in Dubai, and the state of Ajmān.

The word Ajman(Arabic:عجمان)itself refers to the Ajams as many of them were there.

Sunni Persians and business in the Persian Gulf

Since Bahrain or the old Delmon was a central trade market and port in the middle of the Persian Gulf, Persians, Omanis and other nationalities were coming to work in Bahrain, or to join the pearl diving and doing business. Until the discovery of Oil in the Persian Gulf countries, The Pearl Diving began to disappear. Some left to work in the Oil field, some returned to Iran, while others remained to continue their business in the GCC countries until today.

In Qatar, the Sunni Persians community forms a large portion of society and tend to dominate the most exclusive neighborhoods has a reputation as one of the most dynamic communities in the country.

In the United Arab Emirates, the Sunni Persians as well as the Huwala are mainly concentrated in Dubai where they have extensive business interests. Many of the emirate's major business families, especially those involved in the media and commerce, are of Huwala origin and are closely linked with those in Bahrain.

Sunni Persians

One of the leading Sunni Persians families in Bahrain, are the Khonji family. The Khonji family comes originally from Khonj. Khonj is a township (city) in province of Fars 270 km south of Shiraz with a population of 60,000. Its history goes back to 2000 years and its inhabitants were known to be the followers of Zoroastrianism. The ancient names for Khonj has always been Hong and Konj (corner in Persian) and over time it was changed to Khonj [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khonj] .

Another famous Sunni Persian family in Bahrain are the Bastaky family, they come originally from Bastak, a large city in the province of Hormozgān. They are well known to be traders and have business interests, and are always being mentioned to be have "blue blood" due to the fact that they are Persians, or perhaps from the Aryan race as some may suggest. However their city of Bastak is mixed between Arabs and Persians, Al Bastaki family are well known to have strong friendship relationships with some of the biggest Arab leading families in the GCC countries too.

Other well known leading families in Bahrain include Alansari, Alkooheji originally from the city of Kohig, Alawadhi coming from Awaz, Kanoo from Kanee, Khonji coming from Khonj, Janahi from Jeneh, Karmostaji from Karmostaj and Alnaser.

Although the Gerashi family from Gerash were former Sunnis, they changed their faith to Shia some time ago, this explains why they aren't called Huwala despite that they still speak with the same accent as the Huwala. The Gerashi family are well known in the business market, since they are the food agent of many trademarks.

Most of these previous mentioned families are Persians according to history and locations of their native origins, but most of them instead refer to themselves to be Arabs in order to avoid racism or being controversial. At the end it only depends of how strong was their Persian culture, and the environment that surrounds them, this also explains why that some members from the same family may even argue about their exact origin, Persian or Arab. It is well known also that most of them added the "Al" (Arabic: ال) which means "The" on their family names, in order to make it sound more Arabic. Many actually view their actions like "giving up" or abandoning their origins and culture, other explain it to avoid racism troubles. These changing facts can be noticed today in their official appearance since they changed their costumes and only speak fluent Arabic.

Some even refuse to speak, or even learn how to speak Persian, and only prefer to marry from the Arabs or Sunnis. This indeed shows how the Arab had influence on them. For this, some huwala look like Arabs more than Persians, it is due to the mixture between the two usually.

The Complete List of Sunni Persian Families in the GCC countries:

1- Al Janahi Family (from the village of Jeneh, they are noted business men as well as Building constructers).

2- Karmostaji Family (from the village of Karmostaj, mostly inhabited by Sunni Muslims and a minority of Shia Muslims, most of them being traders).

3- Bastaki Family (from the village of Bastak).

4- Galadari Family (from the village of Galadar where some are Shia and some Sunni).

5- Herangi Family (from the village of Herang, and they are a noted Bakeries).

6- Gawdai Family.

7- Go'od Family ( Originally a mixture between Janahi and Awazi families).

8- Awadhi Family ( Another successful Sunni Persian Family in the Business).

9- Falamarzi Family ( from the village of Falamarz, they are well known traders).

10- Khunji Family ( From the Village of Khonj, are a well known traders).

11- Khameri Family ( From the village of Khameer).

12- karmastaj ( kanoo desecendants)

13- Kanoo Family ( Most of them claim to be Arabs originally, however maps and old family members claim that they are from a Persian village name "Kani", but due to their very old history in the GCC country, they claim to be Arabs now). Some of their descendants are the Al-Moayyed family.

14- Al Moayyad Family ( Originally Kanoo descendants) (Sunni Bahraini family of Persian origin; involved in plethora of business ventures in the island Kingdom.)

15- Behdahi Family.

16- Maraghi Family ( From the village of Maragh).

17- Kato Family ( Some claim they are from the Village of Keteh or Kato, some say they are a mixture of Janahis and Awadhis, they are one of the best in the tailoring Business).

18- Kangoni Family ( From the village of Kangoon, they are noted bakeries and the first who introduced the local Persian bread in the GCC countries).

19- Gerashi Family ( From the village of Gerash, one of the most famous food Agents and traders all over Iran and the GCC countries, most of them turned Shia by now).

20- Faqehi Family ( Some Shia and Some Sunni).

21- Alkhan Family in Saudi Arabia, House of Al Khan ( The word "Al Khan" comes from "Khan" in Persian, which means "Leader" or "King" in Persian, however this is only a family nick name, the original name is Al abbasid, descended from `Abd Allah ibn `Abbas.

22- Eshaq Family ( The Sheikh Eshaq family that is one branch of the AlKhan family in Bahrain)

23- Najibi Family ( Another branch of the Alkhan family in Bahrain)

24- Mustafa bin Abdulatif Family

25- Yaquby Family

26- Saffy Family

27- Al Emadi family .

28- Bucheeri family ( from the village of Bucheer ) .

29- Al Zarouni Family ( from a village called Zarawn. Its a well known business familly , and its now located in the U.A.E )

30- Bo 'Alai Family .

31- Bo Zaboon Family ( "Zaboon" means tongue in Persian ) .

32- Faramarzi Family ( mostly from the village of village of Faramarz or Falamarz ) .

33- Al Naqi family in Saudi Arabia ( A very well known Business family, they are from Persian roots ) .

34- Al Kookherdi family ( A very well known family in Sharjah ( The UAE) that originates from the village of Kookherd which is between Bastak and Lengeh) .

35- Ahli Family (this family came from the ahal village in Persia [it is not there now] , all members of the family are sunni [shafi'i] , some say that they come from Mongol or tattar origins.

36- Khoory Family.

37- Sharafi Family.

38- Al Hasan Family.

39- Fakhru Family (From the Village of Fakhrabad, the current generation believe they are arabs for some unknown reason, but they are very succesful in Business and Education leadership, as well as Woman Rights supporters).

40- Kooheji (From the Village of Kohei, they are well known in the business).

The shared Persian Culture in the GCC Countries

GCC Persians can be easily identified, wither they were following the Sunni or Shia faith. They both live the same neighborhoods, use the same style of Persian decoration in their houses especially that they love and feel proud to own Persian carpets. They also speak almost the same Persian dialect, it can even be shown of how they greet each other.

History shows that the accent Sunni Persians use, is very old indeed. Due to the very old Persian words it has that goes back to the old Persian Language when it was used thousand of years ago during the peak of the Persian Empire.

They use words such as "Tar" for dark instead of the current Persian word "Tareek" and the word "Charkh" for turn or rotate, and "Sera" for house instead of "Khona". These words are actually very old compared with the current Persian Language, because it doesn't have them anymore.

In the other hand, the Persian Dialect the Ajams or Shia Persians use is more similar to the current official Persian language used in Iran.

The current official Persian language itself has numerous Arabic words due to the influence and arrival of Islam in Iran. The reason for the existence of such old words in the Huwala's Persian accent, is because that their villages were so far away from the central Islamic new locations in Persia where Arabic has been sometimes used and always taught, and the Arabic language taught by the Arabs and Qur'an didn't have that much effect and influence on them, this also shows how pure Persians they were. For example the current Persian language use the Arabic word "Asr" for the afternoon, similar to the Arabic word "Al Aser" (Arabic:عصر), while the Sunni Persians use the old word "Paseen" instead, and they call noon "Pesheen" instead of "Zohr" used by Iranians similar to "Dhuhr" (Arabic:الظهر) in Arabic.

The same goes for Islamic words, in Iran the word "Azoon" like the Arabic "Adhan" (Arabic:أذان) which means calling Muslims to prayer is used, while the Sunni Persians use the word "Bong" instead for it.Both Sunni and Shia Persians in Bahrain also eat and cook the same food. One of the famous food they brought with them to the Arabian peninsula was a very famous and popular fish juice called "Mahyawa", which is known to be very healthy.

They were also known to be the first who started the bakery business, which they are very famous of, namely the Persian family of Herangi coming from the city of Herang. The bakeries themselves were always keen to be loyal to Iran their original homeland. This also explains why most of them return to Persia when they take a vacation or lose their business.

In their common celebrations and greetings, the Persians in Bahrain also celebrate their marriages in the same old fashion traditional Persian style, and enjoy listening to the same style of Persian music. This all shows that they only differ from each other in the Islamic faith.

Other names for the Sunni Persians

Since many sunni Persians were changing their cultures from Persian to Arab, they like to be called "Huwala", while the original Sunni Persians whom didn't change their indentity like to be called "Khodmoni" which means in Persians A fellow country man or "one of ours".

See also

* Baharna
* History of Bahrain
* Persians
* History of Arabs in Afghanistan
* Ajam (Bahrain)

References

http://wikitude.com/wiki/List_of_Arabs#Omaniswww.qais-alkhonji.com

External links

* [http://www.attawash.com/maqalh23.htm Howala Arabs of the Gulf]
* [http://www.attawash.com/maqalh22.htm Shaikh Jabbara: Ruler of Bahrain]
* [http://www.attawash.com/maqalh25.htm Shaikh Nasir Al Madhkur]
* [http://www.khodmooniforum.com Khodmooni Forum]