Al-Muntafiq

Al-Muntafiq (Arabic: المنتفق‎) is a large Arab tribal confederation of southern and central Iraq. The Muntefik were one of the most important tribes in Iraq and lived along the lower Euphrates. For a long time, they controlled the lower Euphrates and Tigris up to the Shatt el Arab. They were very warlike and famous as horse breeders. Their leading family were the Sa'duns. Sheikh Mishari Bin Sa'dun (Meshara ibn Saadoun) bred the stallion Saadun, one of the many examples of desert horses that were named after their breeders.

The tribe is divided into three main branches: Bani Malik, al-Ajwad, and Bani Sa'id. Most of the tribe traces its genealogy to the tribe of Banu 'Uqayl of the large and ancient Banu 'Amir confederation of Nejd. However, the tribe's traditional leaders are the Al Saadun ("the house of Saadun"), who are said to be Sharifs originating from Mecca, while the al-Ajwad branch is said to originate from the ancient Arab tribe of Tayy.

The tribe begins to appear in the Iraqi deserts in the late Abbasid era, and was once one of the most powerful bedouin tribes of Iraq. In Ottoman times, the tribe held control over the region of Basrah under Ottoman suzerainty. In 1521, they successfully occupied al-Ahsa and al-Qatif (eastern Saudi Arabia today) on the Ottomans' behalf, before being expelled by Banu Khalid.

During the Ottoman era, most of the tribe settled into sedentary life and took up agriculture in southern and western Iraq. During the Ottoman era, from the late eighteenth century onwards, al-Muntafiq converted to Shia Islam. ^[1][2] During World War I, the Muntefik fought with the Turks against the British. In the battle of She'be in April 1915, almost their entire army, including the horses, was cut down by the British cannons and machine guns. The city of Nasiriya in southern Iraq was named after one of the tribe's sheikhs, and the surrounding province was known as "Al-Muntafiq Province" until 1976. Those who remained bedouin were herders of small animals such as sheep and goat, rather than camels, and this made them less mobile and less competent as a fighting force compared to the camel-herding tribes of inner Arabia.

Although the tribe's nominal leaders, the Al Saadun, are Sunnis, most of the tribe's members follow the Shi'ite sect of Islam. After many decades of sedentarization, the tribal bond has weakened and the leadership of the Al Saadun is largely nominal.

Sources

• Levi Della Vida, G.; Sluglett, P. "al- Muntafiḳ ." Encyclopaedia of Islam. Edited by: P. Bearman , Th. Bianquis , C.E. Bosworth , E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2007. Brill Online. [1]

Notes

1. ^ The Shi'is of Iraq By Yitzhak Nakash, pg.27
2. ^ Lorimer, Gazetteer, 2B:1273; Great Britain, naval intelligence division, geographical handbook series, Iraq and the Persian Gulf, September 1944, 379-80; Great Britain, office of the civil commissioner, The Arab of Mesopotamia, Basra, 1917,6.