Sudan Tribes and Clans

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Sudan

Tribes and Clans

Resources

The following published works include information useful for tracing Libyan tribal lineages. These works include lineages, tribal history, biographies of prominent individuals, poetry, or encyclopedic entries of tribes and their sub-divisions.

Online Resources

• Al-Maktabah al-Shamilah (The Comprehensive Library) - Genealogy Category (Arabic) - catalogue of Arabic books on genealogy with detailed descriptions; books not accessible directly on website
• Genealogical Science Library (Arabic - مكتبة علوم النسب) - digital catalogue of Arabic books on family and tribal genealogies; open source books are linked and accessible**Email: olomanasb@gmail.com
• The Fulani in Africa and their Islamic and developmental contributions to Sudan' by Muhammad, Al-Tayeb Abdel Rahim. Kuwait Dār al-Kitāb al-Ḥadīth 1994. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library
  • الفلاتة في أفريقيا ومساهمتهم الاسلامية والتنموية في السودان / محمد، الطيب عبد الرحيم
• The Ja'aliyyun (in Arabic), by Abd al-Baqi al-Tayyib 'Ali. Khartoum: Dar al-Musawwarat, 2021. Online at: Archive.org

• الجعليون، عبد الباقي الطيب علي. الخرطوم: 2021.

• The Genealogy Collection by Imam Ibn Al-Kalbi (in Arabic), by Hisham Ibn Al-Kalbi. Online at: Archive.org

• جمهرة النسب. أبو المنذر هشام بن محمد بن السائب الكلبي. بيروت، لبنان: عالم الكتب, ٢٠٠٤

• The Genealogy of Ma'ad and Greater Yemen (in Arabic). Abu al-Mundhir Hisham bin Muhammad bin al-Sa'ib al-Kalbi. Beirut, Lebanon: Alam al-Kutub, 2010. Online at: Archive.org

• نسب معد واليمن الكبير. أبو المنذر هشام بن محمد بن السائب الكلبي. بيروت، لبنان: عالم الكتب, ٢٠١٠

• Dictionary of Ancient and Modern Arab Tribes (in Arabic). Omar Reda Kahala. Damascus, Syria: Al-Risala Publishers Foundation, 2011. Online at: Archive.org

• معجم قبائل العرب القديمة والحديثة. عمر رضا كحالة. دمشق سوريا: مؤسسة الرسالة ناشرون, ٢٠١١

• A History of the Arabs in the Sudan: And Some Account of the People who Preceeded Them and of the Tribes Inhabiting Darfur, by H.A. MacMichael, D.S.O. Mansfield Centre, CT: Martino Publishing, 2005. Online at: Archive.org
• Études sur l'Islam et les tribus du Soudan 4 vol (Studies on Islam and the tribes of Sudan 4 vols, in French), by E. Leroux. Paris, 1920-21. Online at: Archive.org
• The Arab Tribes: Their Historical Origins and Roots (in Arabic), by Jamal Mashari al-Rafdi. Online at: Archive.org.
  • القبائل العربية: أصولها جذورها التاريخية، جمال بن مشاري الرفدي.
• The Glorious Pearls in the News of the Latest Arabs (in Arabic), by Sheikh Muhammad al-Bisam al-Najdi. Online at: Archive.org; description of Arab tribes at time of writing in the 19th Century
  • الدرر المفاخر في أخبار العرب الأواخر، الشيخ محمد البسام النجدي.
• al- Badw wa-al-ʻashāʼir fī al-bilād al-ʻArabīyah by Ṭāhir, ʻAbd al-Jalīl. Cairo:Jāmiʻat al-Duwal al-ʻArabīyah, Maʻhad al-Dirāsāt al-ʻArabīyah al-ʻĀlīyah, 1955. Online at: New York University; Overview of Arab Bedouin and clans
  • .البدو والعشائر في البلاد العربية .عبد الجليل طاهر [القاهرة]:جامعة الدول العربية، معهد الدراسات العربية العالية، 1955
• Muʻjam qabāʼil al-ʻArab al-qadīmah wa-al-ḥadīthah v.1 by Kaḥḥālah, ʻUmar Riḍā. Dimashq:al-Maktabah al-Hāshimīyah, 1949. Online at: New York University; Encyclopedia of Arab tribes
  • .معجم قبائل العرب القديمة والحديثة الجزء الأول .عمر رضا كحالة دمشق:المكتبة الهاشمية ,1949
• Muʻjam qabāʼil al-ʻArab al-qadīmah wa-al-ḥadīthah v.2 by Kaḥḥālah, ʻUmar Riḍā. Dimashq:al-Maktabah al-Hāshimīyah, 1949. Online at: New York University; Encyclopedia of Arab tribes
  • .معجم قبائل العرب القديمة والحديثة الجزء الثاني .عمر رضا كحالة دمشق:المكتبة الهاشمية ,1949
• Muʻjam qabāʼil al-ʻArab al-qadīmah wa-al-ḥadīthah v.3 by Kaḥḥālah, ʻUmar Riḍā. Dimashq:al-Maktabah al-Hāshimīyah, 1949. Online at: New York University; Encyclopedia of Arab tribes
  • .معجم قبائل العرب القديمة والحديثة الجزء الثالث .عمر رضا كحالة دمشق:المكتبة الهاشمية ,1949
• Sabāʼik al-dhahab fī maʻrifat qabāʼil al-ʻArab by Suwaydī, Muḥammad Amīn. Qum:al-Maktabah al-ʻIlmīyah, 198-. Online at: New York University; Overview of Arab tribes
  • .سبائك الذهب في معرفة قبائل العرب .محمد أمين سويدي قم:المكتبة العلمية، 198-
• Nihāyat al-arab fī maʻrifat ansāb al-ʻarab by Qalqashandī, Aḥmad ibn ʻAbd Allāh. Baghdād:Maṭbaʻat al-Najāḥ, 1958. Online at: New York University; Important classical text detailing the histories and genealogies of major Arab tribes
  • .
• Kitāb nasab Quraysh by Zubayrī, Muṣʻab ibn ʻAbd Allāh. al-Qāhirah:Dār al-Maʻārif lil-Ṭibāʻah wa-al-Nashr, 1953. Online at: New York University; Classical genealogy of the Quraysh tribe, the tribe of the Prophet Muhammad
  • .كتاب نسب قريش .المصعب بن عبد الله الزبيري [القاهرة]:‏دار المعارف ,1953نهاية الأرب في معرفة أنساب العرب .أحمد بن عبد الله القلقشندي بغداد:مطبعة النجاح ,1958

Print Publications

Arabic

• The Collection of Arab Genealogies (in Arabic), by Abu Muhammad Ali bin Ahmed bin Saeed bin Hazm Al-Andalusi. Beirut, Lebanon: Dar Al-Kotob Al-Ilmiyyah, 2018.

• جمهرة أنساب العرب. أبو محمد علي بن أحمد بن سعيد بن حزم الأندلسي. بيروت، لبنان: دار الكتب العلمية, ٢٠١٨
• قلائد الذهب في معرفة أنساب قبائل العرب. مصطفى حميدي بن أحمد الكردي البالوي الدمشقي. بيروت، لبنان: دار ومكتبة الهلال بئر العبد , ٢٠٠٠

• Dictionary of Genealogies of the Tribes of the Arabian Peninsula (in Arabic). Majid Nasser Al-Zubaidi. Beirut, Lebanon: Al-Furat, 2010. At various libraries (WorldCat)

• معجم انساب قبائل الجزيرة العربية. ماجد ناصر الزبيدي. بيروت لبنان: الفرات, ٢٠١٠

• Genealogical Trees of Arab Tribes and Families: With Historical and Geographical Notes (in Arabic), by Ferdinand Wüstenfeld. Beirut: Dar Al-Warak, 1852. At various libraries (WorldCat)

• مشجرات أنساب قبائل والعوئل العربية: مع مراصظات تاريخية وجغرافية. فرديناند فوستنفلد. بيروت: دار الورَّك, ١٨٥٢
• نسب معد واليمن الكبير. أبو المنذر هشام بن محمد بن السائب الكلبي. بيروت، لبنان: عالم الكتب, ٢٠١٠

• Gold Necklaces in Knowing the Genealogies of Arab Tribes (in Arabic), by Mustafa Hamidi bin Ahmed al-Kurdi al-Balawi al-Dimashqi. Beirut, Lebanon: Dar and Library of Al-Hilal, Bir al-Abd, 2000. At various libraries (WorldCat)
• Mawsūʿat al-qabăʾil wa-al-ansăb fī al-Sūdăn wa-ashhar asmʿʾ al-aʿlăm wa-al-amăkin, by ʿAwn al-Sharīf Qăsim. [Khartoum, Sudan]: ʿA. al-Sh. Qăsim, 1996. FS Catalog book 962.4 A5h 1996 v. 5; At various libraries (WorldCat)

German

• Ǧamharat an-nasab : das genealogische Werk des Hišam Ibn Muḥammad al-Kalbī (Band I und II) (Ǧamharat an-nasab : the genealogical work of Hišam Ibn Muḥammad al-Kalbī (Volume I and II)). By Werner Caskel. Leiden, Netherlands: E.J. Brill, 1966. FS Catalog book INTL 953 D2c; At various libraries (WorldCat)
• Register zu den Genealogischen Tabellen der Arabischen Stämme und Familien: Mit Historischen und Geographischen Bemerkungen. (Register of the genealogical tables of the Arabian tribes and families : with historical and geographical notes) By Ferdinand Wüstenfeld. London: Reprint: Forgotten Books. 2009. At various libraries (WorldCat)

Background

In the Middle East and North Africa, the term "tribe" refers to large collection of inter-related families that can trace their lineage back to a common ancestor; although, as is discussed in greater detail below, a shared ancestry is not always necessary for a family to join a tribe. It is typically used as a translation for the Arabic word "قَبيلة" (qabīlah), although in the Research Wiki "tribe" is also used for other Arabic terms. Tribes in the region can number in the hundreds to tens of thousands; some are relatively localized, while others are stretched or scattered over vast areas. Tribes are often divided into increasingly smaller kinship groups, including "بَطْن" (baṭn), "فَخْذ" (fakhth), and "عَشيرة" (ʿashīrah). The latter is translated in the Wiki as "clan".

Historically, Sudanese Arabs were organized into tribal structures based on perceived ancestral lineage. While tribalism has weakened in urban and settled areas, it remains influential among nomadic tribes. These tribes are often grouped under larger tribal confederations, such as the Jalayin (جعليون) and Juhaynah (جهينة). The Jalayin primarily consist of sedentary agriculturalists along the Nile, while the Juhaynah have traditionally been nomadic herders of camels and cattle. Notable tribes within these confederations include the Jalayin, Shayqiyyah (الشايقية), Rubtab (الرباطاب), Shukriyah (الشكرية), Kababish (الكبابيش), and Baqqārah (البقارة).

Tradition holds that all Arab tribes trace their lineage to two primary ancestors: Qahtan (قحطان), progenitor of the "pure" Arabs originating from modern Yemen, and Adnan (عدنان), ancestor of the "Arabicized" Arabs and a descendent of Abraham's son Ishmael.

Throughout Arabian history, free, arms-bearing tribesmen, whether nomadic or settled, dominated society. Sultans, emirs, and sheikhs were often drawn from these tribes and sought their support. The descendants of the Prophet Muhammad, who hold the titles of sayyids and sharifs, traditionally enjoyed a higher social status and sometimes exercised theocratic rule as spiritual leaders.

It is important to note that affiliation with a particular tribe does not necessarily entail direct kinship to that tribe. In some cases, new tribes formed as the result of alliances between pre-existing tribal groups. Individual families may have occasionally become clients of a different tribe and eventually adopted as members. On an even smaller scale, individuals were sometimes adopted into a tribe. This was particularly true during the first centuries of Islam, when non-Arab converts to Islam were required to become clients, or "mawali" (Arabic مَوالٍ), of an Arab tribe. Therefore, association with a tribe does not automatically imply descent or kinship relationship within a given lineage.

Types of Records

Books - There are numerous books written on Sudan and, more broadly, Arab tribes. Both categories of books can be valuable to researchers, as many tribes found in Sudan are also found elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa and can provide historical background for tribes and families today.

Information Recorded in the Records

Tribal histories and genealogies can contain a variety of data useful for family history researchers. Depending on the type and detail of tribal genealogy, typically include the names of fathers and sons but may exclude wives or daughters. Additionally, these genealogies may not include exact birth or death dates, although background information can often allow the researcher to estimate these data for individuals in the records.

Even without detailed lineages, tribal histories can still be useful for researchers. These records often contain details on tribal origins, migrations and movement, and traditional beliefs and culture.

Strategy

The published works above include information useful for tracing Sudanese tribal lineages. These works include lineages, tribal histories, biographies of prominent individuals, poetry, or encyclopedic entries of tribes and their sub-divisions.

As with all genealogical research, start with what you know. If you know your ancestor's tribal affiliation already, search books on that tribe. If not, search for resources on their country or region of origin, which can often identify the major tribes located there. Become familiar with the various branches within the tribe to better understand where your ancestors fit within the larger tribal structure. Within tribal lineages, search for the names of familiar individuals or places as clues to identify your exact family line.

Publications not available online.