Iran Tribes and Clans

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Iran

Tribes and Clans

Resources

Online Resources

• Al-Majdi in the genealogies of the Taliban by Ibn al-Sufi, Ali ibn Muhammad,. Qom, Iran :Maktabat Āyat Allāh al-Marʻashī al-ʻĀmmah,, 2002. FS Catalog book 953 D2sam
  • "المجدي في أنساب الطالبيين / ابن الصوفي، علي بن محمد،
• Al-Maktabah al-Shamilah (The Comprehensive Library) - Genealogy Category (Arabic) - Index of Arabic books on genealogy with detailed descriptions; books not accessible directly on website
• Arab Genealogy Books Online at FamilySearch Library; open access collection of Arabic genealogy books that have been digitized and can be browsed by country/region. They contain valuable information about tribal histories and family lineages.
• The Arab Tribes and Clans of Khuzestan (in Farsi). Online at: Archive.org.
  • قبايل وعشاير عرب خوزستان.
• The Arab Tribes in Khorasan: From the Arab Conquest to the Samanid Era, 30-389 AH/650-999 AD by Rashid, Sherbat Ahmed Mustafa Ahmed. Damascus, Syria :Nūr Ḥawrān lil-Dirāsāt wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Turāth, 2021. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library
  • "القبائل العربية في خراسان : من الفتح العربي حتى العصر الساماني، 30-389 ه/650-999 م / راشد، شربات أحمد مصطفى أحمد
• 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
• Archives catalog at National Library and Archives of Iran - Search the archives for documents related to Tribes by using the Documentary Type dropdown (in Persian). These documents are not digitized and must be viewed in-person with necessary paperwork; see details about visiting the archive here.
• Biography of the Arab Tribes of Iran (in Arabic), by Mulla 'Abbud bin Dahr al-Khalidi. Online at: Archive.org; Primarily focuses on the Arab tribes in Khuzestan
  • سيرة قبائل عرب إيران، مُلّا عَبّود بن دهر الخالدي.
• The blessed tree in the lineages of the Taliban by . Qom, Iran : Library of Grand Ayatollah Marashi Najafi (may God bless him and grant him peace), 1999. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library
  • "الشجرة المباركة في أنساب الطالبيين /
• The Collection of Genealogies. Abu al-Mundhir Hisham bin Muhammad bin al-Sa’ib al-Kalbi. Beirut, Lebanon: Alam al-Kutub, 2004. Online at: Archive.org
  • جمهرة النسب. أبو المنذر هشام بن محمد بن السائب الكلبي. بيروت، لبنان: عالم الكتب, ٢٠٠٤
• 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
• 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
• Genealogies of Arab tribes in Iran, Khuzestan by Subhani, Raouf. Beirut, Lebanon:Mawsueat al-Balagh 2008. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library
  • "أنساب القبائل العربية في إيران، خوزستان / سبهاني، رؤوف
• 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
• Tigris and Euphrates Clans (in Arabic), by Ali Saleh Kaabi. Beirut, Lebanon : Dār al-Rāfidayn lil-Ṭibāʻah wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʻ, 2013. Online at: FamilySearch Digital Library
  • 2013, عشائر دجلة و الفرات
• Tribal documents at Women's Worlds in Qajar Iran - A small collection of legal documents about tribes in Iran.
• Tribal documents at Qatar Digital Library - A small collection of documents, letters, and maps related to tribes in Iran.
• Tribal Documents at Asnad - A small collection of documents related to tribes in Iran, approx 1510-1893.
• Who's Who in Persia at Qatar Digital Library - Four volumes compiled by the General Staff, India; a biographical dictionary of individuals and families in 1923, including two genealogical family trees with the pedigrees of the Chiefs of Tun and Tabas, and the Rukn-ud-Dauleh family in relation to the Shahs of Persia
• Anṭākīyah al-Urthūdhuksīyah, aw, tārīkh al-Ābā’ Baṭāriqat Anṭākiyah by Burayk, Mīkhāʼīl. al-Qāhirah:al-Maṭba‘ah al-Tijārīyah, 1903. Online at: New York University; History of the Patriarchs of Antioch.
  • .انطاكية الارثوذكسية، أو تاريخ الآباء بطارقة انطاكية .مخائيل بريك القاهرة:المطبعة التجارية،, 1903
• 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-Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah, 2018.
  • جمهرة أنساب العرب. أبو محمد علي بن أحمد بن سعيد بن حزم الأندلسي. بيروت، لبنان: دار الكتب العلمية, ٢٠١٨

• المشجر الوافي في السّلسلة الموسويّة الجزء الأوّل: أنساب السادات من ذريّة محمد العابد. حسين ابو سعيد الموسوي. بيروت: دار صادر, ٢٠١٥
• المشجر الوافي في السّلسلة الموسويّة الجزء الثاني: أنساب السادات من ذريّة جعفر الخواري. حسين ابو سعيد الموسوي. بيروت: دار صادر, ٢٠١٥
• المشجر الوافي في السّلسلة الموسويّة الجزء الثالث: أنساب السادات من ذريّة ابراهيم المرتضي الاصغر. حسين ابو سعيد الموسوي. بيروت: دار صادر, ٢٠١٥
• المشجر الوافي في السّلسلة الرضويّة. حسين ابو سعيد الموسوي. بيروت: دار صادر, ٢٠١٥
• The End of the Goal in Knowing the Genealogies of the Arabs (in Arabic). Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Ahmad ibn Abdullah al-Qalqashandi. Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, 2012. Online preview at: Google Books
  • نهاية الارب في معرفة انساب العرب. أبو العباس أحمد بن علي بن أحمد بن عبد الله القلقشندي. بيروت، لبنان: دار الكتب العلمية
• سيرة آل هذال: شيوخ قبيلة عنزة، أخوان بتلا. الشيخ احمد العامري الناصري. لبنان - بيروت: الرفدين, ٢٠٠٩
• القاموس العشائري العراقي الجزء الأوّل أ-ط. الشيخ احمد العامري الناصري. لبنان - بيروت: الرفدين, ٢٠٠٩
• القاموس العشائري العراقي الجزء الأوّل ظ-ي. الشيخ احمد العامري الناصري. لبنان - بيروت: الرفدين, ٢٠٠٩
• قبيلة عنزة تاريخها، رجلاتها، أنسابها في العراق والجزيرة. الشيخ محروث الهذال (أمير عنزة). لبنان - بيروت: دار الرفدين, ٢٠٠٥
• 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)
  • قلائد الذهب في معرفة أنساب قبائل العرب. مصطفى حميدي بن أحمد الكردي البالوي الدمشقي. بيروت، لبنان: دار ومكتبة الهلال بئر العبد , ٢٠٠٠

• 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

German

• Ǧamharat an-nasab : das genealogische Werk des Hišam Ibn Muḥammad al-Kalbī (Band I und II). By Werner Caskel. Leiden, Netherlands: E.J. Brill, 1966. FS Catalog book INTL 953 D2c
• 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

Tribes in Iran

Arab tribes have been present in Iran since the Sasanian Empire, with significant migrations during the 7th and 8th centuries. Notable tribes include the Tanūk, Asad, Nezār, Bakr, Tamīm, and Taḡleb. During Shapur II's reign, several clans were relocated to regions like Kerman and Fars due to their activities in the Persian Gulf. Following the Arab conquest, many tribes settled in Iran, with the Lakhmids playing a key role as Sasanian vassals. Over time, tribes like the Bahāʾ-al-dīnī and Šīrī were absorbed into larger confederacies, but many, especially in Khuzestan, have retained their distinct identities. For more information about the history of tribes in Iran, see Arab Tribes of Iran and other publications listed above.

General Information about Tribes

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".

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.

Information Recorded in the Records

• Books - There are numerous books written about Iranian and, more broadly, Arab tribes. Both categories of books can be valuable to researchers, as many tribes found in Iran are also found elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa.
• Documents - Letters and legal documents may contain details about marriages and familial relationships

Strategy

The published works above include information useful for tracing Iranian tribal lineages. These works include lineages, tribal history, biographies of prominent individuals, poetry, or encyclopedic entries of tribes and their sub-divisions. Some of the resources listed above treat with specific tribes, while others look at groups of tribes. The scope of each resource affects the level of detail it contains on actual individuals and their families. While some books contain detailed genealogies with specific names from generation to generation, others treat with tribes generally, focusing more on their history and movement. The latter type of book can be especially useful for individuals who are unsure of where their ancestors lived, as these books can provide information on towns or regions where certain tribes can be found.

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Publications not available online.