'Personalities, Arabia' [‎139] (143/374)

139
MUTEIR AND BARRlYAH
T ribe.
Muteir. 1 ,500 tents.
' A Iwi.
Feisal ibn Sultan.
Jibldn.
SahQd ibn Lami.
Sub-Tribe.
Feisal ibn Sultan ed-Derwish.
Ghaza ibn Shuqeir.
Rakhmdn.
Muhsin ibn Zureiban.
Sahabah.
Ghaneim ibn Shiblan,
Barriyah. 1 ,200 tents.
Na'if ibn Masis.
Mala ibah.
Khilf el-Fighm.
' Abay at.
Munahi ibn 'Ashwan.
Barzdn.
'Aqab Abu Shuweibat.
Deydhln.
Shabab el-Qureifah.
Tha'lah.
Jerman el-Humeidan.
' Abdillah.
Ibn Saqiyan.
Wdsil.
Ibn Thamnah.
5. Beni Khdlid.
The BENI KHALID are an ancient tribe of irreproachable lineage,
greatly fallen in estate. Stranded witnesses to its former wide range are
to be found in a Khalid element of the settled population of Qasim
(especially at Aneizah), of Zilfi in Sedeir, of Malham in 'Aridh, and elsewhere
in Nejd. The main remnant, however, is the Bedouin tribe of the name
which ranges north of the 'Ajman on the Gulf shore between the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows.
Maqta' on the north and the middle of the Bayadh district on the south.
Inland they wander into the Summan plateau. Scattered communities
have settled in various outside localities, e.g. Oman, Musallamiyah Island,
Qatlf, the Hasa Oasis, Bahrein, and Koweit, where the tribesmen have
become pearl-fishers, &c. The nomads own considerable date-groves.
Up to 1830 the Beni Khalid ruled the Hasa ; but they had long been
at war with the Wahabites, to whom, being themselves Maliki Sunnites,
they are unsympathetic, and they finally succumbed to the Emir Turki
of Riyadh. Latterly, after recognizing Turkish suzerainty, more or less,
for forty odd years, they have come again under Riyadh. They are
great breeders of horses and cattle, and cultivate more than most Bedouins.
Their tents are noted for their great size ; and in dress (they wear the line
Hasa abbas), deportment, physiognomy, and coloration these nomads are
more like oasis-dwellers than Bedouins. They number about 14,000 souls,
and claim to send out 4^000 fighting-men.
They are in alliance with the 'Ajman and share diras with that tribe,
but maintain feuds with the Muteir and the Ahl Murrah. A small isolated
section ranges north of Koweit with the Dhafir. The tribe is well armed
and more trustworthy than the 'Ajman. Its Paramount Chief is the
Sheikh of a settled clan, Al Khalid, of the 'A ma'ir sub-tribe, who lives on
the island of Musallamiyah.
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