'IRAQ AND THE PERSIAN GULF' [‎247v] (499/862)

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^yo DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION
cultivating and stock-breeding tribe who at least till recently were all
tent dwellers, live in the region between the Euphrates (Hilla channel)
and Tigris north-east of Musaiyib; formerly they controlled the right
bank of the Tigris from Baghdad to Bughaila, from which they seem
to have been displaced in recent years by the Juhaish, who may, how
ever, be an independent Zubaid section. Several other of their sec
tions, such as the Jannabiyin, are now independent. They themselves
belong by origin to the BaniTamim; some of their sections are Sunni,
as are the Jannabiyin.
The Bani Tamim, who are found in several localities of this region
and have lost their tribal cohesion, are the remnants of one of the
earliest invasions of the Moslem and possibly the pre-Moslem era.
They own lands above Baghdad watered by wells near the old Dujail
canal and Sumaicha: with them may be mentioned their western
neighbours the Khazraj, an agricultural tribe in the Dujail area above
Baghdad near Balad, whose history also reaches to pre-Moslem times.
The Zoba are a settled cultivating tribe on the lands watered by the
Saqlawiya and the Abu Ghuraib canals. The tribe seems to have been
completely disintegrated; the sections on the Saqlawiya follow the
leadership of the Dulaim; others, such as the Chittada and Feddagha,
have become independent units. Some sections are Shia, others Sunni.
In the Diyala region there are many small settled tribes, but none
of any importance except the Azza in the country between the Adhaim
and Delli Abbas on the Khalis canal, who are semi-settled shepherds
and peasants.
Shepherd Nomads and Settled Tribes of Tigris (figs. 9-1 3 > 67-70).
From north to south the notable tribes of the Tigris are Jubur,Ubaid,
Shammar Toqa, Bani Rabia, Bani Lam, and Albu Mohammed.
The Jubur are settled tent-dwelling fellahin Arabic for ‘peasant’. It was used by British officials to refer to agricultural workers or to members of a social class employed primarily in agricultural labour. on either side of the Tigris
between the Great Zab and the Jabal Hamrin. Once a large tribe,
they were broken by the Syrian Ogedat and have now no connexion
with their kinsmen, the Jubur of the Syrian Khabur.
The Ubaid, whose lands are east of the Tigris between the Jabal
Hamrin and the Adhaim, are a semi-nomadic tent-dwelling tribe,
partly agricultural and partly camel-breeders, though not camel
nomads. Of recent years the declining demand for camels has in
creased the tendency towards settlement. They are the remnant of a
tribal confederation which was driven from the Jazira by the Shammar
(p. 261), and they have a feud with the Azza of the Diyala region.
The tribes of the right bank above Baghdad have been described
in the preceding section.
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