Arabization
Encyclopedia
Arabization or Arabisation (Arabic
: تعريب ) describes a growing cultural influence on a non-Arab area that gradually changes into one that speaks Arabic
and/or incorporates Arab culture. It was most prominently achieved during the 7th century Arabian Muslim conquests
which spread the Arabic language, culture, and—having been carried out by Arabian Muslims as opposed to Arab Christians or Arabic speaking Jews—the religion of Islam
to the lands they conquered. The result: some elements of Arabian
origin combined in various forms and degrees with elements taken from conquered civilizations and ultimately denominated "Arab
", as opposed to "Arabian".
After the rise of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula, Arab culture and language spread through trade with Africa
n states, conquest, and intermarriage
of the non-Arab local population with the Arabs, in Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Iraq
and the Sudan
. The peninsular Arabic language became common among these areas; dialect
s also formed. Also, though Yemen
is traditionally held to be the homeland of Arabs, most of the population did not speak Arabic (but instead South Semitic
languages) prior to the spread of Islam.
The influence of Arabic has also been profound in many other countries whose cultures have been influenced by Islam. Arabic is a major source of vocabulary for languages as diverse as Berber
, spoken Indonesian
, Kurdish
, Malay
, Maltese
, Persian
, Portuguese
, Sindhi
, Punjabi
, Somali
, Spanish
, Swahili
, Turkish
, Urdu
, as well as other languages in countries where these languages are spoken. For example the Arabic word for book /kita:b/ is used in all the languages listed, apart from Malay and Indonesian (where it specifically means "religious book") and Portuguese and Spanish (which use the Latin-derived "livro" and "libro", respectively).
emerged and ruled a region extending from north of Arabia to the south of Syria. It was created by Arabian tribes originated from the Arabian peninsula and developed the Nabataean alphabet which became the basis of modern Arabic script. The Nabataean language
, under heavy Arab influence, amalgamated into the Arabic language
.
The Arab Ghassanids (ca. 250 CE) were the last major non-Islamic Semitic migration northward out of Yemen
. They were Greek Orthodox Christian
, and clients of the Byzantine Empire
. They revived the Semitic presence in the then-Roman Syria. They initially settled in the Hauran
region, eventually spreading to modern Lebanon, Israel/Palestine and Jordan, briefly securing governorship of Syria away from the Nabataeans
.
The Arab Lakhmid Kingdom was founded by the Lakhum tribe that emigrated from Yemen
in the 2nd century and ruled by the Banu Lakhm
, hence the name given it. They were Nestorian Christians
, opposed to the Ghassanids Greek Orthodox Christianity, and were clients of the Sassanid Empire
.
The Byzantines and Sassanids used the Ghassanids and Lakhmids to fight proxy wars in Arabia against each other.
and Umayyad
Caliphates. They built a Muslim Empire that grew well beyond the Arabian Peninsula, eventually reaching as far as Spain
in the West and Central Asia to the East.
was driven to extinction by the Islamic expansion, being replaced by Classical Arabic
which is written with the Arabic script. The South Arabian alphabet
which was used to write it also fell out of use. A separate branch of south semitic, the Modern South Arabian languages still survive today as spoken languages.
kingdom which was based in Syria, and the Lakhmids
kingdom was based in Iraq, are all pre-Islam Arabian kingdoms, which was nevertheless under the indirect influence of the Roman Byzantines
and the Persian Sassanids
. The Nabateans transcript developed in Petra was the base for the current Arabic transcript while the Arab heritage is full of poetry recording the wars between the Ghassanids
and Lakhmids
Arabian tribes in Syria and Iraq. In the seventh century, and after the dominance of Arab Muslims within a few years, the major garrison towns developed into the major cities. The local Arabic and Aramaic speaking population, which shared a very close Semitic linguistic/genetic ancestry with the Qahtani
and Adnani Arabs, was somewhat Arabized, although Neo-Aramaic speaking minorities persist to the present day.
before its conquest from the Byzantines by the Caliphate. The Copts were the majority in Egypt before, as a result of Arabization, the native language of all Egyptians including the Copts is now Egyptian Arabic
. Currently a minority of the Egyptian population still speaks the Coptic language.
and by the following Vandal and Visigoth
ic invasions. In the Inland, the nomadic Berber
s allied themselves with the Arab Muslims and joined them in invading Spain. During this period the Arab tribes mainly settled the old Phoenicia
n and Carthaginian towns while the Berbers remained the dominant group inland. The Inland North Africa remained partly Arabized until the 11th century; the Iberian Peninsula
, on the other hand, remained Arabized, particularly in the south, until the 16th century.
described how Banu Hilal and other Arab tribes helped spread the Arab language in areas that had been Berber speaking. The Banu Hilal
, a Bedouin
Arabian tribal confederation immigrated first to Libya
reducing the percentage of Zenata
Berbers and Sanhaja
Berber population in North Africa into a minority of its current Arab dominated population. The Banu Hilal, as well as the Banu Muqal, Jashm and others, eventually settled in parts of modern Morocco and Algeria.
followed through the trials of Banu Hilal
and helped them defeat the Zirids in the Battle of Gabis 1052 AD, and finally taking Kairuan in 1057 AD. The Banu Sulaym mainly settled and Arabized Libya, however, Berber minorities
still live in Libya.
branch moved into the Sanhaja
region in what's today the Western Sahara and Mauritania, they fought a thirty years war on the side of the Lamtuna
Arabized Berbers who claimed Himyarite ancestry (from the early Islamic invasions) defeating the Sanhaja berbers and Arabizing Mauritania.
, under Muslim rule
Spain incorporated elements of Arabic language and culture. The Mozarab
s were Iberian
Christian
s who lived under Islamic rule in Al-Andalus
. Their descendants remained unconverted to Islam
, but did however adopt elements of Arabic language and culture. They were mostly Roman Catholics of the Visigothic or Mozarabic Rite
. Most of the Mozarabs were descendants of Hispano
–Gothic Christians and were primarily speakers of the Mozarabic language
under Islamic rule. Many were also what the Arabist
Mikel de Epalza calls "Neo-Mozarabs", that is Northern Europe
ans who had come to the Iberian Peninsula and picked up Arabic, thereby entering the Mozarabic community.
The Andalusian Arabic language was spoken in Spain during Islamic rule, it is now extinct.
migrated into the Sudan
, and formerly occupied the country on both banks of the Nile
from Khartoum
to Abu Hamad
. They trace their lineage to Abbas, uncle of the Islam
ic prophet Muhammad
. They are of Arab origin, but now of mixed blood mostly with upper Egypt
ians and nubians
. They emigrated to Nubia
in the 12th century. They were at one time subject to the Funj kings, but their position was in a measure independent. Johann Ludwig Burckhardt
said that the true Ja'alin from the eastern desert of Sudan are exactly like the Bedouin
of eastern Arabia. The Jaaliyin claim to be direct descendants of Abbas,uncle to prophet Mohammed, the messenger of the Islamic faith.
In 1888 the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain claimed that the Arabic spoken in Sudan was "a pure but archaic Arabic". The pronunciation of certain letters was like Syrian
, and not Egyptian
, such as g being the pronunciation for Kaf and J being the pronunciation for Jim.
migrated from Hejaz
in present day Saudi Arabia into what is now Eritrea and north-east Sudan after tribal warfare had broken out in their homeland. The Rashaida of Sudan and Eritrea live in close proximity with the Beja people
. Large numbers of Bani Rasheed
are also found on the Arabian Peninsula.They are related to the Banu Abs
tribe. The Rashaida speak Hejazi Arabic
.
, Chad
, Niger
, and Nigeria
. Arabic is an official language of Chad.
(western Arab) countries have long promoted Arabization as a nationalist platform. Both Literary Arabic
and Dārija
are on the rise.
In Algeria, there is some tension between the Berber groups (such as the Kabyle people
) and the central Arab government which is encouraged by France and some other European countries which feed the Berbers feelings that their culture and language are threatened by Arabization.
(1983–2005) is typically characterized as a conflict between these two peoples. In 2011 South Sudan voted for secession
and the President of Sudan accepted it.
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
: تعريب ) describes a growing cultural influence on a non-Arab area that gradually changes into one that speaks Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
and/or incorporates Arab culture. It was most prominently achieved during the 7th century Arabian Muslim conquests
Muslim conquests
Muslim conquests also referred to as the Islamic conquests or Arab conquests, began with the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He established a new unified polity in the Arabian Peninsula which under the subsequent Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates saw a century of rapid expansion of Muslim power.They...
which spread the Arabic language, culture, and—having been carried out by Arabian Muslims as opposed to Arab Christians or Arabic speaking Jews—the religion of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
to the lands they conquered. The result: some elements of Arabian
Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula is a land mass situated north-east of Africa. Also known as Arabia or the Arabian subcontinent, it is the world's largest peninsula and covers 3,237,500 km2...
origin combined in various forms and degrees with elements taken from conquered civilizations and ultimately denominated "Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
", as opposed to "Arabian".
After the rise of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula, Arab culture and language spread through trade with Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n states, conquest, and intermarriage
Interracial marriage
Interracial marriage occurs when two people of differing racial groups marry. This is a form of exogamy and can be seen in the broader context of miscegenation .-Legality of interracial marriage:In the Western world certain jurisdictions have had regulations...
of the non-Arab local population with the Arabs, in Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
and the Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
. The peninsular Arabic language became common among these areas; dialect
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
s also formed. Also, though Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
is traditionally held to be the homeland of Arabs, most of the population did not speak Arabic (but instead South Semitic
South Semitic
South Semitic is a commonly accepted branch of the Semitic languages. Semitic itself is a branch of the larger Afro-Asiatic language family found in Africa and Asia....
languages) prior to the spread of Islam.
The influence of Arabic has also been profound in many other countries whose cultures have been influenced by Islam. Arabic is a major source of vocabulary for languages as diverse as Berber
Berber languages
The Berber languages are a family of languages indigenous to North Africa, spoken from Siwa Oasis in Egypt to Morocco , and south to the countries of the Sahara Desert...
, spoken Indonesian
Indonesian language
Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia. Indonesian is a normative form of the Riau Islands dialect of Malay, an Austronesian language which has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries....
, Kurdish
Kurdish language
Kurdish is a dialect continuum spoken by the Kurds in western Asia. It is part of the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian group of Indo-European languages....
, Malay
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
, Maltese
Maltese language
Maltese is the national language of Malta, and a co-official language of the country alongside English,while also serving as an official language of the European Union, the only Semitic language so distinguished. Maltese is descended from Siculo-Arabic...
, Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
, Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
, Sindhi
Sindhi language
Sindhi is the language of the Sindh region of Pakistan that is spoken by the Sindhi people. In India, it is among 22 constitutionally recognized languages, where Sindhis are a sizeable minority. It is spoken by 53,410,910 people in Pakistan, according to the national government's Statistics Division...
, Punjabi
Punjabi language
Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region . For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language...
, Somali
Somali language
The Somali language is a member of the East Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Its nearest relatives are Afar and Oromo. Somali is the best documented of the Cushitic languages, with academic studies beginning before 1900....
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, Swahili
Swahili language
Swahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...
, Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
, Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
, as well as other languages in countries where these languages are spoken. For example the Arabic word for book /kita:b/ is used in all the languages listed, apart from Malay and Indonesian (where it specifically means "religious book") and Portuguese and Spanish (which use the Latin-derived "livro" and "libro", respectively).
Early Arabization of the Near East
After Alexander the Great, the Nabataean kingdomNabataean kingdom
The Nabataean kingdom, also named Nabatea , was a political state of the Nabataeans which existed during Classical antiquity and was annexed by the Roman Empire in AD 106.-Geography:...
emerged and ruled a region extending from north of Arabia to the south of Syria. It was created by Arabian tribes originated from the Arabian peninsula and developed the Nabataean alphabet which became the basis of modern Arabic script. The Nabataean language
Nabataean language
The Nabataean language was a form of Aramaic and was the language of the Nabataeans of Iraq and Syria.In the early Islamic era and probably before, the Arabians referred to the sedentary Aramaeans of southern Iraq and southern Syria as Nabat...
, under heavy Arab influence, amalgamated into the Arabic language
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
.
The Arab Ghassanids (ca. 250 CE) were the last major non-Islamic Semitic migration northward out of Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
. They were Greek Orthodox Christian
Greek Orthodox Church
The Greek Orthodox Church is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity sharing a common cultural tradition whose liturgy is also traditionally conducted in Koine Greek, the original language of the New Testament...
, and clients of the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
. They revived the Semitic presence in the then-Roman Syria. They initially settled in the Hauran
Hauran
Hauran, , also spelled Hawran or Houran, is a volcanic plateau, a geographic area and a people located in southwestern Syria and extending into the northwestern corner of Jordan. It gets its name from the Aramaic Hawran, meaning "cave land." In geographic and geomorphic terms, its boundaries...
region, eventually spreading to modern Lebanon, Israel/Palestine and Jordan, briefly securing governorship of Syria away from the Nabataeans
Nabataeans
Thamudi3.jpgThe Nabataeans, also Nabateans , were ancient peoples of southern Canaan and the northern part of Arabia, whose oasis settlements in the time of Josephus , gave the name of Nabatene to the borderland between Syria and Arabia, from the Euphrates to the Red Sea...
.
The Arab Lakhmid Kingdom was founded by the Lakhum tribe that emigrated from Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
in the 2nd century and ruled by the Banu Lakhm
Banu Lakhm
Banu Lakhm is a large Arab tribe tracing their lineage backto Qahtan, who among many achievements, created anArab kingdom in Al-Hira, near modern Kufa, Iraq...
, hence the name given it. They were Nestorian Christians
Church of the East
The Church of the East tāʾ d-Maḏnḥāʾ), also known as the Nestorian Church, is a Christian church, part of the Syriac tradition of Eastern Christianity. Originally the church of the Persian Sassanid Empire, it quickly spread widely through Asia...
, opposed to the Ghassanids Greek Orthodox Christianity, and were clients of the Sassanid Empire
Sassanid Empire
The Sassanid Empire , known to its inhabitants as Ērānshahr and Ērān in Middle Persian and resulting in the New Persian terms Iranshahr and Iran , was the last pre-Islamic Persian Empire, ruled by the Sasanian Dynasty from 224 to 651...
.
The Byzantines and Sassanids used the Ghassanids and Lakhmids to fight proxy wars in Arabia against each other.
Arabization during the early Caliphate
The earliest and most significant instance of "Arabization" was the first Muslim conquests of Muhammad and the subsequent RashidunRashidun
The Rightly Guided Caliphs or The Righteous Caliphs is a term used in Sunni Islam to refer to the first four Caliphs who established the Rashidun Caliphate. The concept of "Rightly Guided Caliphs" originated with the Abbasid Dynasty...
and Umayyad
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the four major Arab caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. It was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty, whose name derives from Umayya ibn Abd Shams, the great-grandfather of the first Umayyad caliph. Although the Umayyad family originally came from the...
Caliphates. They built a Muslim Empire that grew well beyond the Arabian Peninsula, eventually reaching as far as Spain
Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...
in the West and Central Asia to the East.
Southern Arabian Peninsula
Old South ArabianOld South Arabian
Old South Arabian is the term used to describe four extinct, closely related languages spoken in the far southern portion of the Arabian Peninsula. There were a number of other Sayhadic languages , of which very little evidence survived, however...
was driven to extinction by the Islamic expansion, being replaced by Classical Arabic
Classical Arabic
Classical Arabic , also known as Qur'anic or Koranic Arabic, is the form of the Arabic language used in literary texts from Umayyad and Abbasid times . It is based on the Medieval dialects of Arab tribes...
which is written with the Arabic script. The South Arabian alphabet
South Arabian alphabet
The ancient Yemeni alphabet branched from the Proto-Sinaitic alphabet in about the 9th century BC. It was used for writing the Yemeni Old South Arabic languages of the Sabaean, Qatabanian, Hadramautic, Minaean, Himyarite, and proto-Ge'ez in Dʿmt...
which was used to write it also fell out of use. A separate branch of south semitic, the Modern South Arabian languages still survive today as spoken languages.
The Levant (Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq)
After Islam the Arab tribes unified under the banner of Islam and flooded into the north of Arabia toward Jordan, Palestine, Syria and Iraq. However, native Arabian tribes were dominant in the Levant through long before the emerge of Islam. The Nabateans kingdom of Petra which was based in Jordan, the GhassanidsGhassanids
The Ghassanids were a group of South Arabian Christian tribes that emigrated in the early 3rd century from Yemen to Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and the Holy Land....
kingdom which was based in Syria, and the Lakhmids
Lakhmids
The Lakhmids , Banu Lakhm , Muntherids , were a group of Arab Christians who lived in Southern Iraq, and made al-Hirah their capital in 266. Poets described it as a Paradise on earth, an Arab Poet described the city's pleasant climate and beauty "One day in al-Hirah is better than a year of...
kingdom was based in Iraq, are all pre-Islam Arabian kingdoms, which was nevertheless under the indirect influence of the Roman Byzantines
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
and the Persian Sassanids
Sassanid Empire
The Sassanid Empire , known to its inhabitants as Ērānshahr and Ērān in Middle Persian and resulting in the New Persian terms Iranshahr and Iran , was the last pre-Islamic Persian Empire, ruled by the Sasanian Dynasty from 224 to 651...
. The Nabateans transcript developed in Petra was the base for the current Arabic transcript while the Arab heritage is full of poetry recording the wars between the Ghassanids
Ghassanids
The Ghassanids were a group of South Arabian Christian tribes that emigrated in the early 3rd century from Yemen to Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and the Holy Land....
and Lakhmids
Lakhmids
The Lakhmids , Banu Lakhm , Muntherids , were a group of Arab Christians who lived in Southern Iraq, and made al-Hirah their capital in 266. Poets described it as a Paradise on earth, an Arab Poet described the city's pleasant climate and beauty "One day in al-Hirah is better than a year of...
Arabian tribes in Syria and Iraq. In the seventh century, and after the dominance of Arab Muslims within a few years, the major garrison towns developed into the major cities. The local Arabic and Aramaic speaking population, which shared a very close Semitic linguistic/genetic ancestry with the Qahtani
Qahtanite
The terms Qahtanite and Qahtani refer to Semitic peoples either originating in, or claiming genealogical descent from the southern extent of the Arabian Peninsula, especially from Yemen....
and Adnani Arabs, was somewhat Arabized, although Neo-Aramaic speaking minorities persist to the present day.
Egypt
Egypt was formerly inhabited by the Coptic people who spoke the Coptic languageCoptic language
Coptic or Coptic Egyptian is the current stage of the Egyptian language, a northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century. Egyptian began to be written using the Greek alphabet in the 1st century...
before its conquest from the Byzantines by the Caliphate. The Copts were the majority in Egypt before, as a result of Arabization, the native language of all Egyptians including the Copts is now Egyptian Arabic
Egyptian Arabic
Egyptian Arabic is the language spoken by contemporary Egyptians.It is more commonly known locally as the Egyptian colloquial language or Egyptian dialect ....
. Currently a minority of the Egyptian population still speaks the Coptic language.
North Africa and Iberia
Neither North Africa nor the Iberian Peninsula were strangers to Semitic culture: the Phoenicians and later the Carthaginians dominated the North African and Iberian shores for more than 8 centuries until they were suppressed by the RomansAncient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
and by the following Vandal and Visigoth
Visigoth
The Visigoths were one of two main branches of the Goths, the Ostrogoths being the other. These tribes were among the Germans who spread through the late Roman Empire during the Migration Period...
ic invasions. In the Inland, the nomadic Berber
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
s allied themselves with the Arab Muslims and joined them in invading Spain. During this period the Arab tribes mainly settled the old Phoenicia
Phoenicia
Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...
n and Carthaginian towns while the Berbers remained the dominant group inland. The Inland North Africa remained partly Arabized until the 11th century; the Iberian Peninsula
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
, on the other hand, remained Arabized, particularly in the south, until the 16th century.
Banu Hilal in North Africa 1046 AD
Famous scholar Ibn KhaldunIbn Khaldun
Ibn Khaldūn or Ibn Khaldoun was an Arab Tunisian historiographer and historian who is often viewed as one of the forerunners of modern historiography, sociology and economics...
described how Banu Hilal and other Arab tribes helped spread the Arab language in areas that had been Berber speaking. The Banu Hilal
Banu Hilal
The Banu Hilal were a confederation of Arabian Bedouin tribes that migrated from Upper Egypt into North Africa in the 11th century, having been sent by the Fatimids to punish the Zirids for abandoning Shiism. Other authors suggest that the tribes left the grasslands on the upper Nile because of...
, a Bedouin
Bedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
Arabian tribal confederation immigrated first to Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
reducing the percentage of Zenata
Zenata
Zenata were an ethnic group of North Africa, who were technically an Eastern Berber group and who are found in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco....
Berbers and Sanhaja
Sanhaja
The Sanhaja or Senhaja were once one of the largest Berber tribal confederations of the Maghreb, along with the Zanata and Masmuda...
Berber population in North Africa into a minority of its current Arab dominated population. The Banu Hilal, as well as the Banu Muqal, Jashm and others, eventually settled in parts of modern Morocco and Algeria.
Banu Sulaym in North Africa 1049 AD
The Banu Sulaym another Bedouin tribal confederation from HejazHejaz
al-Hejaz, also Hijaz is a region in the west of present-day Saudi Arabia. Defined primarily by its western border on the Red Sea, it extends from Haql on the Gulf of Aqaba to Jizan. Its main city is Jeddah, but it is probably better known for the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina...
followed through the trials of Banu Hilal
Banu Hilal
The Banu Hilal were a confederation of Arabian Bedouin tribes that migrated from Upper Egypt into North Africa in the 11th century, having been sent by the Fatimids to punish the Zirids for abandoning Shiism. Other authors suggest that the tribes left the grasslands on the upper Nile because of...
and helped them defeat the Zirids in the Battle of Gabis 1052 AD, and finally taking Kairuan in 1057 AD. The Banu Sulaym mainly settled and Arabized Libya, however, Berber minorities
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
still live in Libya.
Banu Hassan Mauritania 1644-1674 AD
The Banu Ma'qil is a Yemeni nomadic tribe that settled in Tunisia in the 13th century. The Banu Hassan a MaqilMaqil
The Maqil were an Arabian nomadic tribe that emigrated to the Maghreb region, with the Banu Hillal and Banu Sulaym tribes, in the 11th century. They mainly settled in and around Morocco's Saharan wolds and oases; in Tafilalet, Wad Nun , Draa and Taourirt...
branch moved into the Sanhaja
Sanhaja
The Sanhaja or Senhaja were once one of the largest Berber tribal confederations of the Maghreb, along with the Zanata and Masmuda...
region in what's today the Western Sahara and Mauritania, they fought a thirty years war on the side of the Lamtuna
Lamtuna
The Lamtuna were a powerful nomadic Berber tribe belonging to the Senhaja inhabiting the western Sahara.During the eighth century the Lamtuna created a kingdom out of a confederation of Berber tribes, which they dominated until the early tenth century. The Lamtuna probably did not convert to Islam...
Arabized Berbers who claimed Himyarite ancestry (from the early Islamic invasions) defeating the Sanhaja berbers and Arabizing Mauritania.
Islamic Iberia (Spain and Portugal)
After the Umayyad conquest of HispaniaUmayyad conquest of Hispania
The Umayyad conquest of Hispania is the initial Islamic Ummayad Caliphate's conquest, between 711 and 718, of the Christian Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania, centered in the Iberian Peninsula, which was known to them under the Arabic name al-Andalus....
, under Muslim rule
Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...
Spain incorporated elements of Arabic language and culture. The Mozarab
Mozarab
The Mozarabs were Iberian Christians who lived under Arab Islamic rule in Al-Andalus. Their descendants remained unconverted to Islam, but did however adopt elements of Arabic language and culture...
s were Iberian
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
s who lived under Islamic rule in Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...
. Their descendants remained unconverted to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, but did however adopt elements of Arabic language and culture. They were mostly Roman Catholics of the Visigothic or Mozarabic Rite
Mozarabic Rite
The Mozarabic, Visigothic, or Hispanic Rite is a form of Catholic worship within the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, and in the Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church . Its beginning dates to the 7th century, and is localized in the Iberian Peninsula...
. Most of the Mozarabs were descendants of Hispano
Hispania
Another theory holds that the name derives from Ezpanna, the Basque word for "border" or "edge", thus meaning the farthest area or place. Isidore of Sevilla considered Hispania derived from Hispalis....
–Gothic Christians and were primarily speakers of the Mozarabic language
Mozarabic language
Mozarabic was a continuum of closely related Romance dialects spoken in Muslim-dominated areas of the Iberian Peninsula during the early stages of the Romance languages' development in Iberia. Mozarabic descends from Late Latin and early Romance dialects spoken in the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th...
under Islamic rule. Many were also what the Arabist
Arabist
This is an article about the western scholars known as Arabists, not the political movement Pan-Arabism.An Arabist is someone normally from outside the Arab World who specialises in the study of the Arabic language and Arab culture, and often Arabic literature.-Origins:Arabists began in medieval...
Mikel de Epalza calls "Neo-Mozarabs", that is Northern Europe
Northern Europe
Northern Europe is the northern part or region of Europe. Northern Europe typically refers to the seven countries in the northern part of the European subcontinent which includes Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland and Sweden...
ans who had come to the Iberian Peninsula and picked up Arabic, thereby entering the Mozarabic community.
The Andalusian Arabic language was spoken in Spain during Islamic rule, it is now extinct.
Sudan
The Arab Ja'alin tribeJa'alin tribe
Ja'alin are an Arab, Semitic tribe. They formerly occupied the country on both banks of the Nile from Khartoum to Abu Hamad. They trace their lineage to Abbas, uncle of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. They are of Arab origin, but now of mixed blood mostly with upper Egyptians and nubians. They...
migrated into the Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
, and formerly occupied the country on both banks of the Nile
Nile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
from Khartoum
Khartoum
Khartoum is the capital and largest city of Sudan and of Khartoum State. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile flowing north from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile flowing west from Ethiopia. The location where the two Niles meet is known as "al-Mogran"...
to Abu Hamad
Abu Hamad
Abu Hamad , also spelt 'Abu Hamed') is a town of Sudan on the right bank of the Nile, 345 mi by rail north of Khartoum. It stands at the centre of the great S-shaped bend of the Nile, and from it the railway to Wadi Halfa strikes straight across the Nubian desert, a little west of the old...
. They trace their lineage to Abbas, uncle of the Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
. They are of Arab origin, but now of mixed blood mostly with upper Egypt
Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt is the strip of land, on both sides of the Nile valley, that extends from the cataract boundaries of modern-day Aswan north to the area between El-Ayait and Zawyet Dahshur . The northern section of Upper Egypt, between El-Ayait and Sohag is sometimes known as Middle Egypt...
ians and nubians
Nubians
The Nubians are an ethnic group originally from northern Sudan, and southern Egypt now inhabiting North Africa and some parts of East Africa....
. They emigrated to Nubia
Nubia
Nubia is a region along the Nile river, which is located in northern Sudan and southern Egypt.There were a number of small Nubian kingdoms throughout the Middle Ages, the last of which collapsed in 1504, when Nubia became divided between Egypt and the Sennar sultanate resulting in the Arabization...
in the 12th century. They were at one time subject to the Funj kings, but their position was in a measure independent. Johann Ludwig Burckhardt
Johann Ludwig Burckhardt
Johann Ludwig Burckhardt was a Swiss traveller and orientalist. He wrote his letters in French and signed Louis...
said that the true Ja'alin from the eastern desert of Sudan are exactly like the Bedouin
Bedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
of eastern Arabia. The Jaaliyin claim to be direct descendants of Abbas,uncle to prophet Mohammed, the messenger of the Islamic faith.
In 1888 the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain claimed that the Arabic spoken in Sudan was "a pure but archaic Arabic". The pronunciation of certain letters was like Syrian
Syrian Arabic
Syrian Arabic is a variety of Arabic spoken in Syria.-History:Syrian Arabic proper is a form of Levantine Arabic, and may be divided into South Syrian Arabic, spoken in the cities of Damascus, Homs and Hama, and North Syrian Arabic, spoken in the region of Aleppo. Allied dialects are spoken in...
, and not Egyptian
Egyptian Arabic
Egyptian Arabic is the language spoken by contemporary Egyptians.It is more commonly known locally as the Egyptian colloquial language or Egyptian dialect ....
, such as g being the pronunciation for Kaf and J being the pronunciation for Jim.
Sudan
In 1846, many Arab RashaidaRashaida people
The Rashaida or Rashaayda are an ethnic group populating Eritrea and north-east Sudan. In 1846, many Rashaida migrated from Hejaz in present day Saudi Arabia into what is now Eritrea and north-east Sudan after tribal warfare had broken out in their homeland...
migrated from Hejaz
Hejaz
al-Hejaz, also Hijaz is a region in the west of present-day Saudi Arabia. Defined primarily by its western border on the Red Sea, it extends from Haql on the Gulf of Aqaba to Jizan. Its main city is Jeddah, but it is probably better known for the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina...
in present day Saudi Arabia into what is now Eritrea and north-east Sudan after tribal warfare had broken out in their homeland. The Rashaida of Sudan and Eritrea live in close proximity with the Beja people
Beja people
The Beja people are an ethnic group dwelling in parts of North Africa and the Horn of Africa.-Geography:The Beja are found mostly in Sudan, but also in parts of Eritrea, and Egypt...
. Large numbers of Bani Rasheed
Bani Rasheed
Bani Rasheed , also known as Rashaida, is one of the largest tribes in the Arabian Peninsula. It is an Adnani tribe . The great-grandfather of the Bani Rasheed is Rasheed alZaul of the Banu Abs tribe....
are also found on the Arabian Peninsula.They are related to the Banu Abs
Banu Abs
The ' is an ancient Bedouin tribe from central Arabia, they branch from the powerful Ghatafan tribes. They still inhabit the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa. Of the earliest stories concerning this tribe was the famous classical love and war story of Antar and Abla...
tribe. The Rashaida speak Hejazi Arabic
Hejazi Arabic
Hejazi Arabic is a variety of the Arabic language spoken in the western region of Saudi Arabia...
.
Baggara Arabs
The Baggara Arabs who speak Shuwa Arabic migrated in Medieval times into Africa, currently they live in a belt stretching across SudanSudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
, Chad
Chad
Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west...
, Niger
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
, and Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
. Arabic is an official language of Chad.
Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia
Arabization means introduction of Arabic education and an increased usage of Arabic where French was used before. Governments in MaghrebMaghreb
The Maghreb is the region of Northwest Africa, west of Egypt. It includes five countries: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania and the disputed territory of Western Sahara...
(western Arab) countries have long promoted Arabization as a nationalist platform. Both Literary Arabic
Literary Arabic
Modern Standard Arabic , Standard Arabic, or Literary Arabic is the standard and literary variety of Arabic used in writing and in most formal speech....
and Dārija
Darija
Darija is the group of Arabic dialects spoken by Maghrebi Arabic speakers. It is only used for oral communication, with Modern Standard Arabic used for written communication...
are on the rise.
In Algeria, there is some tension between the Berber groups (such as the Kabyle people
Kabyle people
The Kabyle people are the largest homogeneous Algerian ethno-cultural and linguistical community and the largest nation in North Africa to be considered exclusively Berber. Their traditional homeland is Kabylie in the north of Algeria, one hundred miles east of Algiers...
) and the central Arab government which is encouraged by France and some other European countries which feed the Berbers feelings that their culture and language are threatened by Arabization.
Mauritania
Mauritania is an ethnically-mixed country that is economically and politically dominated by those who identify as Arabs and/or Arab-speaking Berbers. About 30% of the population is considered "Black African", and they suffer high levels of discrimination. Recent Black Mauritanian protesters have complained of "comprehensive Arabization" of the country.Sudan
Sudan is an ethnically-mixed country that is economically and politically dominated by the northern Sudanese who identify as Arabs and Muslims. The southern Sudanese are largely a Christian and Animist Nilotic people. The Second Sudanese Civil WarSecond Sudanese Civil War
The Second Sudanese Civil War started in 1983, although it was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil War of 1955 to 1972. Although it originated in southern Sudan, the civil war spread to the Nuba mountains and Blue Nile by the end of the 1980s....
(1983–2005) is typically characterized as a conflict between these two peoples. In 2011 South Sudan voted for secession
Southern Sudanese independence referendum, 2011
A referendum took place in Southern Sudan from 9 to 15 January 2011, on whether the region should remain a part of Sudan or become independent. The referendum was one of the consequences of the 2005 Naivasha Agreement between the Khartoum central government and the Sudan People's Liberation...
and the President of Sudan accepted it.
See also
- Arabic languageArabic languageArabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
- Arabic phonologyArabic phonologyWhile many languages have numerous dialects that differ in pronunciation, the Arabic language is more properly described as a continuum of varieties. This article deals primarily with Modern Standard Arabic, which is the standard variety shared by educated speakers throughout Arabic-speaking regions...
- ArabismArabismArabism, the Arabness, of a people, of culture.For movements in the Arab world, please see: Arab nationalism, pan-Arabism, Ba'athism. It can refer to both, race or/and culture...
- Literary ArabicLiterary ArabicModern Standard Arabic , Standard Arabic, or Literary Arabic is the standard and literary variety of Arabic used in writing and in most formal speech....
- Varieties of ArabicVarieties of ArabicThe Arabic language is a Semitic language characterized by a wide number of linguistic varieties within its five regional forms. The largest divisions occur between the spoken languages of different regions. The Arabic of North Africa, for example, is often incomprehensible to an Arabic speaker...
- IslamizationIslamizationIslamization or Islamification has been used to describe the process of a society's conversion to the religion of Islam...
- Cultural assimilationCultural assimilationCultural assimilation is a socio-political response to demographic multi-ethnicity that supports or promotes the assimilation of ethnic minorities into the dominant culture. The term assimilation is often used with regard to immigrants and various ethnic groups who have settled in a new land. New...