Page 24 - A Hand book of Arabia Vol 1 (iii) Ch 3

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54 the bedouin tribes

palm gardens at Ilumficli, and can, therefore, be coeiced into good
behaviour. He is not a man of much intelligence, and prefers, to
any active share in politics, a cpiiet life and the peaceful enjo} ment
of the position left him by his father, Suleiman esh-Sharqi, who was
a commanding figure in the ’Iraq. Ibn Qu ad camps mostly on the
east bank of the Euphrates.
DULEIM
Tribe. Sub-Tribe. Clan.
3,000 tents 4Ali Suleiman esh- Shared ' Mahnmidah
Ibn Qu‘ad Abu 7c?a
Qlire it
Abu Alwan
1
Abu Fahd
i
I Red mi
.-l&w ‘U bey yah
: Abu Nemis
3. The. Jebelhjuh (or Zobeid).
The JEBELlYAH are a loose confederation of independent tribes
acknowledging no common Sheikh, but united by common interests
and conditions. They are known either as the Jebell\-ah or by the
older name of Zobeid (Zubeid). They inhabit the volcanic districts
to east and south of the Jebel Hauran and the Lejah between the
Hauran hills and Damascus. They own a little cultivated land,
mainly in the Ruhbah, and flocks of sheep, but few camels. They
are, as a whole, poor and of bad reputation ; like all tribes on the
frontier of the desert they rob and pillage their neighbours, the
settled inhabitants, but they usually escape unpunished ; for the
Sultan’s writ fails*a few miles out of Damascus, and the stony
camping grounds of the Jebeliyah are difficult of approach.
The Ghiyadh used to plunder the desert post when it travelled
fortnightly across the desert to Baghdad. Since its cessation, in
1912, they have occupied the outlying Turkish station, the qishlah
east of Dhumeir, which was abandoned by the gendarmerie. The
.•
Jebeliyah are close allies of the Druzes, of whom they stand in awe.
*. • They pasture the Druze flocks in the low-lying Safa durum the
winter, and in summer come up into the foot-hills of the Jebel
Hauran. They are usually on bad terms with the Anazah, and
steal the sheep and camels of the Wuld 'Ali and Hasanah whenevei
an opportunity offers; and they are always at feud with the Ben
Sakhr, who are the foes of the Druzes.

The Masa‘id are said to be the most numerous of the Jebellyal
tribes ; the Ghiyadh are next in importance.
The ‘Isa, though they range Jebel Duruz and are classed vuUmrl'
as Zobeid, are of Sakhr stock and acknowledge the kinship °Th
tribes of Jebel Duruz and the Lejah are only a part of the Zobeid
Another large group is found east of the Tigris and is’ Shiah Th
.* *
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