List of Tribes
Any attempt to offer a comprehensive genealogy of Mahri tribes will almost inevitably face criticism by local consultants. For one, new tribes and lineages emerge and elide with each other, some disappear, and others migrate across the conceptual family tree. When a powerful lineage buds off from its parent tribe, members of that lineage may be keen to stress their independence. A tribe on the wane may be swallowed by another tribe, first as a dependent lineage (mawālī) and then as full members of that tribe. All of this occurs in an organic and continuous fashion. This means that no tribal classification is valid longer than a generation or two despite being described by local consultants as following the unalterable pattern of linear descent. Access to resources, social prestige, or territory is frequently based on family histories and the claims that come with them. Therefore, the arrangement of tribes in the Mahri family tree can have social and economic consequences for individual Mahra (although non-family related factors likely play a greater role in determining personal success or failure in republican-era al-Mahra).
With this caveat in mind, the classification of tribes presented below reflects the political reality of al-Mahra from 1990–2010. The written works I consulted and the interviews I conducted were all carried out during this period of time. The genealogy of tribes presented in Dostal’s Die Beduinen in Südarabien (1962) reflects an earlier era of al-Mahra’s history, and, although the general outlines remain the same, there have clearly been shifts in the hierarchical arrangement of lineages and tribes (a number of typographical errors in Dostal’s chart also add to the confusion). The following classification collates information from Qumayrī, 2003 (plus interviews with the author); Bākrīt, 1999; al-ʾAhdal, 2000; and consultations with numerous Mahra in formal and informal settings.
With this caveat in mind, the classification of tribes presented below reflects the political reality of al-Mahra from 1990–2010. The written works I consulted and the interviews I conducted were all carried out during this period of time. The genealogy of tribes presented in Dostal’s Die Beduinen in Südarabien (1962) reflects an earlier era of al-Mahra’s history, and, although the general outlines remain the same, there have clearly been shifts in the hierarchical arrangement of lineages and tribes (a number of typographical errors in Dostal’s chart also add to the confusion). The following classification collates information from Qumayrī, 2003 (plus interviews with the author); Bākrīt, 1999; al-ʾAhdal, 2000; and consultations with numerous Mahra in formal and informal settings.
| Tribe | Lineages (fakhāʾidh) | Shaykhly Lineage | Territory |
| Āl Kalšāt (Śrōyeḥ) | Bir Kalšāt Lḫayw: Bir Ḥmād Bir ʿAṣūd Bir Delfān Bir Maḥmūsh Bir Kalšāt ʿAlyū: Bir Ḥamdūn Bir Šebdīt Bir Šeydōh | Bir ʿAlyēn Bir Berkōn | al-Ghaydha, Ḥaṣwayn, Ṣaqr (Lḥayw), inland wādīs east and west of Raʾs Fartak (ʿAlyū) |
| Āl Ṣmōdā (Śrōyeḥ) | Bir Sʿīd Bir Nzūh Bir ʿAzēb Bir Šaʿjūl | Bir ʿAlī Bir ʿĀmer Bir Nāǧī | Ramāh, Mahrēt |
| Ǧēdeḥ (Śrōyeḥ) | Bayt Ḥāzem Bayt Ġnī Bayt Ḳēraʿ | Bir ʿAmrōten (from Bayt Ġnī) | Qishn (coastal and inland regions) |
| Bayt Maġfēḳ (Śrōyeḥ) | Mharḳeš Šēǧōh Mšaʿǧil Ṯmōh | ? | Źbūt/Ẓbūt (coastal and inland regions) |
| Ḳamṣeyt (Śrōyeḥ) | Bir ʿAfeyn Bir ʿAmrīt Saʿd b. Šāra Bir Saʿdeyn Bir Mehyōn Bir Fōmeh Bir Ḥamtōt | Bir Šāreb Bir Ḥamtōt | Źḥawn, Wādī Masīla, al-Farṭ |
| Bayt Yeshōl (Śrōyeḥ) | Bir Dībān Bir Mašʿal Bir Kešbān Bir Dlōk | Bir Kādān | al-Farṭ, Mḥayfīf, Mōbāh, Wādī Saʿf |
| Bayt Ṯawʿar (Śrōyeḥ) | Bir Ḳḥōr Bir ʿAmūš Bir Ḥāfer | Bir ʾAnīśer | Dhofār, (originally Ramāh, Mahrēt) |
| Āl Zyād (Šayḥaḥ) | Bir Ǧerhīm Bir Šaʿfān Bir ʿAkšōt Bir Ḥaǧzī | Bayt Seydīn | Sayḥūt and its outlying districts as far as ʿItāb and inland districts of Qishn |
| Āl Ḥrōyez (Šayḥaḥ) | Bir ʿAmr ʿAndīt Bir Remḥōn Bir Meǧrād Bir ʿAšōbeh Bir ʾEǧhīz Zōmeh | Bir ʿAmr | Šeyʿīt, Šiḥn, Wādī Šfīṣ, Źerbūt, inland districts of Qishn |
| Āl Zaʿbenōt (Šayḥaḥ) | Bayt Erebḫ Bayt Šemmeh Bayt Maʿkōf Bayt Ṣwāneḫ Bayt ʿAmrān | Bayt Erebḫ | Ḥebrōt and surrounding districts, Šiḥn, Fūǧēt |
| Bayt ʿAḳīd (Šayḥaḥ) | Barakāt Bir ʿĪsā | Bir ʿAwaź | ʿItāb |
| Bayt Mḥāmed (Šayḥaḥ) | Bir ʿItbāb Bir ʿArʿīr Bir ʿAlī ʿAbūd Bir Ḥasan | Bir ʿItbāb | ʿItāb |
| Bayt ʿAršī (Šayḥaḥ) | Bir Ḥayyēt Bir Ṣfāʿ Bir ʿAbūd | ? | Rḫūt, inland district between Sayḥūt and ʿItāb |
| Āl Mismār (Šayḥaḥ) | Bir Sālim Bir ʿInāq Bir Msallim Bir ʿAmr Bir Salīm | ? | Darfāt, Qishn |
| Bayt Kuddah (Ṣāʿir/Ṣār/Sār) | Bayt Ḥanbeźōt Bayt Ḫamīs Bayt ʿAlawī Bayt ʿAyšeḳ Bayt Šeytem Bayt ʿAlanāt Bayt ʿAwn | Bir Šamlān | al-Ghaydha, al-Fatk |
| Bayt al-Mǧāḏeb (Ṣāʿir/Ṣār/Sār) | Bayt ʿAli Muqaddam Bayt Ṭōleʿ Bayt Sakrūn | Bir ʿAlī Muqaddam | District of Ḥawf, al-Ghaydha, Hrūt, inland of Jabal Fatk |
| Bayt Rāfīt/Raʿfīt (Ṣāʿir Ṣār/Sār) | Bir al-Ṣaff Bir Ǧamḥī Bir ʿAmer Bir Mabrūk Bir Barakāt Bir Yāsir Bir Salmān | Bir Yāsir | Źbūt, Ḥawf |
| Bayt al-Sulaymī (Ṣāʿir/Ṣār/Sār) | Bayt Šōbī Bayt Mušaʿǧil Bayt Martawī Bayt Ġazī | Bir Mušāʿǧil | Niśṭōn, east of Jabal Fartak |
| Bayt Mhōmed (Ṣāʿir/Ṣār/Sār) | Bayt Maḥṣōn Bayt Ḳašʿōt Bayt Kzēh Bayt Ǧeblīt | ? | Jabal Fatk, Wādī Šafwāt, Damḳawt, Ḥabrūt |
| Bayt Ḥaydereh (Ṣāʿir/Ṣār/Sār) | Bir ʾEṭfēl Bir ʾEznūd Bir Ḥasan Bir Brīk Bir Šedōleh Bir Belšūḫ | Bir ʾEṭfēl | |
| Āl ʿAfrār (“sulṭanly” lineage) | al-Ṭawʿarā | al-Ṭawʿarā | Soqōṭrā, Qishn |
| Āl Belḥāf (sacerdotal lineage) | Bir Ḫwayṭer Bir Šamīlōh Bir ʿAbdallāh Bir Ṣweyfer Bir Hemīš | Bir Ḫwayṭer Bir Šamīlōh Bir Ṣweyfer | Yarūb, al-Feydamī, Damḳawt, Ḥāt |
| Bir Sāteyn | Bayt Baʿṯer Bayt ʿAwaź Bayt Dāneyn | Bir Makrēdōh | Marʿayt |
| Bayt Neymer | Hrōt | ||
| Bayt Ḳarḥeyf | Ḥawf, Damḳawt | ||
| Bayt Mṣaddaʿ | Ǧāḏeb | ||
| Al-Qumayrī (Mahri speaking but not indigenous to al-Mahra) | Bayt ʿAlī Bayt ʿAmrān Bayt Ǧerʿāt Bayt Kamšūš | Damḳawt, Ǧāḏeb, Ḥawf, Jibāl al-Qamar | |
| Āl Bā Kathīr (Arabic monolingual, from Ḥaḍramawt) | Bayt Ḍarār/Khawār Bayt Dūnīt Bayt Ṣandal Bayt Mahrajūn Bayt ʿAydūn Bayt Yamānī Bayt Kabkabī | Ḥabarūt Karyūt |