Mawali (tribe)

The Mawali (Arabic: مَوَالِي, romanized: Mawālī) are an Arab tribe based in northwestern and central Syria, mainly in the regions of Idlib and Hama.

The tribe's origins are obscure, but by the 16th century it combined semi-nomadic sheepherders and camel-raising nomads of different origins. At that time, their leading family was the Al Fadl (also called Al Hayar), whose chiefs had been formally recognized as the amir al-arab (commander of the Bedouin) of the Syrian steppe since the Ayyubid period in the 13th century. The Ottomans, who conquered Syria in 1517, initially sought to force the tribe's submission, but by 1574 recognized the Mawali's emirs in this office, after which the Al Hayar became known as the Al Abu Risha (possessors of the plume).

The Mawali continued to be the dominant tribe of the Syrian steppe until the late 18th century when they were driven out by the Hassana, newcomers belonging to the great Anaza confederation of Arabia. The Mawali thereafter took abode in the Jabal Zawiya and Jabal al-A'la highlands of northwestern Syria. They continued to wield significant influence in the Hama Sanjak and were entrusted with policing duties to protect the villages there from Bedouin raids. Nevertheless, their capacities continued to diminish. Leaders of the tribe, particularly from the Khurfan family, played a significant role helping resettle the desert fringes around Hama in the mid-19th century.

During French rule, the Mawali, by then a semi-nomadic sheepherding tribe, joined the Syrian nationalist cause, fighting the French in the Great Syrian Revolt (1925–1927). Throughout the 1920s and early 1930s they were in frequent war with the Hadidiyin tribe, which had friendly relations with the authorities. The tribe is fully settled and inhabits around sixty villages in the Idlib Governorate and the Hama Governorate. During the Syrian civil war, the Mawali fought in the ranks of the Syrian opposition against the Syrian government.