The steppe and desert on the right bank of the middle Euphrates, from the wells and springs of Kubaysa behind Hit to the desert behind Haditha and Ana, is Bedouin country, between the river towns of the caliph and the Syrian steppe where the Al Fadl of Tayy range.
Which tribes held it in the winter of 1199-1200 is not pinned: the Ubada, an old tribe of the Uqayl family named among the caliph's Bedouin auxiliaries in 598 (1201-1202), may be among them, but their range in this period is not established in the sources read (in modern times the Ubada live in the lower Euphrates country).
Who holds it
- Title
- Chiefs (shaykhs) of the Bedouin clans of the Euphrates desert
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not pinned
- Family
- not pinned
- Confidence
- low
No chief of this tribe is named for the winter of 1199-1200 in the sources read.
Overlord
The caliph claims their service when he can pay for it.
What it holds
Tribal range held by custom and force.
Allies and rivals
See summary.
How things stand that morning
Bedouin country outside the river towns; tribes and chiefs not pinned.
Wealth
Herds, escort and protection payments from the river towns and caravans, raids.
Military
Bedouin horsemen.
Threats
- the caliph's river garrisons
- the Bedouin of the Syrian steppe
Customs and assemblies
Ruled by their shaykhs.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Desert range drawn from the geography; the tribes holding it in 1200 are not named in the sources read.
On the map: Rough desert range; the tribes are not pinned.
Primary sources for The Bedouin
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- History of the Observant Traveller (A Traveller in Thirteenth-Century Arabia), Ibn al-Mujawir (Jamal al-Din Yusuf ibn Ya'qub) (about 1226 to 1232). A merchant-traveller's description of western and southern Arabia a generation after 1200: Mecca and the Hijaz ports, the Red Sea crossing, Zabid and the Tihama, Aden with its customs and tariffs, the Hadramawt coast, Dhofar and Oman, Socotra, and the opposite African shore at Zeila and the Dahlak islands. Read online
Sources and studies
- Arabic Wikipedia: al-Dawla al-Uyuniyya (after Ibn al-Muqarrab's diwan and its commentary)
- Abbas al-Azzawi, Asha'ir al-Iraq (on the Ubada)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.