Khamseh Arabs

The Khamseh Arabs are the Arabic-speaking tribe (Il-e Arab) of the Khamseh confederation of Fars. They are made up of two tribes, the Sheybani and the Jabbareh, with more than 45 sub-tribes such as the Labomohammadi, Ghani, Shirazi and Mazidi. Tradition holds that their ancestors came from Arabia (Najd, Yamama, Yemen and Oman) after the Islamic conquests; the Sheybani arrived first, settling in Khorasan before moving to Fars, while the Jabbareh claim descent from Jabir ibn Abd Allah, a companion of the Prophet, through Sheikh Jinaah, who married into the Sheybani. In 1861-62 they were joined with the Basseri and the Turkic Inallu, Baharlu and Nafar in the Khamseh ('five') confederation under the Qavam ol-Molk of Shiraz. Their Arabic is an old Bedouin-type dialect that has absorbed much Persian, Turkish and Luri vocabulary and is hard for other Arabs to follow. English sources relate it to the Central Asian Arabic of Uzbekistan and Khorasan; Persian sources call it a Gulf Arabic dialect. They are distinct from the Arabs of Khuzestan and of the Gulf coast in dialect, region, Shia faith and pastoral way of life.

The Khamseh Arabs were long-range pastoral nomads, herding sheep, goats and camels between summer pastures in the uplands of Bavanat, Khorrambid and Sarchahan in north-eastern Fars and winter pastures around Sarvestan, Fasa, Darab, Jahrom and Larestan, some reaching Rudan and Ahmadi in northern Hormozgan. They lived in black goat-hair tents. Most have settled since the 1962 land reform and the 1979 revolution, though some families still migrate. Arab women are the most prolific weavers of Fars: about 40% of the province's hand-woven carpets come from Arab weavers, with Sarchahan a major centre, and Khamseh rugs are known for their many birds. They have become strongly Iranianised, celebrating Nowruz and sharing southern Iranian customs such as carved stone lions on graves. Tribal kinship, clan endogamy and hospitality structure social life.

The Khamseh Arabs are Twelver Shia. Muharram mourning, vows at imamzadeh shrines and pilgrimage to Shiraz and Mashhad are central; folk beliefs about the evil eye and saints' intercession are common. Their Shiism ties them to the Persian majority and separates them from the Sunni Arabs of the Gulf coast.

There is no Scripture, film or audio in Khamseh Arabic, a dialect that other Arabs find hard to understand. Most Khamseh Arabs are fluent in Persian, so the Persian Bible, JESUS Film, satellite broadcasts and online Persian Christian media are the most accessible resources; Standard Arabic Scripture is of limited use. No known believers or outreach.

Khamseh means 'the five'. In 1861-62 Naser al-Din Shah's government grouped five tribes of Fars, the Arab (Jabbareh and Sheybani), the Persian-speaking Basseri and the Turkic Inallu, Baharlu and Nafar, under the Qavam ol-Molk family of Shiraz to counter the Qashqai. The Arab tribe was the largest. The confederation lost its political role in the early 1930s, and most households settled after the 1962 land reform and the 1979 revolution.