Huwala people

Huwala (Arabic: الهولة, sing. Huwali هولي) also collectively referred to as Bani Huwala, is a blanket term usually used to refer to Iranian Arabs of tribal lineage who initially migrated to Iran in the 13th and 14th century and intermixed with the indigenous population of older Arabic-speaking background.^[2] Such migrations continued till around 19th century to the area which is now Iran's Hormozgan Province and Fars Province, mainly Bandar Abbas, Qishm, and the mainland near Bandar Lengeh.^[3][4] The Huwala follows Sunni Islam, as opposed the majority Persian Twelver Shia and similar to Sunni Peninsular Arabs. Most of the Huwala have remigrated back to the Arabian Peninsula between late 19th century and early 20th century. The imposition of restrictive economic policies by Reza Shah in the 1930s led to the migration of most of the Huwala back to the Arabian Peninsula.^[5]

The term "Huwala" does not refer to Sunni Larestani Achomi families such as Awadhi, Kandari, Janahi, Khaloori, Zarooni, and Bastaki.^{[6][7][8][9][10]} It specifically refers to the actual Arab Huwalas (Arab El-Sahel), which encompasses the Qawasem, Hammadi, Al Nasur/Nassour, Obaidli, and Bani Tamim tribes.^{[11][12][13][14]}

The original Huwalas are commonly referred to as Arab el-Sahel el-Shargi (Arabic: عرب الساحل الشرقي),^[9][8] or simply Arab Faris (Arabic: عرب فارس),^[15] but some of them prefer not to be called Huwalas as the term is used for Achomis in the Gulf. On the other hand, Achomis sometimes choose to identify themselves as Huwalas due to societal pressure to assimilate.^[6]

Although Huwalas and Achomis have lived in close proximity to each other in Southern Iran, they are genetically dissimilar. Huwalas are relatively recent inhabitants of Southern Iran migrating from Arabia over the past five centuries. However, some have been residing there since the Sassanians, such as the Bani Tamim tribe.

Some families of non-Arab origins have adopted the surnames of Arabian Huwala tribes.^[16] For example, they are often Hammadi and Marzooqi only in name.

Huwala (Arabic: الهولة), is a plural Arabic term for Huwali (Arabic: هولي), which is a word derived from the Arabic verb Huwwal (Arabic: حوّل) which means "to change over". A book by Dejanirah Couto and Rui Loureiro into Portuguese interactions in Hormuz defines Huwala as "migrant Arabs".^[17]

Little is known about the Arab migrants who settled on the Iranian coast between Bushehr and Lengeh in the late 1500s. They were a disparate group of small tribes of sailors, traders, fishermen, pearl divers, and cultivators. Although they were all referred to as the Bani Hula, they were not a uniform group. In fact, they were each other's fiercest competitors for access to the pearl banks.

— The Persian Gulf: The Hula Arabs of The Shibkuh Coast of Iran by Willem Floor

Author Lawrence G. Potter defines Huwala as

..Groups of Sunni Arabs that migrated from Oman and the eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula to the Iranian side the Gulf, between Bushehr and Bandar Abbas, probably starting in the eighteenth century. They eventually returned to the Arab side, especially after the discovery of oil and the imposition of restrictive economic policies by Reza Shah in the 1930s

— The Persian Gulf in History by Lawrence G. Potter

In the 18th century, the Arab Al Qasimi tribal affiliation, once a major maritime power, took control of southern Iranian coasts and islands around Bandar Lengeh. In 1779 the Iranian Zand dynasty acknowledged a fait accompli and recognized a Qasimi as local ruler (farmandar) of Bandar Lengeh. At about the same time the Zands allowed the British East India Company to establish its residency and presence in Bushehr. The Qasimis remained in control of Bandar Lengeh and surrounding region until 1887, when they were defeated by the British in their self proclaimed “anti-piracy” campaign which Emirati based scholars (including current Sharjah ruler Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi) argue was a myth used to dominate trade routes to India and Iraq. The Qasimis retreated to the southern coast of the Gulf, and their Iranian domains reverted to nominal rule by Tehran.

The Achomi (Larestani) Iranian population lived on the coast alongside the Qasimis. They prospered under Al Qasimi rule as merchants in pearl trading. Author John W. Limbert argues that in response to Reza Shah Pahlavi's policies of centralization, conscription, civil status reforms, and, most important, the forced unveiling of women led to many of the Achomis to follow the Qasimis back to the Arabian Peninsula, further mixing the Huwala's Arabic and Persian roots.

Mahyawa, a tangy Iranian/Achomi cuisine fish sauce was also introduced by the Huwala Arabs to the Arabian peninsula and many associate the sauce with the Achomis. However, the Huwala Arabs do not use the word Mahyawa, they refer to it as Tarih (طريح).^[5]

Contemporary historians of that period, such as Niebuhr, Lorimer, David Seton, and others, did not neglect to record for us a huge number of political and social events in the Gulf during the period preceding the period of the recent migration of the inhabitants of the southern Iranian region to the Gulf states during the reign of Shah Reza Pahlavi at the beginning of the twentieth century AD.^[12][14][18] We find in these historians a clear description of the identity of the true Huwala Arabs according to geographical and social standards.^{[12]: 17 [14]: 63 [18]}

These historians agree geographically that the Huwala Arabs live in a specific geographical area starting from Bandar Kanj in the south and reaching Bandar Kangan in the north, and from the coast of the Arabian Gulf in the west to the region of the (Shibkoh) mountains in the east. This geographical area is called the Shibkoh (شيبكوه) region, meaning the sloping mountain, and there are no Huwala Arabs according to this description in the regions outside this region, such as the Bandar Abbas, Bastak, Bushehr, Falamarz, Ahvaz or Abdan regions.^{[12]: 17-18, 19 [14]: 63-64, 67 [18]}

According to the Saudi historian Jalal Al-Haroon, there are two types of Huwalas:^[12][14]

• The first type consists of the original Arabs who migrated to Southern Iran from Coastal Eastern Arabia during the 16th and 17th centuries, such as the Bani Hammad, Qawasim, Obaildi, and Al-Haram.^[12][14] The first type of Huwalas are now referred to Arab Fāris (عرب فارس) or Arab al-Sāḥil (عرب الساحل).^[12][14][19]
• The second type of Huwalas refers to the indigenous people of Southern Iran who resided under the rule of the aforementioned tribes and later migrated back with them to Arabia during the 20th century after the invasion by the Iranian government.^[12][14]

The Huwala seem to have a different origin to other Iranian Arabs such as Khuzestanis or Ahwazis, according to scholarly consensus and Huwala's own origin narrative, they immigrated from numerous areas of Eastern Arabia, some from Tarout near Al-Qatif, Bahrain and the Qatari peninsula and other areas of Eastern Arabia such as Coastal Oman (Modern day UAE). Mainly Sunni Arab maritime families moved due to economic reasons and famine, settling in Southern Iran at different times throughout the 17th to 19th century. They settled on the coasts of Southern Iran.

Many Huwala are bilingual, speaking both Arabic and Persian throughout their history.^{[citation needed][according to whom?]}

Many families speaking a Gulf dialect of Arabic in Iran before the forced partial Persianization by the Pahlavi dynasty discouraging and outright banning Arabic being taught in their areas and enacting policies that supported the break up and banning of tribal identification.^{[citation needed]} Many Huwala families were forced to drop their Arab surnames in favor of city based surnames when signing up for schools or dealing with the Iranian state.^{[citation needed]} These policies encouraged many Huwala families to move back to the Arab states of the Gulf, many moving to the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain, who offered them refuge and citizenship.

Modern Huwala families have a greater proportion of Arab ancestry than Persian ancestry, with most individuals having Arabian lineage on their paternal side (Y-DNA). They share common paternal ancestors with Arabians from the Arabian Peninsula, and their last shared ancestors typically date back to the last few centuries. This indicates their migration to the southern coast of Iran took place during that period.

Zur is a reasonably large town which is fortifies in the local manner and which has some pieces of artillery. it is inhabited by a tribe of Huwala called Qawasim these have been in earlier times subject to the imam of muscat but they do not recognise his authority any more

— Baron van Kniphausen, The Blood-red Arab Flag: An Investigation Into Qasimi Piracy, 1797-1820 By Charles E. Davies, p.173

Historical sources tell us that the "Al-Hawla Arabs" do not descend from a single tribe, but rather they descend from a union of several specific Arab tribes. We must focus here on the word “specific,” as the tribes belonging to the "Huwala Arabs" are the following tribes:^{[12]: 18 [14]: 64-66}

The people of Bastak, Khonj, and Awad (Persian: عوض, romanized: Evaz) in Iran are surprised by the claim of their Arab lineage and completely reject it. As the saying goes, "The people of Mecca know its pathways best," so why do some insist on claiming the "Arabness" of these regions?

— A forum user commented.^[9]

It is known that many Achomi sunni families changed their names (especially in Bahrain), having added Arabic "Al-" (ال) to their names,^[6] whilst others completely changed their names.^[16] Based on a study in 2013, the researcher noted: the linguistic and religious situation of Sunni Persians in Bahrain is thorny and sometimes it is intentionally confused between "Hole\Hawala Arabs" and "Sunni Persians".^[10] The same study also claims that Sunni Achomis did not face any systematic racism.^[10] In Achomi/Laristani blogs they claim they changed their names to either avoid racism or easily blend in.^[6] There is a similar issue in Kuwait. Likewise some sources intentionally (or unintentionally) list non-Arab families are "Huwala Arabs."^[20] Additionally; the Arabic Wikipedia page used to list non-Arab families as Huwala Arabs, this can be connected to the bias and politicization of Arabic Wikipedia.

• Arab-Persians
• Ajam of Bahrain
• Ajam of Kuwait
• History of Bahrain
• History of Kuwait
• Culture of Eastern Arabia

• Huwala/Arab El-Sahel DNA Project