Hawwara

The Hawwara (Ihuwwaren, الهوارة), also spelled Huwwara, Howwara, Hewwara or Houara, is an Arab-Berber tribal confederation in the Maghreb, primarily in Tripolitania, with descendants in Upper Egypt and Sudan. Hawwara are amongst the most prominent tribes in Upper Egypt, with branches found mainly in Qena. In Sudan, they are labelled as Hawwaweer (هواوير) (plural of Hawwara), and have a significant political presence. The Hawwara were composed of numerous tribes and clans. Some of them are: the Addasa, the Andara, the Awtita, the Baswa, the Gharyan, the Haragha, the Banu Irmazyan, the Kaldin, the Kamlan, the Karkuda, the Lahan or Lahana, the Maghar, the Malila, the Maslata, the Mindasa or Mindas (Mandasa, Mandas), the Misrata, the Razin, the Satat, the Tarhuna, the Wannifan, the Warfalla, the Wargha, the Warsatifa, the Washtata, the Yaghmorasen, the Zakkawa and the Zanzafa. The Hawwara are the heirs of the ancient western Bavarians, in antiquity the Hawwara were one of the principal tribes located within the Masaesyli state. The traditional territory that was called Avaritana/Abaritana provincia by Quodvultdeus of Carthage later became known as “bilad Haouara”, country of the Haouara (of the Aurès) in the middle ages. During the Byzantine period the area called “Abaritana atque Getulia provincia” was a tribal principality and the Hawwara were one of the two major ruling confederations. Medieval historians have also attested the presence of the Hawwara in the Aurès region well before the arrival of the Arabs in the 7th century. Edrici placed the location of the Hawwara in the plains of M’Sila. From the 8th century to 12th century, the eastern boundaries of their land ran through Tawergha, Waddan, and Zella. Hawwara's territory was bordered to the east by the Mazata tribe. Families belonging to the Hawwara founded and ruled small Islamic kingdoms in Al-Andalus (Spain) such as the Taifa of Toledo and Taifa of Albarracín. The latter still being the name of a Spanish town named Albarracín or Al Banu Razin, a sub-tribe of Hawwara.