Marsh Arabs
304736
225646518
2008-07-14T18:41:05Z
128.195.178.160
/* Films */
{{Infobox Ethnic group
|group = Marsh Arabs<br>
<small>''معدان '', ''Maˤdān''</small>
| image=
| caption =
|population = 500,000<ref>[http://www.iraqmarshes.org/Documents/Final%20Report/IRAQ%20MARSHLANDS-chapter1.pdf USAID], iraqmarshes.org</ref>
|poptime =
|region1 = '''Middle East'''
|pop1 =
|ref1 =
|region2 = {{flagcountry|Iraq}}
|pop2 = 125-150,000
|ref2 = <ref>[http://www.iraqmarshes.org/Documents/Final%20Report/IRAQ%20MARSHLANDS-chapter1.pdf USAID], iraqmarshes.org</ref>
|region3 = {{flagcountry|Iran}}
|pop3 = unknown
|ref3 =
<br>
|langs = [[Arabic]]
|rels = [[Shia Islam]]
|related = [[Iranian Arabs]]
}}
The '''Marsh Arabs''' ({{lang-ar|عرب الأهوار}} ''ˤArab al-Ahwār'' "Arabs of the Marshlands"), also known as the '''Maˤdān''' ({{lang-ar|معدان}}) are inhabitants of the [[Tigris-Euphrates_river_system|Tigris-Euphrates marshlands]] in the south and east of [[Iraq]] and along the [[Iran|Iranian]] border.
Comprising members of many different tribes and tribal confederations, such as the Āl Bū Muhammad, [[Feraigat]], [[Shaghanba]] and [[Bani Lam]], the Maˤdān had developed a unique culture centred around the marshes' natural resources. Many of the marshes' inhabitants were displaced and the wetlands themselves destroyed during and after the [[1991 uprisings in Iraq]].
==Culture==
[[Image:Iraqi mudhif interior.jpg|thumb|200px|The interior of an Iraqi ''mudhif'']]
''Maˤdān'' means "dweller in the plains (''ˤadan'')" and was used disparagingly by desert tribes to refer to those inhabiting the Iraqi river basins and by those who farmed in the river basins to refer to the population of the marshes.<ref name=thesigerp58>[[Wilfred Thesiger]], ''The Marsh Arabs'', Penguin, 1967, p.92</ref> There was a considerable historic prejudice against the Maˤdān, partly as they were considered to have [[Persian people|Persian]] or other "mixed" origin and partly due to their practice of temporary marriage.<ref name=nakashp47>Yitzak Nakash, ''The Shiis of Iraq'', Princeton University Press, 2003, p. 47</ref>
The Maˤdān speak a local [[dialect]] of [[Iraqi Arabic]] and traditionally wore a variant of normal Arab dress: for males, a long shirt or ''[[thawb]]'' (in recent times, occasionally with a Western-style jacket over the top) and a ''[[keffiyeh]]'' headcloth worn twisted around the head in a [[turban]] as few could afford an ''[[Agal (accessory)|ˤiqāl]]''.
===Agriculture===
The society of the Marsh Arabs was divided into two main groups by occupation. One group bred and raised [[domestic buffalo]], while others cultivated [[agriculture|crops]] such as [[rice]], [[barley]], [[wheat]] and [[pearl millet]]; they also kept some [[sheep]] and [[cattle]]. Rice cultivation was especially important; it was carried out in small plots cleared in April and sown in mid-May. Cultivation seasons were marked by the rising and setting of certain stars, such as the [[Pleiades]] and [[Sirius]].<ref name=thesigerp174>Thesiger, p.174</ref>
Some branches of the Maˤdān were [[nomads|nomadic]] [[pastoralist]]s, erecting temporary dwellings and moving buffalo around the marshes according to the season. Some fishing, especially of species of [[barbel]] (''[[Barbus]]'' sp., notably the ''binni'' or ''bunni'', ''Barbus sharpeyi'') was practised using spears and [[datura]] poison, but large-scale fishing using nets was until recent times regarded as a dishonourable profession by the Maˤdān and was mostly carried out by a separate low-status tribe known as the ''[[Berbera (people)|Berbera]]''.<ref name=Thesigerp92>Thesiger, p.92</ref> By the early 1990s, however, up to 60% of the total amount of fish caught in Iraq's inland waters came from the marshes.<ref name=USAID>[[USAID]] [http://www.iraqmarshes.org/Documents/Final%20Report/IRAQ%20MARSHLANDS-Chapter%209.pdf Iraq Marshlands Restoration Program Final Report, Chapter 9]</ref>
In the later twentieth century a third main occupation entered Marsh Arab life; the [[weaving]] of [[Phragmites|reed]] mats on a commercial scale. Though they often earned far more than workers in [[agriculture]], weavers were looked down upon by both Maˤdān and farmers alike: however, financial concerns meant that it gradually gained acceptance as a respectable profession.
===Religion===
The majority of Marsh Arabs are [[Shia Islam|Shia]] muslims, though in the marshes small communities of [[Mandean]]s (often working as boat builders and craftsmen) lived alongside them.<ref name=thesigerp127>Thesiger, p.127</ref> The inhabitants' long association with tribes within Persia may have influenced the spread of the Shia denomination within the marshes. [[Wilfred Thesiger]] commented that while he met few Marsh Arabs who had performed the [[Hajj]], many of them had made the pilgrimage to [[Meshed]] (thereby earning the title of ''Zair'');<ref name=thesigerp55>Thesiger, p.55</ref> a number of families also claimed descent from the [[Islamic prophet]] [[Muhammad]], adopting the title of ''[[Sayyid]]'' and [[dyeing]] their ''keffiyeh'' green.
The Maˤdān carried out the majority of their devotions in private as there were no places of worship within the Marshes; some were known to visit [[Ezra's Tomb]], one of the few religious sites of any kind in the area.<ref name=raphaeli>Raphaeli, N. ''[http://memrieconomicblog.org/bin/content.cgi?article=15#_edn7 The Destruction of Iraqi Marshes and Their Revival]'', memri.org</ref>
===Society===
As with most tribes of southern Iraq, the main authority was the tribal [[shaikh]]. To this day, the shaikh of a Marsh Arab group will collect a [[tribute]] from his tribe in order to maintain the ''[[mudhif]]'', the tribal guesthouse which acts as the [[politics|political]], [[society|social]], [[justice|judicial]] and [[religion|religious]] centre of Marsh Arabic life. The ''mudhif'' is used as a place to settle disputes, to carry out [[diplomacy]] with other tribes and as a gathering point for religious and other celebrations. It is also the place where visitors are offered [[hospitality]]. Although the tribal shaykh was the principal figure, each Maˤdān village (which may have contained members of several different tribes) would also follow the authority of the hereditary ''[[qalit]]'' "headman" of a tribe's particular section.
[[Bedouin_systems_of_justice#Blood_feud_protocols|Blood feuds]], which could only be settled by the ''qalit'', were a feature of Marsh Arab life, in common with that of the Arab [[bedouin]]. Many of the Marsh Arabs' [[Honor codes of the Bedouin|codes of behaviour]] were similar to those of the desert tribes.
[[Image:Marsh Arabs in a mashoof.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Marsh Arabs poling a ''mashoof'']]
Most Marsh Arabs lived in arched reed houses considerably smaller than a ''mudhif''. The typical dwelling was usually a little more than 2 meters wide, about 6 meters long, and a little less than three meters high, and was either constructed at the waterside or on an artificial [[island]] of reeds called a ''kibasha''; a more permanent island of layered reeds and mud was called a ''dibin''.<ref name=thesigerp75>Thesiger, p.75</ref> Houses had entrances at both ends and a screen in the middle; one end was used as a dwelling and the other end (sometimes extended with a ''sitra'', a long reed structure) was used to shelter animals in bad weather. A ''raba'' was a higher-status dwelling, distinguished by a north-facing entrance, which also served as a guesthouse where there was no ''mudhif''.<ref name=thesigerp71>Thiesiger, p.71</ref> Traditional boats (the ''[[mashoof]]'' and ''[[tarada]]'') were used as transport: the Maˤdān would drive buffaloes through the reedbeds during the season of low water to create channels for the boats, which would then be kept open by constant use.<ref name=thesigerp70>Thesiger, p.70</ref>
The marsh environment meant that certain diseases, such as [[bilharzia]] and [[malaria]], were endemic;<ref name=Thesigerp85>Thesiger, p.85, 108</ref> Maˤdānī agriculture and homes were also vulnerable to periodic droughts and flooding.
==1991 - 2003==
The marshes had for some time been considered a refuge for elements persecuted by the government of [[Saddam Hussein]], as in past centuries they had been a refuge for escaped [[slavery|slaves]] and [[serfdom|serfs]], such as during the [[Zanj Rebellion]]. By the mid 1980s, a low-level [[insurgency]] against [[Ba'athist]] drainage and resettlement projects had developed in the area, led by Sheik Abdul Kerim Mahud al-Muhammadawi of the Al bu Muhammad under the ''[[nom de guerre]]'' Abu Hatim.<ref name=colep12>[[Juan Cole]], ''[http://www.indiana.edu/~nelc/lectures/Wadie%20Jwaideh%20-%2004%20-%20Juan%20Cole%20(2005).pdf Marsh Arab Rebellion]'', [[University of Indiana]], 2005, p.12</ref>
During the 1970s, the expansion of [[irrigation]] projects had begun to disrupt the flow of water to the marshes. However, after the [[First Gulf War]] ([[1991]]) the Iraqi government aggressively revived a program to divert the flow of the [[Tigris River]] and the [[Euphrates River]] away from the marshes in retribution for a [[1991 uprisings in Iraq|failed Shia uprising]]. This was done primarily to eliminate the food source(s) of the Marsh Arabs and to prevent any remaining militiamen from taking refuge in the marshes, the [[Badr Organization|Badr Brigades]] and other militias having used them as cover. The plan, which was accompanied by a series of [[propaganda]] articles by the Iraqi regime directed against the Ma'dan,<ref name=fisk>[[Robert Fisk]], ''The Great War for Civilisation'', Harper, London 2005, p.844</ref> systematically converted the [[wetlands]] into a [[desert]], forcing the residents out of their settlements in the region. Villages in the marshes were attacked and burnt down and there were reports of the water being deliberately poisoned.<ref name=unep2>,[http://www.grid.unep.ch/activities/sustainable/tigris/mesopotamia.pdf The Mesopotamian Marshlands: Demise of an Ecosystem] [[UNEP]], p. 44 </ref>
The majority of the Ma'dan were displaced either to areas adjacent to the drained marshes, abandoning their traditional lifestyle in favour of conventional agriculture, to towns and camps in other areas of Iraq or to [[Iran|Iranian]] refugee camps. Only 1,600 of them were estimated to still be living on traditional ''dibins'' by 2003.<ref name=Colep13>Cole, p.13</ref> The western [[Hammar Marshes]] and the Qurnah or [[Central Marshes (Iraq)|Central Marshes]] had become completely desiccated, while the eastern [[Huwaizah Marshes]] had dramatically shrunk.
==Since 2003==
With the ending of a four year drought in 2003, and the breaching of dykes by local communities subsequent to the [[2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq]], the process has been reversed and the marshes have experienced a substantial rate of recovery. The permanent wetlands now cover more than 50% of 1970s levels, with a remarkable regrowth of the Hammar and Huwaizah Marshes and some recovery of the Central Marshes.<ref>[http://www.grid.unep.ch/product/poster/images/iraqi_marshlandsb Iraqi Marshlands: Steady Progress to Recovery] ([[UNEP]])</ref>
Efforts to restore the marshes have led to signs of their gradual revivification as water is restored to the former [[desert]], but the whole [[ecosystem]] may take far longer to restore than it took to destroy. Only a few thousand of the nearly half million Marsh Arabs remain in the area. Most of the rest that can be accounted for are refugees living in other Shia areas in [[Iraq]], or have emigrated to [[Iran]], and many do not wish to return to their former home and lifestyle, which despite its independence was characterised by extreme poverty and hardship. A [[USAID]] report noted that while some Ma'dan had chosen to return to their traditional activities in the marshes, especially the Hammar Marsh, within a short time of reflooding, they were without clean drinking water, sanitation, health care or education facilities.<ref name=USAID2>[[USAID]] [http://www.iraqmarshes.org/Documents/Final%20Report/IRAQ%20MARSHLANDS-chapter1.pdf Iraq Marshlands Restoration Program Final Report, Chapter 1]</ref> In addition, it is still uncertain if the marshes will completely recover, given increased levels of water abstraction from the Tigris and Euphrates.
Many of the resettled Marsh Arabs have gained representation through the [[Hezbollah_Movement_in_Iraq|Iraqi Hizbullah]] organisation; others have become followers of [[Moqtada al-Sadr]]'s movement, through which they gained political control of [[Maysan Governorate]].<ref name=colep14>Cole, p.14</ref> Political instability and local feuds, aggravated by the poverty of the dispossessed Marsh Arab population, remain a serious problem.<ref name=cole>See Cole, pp.24-33</ref>
==Literature==
The way of life of the Marsh Arabs was chronicled by [[Sir Wilfred Thesiger]] in his classic book ''The Marsh Arabs'' (1964). Thesiger lived with the Marsh Arabs for months at a time over a seven-year period (1951-1958), building excellent relationships with virtually all he met, and recording the details of day-to-day life in various regions of the marshes. Many of the areas that he visited have since been drained.
[[Gavin Maxwell]], the Scottish naturalist, travelled with Thesiger through the marshes in 1956 and published an account of their travels in his 1957 book ''A Reed Shaken by the Wind''.
There are relatively few other accounts of the Ma'dan; one was jointly published in 1927 by a British colonial administrator, Stuart Edwin Hedgecock, and his wife.<ref name=rikkan>Fulanain (S. E. and M. G. Hedgecock) ''Haji Rikkan: Marsh Arab'', Chatto & Windus, London, 1927</ref> [[Gertrude Bell]] also visited the area.<ref name=bell>See Letters at [http://www.gerty.ncl.ac.uk/ The Gertrude Bell Project], [[Newcastle University]].</ref> [[T. E. Lawrence]] passed through in 1916, stopping at [[Basra]] and [[Ezra's Tomb]] (Al-Azair), and recorded that the Marsh Arabs were "wonderfully hard [...] but merry, and full of talk. They are in the water all their lives, and seem hardly to notice it."<ref name=lawrence>Thomas Edward Lawrence, [http://telawrence.net/telawrencenet/letters/1916/160518_family.htm Letter of 18/05/1916, telawrence.net]</ref>
==Films==
Films about Marsh Arabs:
* [[Dawn of the world]] (''L'Aube du monde''), directed by [[Abbas Fahdel]], 2008
* Silent Companion (''Hamsafare Khamoosh''), directed by [[Elham Hosseinzadeh]], 2004
* Zaman, The Man From The Reeds (''Zaman, l'homme des roseaux''), directed by [[Amer Alwan]], 2003
* The Marshes (''Al-Ahwar''), directed by Kassem Hawal, 1975
==Link to Sumerians and Babylonians==
The origins of the Marsh Arabs are still a matter of some dispute. [[British empire|British colonial]] ethnographers found it difficult to classify some of the Ma'dan's social customs and speculated that they might have originated in [[India]],<ref name=colep10>Cole, p.10</ref> while it was rumoured amongst neighbouring tribes that they had Persian origins.
Some scholars have theorized about possible historical (and even genetic) links between the Marsh Arabs and the ancient [[Sumerians]], based on shared agricultural practices and methods of house building. There is, however, no written record of the marsh tribes until the ninth century. <ref name=ghareeb>Edmund Ghareeb, ''Historical Dictionary of Iraq'', 2004, p.156</ref>
Others have noted that much of the culture of the Ma'dan is in fact shared with the desert [[bedouin]] who came to the area after the fall of the [[Abbasid]] Caliphate, and that it is therefore likely that they are descended from this source, at least in part.<ref name=thesiger101>Thesiger, pp.100-01</ref>
== References ==
{{reflist}}
==See also==
*[[Tigris-Euphrates alluvial salt marsh]]
*[[Edward Bawden]]
*[[Iranian Arabs]], for related groups in [[Khuzestan Province]]
*[[Muntafiq]], a large tribal confederation of southern Iraq
==External links==
*[http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/publications/MarshArabsTour.html Images from ''Iraq's Marsh Arabs in the Garden of Eden''], University of Pennsylvania
*[http://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/ThesigerWeb/Iraq/iraq.htm Wilfred Thesiger's photographs of Marsh Arab life], [[Pitt Rivers Museum]]
*An article on [http://www.laputanlogic.com/articles/2004/01/24-0001.html the ancient and recent history of the Marsh Arabs] at Laputan Logic ([http://www.laputanlogic.com/articles/2004/01/28-0002.html Part II])
*[http://www.laputanlogic.com/articles/2004/04/14-0001.html Life on the Edge of the Marshes]: A twenty year long ethnographic study conducted by Edward Ochsenschlager. As well as documenting the traditional way of life of the Marsh Arabs, it also made comparisons with ancient Sumerian cultural practices.
*[http://www.amarappeal.com/ AMAR International Charitable Foundation] ("Assisting Marsh Arabs and Refugees")
[[Category:Ethnic groups in the Middle East]]
[[Category:Arab groups]]
[[Category:Indigenous peoples of Southwest Asia]]
[[Category:Iraqi people]]
[[fr:Arabes des marais]]
[[ar:عرب الاهوار]]
[[de:Marsch-Araber]]
[[pl:Mad'an]]