Marsh Arabs
Marsh Arab girl from Al Kurhra, Iraq.
|
|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 500,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Iraq
|
125,000-150,000 |
| Southeast Iraq/Southwest Iran | unknown |
| Languages | |
| Arabic | |
| Religion | |
| Sunni Islam, Shia Islam, Mandaeism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Arabs, Iranian Arabs, Iraqis, Assyrians, Khorasani Arabs | |
The Marsh Arabs (Arabic: عرب الأهوار ʻArab al-Ahwār "Arabs of the Marshlands"), also known as the Maʻdān (Arabic: معدان), are inhabitants of the Tigris-Euphrates marshlands in the south and east of Iraq and along the Iranian border.
Comprising members of many different tribes and tribal confederations, such as the Āl Bū Muḥammad, Ferayghāt, Shaghanbah and Banī Lām, the Maʻdān had developed a unique culture centered on the marshes' natural resources. Many of the marshes' inhabitants were displaced when the wetlands were drained during and after the 1991 uprisings in Iraq.
Madan means "dweller in the plains (ʻadan)" and was used disparagingly by desert tribes to refer to those inhabiting the Iraqi river basins, as well as by those who farmed in the river basins to refer to the population of the marshes.
The Maʻdān speak a local variety of Mesopotamian Arabic and traditionally wore a variant of normal Arab dress: for males, a thawb ("long shirt"; 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 ʻiqāl.
The society of the Marsh Arabs was divided into two main groups by occupation. One group bred and raised water buffalo while others cultivated 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.
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