II. 1. viir. IN THE MIDDLE AGES 137
VIII Bell The Beli in the Days of Ignorance had been settled in
Syria^, but at the time of the conquest 'Omar ibn el Khattab trans-
ferred a large number of them to Egypt, and one of the quarters of
Fostat was set aside for them^. That they were one of the most numerous of the tribes that immigrated at this period is shewn by
the fact that they were included with the Ghafik^ and one other
tribe^ as "the three tribes of Egypt." 'Amr himself is said to have used this phrase, and of the Beli he added "They have mostly been
Companions of the Prophet and their principal quality is that they
are excellent cavaliers^."
Disputes soon arose in Egypt between them and their kinsfolk
the GuHAYNA, but an agreement was finally reached whereby the Beli settled in the country lying between Egj^pt and the port of
'Aidhab*^ on the Red Sea, that is in the northern part of the Bega countiy which was later inhabited by the 'Ababda', In Makrizi's day there were numerous branches of them in Egypt ^ and with them were commingled certain smaller communities drawn from the
Isma'ilitic tribes of Beni Ommayya, Thakif (a branch of Kays *Aylan), and Hudhayl. Other Beli were further south in the Akhmim district with the Guhayna^.
At present they are a large tribe on the Arabian coast round Wegh, neighbours of the Guhayna, and there are others settled in Egypt round Girga^".
^ They had previously been in southern Arabia. See Burton, Land of Midian,
I, 296, and u, 141, etc.
^ Ibn Dukmak, ap. Butler, p. 279; el Kindi, ap. Evetts {Abu Sdlih...), p. 109. Other quarters were occupied by Beni Bahr, Beni Salamat, Yashkur (a section of Lakhm), Beni Hudhayl ibn Mudraka, Beni Naid, Beni el Azrak, etc.
* See p. 156, note.
* Bouriant gives "Maharrah" (djia»~« ?) as its name. There was no such tribe.
It is probable that "Mudr" ( j-clo) is meant.
^ Makn'zi, Khetdt, 11, 469. Burton gives an account of them in Land of Midian,
II, 141 et seq.
^ 'Aidhab lay practically due east from Aswan, near the ancient Berenice: see Makrfzi, Khetdt, 1, pp. 41 and 43, and Wiistenfeld, sub Bali ben 'Amr.
' See Makrfzi, ap. Quatremere (11, 202), and Wiistenfeld, i, 106. The boundaries of the Beli were on the north the bridge of Shuhai and on the south the neighbour-
hood of Kamula (q.v. in Makrizi, Khetdt, I, 209).
^ E.g. B. Hani, B. Harm, B. Sowad, B. Nab, etc. (Makrizi, ap. Quatremere, 11, 202 ; Wiistenfeld, loc. cit.).
® Both are included by Makrfzi among the m.ost powerful tribes of Upper Egypt
(see Part H, Chap. 2).
'" The ruling section in both cases is the Ma'akla. It is possible the name sur- vives in the Ma'akla of Kordofan and Darfur {q.v. in Part III). The Sheikh of this branch at Girga gave me the narfie of ten sections of Beli known to him and living round Wegh and Girga : they were Ma'akla Mowahib Sahama Wahashsha Hilban Rumuth Homran Beraykat Ferei'at Rubidda Burton {loc. cit. 11, 141) specifies twenty-three principal sections.