II. 1. XIV. IN THE MIDDLE AGES 145

them must have found their way to the Sudan, for, though the name

is now seldom heard, it was used previous to the Mahdia almost

generically to denote the camel-owning tribes of Kordofan and

Darfur^, and a perusal of the nisbas that follow will make it clear

that a great number of the Sudanese Arabs who do not aspire to call

themselves Beni 'Abbas claim descent from the Fezara, Ghatafan, Beni Dhubian and other tribes of Kays 'Aylan.

XIV Beni HilAl and Beni Sulaym. Another great sub-tribe of Kays was the Beni Hilal. These were, genealogically considered,

a section of the Hawazin who, like the Beni Sulaym, were a branch

of that main division of Kays called the 'Ikrima^.

That portion of the 'Ikrima which was generally known by the name will be met with later in speaking of the Awlad Kanz at Aswan^. The Beni Hilal at some fairly early period* had become

separated from the main tribe in the same way as had the Fezara, and their home at the beginning of the seventh century was with

their relatives the Beni Sulaym near Tayf in the plains which lie

east of the mountains that separate Tihama from Negd^. When the

Islamic movement began a number of them moved permanently to

Syria.

Now in the tenth century the Fatimites having become supreme

^ Cp., too, el Tunisi. * 'Aylan

I Kays

I Khasafa

r 'Ikrima

I Mansur

i f Sulaym Hawazin

Bekr

I Mu'awia

1 Sa'sa'a j'

'Amir

I Hilal (See Wiistenfeld, F, and Caussin de Perceval, Table X A.)

* See p. 187.

•* Caussin de Perceval estimates that Hilal ibn 'Amir himself lived about 414 A.D. (Table X a).

* Ibn Khaldun, i, 25 ; Caussin de Perceval, 11, 410. Cp. Quatremere, 11, 212-215. The Sherarat of Arabia are said to be descended from them : see Doughty, Arabia Deserta, i, 125. Doughty speaks of the B. Hilal as the " fabled ancient heroic Aarab of Nejd "

: almost any antiquarian remains of unknown origin were locally attributed to them: see Ar.Des. loc.cit. andi, 387, and Wanderings..., i, 36, 38, 138; n, 211, 259.