CHAPTER 5
The Kawdhla Group
(a) THE KAWAHLAi
I The Kawahla are invariably connected in tradition with Zubayr
ibn el 'Awwam of the tribe of KusAi, one of the first and most famous
converts to Islam, slain at the " Battle of the Camel" in 656 a.d.^
There is no doubt that the nucleus of the tribe entered the Sudan by way of the Red Sea, but the period of their immigration is not known. They are first mentioned by Ibn Batuta as inhabiting the
country round Suakin in 1353 and speaking the Bega tongue^.
It is common for such of the Bisharin and 'Ababda as claim an Arab descent to speak of their tribes as descended from " Kahl," and
the Kawahla reciprocate by including the Bisharin and 'Ababda, and sometimes even the Beni 'Amir or Um 'Ar'ar ("Amarar"), under the term Kawahla*.
There can be little doubt that there is a strong Arab element common to all three tribes.
II At the present day the Kawahla are widely distributed, but
they fall into two main groups. The most important and united of
these are the very rich nomad camel-owning tribe of Kordofan.
Until the Dervish revolt these formed a branch of the Kababish and had probably moved westwards and joined that tribe shortly before
the Turkish conquest. It is improbable that they did so very much
earlier, since, had they done so, they must in the course of years have become more firmly welded into the tribal whole, to the detriment of
their own individuality, than was ever the case^.
1 Sing. Kahli.
2 The name Kahil was not uncommon in Arabia. Wiistenfeld mentions five persons of this name. From one of them, Kahil ibn Asad, were descended the Kahilia (q.v. Abu el Fida, pp. 196-7), but there is nothing further to connect these with the Kawahla now in the Sudan. The word "Kahala" (^J,^) in the Sudan means "to clear out [a well]," i.e. to remove the muddy deposit at the bottom.
3 Seep. 188.
* Wilkinson (p. 386) and Tremaux (i, 169) respectively mention "Gowaleeh" and " Kawoali " among the chief divisions of the 'Ababda. In a list of these divisions by Mr Jennings Bramly I find the name as " Gawalia."
^ The 'Atawia section of Kababfsh are said to be Kawahla by origin, but probably joined the Kababfsh long before the rest of the Kawahla. In consequence they have become an integral part of the former tribe and did not leave it in the "Mahdia."