Editing Shammar (section)

==History==
Led by Usma bin Luai, the Tayy invaded the mountains of Ajaa and Salma from Banu Assad and Banu Tamim in northern Arabia in their exodus from Yemen in 115 CE. These mountains were renamed to ''Jabal Tayy'' (Tayy's Mountain), and then again in the 14th century, after the tribe changed their name, to ''Jabal Shammar''. There, Tayy, later Shammar, became either city-dwellers in the city of [[Ha'il]], [[nomadic pastoralist]]s, camel-herders and horse-breeders in northern [[Najd]], or [[agriculturist]]s in the countryside outside Ha'il or in the surrounding desert [[oases]]. These divisions were based on profession, personal interest and skill, and not family or blood-line stratifications within the tribe. It is common for the same nuclear family to have members living each of the three different lifestyles. Because of their strength and blood relations with the Yemenite dynasties that came to rule Syria (Ghassanids) and Iraq (Muntherids), the Tayy expanded north into Iraq all the way to [[al-Hira]], the capital at the time. Oral tradition mentions that the first chiefs of the Shammar tribe, Arar and Omair, were of the 'Abda family of Dhaigham, who ruled Shammar from Jabal Shammar. In the 17th century, a large section of the Shammar left Jabal Shammar under the leadership of the Al Jarba and settled in Iraq, reaching as far as the northern city of [[Mosul]], their current stronghold. The Shammar are currently one of Iraq's largest tribes and are divided into two [[geographical]], as opposed to [[genealogical]], subsections. The northern branch, known as Shammar al-Jarba, is mainly [[Sunni]], while the southern branch, Shammar Toga, converted to [[Shia Islam]] around the 19th century<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=agMu0nfdFZ4C&q=The+Shi%27is+of+Iraq+By+Yitzhak+Nakash The Shi'is of Iraq].Yitzhak Nakash, p.27</ref><ref>Haydari, ‘Unwan al-Majd, pg. 110-15, 118</ref><ref>‘Abdallah Mahmud Shukri (al-Alusi), “Di’ayat al-Rafd wa al-Khurafat wa al-Tafriq Bayn al-Muslimin”, al-Manar 29 (1928): 440</ref> after settling in southern Iraq.

The Shammar that remained in Arabia had tribal territories extending from the city of [[Ha'il]] northwards to the frontiers of the [[Syrian Desert]]. The Shammar had a long traditional rivalry with the confederation of [['Anizzah]], who inhabited the same area.
The city of Ha'il became the heart of the Jabal Shammar region and was inhabited largely by settled members of Shammar and their clients. Two clans succeeded each other in ruling the city in the 19th century. The first clan, the [[Al-Ali (tribe)|Al Ali]], were replaced by the [[Rashidi dynasty|Al Rashid]].

During the civil war that tore apart the [[Second Saudi State]] in the late 19th century, the emirs of Ha'il, from the house of Al Rashid, intervened and gradually took control of much of the Saudi realm, finally taking the Saudi capital Riyadh in 1895 and expelling the Saudi leaders to [[Sheikhdom of Kuwait|Kuwait]]. The [[Bedouin]] Shammari tribesmen provided the majority of the Al Rashid's military support. Later, in the first two decades of the 20th century, Al Rashid were defeated by [[Ibn Saud]] and his [[Wahhabi]] forces when his campaign to restore his family's rule in the [[Arabian Peninsula]] culminated in the [[Conquest of Ha'il]] in 1921.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Pfullmann|first1=Uwe|title=Durch Wüste und Steppe: Entdeckerlexikon arabische Halbinsel : Biographien und Berichte|date=2001|publisher=Trafo|isbn=9783896263285|page=193|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pHagAAAAMAAJ|language=de|quote=Am 2. November 1921 erlosch der letzte Widerstand der Schammar-Stämme. (On November 2, 1921, the last resistance of the Shammar tribes died out.)}}</ref> Following Al Rashid's defeat many Shammar fled to Syria and Iraq.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Suwaed|first1=Muhammad|title=Historical Dictionary of the Bedouins|date=2015|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9781442254510|pages=19, 20|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P8yhCgAAQBAJ|language=en}}</ref> Eventually the clan of their uncles, [[Al Sabhan]] pledged allegiance to Ibn Saud in [[Riyadh]]. Ibn Saud also married a daughter of one of the Shammari chiefs, who bore him one Saudi King, [[Abdullah of Saudi Arabia|Abdullah]]. After the establishment of modern borders, most Bedouins gradually left their nomadic lifestyle. Today, most members of the Shammar live modern, [[urbanization|urbanized]] lifestyles in Saudi Arabia and Iraq, and some sections settled in [[Syria]] and [[Jordan]]. Despite this, the vast majority of Shammar continue to retain a strong tribal identity and loyalty to their tribe. Many also participate in Cultural Festivals to learn about their ancient lifestyles, and to take part in traditional activities such as [[folk dancing]].