Beni Ḥassān

Beni Ḥassan (Arabic: بني حسان‎ "Children of Ḥassān") is a nomadic group of Arabian origin, one of the four sub-tribes of the Maqil Arab tribes who emigrated in the 11th century to the Maghreb with the Bani Hilal and Banu Sulaym tribes.[1]

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In Morocco, they first settled, alongside their Maqil relatives, in the area between Tadla and the Moulouya River. The Sous Almohad governor called upon them for help against a rebellion in the Sous, and they resettled in and around that region.[2]

The Beni Hassan and other warrior Arab tribes dominated the Sanhaja Berber tribes of the area after the Char Bouba war of the 17th century. As a result, Arabian culture and language came to dominate, and the Berber tribes underwent some Arabisation. The Bani Hassan dialect of Arabic became used in the region and is still spoken, in the form of Hassaniya Arabic.

Many descendants of the Beni Hassan tribes still adhere to the supremacist ideology of their ancestors. That ideology has led to oppression, discrimination and even enslavement of other groups in Mauritania.[3]