Mhallami

The Mhallami, Muslim Assyrians[1] or Mhallami Kurds[2][3] also Mhalmites or Mardinli, (Arabic: محلّمي‎, romanized: Mḥallame; Syriac: ܡܚܠ̈ܡܝܐ‎, romanized: Mḥallmāye; Turkish: Mıhellemi; Kurdish: Mehelmî‎) are an Arabic-speaking tribal group, traditionally living in and around the city of Mardin, Turkey[4] but also having a large presence in Lebanon as well having as a substantial European diaspora. Outside of the region, they are also known as Mardinli. They typically identify themselves as Arabs, but are sometimes associated with other ethnic groups such as Kurds or Assyrians, though their historical roots are not definitively established.[4][5][6][7] They are Muslims and primarily speakers of dialect of Arabic that has Turkish, Kurdish, and Aramaic influences.[4]

Mhallami
Total population
Total unknown
Languages
North Mesopotamian Arabic, Turkish
Religion
Sunni Islam
Related ethnic groups
Kurds, Arabs and Assyrians

Origin

Multiple claims regarding the origins of the group have been presented, that the group descends from either Assyrian[8] or Kurdish population groups of the Mardin region that converted to Islam and Arabized linguistically or that the group originates from the Arab Peninsula.

The date of their appearance in Anatolia is unknown, but likely sometime in the 5th century. There are no known written records by their ancestors of this period. Among the Mhallami there is a view that they are descended from Banu Hilal tribes, but historical sources and research indicate that this is somewhat unlikely. Arab ancestry is more probably from Rabi'ah tribes, possibly Banu Shayban, though this does not preclude Kurdish and/or Turkish roots. Some sources view the group as ethnically or denominationally Assyrian.[4]

According to Ya'qubi, in his 9th-century book Kitab Futuh Al-buldan, after the Umayyad expansion into north Mesopotamia (661–750), there was a resettlement by the Umayyad caliph Muawiyah I of the Arab tribe of Banu Bakr from Najd in central Saudi Arabia to the region of Mardin, possibly being the ancestors of the Mhallami.[9]

Mhallami of Lebanon

The Mhallami had traditionally settled in large numbers in Lebanese regions such as Tripoli, the Beqaa Valley and Beirut where they have become an integral part of the country's Sunni community after migrating from the Mardin Province in Turkey. Lebanon had a population between 70,000 and 100,000 Mhallami prior to Lebanese Civil War.[10] Their origin and legal status became a particular concern when they started to seek asylum in Western European countries en masse in the early 1980s.[11]

Mhallami of Turkey

Most Mhallamis in Turkey live in Mardin, and at the village of Yerköy. The first Mhallami cultural association of Turkey was founded in February 2008 in Mercimekli village of Midyat. In 2015, the founding chairman Mehmet Ali Aslan became the first Mhallami to be elected a member of the Turkish Parliament from the Kurdish HDP party.[12]

The Turkish Nobel Prize Winner Aziz Sancar is of Mhallami-Arab Descent.

Further reading
  • The Kurdish community in Lebanon by Lokman Meho.

References
  1. "A small community of Muslim Assyrians, the Mhallami, lives in southern Turkey"
  2. Fred Donner: Tribe and state in Arabia. Princeton University Press 1981
  3. Otto Jastrow , Die arabischen Dialekte des Vilayets Mardin (Südosttürkei), ZDMG Suppl 1 XVII Dt. Orientalistentag. Vorträge Teil II, Sektion 6, Wiesbaden 1969
  4. Bozkurt, Abdülbaki (30 April 2020). "The Historical Roots of the Mhallami Arabs in Turkey as a Subject of Debate". Journal of International Social Research. 13 (70): 192–202. doi:10.17719/jisr.2020.4086.
  5. https://www.cicero.de/innenpolitik/mhallamiye-kurden-ihre-verachtung-fuer-uns-ist-grenzenlos/60845
  6. https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/mhallamiye-kurden-in-deutschland-parallele-welten-12905242.html?printPagedArticle=true#pageIndex_0
  7. https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/berlin/polizei/clanstrukturen-kamen-mit-fluechtlingswelle-in-den-achtzigerjahren-23670634
  8. Edwards, Maxim (2014-10-10). "Ethnic dimension of Iraqi Assyrians often ignored". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 2020-09-09.
  9. https://archive.org/stream/KitabFutuhAl-buldan2VolsSet/KitabFutuhAl-buldanVol-1#page/n287/mode/2up
  10. Die Libanon-Flüchtlinge in Berlin Ralph Ghadban (in German)Archived August 7, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  11. Heinrich Freckmann, Jürgen Kalmbach: Staatenlose Kurden aus dem Libanon oder türkische Staatsangehörige? (Ergebnis einer Untersuchung vom 08.–18. März 2001 in Beirut, Mardin und Ankara), Hannover, Hildesheim, 2001; S. 3–4 (in German)
  12. "A more colourful parliament". Agos. 8 June 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
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