"Maʻdān" redirects here. Not to be confused with Ma'adan.
Marsh Arabs ʻArab al-Ahwārعرب الأهوار
Marsh Arabs on a boat.
Total population
6 to 8 millions descendants (based on population in 1950)[1]
Regions with significant populations
Iraq
85,000 (6 million descendants in Governorate of Meysan, Basra and Dhi Qar regions of Mesopotamian Marsh)
Iran
120,000 (1.6 million with descendants in Khuzestani Marshland and Iraqi refugees)[1]
Languages
South Mesopotamian Arabic
Religion
Predominantly Twelver Shia Islam[2]
The Marsh Arabs (Arabic: عرب الأهوارʻArab al-Ahwār "Arabs of the Marshlands"), also referred to as Ahwaris, the Maʻdān (Arabic: معدان "dweller in the plains") or Shroog[3] (Mesopotamian Arabic: شروگ "those from the east")—the latter two often considered derogatory in the present day—are Arabian inhabitants of the Mesopotamian marshlands in the modern-day south Iraq, as well as in the Hawizeh Marshes straddling the Iraq-Iran border.[4]
Comprising members of many different tribes and tribal confederations, such as the Āl Bū Muḥammad, Ferayghāt, Shaghanbah, Ahwaris had developed a culture centered on the marshes' natural resources and unique from other Arabs. Many of the marshes' inhabitants were displaced when the wetlands were drained during and after the 1991 uprisings in Iraq. The draining of the marshes caused a significant decline in bioproductivity; following the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the overthrow of the Saddam Hussein regime, water flow to the marshes was restored and the ecosystem has begun to recover.[5]
^ abUSAID Archived 2014-11-11 at the Wayback Machine, iraqmarshes.org
^Thesiger, p.127
^Williams, Victoria (2020). Indigenous peoples: an encyclopedia of culture, history, and threats to survival. Santa Barbara, California. p. 706. ISBN 978-1-4408-6118-5. OCLC 1108783575.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Graham, Lloyd (2021). ""Bad Shepherds" of the Eastern Delta". Humanities Commons. doi:10.17613/VSN0-TJ43. Retrieved 2022-09-12.
^U.S. National Aeornautics and Space Administration. 2008
The MarshArabs (Arabic: عرب الأهوار ʻArab al-Ahwār "Arabs of the Marshlands"), also referred to as Ahwaris, the Maʻdān (Arabic: معدان "dweller in the...
Re-Imagined' - Reviving the Cultural Heritage and Lost Knowledge of the MarshArabs.” Arab News, May 21, 2021. https://www.arabnews.com/node/1862251/lifestyle...
ethnic groups include Yazidis, Assyrians, Mandaeans, Armenians, and MarshArabs. Iraq consists largely of most of ancient Mesopotamia, the native land...
different reasons. In the 1990s, the marshes were drained for political motives, namely to force the MarshArabs out of the area and to punish them for...
from the marshes in retribution for a failed Shia uprising in 1991. Draining of the Mesopotamian Marshes directly affected the MarshArabs, forcing them...
tying it over the kuma for formal occasions. During his sojourn with the MarshArabs of Iraq, Gavin Young noted that the local sayyids—"venerated men accepted...
needed] The presence of Arabs in Iran dates back to the 7th-8th centuries AD, where under the Sasanian Empire, Mesopotamian Arabs were an important segment...
Iran. The MarshArabs live in Iraq and Hawizeh people live in Iran. From the time of the Sumerians and Babylonians people lived in the marshes. In the southwest...
Empty Quarter of the Arabian Peninsula, and The MarshArabs (1964), on his time living with the MarshArabs of Iraq. Thesiger was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia...
in his book The MarshArabs, notes that cats were allowed free entry to community buildings in villages in the Mesopotamian Marshes and were even fed...
swamp. The Mesopotamian Marshes is a large swamp and river system in southern Iraq, traditionally inhabited in part by the MarshArabs. In Asia, tropical peat...
as MarshArabs) in the swamps of southern Iraq. In the traditional Madan way of living, houses are constructed from reeds harvested from the marshes where...
Iraq, identified Y chromosome haplotypes shared by MarshArabs, many Arabic speaking Iraqis, non Arab Assyrians, Iraqi Jews and Mandeans "supporting a common...
academics and poets. The MarshArabs or Ma'dãn are a group of Arabs who number 125,000 to 150,000 who live in the Mesopotamian Marshes in southern Iraq. The...
study focusing on the genetics of MarshArabs of Iraq, researchers identified Y chromosome haplotypes shared by MarshArabs, Iraqis, and Assyrians, "supporting...
more schools and universities to be set up. While Arabs constitute the largest ethnic group in the Arab League, there are several other ethnic groups that...
intensified a prior systematic forced relocation of MarshArabs and the draining of the Mesopotamian Marshes in the Tigris–Euphrates river system. The Gulf...
in southern and central Iraq. By 1918 the Arab Scouts increased to 5,467 Arabs, Kurds, Turkoman, MarshArab and Assyrian militia. At its height, an estimated...
The Arab Union is a theoretical political union of the Arab states. The term was first used when the British Empire promised the Arabs a united independent...
approximately 2,000,000, predominantly Shia Arab. The southern marshes have traditionally been home to many MarshArabs. As of 2007, the area is very poor, with...
Hammar is the largest water body in the Hammar Marshes. The main ethnic group in the area is the MarshArabs. Massive drainage projects were started in the...
such as Iraq's third largest ethnic group – the Turkmens. Around 20,000 MarshArabs live in southern Iraq. Iraq has a community of 2,500 Chechens, and some...
Global Information
Iraq
Iran