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Hadharem

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Hadharem
الحضارم
A blue, white, and green flag with a red stripe on the left and a sidr tree in the middle
Flag proposed by the 'Hadhrami League' in May 2013 to represent Hadramout Region as part of the federalization of Yemen.
Hadhramout Region in Yemen
Regions with significant populations
Arabian Peninsula, East Africa, Southeast Asia Yemen (mainland)

 Saudi Arabia
 Oman
 Indonesia
 Malaysia
 Philippines
 Singapore
 Sudan
 Somalia
 Kenya
 Tanzania (Zanzibar)
 India
 United States

 United Kingdom
Languages
Arabic
Religion
Sunni Islam, mainly Shafi'i
Related ethnic groups
Arabs, other Afro-Asiatic people

The Hadharem (Arabic: حضارم, romanized: ḥaḍārim; singular: Hadhrami (Arabic: حضرمي, romanized: ḥaḍramī)) are an Arabic-speaking ethnographic group indigenous to the Hadhramaut region in the Arabian Peninsula, which is part of modern-day Yemen. The spoken language of the Hadharem is Hadhrami Arabic.[1] Among the two million inhabitants of Hadhramaut, there are about 1,300 distinct tribes.[2]

Society

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As in other regions of Yemen, Hadhrami society is stratified into several groups. At the top of hierarchy are the religious elites or sayyids, who trace their descent to Muhammad. These are followed by the sheikhs, tribesmen, townspeople, dhu'afa (farmers, fishers and builders). At the bottom of the hierarchy are al-Muhamashīn "the Marginalized" (previously referred to as al-akhdam "the servants")[3]

Hadhramaut was under Muslim rule and converted to the faith during the time of Prophet Muhammad.[4] A religious leader from Iraq introduced the Hadharem to Ibadi Islam in the mid eighth century until in 951 AD when Sunnis took Hadhramaut and put it under their domain. To this day the Hadharem follow Sunni, specifically the Shafi' school. Hadharem women have had more freedom and education than women in many other Arab countries.[2]

Language

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The Hadharem speak Hadhrami Arabic, a dialect of Arabic, although Hadharem living in the diaspora that have acculturated mainly speak the local language of the region they live in.[5]

Diaspora

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The Hadharem have a long seafaring and trading tradition that predates Semitic cultures. Hadramite influence was later overshadowed by the rise of the Sabaeans, who became the ruling class. This prompted Hadhrami seamen to emigrate in large numbers around the Indian Ocean basin, including the Horn of Africa, the Swahili Coast, the Malabar Coast, Hyderabad in South India, Sri Lanka, and Maritime Southeast Asia.[6] In the mid 1930s the Hadhrami Diaspora numbered at 110,000, amounting to a third of the total Hadhrami population.[7]

Hadharem in the Persian Gulf

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Hadharami communities exist in western Yemen, the trading ports of the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, and on the coast of the Red Sea. The money changers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia have historically been of Hadhrami origin.[8]

Hadhrami immigrants in Surabaya (Indonesia), 1920
Hadhrami Arab neighborhood in Surabaya, 1880
Hadharem of Palembang, 22 February 1937

Hadhrami East Africans

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The Hadharem have long had a presence in the Horn of Africa (Djibouti, Ethiopia and Somalia), and also comprise a notable part of the Harari population. Hadhrami settlers were instrumental in helping to consolidate the Muslim community in the coastal Benadir province of Somalia, in particular.[9] During the colonial period, disgruntled Hadharem from the tribal wars settled in various Somali towns.[10] They were also frequently recruited into the armies of the Somali Sultanates.[11]

Some Hadhrami communities also reportedly exist in Mozambique, Comoros, and Madagascar.[12]

Hadhrami Jews

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The vast majority of the Hadhrami Jews now live in Israel.[13]

List of Hadhrami Diaspora

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Notable people

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South Semitic Kingdom of Hadramawt in 400 BC

Yemen

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Swahili Coast

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North Africa

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Horn of Africa

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Indonesia

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East Timor

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Malaysia

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Singapore

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The Hadharem presence in Singapore came from encouragement of Stamford Raffles to trade in his newly established colony of Singapore.[18]

South Asia

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Qatar

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Saudi Arabia

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Williams, Victoria R. (24 February 2024). Indigenous Peoples. ABC-CLIO. pp. 411–413.
  2. ^ a b Alghoul, Diana (2015). "Yemen's unnoticed but crucial province". middleeastmonitor.com. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  3. ^ Boxberger, Linda (February 2012). On the Edge of Empire. State University of New York Press. pp. 18–36.
  4. ^ Area Handbook for the Peripheral States of the Arabian Peninsula. Stanford Research Institute. 1971. p. 11.
  5. ^ Al Kharusi, Aisha Sahar Waheed (17 June 2021). Arab Worlds Beyond the Middle East and North Africa. Lexington Books. p. 86.
  6. ^ Ho, Engseng (2006). The graves of Tarim: Genealogy and mobility across the Indian Ocean. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520244535. OCLC 123768411.
  7. ^ Freitag, Smith, Ulrike, William Clarence (1997). Hadhrami Traders, Scholars and Statesmen in the Indian Ocean, 1750s-1960s. Brill. p. 5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ Seznec, Jean-François (1987). The financial markets of the Arabian Gulf. Croom Helm. ISBN 9780709954040. OCLC 18558231.
  9. ^ Cassanelli, Lee V. (1973). The Benaadir Past: Essays in Southern Somali History. University of Wisconsin--Madison. p. 24.
  10. ^ Gavin, R. J. (1975). Aden under British rule, 1839–1967. London, UK: Hurst. p. 198. ISBN 978-0-903983-14-3.
  11. ^ Metz, Helen Chapin, ed. (1993). Somalia: A country study (4th ed.). Washington, D.C.: The Division. pp. 10. ISBN 9780844407753. LCCN 93016246. OCLC 27642849.
  12. ^ Le Guennec, Francoise (1997). "Changing Patterns of Hadrahmi Migration and Social Integration in East Africa". In Freitag, Ulrike; Clarence-Smith, William G. (eds.). Hadhrami Traders, Scholars and Statesmen in the Indian Ocean, 1750s to 1960s. BRILL. p. 165. ISBN 978-9004107717.
  13. ^ Katz, Joseph. "The Jewish Kingdoms of Arabia". www.eretzyisroel.org. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  14. ^ "WWW Virtual Library: From where did the Moors come?". www.lankalibrary.com. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  15. ^ a b c d Khalidi, Omar (1996). "The Arabs of Hadramawt in Hyderabad". In Kulkarni; Naeem; De Souza (eds.). Mediaeval Deccan History. Bombay: Popular Prakashan. ISBN 978-8-1715-4579-7.
  16. ^ a b c d Wink, André (1991). Al-hind: The Making of the Indo-islamic World. Brill. p. 68. ISBN 978-9-0040-9249-5.
  17. ^ "IDBG President Receives Indonesia's Special Envoy". Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  18. ^ Tan, Joanna (20 July 2018). "Singapore's Arab community traces ancestral roots to Yemen's Hadhramaut Valley". Arab News. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  19. ^ "Arab trader's role in Singapore landmark". The Straits Times. 24 September 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  20. ^ a b c d e f g h chromeextension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://sunypress.edu/content/download/450918/5482403/version/1/file/9780791452172_imported2_excerpt.pdf
  21. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "The Hadhrami Diaspora in Southeast Asia: Identity Maintenance or Assimilation?", The Hadhrami Diaspora in Southeast Asia, Brill, 15 February 2009, ISBN 978-90-474-2578-6, retrieved 14 December 2023
  22. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Converging cultures: The Hadrami diaspora in the Indian Ocean - COMPAS". COMPAS - Migration research at the University of Oxford. 25 August 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  23. ^ a b https://sunypress.edu/content/download/450918/5482403/version/1/file/9780791452172_imported2_excerpt.pdf [bare URL PDF]

Further reading

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