Dawasir is an Arabianbedouin tribal confederation that was formed between South Arabian tribes and Taghlib tribe in central Arabia. The tribe gave its name to the famous valley in Najd or specifically the town of Wadi al-Dawasir which had a population of 106,152 in 2010 and is divided into two main neighborhoods: al-Nawaima and al-Khamaseen, and spread in various parts of the Middle East.
Nomenclature
There are various theories surrounding the definition and origin of the term Dawasir, the two most popular ones being that it was derived from either the name of the tribe's purported forebear Dosser or the eponymous Arabic word which translates to "soldiers". Other sources include other terms such as the Arabic word for Lion or a type of Arabian horse.
The Dawasir migrated to Bahrain in 1845 from Zakhnuniya Island, south of Uqair and mainly settled in and around Zallaq and Budaiya. American author Yitzhak Nakash, a prominent expert on the history of Shiism, described the tribe in his book Reaching for Power: The Shi'a in the Modern Arab World as being the "second largest and most powerful tribe after the Utub . So powerful were the Dawasir that their members recognized Sheikh 'Isa Al Khalifa as ruler in name only and considered themselves immune from taxation." Members of the tribe worked in the pearl industry and opposed the overthrow of Sheikh Isa ibn Ali Al Khalifa. Virtually all members of the tribe left Bahrain for Dammam after suspecting that the new ruler, Sheikh Hamad ibn Isa would attempt to tighten his control over them with British support and force them into submitting to his rule in 1923. The Dawasir were officially allowed to return in April 1927 by Sheikh Hamad after being requested by Ibn Saud to do so. Years after the deportation of the Dawasir, a number of Huwala families arrived in Bahrain from southern Iran, claiming to be members of the Dumkooh clan. Their origin is disputed by some Dawasir scholars such as Sahood Aldosseri who deny claims put forward by apologists which assert that some Dumkooh clansmen are of Iranian origin because there are no records proving that an immigration of such a powerful clan would occur without any records remaining.
Branches of Dawasir
They are a tribal confederation of four main tribes that allied with each other.
Al-Zayed
Their homes were in ancient history, in the Ma'rib region, a tribe of Azd Bani Mazin branch. They allied with al-Jaid trib who belong to Hamdan tribe and moved from their homes to Wadi al-Dawasir in the 9th century and early 10th century.
They are from the tribe of Taghlib bin Halwan descendants of Quda'a tribe, not to be confused with Taghlib bin Wa'il from Rabīʿa the Adnani tribe. They have been in the Wadi back when it was named instead of Wadi ad-Dawasirtoday, they lived in the Valley with Bani Uqayl tribe before the coming of al-Zayed from the south
