الحضارم | |
---|---|
Regions with significant populations | |
Arabian Peninsula, East Africa, Southeast Asia Yemen (mainland) Saudi Arabia | |
Languages | |
L1: Hadhrami Arabic L2: Swahili, Somali, Indonesian, Malay | |
Religion | |
Sunni Islam | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Arabs, other Afro-Asiatic people |
The Hadharem (Arabic: حضارم, romanized: ḥaḍārim) or the Hadhrami (Arabic: حضرمي, romanized: ḥaḍramī, singular) are an Arab sub-ethnic group indigenous to the Hadhramaut region in South Arabia, which is part of modern-day eastern Yemen. They speak Hadhrami Arabic. Among the two million inhabitants of Hadhramaut, there are about 1,300 distinct tribes.
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 and then the Bedouins: peasants who belong to tribes and who live mainly from agriculture and trading. Finally, at the bottom of the hierarchy are al-Muhamashīn "the Marginalized" (previously referred to as al-akhdam "the servants").
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.[citation needed]
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.[1]
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.[2]
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.[3] During the colonial period, disgruntled Hadharem from the tribal wars settled in various Somali towns.[4] They were also frequently recruited into the armies of the Somali Sultanates.[5]
Some Hadhrami communities also reportedly exist in Mozambique, Comoros, and Madagascar.[6]
The vast majority of the Hadhrami Jews now live in Israel.[7]
The Hadharem presence in Singapore came from encouragement of Stamford Raffles to trade in his newly established colony of Singapore.[12]