Hamyan

Hamyan (Arabic: حميان) is a large Bedouin Arab tribe in western Algeria to the southwest of Oran and north of the Atlas Mountains. They are divided into two main groups, Hamyan Sheraga (easterners) in the east and Hamyan Gheraba (westerners) in the west, and these are further divided into several factions. In the 19th century, they had a force of 2,000 cavalry, and herds of 200 camels and 8,000 sheep, not including oxen, horses and donkeys. They follow a nomadic lifestyle, and they emigrated every year to the Tell to trade. They constantly fought with the neighboring Arab tribe of Chaamba in Metlili.^[1] The region of Ain Sefra was under the political suzerainty of Hamyan Gheraba.^[2] They never submitted to French colonization.^[3]