Office-holders

Mehemet Ali appointed special officials with the rank of nazır, and the title of nazır-i ʿurbān, to deal with the day-to-day affairs of the bedouin. They were in charge of bedouin affairs in a particular province or in one tribe. They were usually members of the Ottoman-Egyptian elite. Most of them were stationed in al-Sharqiyya, which had the biggest bedouin population in Egypt at this time, but there were also some in al-Beheirah and al-Qaliubiyya, where there were also a great many bedouin. They were generally given a permanent post to deal with day-to-day questions on behalf of the Pasha, but there were also nazırs for special assignments connected with the bedouin. There were also some who were responsible for particular tribes, such as Hüseyin Agha, the nazır of the Hanādī bedouin, and Ahmad Pasha, the nazır of the Ḥarābī. ¹ There was also a nazır responsible for the Barāra tribes – those that were defined as nomads. It seems that the criteria were the size and economic importance of the tribe, and the degree to which it was involved in disturbances and uprisings against the government or in harassment of the village peasants involving damage to agriculture. ²