ABSTRACT
Tigre-speaking peoples are off-shoots of the main body of islamized Beja who still occupy most of their old territory between the Nile and the Red Sea (Trimingham, 1952: 156). Apart from recent independent migrations of small groups of Tigre-speakers to the Sudan and to other regions of Ethiopia, the vast majority inhabit the semi-desert plateau and coastal regions of the northern, western, and eastern lowlands of Eritrea province, and the Dahlak Archipelago. The principal groups of Tigre-speakers and their subdivisions are as follows:
Beni Amer: Dagga, Ad Okud, Ad al Bakhit, Ad Ibrahim, Ad Gultana, Ad Hassari (Ad Hasri, Ad Haseri), (ad) Elman, Ad Taule (Tauliab), Ad Sala (Assala, Ad Sadab), El Hasa, El Gureshab, Ad Kubal, al Geden, Feidab (El Sheikh wad faid), Ad Sheikh Garabit, Ad Sheraf.
