Al-Dawasir Al-Dawasir (Arabic: الدواسر) i is an Arab tribe whose main base is in the south of Najd in the governorates of Wadi Al-Dawasir, Al-Sulail, Al-Aflaj, and Al-Kharj. The tribe is divided into two groups, namely Al Zayed (Azd) and Taghlib. Al Zayed (Azd) section of divides into Al Salem, and they are Al Wadian, Al-Rajban, Al-Makharim, and Al-Badarin. Taghlib section of Al Dawasir divides into Al Mohamed, Al Amoor, Al Khayilat, Al Ali, Al Lahqban, and Al Masair. The Al-Dawasir tribe combines civilization and nomadism. On the one hand, they are Bedouins who own camels and cattle. On the other hand, they are present with date palms, cities and farms, and their land is one of the most fertile and waterlogged in the Arabian Peninsula. 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. History South of Najd Ibn Fadlallah al-Umari, one of the 14th century historians, mentioned that the Mamluk Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad Qalawun sent to the Dawasir tribe to buy some horses, and their Sheikh was called Rawa bin Badran. Bahrain 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 [in Bahrain]. 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