Introduction
The history of Syrian geography is inseparable from the history of its tribes, which settled in the Levant and its Baadiyah (deserts and steppes) during ancient pre-Christian times. As the geography changed, so did ruling regimes,; tribes also experienced significant political and structural transformations, forming a historically extended social system with evolving features still observable today.
An examination of Syria's political history, both ancient and modern, reveals that tribes and tribalism are both key factors in social, political, and power dynamics; often embodying power itself. Arab and other tribes established kingdoms, emirates, and states, ruling regions across different historical periods. They engaged in conflicts, alliances, and submission with various authorities, possessing elements that made them a governance system predating many ancient and modern structures. Through these interactions, their social structures evolved, transitioning from nomadic to semi-settled, with the latter eventually merging into cities and becoming fully urbanized. The latter shift is harder to trace compared to the more distinct nomadic structures.
With Syria's integration into the modern state system, pivotal transformations occurred within tribal and clan structures due to various successive changes (economic, political, social, military, legal). These cumulative effects were evident in the tribes and clans, starting with their economic patterns, which were dismantled as they were either willingly or forcibly moved from a nomadic to a settled, agricultural-based economy. This shift led to a change in their historical roles, most of which were lost to the nation-state, which confined them within new borders, stripping them of the open geography that had historically been a key source of their strength.
The tribe adapted to the modern state structure embracing the new dynamics. Depending on the shifting powers, the role and position of tribes and clans evolved: sometimes as a disruptive or competing alternative; and at other times as a strong ally with considerable influence in rural areas, counterbalancing urban families and notable figures. In many cases, tribes served as a broad social basis, forming much of Syria's rural landscape, which, in turn, acts as a crucial social and economic backbone, a field for mobilization, and an experimental ground for political elites and ideological parties. Through these changes, the structure and roles within tribes shifted, affecting the nature of "tribal leadership" embodied by sheikhs and princes—both in their political roles and their ties to the social fabric. This fabric gradually transformed into more stable rural structures with diverse economic patterns, fostering a new social sphere where the “sheikh” no longer held sole authority.
Traditional nomadism gradually declined, with tribes settling geographically and adopting regional identities. Local sheikhdoms and tribal notables emerged, while tribe members engaged in agriculture, trade, and state jobs; altering settlement patterns, and weakening traditional tribal cohesion. This shift moved the tribe/clan concept from a political-organizational role to a socio-cultural one, reshaping social relations and levels of solidarity, now influenced by geographic, economic, developmental, and political factors.
Within Syria's diverse tribal landscape, the northern tribes are particularly notable for their influence, extensive geographic reach, and border-specific dynamics, with cross-ethnic and cross-sectarian structures. Many quickly engaged with these elements when the Syrian revolution began in 2011, followed by military, security, and economic repercussions. The state's withdrawal from most regions subsequently tested the tribes' ability to assume roles in local governance.
During these phases, tribes emerged as a significant social force, reacting to events with diverse political stances, reflecting cumulative impacts on their structures. Initially, when peaceful protests started tribal groups mobilized independently of traditional authorities (sheiks, princes, notables) and then shifted towards militarization marked by overlapping regional tribal interactions. As the Assad regime waged open war on the social fabric of the revolting areas; distinct zones of influence emerged, divided among local, regional, and international actors. This fragmented tribal geography turned tribes into key, cross-regional social structures, and a field of competition.
Unlike the peaceful phase, militarization intensified tribal representation at all levels, creating vertical and horizontal divisions within tribal structures and reviving tribal leadership as a local player with political, military, and social roles. Tribes, heavily engaged in Syria’s events, were also among the most impacted by military, security, and economic fallout, especially through forced displacement—unprecedented in modern Syrian history. After 2016, as the regime and its allies reclaimed opposition areas, military actions receded northward to Aleppo and Idlib, which became hubs for successive waves of internal displacement, both within these governorates and from other parts of Syria.
In this complex context, within the north-west opposition enclaves after 2016, a new organizational trend emerged: the establishment of “tribal councils”. Most tribes established their own councils, functioning as administrative bodies with diverse responsibilities, thereby reducing reliance on the sheikh’s traditional leadership. This shift promoted tribal presence in a new organized form, partially reviving the tribal spirit and roles. Notably, the initiative extended beyond Arab tribes to Kurdish and Turkmen clans. However, the councils' roles remain limited, and their impact on the tribal structure and traditional leadership remains ambiguous, as this move is unprecedented in Syria’s tribal landscape.
Thus, the post-2011 period marks a pivotal phase in Syrian state history and its social structures. Examining tribes over twelve years of conflict reveals interactions of prominent local social structures during a critical period. This study enhances a body of longstanding research, as tribes have long shaped the region’s intellectual heritage, particularly in Syria Occupying a significant place in sociological, anthropological, and political studies. Tribes often serve as interpretive tools for major political events or as frameworks for understanding local conflict dynamics. However, this study diverges from such an approach. It does not view tribalism as a lens for the Syrian conflict nor explores tribal influence on it; rather, it examines the conflict's impact on tribes and their varied responses across its phases, consequences, and actors.
This study first seeks to explore the history of tribes and clans within Syrian geography, especially in the north-west. Examining their historical relationships with various successive authorities, structural shifts, and the changes that shaped their current forms. It proceeds to map the tribal structures across Aleppo and Idlib, identifying their current geographic and demographic distribution. The study also analyzes their diverse roles and interactions (political, military, social) after 2011, emphasizing key impacts, particularly the complex effects of forced displacement. Lastly, it explores the emergence of "tribal and clan councils" as a new organizational phenomenon within Syria’s tribal framework post-2016, defining their roles, influence on traditional tribal governance, and effectiveness within the social structure.
In line with these objectives, the study/book is methodologically and analytically structured into three chapters. Chapter One serves as an introduction and review of the history of tribes and clans within Syrian geography generally, with a focus on Aleppo and Idlib. It examines their historical relations with successive authorities, structural transformations, and various shifts leading to their current forms. This chapter adopts a systematic historical periodization across seven key phases: an overview of the region’s ancient history and tribes, the Ottoman era, the Arab government under King Faisal, the French colonial period, the era of national independence, the union with Egypt, and the Ba'ath periods—first under the early Ba'ath regime, then under Hafez al-Assad, followed by the first decade of Bashar al-Assad's rule.
Within this broad historical scope, the study identifies several key variables to track and assess across each era and phase, including: active tribes in the north, the nature of their relationship with central authority and the factors shaping it, evolving roles of tribes and clans, tribal conflicts and interrelations, structural shifts—economic, social, political, and legal—and their impacts, major tribal migrations and displacements within the region, factors driving urbanization and settlement, and shifts in the concept of tribal leadership.
Chapter Two picks up where the first left off, examining tribal and clan interactions with the Syrian revolution post-2011 through its various phases, actors, repercussions, and impacts. This chapter is divided into four sections. The first section explores the demographic, economic, and cultural conditions of tribal areas in Aleppo and Idlib on the eve of the revolution, mapping the presence of twenty-five tribes encompassing 220 clans, alongside twenty-seven independent clans of diverse ethnicities (Arab, Kurdish, Turkmen, Circassian, Gypsy). A field survey identifies approximately 2,033 geographic points where these tribes and clans are concentrated across administrative units (cities, towns, villages, neighborhoods, and key farms).
Following this mapping, the section delves into the motivations and forms of tribal and clan participation in the early stages of the 2011 uprising. It then moves to the phase of militarization, analyzing tribal armed groups in Aleppo and Idlib. The study documents over twenty-three tribal military groups allied with the Assad regime and more than thirty-eight groups aligned with the opposition between 2012 and 2020, as well as the influence of jihadist organizations and their relationships with local tribes. The section concludes by examining the non-military roles tribes and clans played during the conflict, particularly their adaptation to local governance as state authority receded, leaving administrative functions vacant in these areas.
The second section of Chapter Two examines the forced displacement experienced by tribal structures in Aleppo and Idlib and its complex effects. It includes a survey of displaced areas, an analysis of the displacement context, and the parties involved, as well as documentation of major clans displaced from other Syrian governorates to Aleppo and Idlib. This section provides a detailed map of forced displacement phases in Aleppo and Idlib from 2012 to 2020, covering approximately 1,233 geographic points (cities, towns, villages, key farms) affected by varying degrees of forced displacement, along with thirty neighborhoods in Aleppo. It examines the political and military context of displacement, the actors involved, and the compounded impacts on tribes. Additionally, it includes a survey of areas where partial return has occurred, covering approximately 556 geographic points, while 707 locations remain uninhabited as of early 2023.
The third section examines the nature and extent of tribal military participation within major military formations in northern Syria up to early 2023, across various zones of control. It maps out key formations and tracks the impact of displacement on factional structures in Aleppo and Idlib, especially following the arrival of dozens of displaced factions from other Syrian regions.
The fourth section is dedicated to analyzing the emergence of "tribal and clan councils" in the north after 2016, exploring the motivations, dynamics, and contexts behind their formation. This includes a survey of around thirty tribal councils and over 130 clan councils in Aleppo and Idlib. The study then focuses specifically on the effectiveness of seventeen prominent tribal councils, assessing them first from the perspectives of council members and then from the viewpoint of tribal and clan members in the region, to gauge the scope and future of these councils and their varied impacts. Additionally, the section examines the parallel formation of "family and notable councils" in certain cities of Idlib as a counterpart to "tribal and clan councils" in the rural areas of Aleppo and Idlib.
Chapter Three presents the results of the field survey conducted by the research team, mapping the diverse ethnic composition (Arab, Kurdish, Turkmen, Circassian, Gypsy) of tribes and clans in Aleppo and Idlib. It includes fifty-two graphical maps and fifty-two statistical tables detailing each tribe, the number of associated clans in the two governorates, key family groups, and the geographic areas they inhabit, categorized according to the official administrative divisions in Aleppo and Idlib (city, town, village, neighborhood, key farms).
The study/book bases its chapters and sections on a diverse range of primary and secondary data sources. In addition to books, academic studies, historical references, documents, and archives on the region and its tribes, it relies heavily on field data as primary sources. Various research tools and methods were employed for data collection, primarily interviews and field focus sessions conducted between 2021 and 2024. These sessions involved over 780 sources from diverse groups, including tribal sheikhs, princes, and notables; aghas and dignitaries; founders and members of tribal councils; genealogists and tribal experts; social and political activists; local council members from tribes in the region; defected officers and tribal field commanders; specialists and researchers focused on regional or tribal issues; and numerous displaced individuals who participated in focus sessions on forced displacement, among others.
Key Findings and Conclusions
Based on the chapter summaries, with Chapter Two marking the start of the study’s practical findings, this paper provides a condensed overview of the study’s core findings. Key insights include: the structure, influence, and geographic distribution of tribal and clan networks in Aleppo and Idlib; their interactions with the Syrian revolution; and their varied roles in political, military, and local governance spheres. The study also examines the diverse impacts of the conflict on these structures, particularly forced displacement, and explores the emergence of tribal councils, analyzing their current and future implications. Lastly, it examines the position of tribal structures within the power dynamics and the complex relationship with authority, especially regarding the management of loyalties and the form of the state.
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