| Group: | Houla الهُوِلَة |
| Region1: |  Bahrain |
| Region2: |  United Arab Emirates |
| Region3: |  Kuwait |
| Region4: |  Qatar |
| Langs: | Gulf Arabic |
| Rels: | Sunni Islam[1] |
Huwala (ar|الهولة, sing. Huwali هولي) also collectively referred to as Bani Huwala, is a blanket term usually used to refer to Iranian Arabs of tribal lineage who initially migrated to Iran in the 13th and 14th century and intermixed with the indigenous population of older Arabic-speaking background.[2] Such migrations continued till around 19th century to the area which is now Iran's Hormozgan Province and Fars Province, mainly Bandar Abbas, Qishm, and the mainland near Bandar Lengeh.[3] [4] The Huwala follows Sunni Islam, as opposed the majority Persian Twelver Shia and similar to Sunni Peninsular Arabs. Most of the Huwala have remigrated back to the Arabian Peninsula between late 19th century and early 20th century. The imposition of restrictive economic policies by Reza Shah in the 1930s led to the migration of most of the Huwala back to the Arabian Peninsula.[5]
The term "Huwala" does not refer to Sunni Larestani Achomi families such as Awadhi, Kandari, Janahi, Khaloori, Zarooni, and Bastaki.[6] [7] [8] [9] It specifically refers to the actual Arab Huwalas (Arab El-Sahel), which encompasses the Qawasem, Hammadi, Al Nasur/Nassour, Obaidli, and Bani Tamim tribes.[10] [11] [12] [13]
The original Huwalas are commonly referred to as Arab el-Sahel el-Shargi, or simply Arab Faris,[14] but some of them prefer not to be called Huwalas as the term is used for Achomis in the Gulf. On the other hand, Achomis sometimes choose to identify themselves as Huwalas due to societal pressure to assimilate.
Although Huwalas and Achomis have lived in close proximity to each other in Southern Iran, they are genetically dissimilar. Huwalas are relatively recent inhabitants of Southern Iran migrating from Arabia over the past five centuries. However, some have been residing there since the Sassanians, such as the Bani Tamim tribe.
Some families of non-Arab origins have adopted the surnames of Arabian Huwala tribes.[15] For example, they are often Hammadi and Marzooqi only in name.
Huwala (Arabic: الهولة), is a plural Arabic term for Huwali (Arabic: هولي). The meaning of the word remains unclear, and many Gulf historians continue to debate its origins and significance. Contrary to popular belief, there is very little evidence to support the claim that it means "to change over."
It appears that the Huwala was a tribal confederation formed in Coastal Oman, similar to the Al-Utub cofederation, who were at times their arch rivals. However, it appears that the term was abandoned shortly thereafter, which explains its disappearance in the oral tradition of the Huwalas themselves.
A book by Dejanirah Couto and Rui Loureiro into Portuguese interactions in Hormuz defines Huwala as "migrant Arabs".[16]
Author Lawrence G. Potter defines Huwala as
In the 18th century, the Arab Al Qasimi tribal affiliation, once a major maritime power, took control of southern Iranian coasts and islands around Bandar Lengeh. In 1779 the Iranian Zand dynasty acknowledged a fait accompli and recognized a Qasimi as local ruler (farmandar) of Bandar Lengeh. At about the same time the Zands allowed the British East India Company to establish its residency and presence in Bushehr. The Qasimis remained in control of Bandar Lengeh and surrounding region until 1887, when they were defeated by the British in their self proclaimed “anti-piracy” campaign which Emirati based scholars (including current Sharjah ruler Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi) argue was a myth used to dominate trade routes to India and Iraq. The Qasimis retreated to the southern coast of the Gulf, and their Iranian domains reverted to nominal rule by Tehran.
The Achomi (Larestani) Iranian population lived on the coast alongside the Qasimis. They prospered under Al Qasimi rule as merchants in pearl trading. Author John W. Limbert argues that in response to Reza Shah Pahlavi's policies of centralization, conscription, civil status reforms, and, most important, the forced unveiling of women led to many of the Achomis to follow the Qasimis back to the Arabian Peninsula, further mixing the Huwala's Arabic and Persian roots.
Contemporary historians of that period, such as Niebuhr, Lorimer, David Seton, and others, did not neglect to record for us a huge number of political and social events in the Gulf during the period preceding the period of the recent migration of the inhabitants of the southern Iranian region to the Gulf states during the reign of Shah Reza Pahlavi at the beginning of the twentieth century AD.[17] We find in these historians a clear description of the identity of the true Huwala Arabs according to geographical and social standards.
These historians agree geographically that the Huwala Arabs live in a specific geographical area starting from Bandar Kanj in the south and reaching Bandar Kangan in the north, and from the coast of the Arabian Gulf in the west to the region of the (Shibkoh) mountains in the east. This geographical area is called the Shibkoh (شيبكوه) region, meaning the sloping mountain, and there are no Huwala Arabs according to this description in the regions outside this region, such as the Bandar Abbas, Bastak, Bushehr, Falamarz, Ahvaz or Abdan regions.
According to the Saudi historian Jalal Al-Haroon, there are two types of Huwalas:[18]
Historical sources tell us that the "Al-Hawla Arabs" do not descend from a single tribe, but rather they descend from a union of several specific Arab tribes. We must focus here on the word “specific,” as the tribes belonging to the "Huwala Arabs" are the following tribes:
Many Achomi sunni families changed their names (especially in Bahrain), having added Arabic "Al-" (ال) to their names, whilst others completely changed their names. Based on a study in 2013, the researcher noted: the linguistic and religious situation of Sunni Persians in Bahrain is thorny and sometimes it is intentionally confused between "Hole\Hawala Arabs" and "Sunni Persians".[20] The same study also claims that Sunni Achomis did not face any systematic racism. In Achomi/Laristani blogs they claim they changed their names to either avoid racism or easily blend in. There is a similar issue in Kuwait. Likewise some sources intentionally (or unintentionally) list non-Arab families are "Huwala Arabs."[21]