Otaibah

Otaibah (Arabic: عتيبة‎; also spelled Otaiba, Utaybah and Otaibi for singular) is one of the largest predominantly Sunni Arab tribes in the Arabian Peninsula. Today, they are mostly found in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Iraq.

Few members have migrated to Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Palestine and Egypt.

Modern history

Until sometime in the 18th century, a large section of the tribe moved eastwards towards Nejd, which at the time was dominated by another large tribe known as Qahtan. A mighty war ensued between Otaibah and Qahtan which led to Otaibah taking over most of Qahtan's grazing lands in western Nejd, led by Prince Turki Bin Humaid, Otaibah pushed Qahtan further to the east and south. A large boulder in western Nejd where a group of Qahtani tribesmen made their last stand against Otaibah is still known today as Hassaat Ghatan ("Qahtan's Rock"). The tribe was mostly bedouin, however, a large number of them settled in the towns of Nejd. Sections of the tribe ended up moving as far east as Riyadh and as far north as Qassim. Otaibah, Mutayr, Bani Tamim, and Qahtan are generally considered to be the largest tribes in Saudi Arabia today, though no reliable statistics exist.