Dulaim

Dulaim or Dulaimi or Al Duliam or Dulaym (Arabic: الدليم‎) is one of the largest of all Arab tribes, with over seven million people. The tribe's history goes back to pre-Islamic times and millions descend from the tribe today in Iraq and neighboring countries such as Syria, Kuwait and Jordan.

It is also spelled Dulaimi, Dulaym, Dalaimy. Members of this tribe are commonly identifiable by the surnames of their own clans or by the name Al-Dulaimi. The hereditary leaders of the Dulaim tribe come from the Albu Assaf clan.

Origins

The Dulaims are the largest Sunni Arab tribe in Iraq, living on the Euphrates from a point just below Al Hillah and southern Baghdad to Fallujah, Ramadi, al-Qaim, Samarra and Mosul. Some scholars believe they were part of the first Arab Conquests in the 7th century.

The Iraqi historian Mohammed bin Hamad Al-Bassam Al-Tamimi (1831) mentioned that the Dulaim tribe divided into four groups (Al-Bu Ridaini and Al-Bu Fahd and Al-Bu Alwan and Al-Mahamda).

German orientalist Max von Oppenheim writes about the Dulaimi tribe: