Qahtan (tribe)

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Qahtan

قحطان, القحطاني
The flag of the Qahtan tribe, which is a cloth that changes color from time to time, on which the two testimonies are written, and under it are two curved swords
Regions with significant populations
Saudi Arabia	500,000 Bedouins (1920s)[1] (Not including settled population)
5-6 million people in GCC and Iraq
Languages
southern Najdi dialect[2]
Religion
Sunni Islam (Hanbali)
Related ethnic groups
Al Murrah, Bani Hajer, Yam, Ajman

Qahtān (Arabic: قحطان, also spelled as القحطاني) to distinguish between the tribe and the Qahtanite peoples, is an Arab tribal confederation. Qahtan is composed of three main tribes: Sanhan, Junb, and Rufaida. Today, members of the tribe and its sub-tribes are based in Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates.

Qahtan's sheikhdom was unanimously agreed by Western historians to be in the hands of the 'Al Qarmalah' family of the Jahader clan in the 19th century, and as early as 1961, the paramount sheikh of Qahtan was reported to be 'Khalil ibn Nasir ibn Qarmalah' (a descendant of Hadi ibn Qarmalah).^[2]