The title was used as early as the 11th century to refer to Salih ibn Mirdas, but was formalized as a state institution by the Ayyubid Sultanate and strengthened by the latter's Mamluk successors.
Under the Mamluks, some of the principal duties of the amir al-ʿarab were guarding the desert frontier against the Mongol Ilkhanate in Iraq and Anatolia, ensuring Bedouin loyalty to the state, gathering intelligence on enemy forces, protecting infrastructure, villages and travelers from raids and providing horses and camels to the sultan.
However, with the onset of Mamluk rule in Syria in 1260, it became a hereditary office consolidated by members of the Al Fadl dynasty, direct descendants of the Tayyid clan of Banu Jarrah.
Under the Ottomans, the role of the amir al-ʿarab centered on the provision of camels to the state and protection of the Hajj pilgrim caravan in return for annual payments.
[3] In the Mamluk provinces of Damascus, Aleppo and the capital, Cairo, a department called the mihmandāriyya dealt with managing Bedouin affairs and receiving the amir al-ʿarab.
[5] Moreover, Bakhit asserts that it is unclear if the sultan's ratification was required for the Bedouin tribes or the provincial government to recognize the amir al-arab.
[2] The Ayyubids' Mamluk successors paid closer attention to the Bedouin tribes of Syria as they considered the region to be an important frontier in the wars with the Crusaders in the coastal areas and the Mongol Ilkhanate in Anatolia and Iraq.
[2] The Mamluks relied on the Bedouin as auxiliary troops and were wary of their unstable, but much-needed, loyalty to the state,[2] and referred to the iqtaʿat of the amir al-ʿarab as an "iqtaʿ iʿtidād (fief of reliance).
[10] The distribution of iqtaʿat to the tribes was done, at least in part, to persuade them not plunder the unfortified towns and villages of the countryside as they were normally wont to do, and to induce them to cooperate with the state.
[10] In general, Salamiyah and Palmyra consistently served as iqtaʿat of the amir al-ʿarab,[13] continuing into the early Ottoman era, when the iqtaʿ was supplanted by the timar.
[5] In return for iqtaʿat, annual customary payments, and honorary titles and robes, the amir al-ʿarab was expected to command his horsemen as auxiliaries in the wars against the Mongols, the Crusaders, their allies and rebellious Mamluk emirs.
[10] Among the official duties of the amir al-ʿarab and the Syrian Bedouin tribes was the defense of the sultanate's boundaries, and maintenance and oversight of the roads, bridges and mountain passes of the desert and within their iqtaʿat.
[6][10][12] This also entailed the protection of merchant travelers and the annual Hajj pilgrim caravan, which traversed Bedouin territory to reach the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina in the Hejaz.
[14] Noble horses and young camels were also provided by the amir al-ʿarab to the royal stables of the Mamluk sultans on an annual basis.
[16] However, during this period, certain Bedouin tribes also participated in Umayyad dynastic struggles, the Abbasid Revolution, the rebellious Kharijite and Alid movements and isolated revolts.
[16] Following the Abbasid decline beginning in 861, state authority in the Syrian Desert receded significantly, leaving the Bedouin tribes to fill the void.
[21] A number of medieval Muslim chroniclers referred to Salih ibn Mirdas (d. 1029), the founder of the Mirdasid emirate in Aleppo, as amir ʿarab al-Sham, which translates from Arabic as "commander of the Bedouin of Syria".
[21] During the Zengid period in Syria (1128–1182), some Bedouin chieftains were accorded iqtaʿat, paid ʿidād (livestock tax), and performed military duties.
However, during the latter half of az-Zahir Ghazi (r. 1193–1216) of Aleppo's reign, the Kilab were brought under Haditha's authority and were stripped of the amir al-ʿarab title.
[27] When Mani died in 1232/33, he was succeeded by his son Muhanna I after an agreement between the Ayyubid emirs of Homs and Damascus, al-Mujahid Shirkuh II and al-Ashraf Musa, respectively, without input from the sultan of Egypt.
In 1260–1261, sultans Qutuz or Baybars replaced Ali or Abu Bakr with Isa ibn Muhanna,[28] who was granted Sarmin and half of Salamiyah as his iqtaʿ.
[30] Ahmad ibn Hajji was referred to malik al-ʿarab (king of the Bedouin) in Mamluk sources and numerous tribes came under his authority.
[33] An-Nasir Muhammad particularly lavished the Al Fadl emirs with iqta'at, gifts and honors to the extent that Muhanna criticized the policy as over-indulging the Bedouin, and in the process, weakening the Muslim army.
[10] According to Mustafa A. Hiyari: The manipulation of the emirate [sic] by Al Muhanna for such a long time was the result of their ability to serve the interests of the Mamluk state more than any other clan.
[37] For the next thirty years, Hayar rebelled and reconciled with the Mamluks and during times of rebellion he was often replaced by his brother Zamil and cousin Mu'ayqil ibn Fadl; sometimes the latter two ruled jointly.
[39] Nonetheless, members of the clan from Hayar's line continued to fill the post of amir al-ʿarab, with Husayn ibn Nu'ayr succeeding Fadl.
The Mamluk-appointed amir al-ʿarab, Mudlij ibn Zahir, a direct descendant of Hayar, was kept in his position by Ottoman sultan, Selim I, after the two met in the aftermath of Marj Dabiq.
[43] Husayn and Mudlij both sought the support of Emir Fakhr ad-Din II, a Druze chieftain of the Banu Ma'an who became a powerful semi-autonomous force in Syria.