From the pre-Islamic period, the Udhra dwelt in what the Arabic sources referred to as Masharif al-Sham ('the approaches of Syria'), especially in the Wadi al-Qura region, as far north as the Tayma oasis.
[1][2] They largely remained there during the early Islamic period, though some clans of the tribe had migrated into Syria and later Egypt and Muslim Spain.
[1][4] During the pre-Islamic period, the Udhra had a protection arrangement with the Jewish farmers of Wadi al-Qura, stipulating a share in their crops in return for staving off raids from other Bedouin tribes.
They maintained close links with the Quraysh of Mecca, especially the Banu Zuhra clan, and, to a lesser extent, the Aws and Khazraj tribes of Yathrib (Medina).
The tribe was evidently favored by Caliph Umar II (r. 717–720), who appointed members Uthman ibn Sa'd al-Udhri and Abd al-Rahman ibn Khashkhash al-Udhri as his governor in Damascus and his qadi (head judge), respectively.