In the 10th century, after migrating from the Arabian Peninsula, the tribe was given the right of grazing on the land of east Morocco and west Algeria by Al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah, the Arab Fatimid caliph of North Africa.

[2] The tribe had a population of 54,000 people in 1994, and they inhabit a vast desert territory in eastern Morocco of 25,000 square kilometres.

They remain as Morocco's largest livestock farmers and they raise as many as 600,000 sheep, 200,000 goats, and 11,000 cattle in an average yield-year.

The Beni Guil race, called locally as "Daghma" or "Hamra" in reference to its brown color.

The Arabian tribes which settled for over 1000 years in North-Africa, have brought with them their flocks, which explains the origin of this breed.