[1] In its "golden age", around the 1850s, the Shammar ruled much of central and northern Arabia from Riyadh to the frontiers of Syria and the vast area of Upper Mesopotamia (Arabic: الجزيرة, romanized: al-Jazīra, lit.

Since some sections of Tayy, and most of the Ghassanids and Lakhmids, were present in Mesopotamia and the Levant prior to Muhammad's preaching of Islam in the early 7th century.

In the Namara inscription (the second oldest pre-Islamic Arabic inscription, dating from 328 CE), the name "Shammar" is believed to refer to a city in Yemen, though it may refer to the city where the Himyarite King Shammar Yahri'sh lived, Radda District (located about 100 kilometres (62 mi) from Dhamar, an ancient historic site).

The Shammar are currently one of Iraq's largest tribes and are divided into two geographical, as opposed to genealogical, subsections.

The Shammar that remained in Arabia had tribal territories extending from the city of Ha'il northwards to the frontiers of the Syrian Desert.

Later, in the first two decades of the 20th century, Al Rashid were defeated by Ibn Saud and his Wahhabi forces when his campaign to restore his family's rule in the Arabian Peninsula culminated in the Conquest of Ha'il in 1921.

Today, most members of the Shammar live modern, urbanized lifestyles in Saudi Arabia and Iraq, and some sections settled in Syria and Jordan.

Despite this, the vast majority of Shammar continue to retain a strong tribal identity and loyalty to their tribe.

Many also participate in Cultural Festivals to learn about their ancient lifestyles, and to take part in traditional activities such as folk dancing.

[citation needed] The Shammar is Iraq's largest Arab tribe, along with the Jubur, with more than 1.5 million members.

Most of the Shammar in Iraq gave up their nomadic lifestyles to settle in major cities, especially the Jazirah plain, the area between the Tigris and Euphrates from Baghdad to Mosul.

Droughts triggered several migrations of Shammar into Iraq, which, according to the Ottoman census upon its annexation, had only 1.5 million inhabitants.

The Shammar became one of the most powerful Iraqi tribes, owning vast tracts of land and provided strong support of the Hashemite monarchy.

After the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, Ghazi al-Yawar, from the Al Jarbah clan, was unanimously chosen as interim president.

[12][13][14] His son Bandar al-Humaydi is military leader of al-Sanadid Forces, a Shammar militia formed in 2013 nominally to protect the tribe's interests from ISIL.