Kabilar

Kabilar is a term used in several languages to denote tribes or tribal groups. It derives from the Arabic word qabīla, meaning a tribe or clan, and its meaning appears in various transliterations such as qabila or qabail in different linguistic contexts. In Arabic, qabīla refers to a kinship-based social unit, with the plural qabā’il used when speaking of multiple tribes.

In South Asian literatures that borrow Arabic and Persian vocabulary, forms like qabila or qabail are common for “tribe” or “clan.” In Turkish, the standard modern word for a tribe is kabile, with the plural kabileler; the spelling kabilar can appear in older texts, nonstandard transliterations, or as a proper name, but it is not the normal contemporary Turkish form for “tribes.”

Beyond language variation, kabila-like terms appear in historical and anthropological writing to label social groups organized around kinship, alliance, and shared ancestry. The exact structure, membership rules, and political functions of such groups vary by region and historical period, ranging from centralized polities to decentralized clan networks.

See also: Qabila, Qabā’il, Tribe, Clan.