Sullabi

Sullabi is the name of an Arab tribal group historically associated with southern Mesopotamia, with particular ties to the Basra region in what is today Iraq. The designation also survives in modern times as a surname or nisba, used by individuals and families who identify with the tribal heritage or geographic origin of the region around Basra and the lower Euphrates.

In historical sources, the Sullabi are referenced among the network of tribes that inhabited southern Iraq and the western Persian Gulf corridor in the medieval and early modern periods. Details about the tribe’s exact sub-tribal divisions, leadership, and boundaries vary across sources, reflecting the fluid and often undocumented nature of tribal organization in the region before and during the Ottoman era. As with many Basran and Gulf-area groups, the Sullabi name appears in genealogies and local histories as a marker of lineage or regional origin rather than a single unified polity.

In contemporary usage, Sullabi may be found as a family name in Iraq and among the wider Arab world, including communities with Basran and Gulf connections. The surname can be spelled in several variants, and its bearers may have diverse occupations and affiliations, mirroring the broader diasporic and urbanized trends of the region.

See also: Tribes of Iraq; Basra region; Nisba.