In the middle of the desert, there is such a mysterious nomadic people, who are called "Bedouins". After thousands of years of wandering, this people has always adhered to their way of life and beliefs, refusing to be ruled by any country and not bound by any law. Why are they abandoned? What are the reasons for clinging to this lifestyle? The world seems to have forgotten them, but why do they have good intentions towards the Chinese? What's going on? Let's unveil this mysterious people.
1. Glory and Decline: The History of the Rise and Fall of the Bedouins
In the vast Arabian desert, there was once a nomadic people who stood out from the crowd and had great ambitions. They are the Bedouins, a once-glorious people.
Tracing back to the roots, the ancestors of the Bedouins can be traced back to around 2000 BC. At that time, they were nomadic herders, navigating the vast desert terrain of the Middle East and North Africa. The isolated living environment has created a unique way of life and cultural practices.
The Bedouins have always been brave and good at fighting, and their riding and archery skills are outstanding. In ancient times, they became the hegemons of the Middle East with their superb riding and archery skills and extraordinary courage. From Syria to the Arab Peninsula, they have ruled everything. In the barren desert, they built a remarkable civilization.
The heyday of Bedouin civilization was in the 7th century AD. At that time, they had already formed a unique and advanced form of nomadic civilization. Their strength is unparalleled in the Arab region, and their horse archery skills are known as "the best in the world". They are even more famous for their strong focus on education, and their scholarship and poetry hold a high place among the Bedouins.
At the height of Bedouin civilization, many dynasties in the Arab region were subservient to them. At that time, the Bedouins were full of spirit and national self-confidence, and they were ready to establish a "Bedouin Kingdom" across the Middle East.
However, the good times were short-lived. In the 10th century AD, the fate of the Bedouins took a dramatic turn. At that time, the Afdian Dynasty of Egypt united with the Byzantine Empire to launch a "Bedouin Encirclement War" that lasted for decades, causing this once brave and warlike nation to retreat.
Later, it was hit by the emerging Ottoman Empire, and its vitality was greatly damaged. It was not until 1715 that the Ottoman army surrounded the last Bedouins in the valley of central Jordan and starved them to death by virtue of their outnumbered numbers, a tragedy known as the "Last Pilgrimage".
In this way, the once glorious Bedouin civilization, after hundreds of years of decline, finally fell into decline. Their descendants never had a chance to regain their former glory, and were left to wander the vast deserts of the Middle East and North Africa as wandering as a wandering nomad.
Forced to stay away from home: the Ottoman massacres and the way to flight
The Bedouins once stood out from the crowd, but their glory days are gone. The tragedy of the "Last Pilgrimage" in 1715 marked the complete decline of the nation. From then on, they were forced to leave their homes and began a long and arduous journey of escape.
In 1715, the Ottoman army surrounded the last Bedouins and besieged them in a valley in central Jordan. Due to the obsolete weapons and weak military strength of the Bedouins, they were quickly captured by the Ottoman army. Seeing that there was no way out, the Bedouins could only wait for the doom of being slaughtered all.
The Ottoman army ordered that no one should be allowed to send any food, grass and supplies to the Bedouins. In this way, 20,000 Bedouins were left homeless and suffering.
In that small valley, the Bedouins gradually ran out of food and water. They were forced to eat inedible plants in the desert, and even had to slaughter and eat their own mounts. But even so, it is difficult to sustain life after all.
A month later, the valley was littered with Bedouin corpses. There were also people who were on the verge of death, lying on the ground thirsty, and they opened their mouths, hoping that the last bit of rain would drop into their mouths. Eventually, 20,000 Bedouins died of thirst in this narrow valley, in what became known as the "Last Pilgrimage".
In order to avoid being wiped out, the surviving Bedouins had to flee in all directions. Some of them took refuge in the Ottoman Empire, pretending to submit in order to survive. The other part was divided into clans, leaving the Caucasus and escaping the control of the Ottoman army.
In 1858, the Ottoman Empire introduced a land registry law to encourage the surrendered Bedouins to settle down. However, due to the lack of civility and institutions, the land registration law was poorly enforced, which instead increased the tax burden on the Bedouins and led to the displacement of more people.
In order not to experience the tragedy of the "Last Pilgrimage", the Bedouins insisted on the principle of "not recognizing any government or law outside the clans" in the process of fleeing. This principle became their belief and yardstick on the long road of wandering.
Since then, the Bedouins have been scattered around the wilderness. They have traveled all the way to Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and other places, and even fled all the way to the Caucasus Mountains, where they have settled.
Despite the harsh living conditions, the Bedouins prefer to walk in the hot and dry desert rather than be bound by any country or law. They adhered to their way of life and customs, refusing to contradict any secular civilization so as not to repeat the mistakes of the "Ottoman massacre".
III. The heroic saga of the First World War
Although the Bedouins have always lived a life of exile, their desire for freedom and indomitable spirit have never been defeated. During the First World War, this once-glorious nation was once again embroiled in the whirlpool of war and wrote an unforgettable heroic legend.
In 1914, World War I broke out. At that time, the Ottoman Empire was allied with Britain and its allies, and the two sides were locked in a battle to the death. In order to cope with the shortage of manpower, the Ottomans had to recruit a large number of strong men from the Bedouins to serve as cannon fodder and go to the front lines in Palestine.
The Bedouins, who were forced into the war, undoubtedly fell into a tragedy that was doomed to defeat. They were armed with obsolete weapons and were powerless to fight back in the face of the advanced firepower and equipment of the British army. Under the shelling of the war, a large number of Bedouins suffered heavy casualties and became the substitutes of the Ottoman Empire.
Just when the situation of the Bedouins was in a desperate situation, a reversal occurred. In the Negev region, thousands of Bedouin soldiers suddenly turned their guns and began to fire heavily at the Ottoman positions. At the same time, they also made contact with the British army and switched to join the camp of the British army.
This Bedouin "Rangers" force, with its superior horse archery skills and familiarity with the terrain, inflicted great casualties on the Ottoman army. They rode from position to position, evading enemy fire and then launched a fierce assault that reduced many Ottoman positions to a sea of fire.
In just a few months, this "Bedouin ranger" captured Damascus. Their bravery won praise from the British and was hailed as the "sword of Hamad". It was their strength that helped the British army to achieve a decisive victory in the Palestinian region.
After the end of the First World War, the Bedouins did not settle there. They still maintain a nomadic lifestyle, continuing to wander the vast deserts of the Middle East and North Africa. Only this time, they re-entered the stage of history as warriors and won the attention of the whole world.
Although the Bedouins did not receive the British promise of an independent state, their heroic actions in the Great War demonstrated the indomitable national spirit of the nation and revitalized the dying nomadic people.
4. Unyielding national independence: China is the only ally
After the outbreak of World War II, the Bedouins were once again in turmoil. This time, they were not only ravaged by fascist Germany, but also abandoned by the Allies and almost annihilated. At this critical juncture, it is surprising that China, a country that had been invaded by China, has become the only international ally of the Bedouins.
In 1939, Hitler's Nazi Germany invaded Poland, kicking off World War II. The following year, after the capture of France, the Germans quickly advanced into the Middle East. Since the Ottoman Empire had ruled the Middle East for hundreds of years, some locals worshipped Ottoman descendants, which facilitated the German invasion of the Middle East.
The vast desert terrain provided a good shelter for the Bedouins, but their homelessness also made them the first to suffer from German attacks. At that time, in order to gain the trust and support of the locals, the German army took advantage of the fact that the Bedouins had been betrayed by the British in the past in an attempt to win them into the fascist camp.
Some Bedouin chiefs were tempted by the German bait and saw it as an opportune time to regain dominance, so they led their men to Nazi Germany. During those dark years, many Bedouin militants became fascist Germany's horses in the Middle East, causing endless disasters to their compatriots and local people.
However, the vast majority of Bedouins remained hostile to fascist Germany. Under German fire, countless Bedouins were killed, wounded or displaced. Even the "Sword of Hamad" rangers, who fought valiantly in World War I, were completely swept away by the Germans and almost wiped out.
At this critical juncture, it is surprising that China, thousands of miles away, has become the only international ally of the Bedouins. At that time, it was a difficult period of the War of Resistance Against Japan, and China was also suffering from the atrocities of the fascist Germans and Japan. In order to fight together against the fascist Axis powers, the Nationalist government at that time generously allocated a large amount of arms and materials to support the guerrillas in the Middle East, including a large number of Bedouin fighters.
The Chinese paid a great price for this. Munitions transported from the Indian Ocean to the Middle East were constantly harassed by Axis submarines and aircraft carriers, and a large number of Chinese sailors and servicemen were martyred in transit. But it was this precious batch of munitions that provided the Bedouin forces with the strength to resist in the desert, and also enabled them to win the final victory.
To this day, the Bedouins remain grateful to their former allies in China. I don't know if there are still those sweaty figures of Chinese in a corner of the desert.
5. The present life of a mysterious people
After the end of the Second World War, the Bedouins survived, but they remained unassimilated and adhered to their unique nomadic lifestyle. They are still wandering the deserts of the Middle East and North Africa, living a free life.
After the establishment of the State of Israel, a part of the Bedouins was settled in the West Bank. The local government has allocated some grassland for them to graze their sheep there. However, this practice is not accepted by the majority of Bedouins, who prefer to remain nomadic rather than be treated as "refugees".
The Bedouins have always had ambitions to make a comeback. They hope that one day they will be able to regain their former glory and re-establish their kingdom in the Middle East by force. With this in mind, many Bedouin militants have joined armed groups such as the Palestine Liberation Organization and Allah in Lebanon in the hope of reviving the nation.
But as time went on, the prospects for armed struggle became more and more bleak. The vast majority of Bedouins have abandoned this deeply ingrained belief in favor of focusing on their own nomadic life. They are afraid of the outside world and prefer to live a life of seclusion rather than be assimilated.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, with the turbulent changes in the Middle East, the fate of the Bedouins has also taken a new turn. Some of them have been caught up in the war and become refugees; Others have joined the armed forces of the extremist group Islamic State.
However, whether they are forced to leave their homes or join extremist groups, the vast majority of Bedouins remain neutral. They prefer to continue to live a wandering nomadic life, away from worldly strife. Today, the Bedouins still cling to the desert, refusing to be ruled by any state and not bound by any law, living a unique life of isolation.
Little is known about this mysterious people. Even in the Middle East, few people know about their historical origins and cultural traditions. They can only be seen occasionally by people who walk in the desert.
If you walk into the desert, you may be able to find traces of Bedouins. There, you'll see them driving their camels slowly; They will also be seen in the camp wielding their whips to drive the flock; You will also see them standing in the barren wilderness, living freely.
In the face of such a maverick people, people may find it incomprehensible. But at the end of the day, this is exactly what the Bedouins have lived and believed in for thousands of years. For them, it is better to be abandoned by the whole world than to maintain their nomadic life and independent freedom.