Al-Shihri
A family name (nisba) to Banī Shihr of the Sarāt in ʿAsīr — distinct from al-Shahrānī, and from al-Shiḥrī of the Hadhrami coast.
- Type
- Tribal nisba
- Attributed to
- Banī Shihr
- Region
- The Sarāt in ʿAsīr
- Not to be confused with
- al-Shahrānī (Shahrān); al-Shiḥrī (al-Shiḥr in Hadhramaut)
Overview
Al-Shihri (al-Shihrī) is the nisba of Banī Shihr, who hold highland country on the Sarāt in ʿAsīr, terraced and stone-built like their neighbours. The sources place them with Khathʿam, alongside Balqarn and Shahrān — affiliations recorded as reported, on which the genealogists themselves differ.
Names close to it
Two other names sit close to this one and are regularly run together with it. Al-Shahrānī is the nisba of Shahrān, a neighbouring but separate tribe of the same highlands. Al-Shiḥrī, with ḥāʾ, is a regional nisba to al-Shiḥr, the coastal town of Hadhramaut that Yāqūt records in Muʿjam al-Buldān; it has nothing to do with the ʿAsīr tribe. Unpointed or hastily written, the three are easy to confuse — and it is worth a family knowing which of them its own records carry.
Note
A shared nisba does not by itself establish a line of descent: one name may be carried by descent, by alliance (ḥilf) or by clientage (walāʾ). Documented lineage is what settles it.
Sources
- الحسن الهمداني، صفة جزيرة العرب، 334هـ — في ذكر السراة وقبائلها؛ يُراجَع ويُوثَّق قبل إثبات التفاصيل
- ياقوت الحموي، معجم البلدان، 626هـ — مادة: الشِّحر — للنسبة الحضرمية المشابهة
This page is an educational, historical reference compiled from published sources. It is not an authority on lineage. Where sources differ, we report the difference without taking a position. Corrections are welcome via our contact page.
Last reviewed: 2026-08-31