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THE BEDOUIN TRIBES OF THE KARAK REGION
 With the building of a fortress at Karak by the crusaders the
town acquired an importance within the region that lasts until
the present day. During the Ayyubid and the first part of the
Mamluk periods Karak had an important function in the economy
and political structure of the empire. According to Burchard
of Mount Zion, who wrote around 1230, Karak was one of the
strongholds of the sultan, who used it as a treasury.
 The social organization of the Levant has always, from the
Early Bronze Age on, and probably before that, been determined
by tribal structures. This means that the tribe was the basis
of society. Often there was a ruling superstructure, like a
kingdom or an empire. The tribes could either cooperate with
the ruling powers of the day, or be independent and oppose
those powers. Their attitude towards them, as well as their
mutual relationships were determined by a combination of
territorial claims and economic interests.
Because of its fertility the Karak Plateau was sought after by
bedouin tribes. They camped in the region, pastured their
flocks and acquired the produce of the land from the farming
population. Sometimes they traded with the fellahin, but more
commonly they demanded khawa, ‘protection’. Or they simply
robbed the farmers at harvest time.
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