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 In the 13th and 14th
centuries Transjordan was largely divided between two powerful
tribal confederations. The whole region from south of Aqaba up
to the Wadi Mujib was the territory of the Beni Okba, while the
Mehdawi dwelled in the region north of the Wadi Mujib. These
confederations generally were on good terms with the ruling
government, that of the Ayyubid, and later the Mamluk empire. [
Photo]
 Power structures like these are never very stable, however,
and especially in times of unrest they tend to shift. West of
the Jordan a tribe, supported by the Mamluk government,
expanded its territory to the east side of the Jordan. The
Beni Hareta were descendants from the old confederation of the
Tay, who had moved into Sinai and the Negev after the first
Islamic conquest. The main territory of the Beni Hareta was
still west of the Jordan, between Yafo and Haifa, but they had
extended their power to the east, and controlled the plain of
Karak as well. While the Mamluk empire was
losing its grip on Transjordan, a new power started to build up
in the south: that of the Beni Atiyeh. We first hear from them
in the early 16th century, when they rob the sheep of the
Egyptian Sultan. By then they were already a force to be
reckoned with, that seriously threatened the Beni Okba. The fall
of the Mamluk empire in Egypt, and the rise to power of the
Ottomans gave them the chance they needed: they plundered the
east part of Egypt, and declared themselves allies of the new
government. Like the Beni Okba, the Beni Atiye
were a confederation of tribes, who now expanded into different
directions. One of these tribes, the Uhedat (or Wuhedat)
wandered northwards, in the direction of Karak.
Karak was in the power of the Ibn Turabai, the leading family of
the Beni Hareta.
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