Al Sa'dun

Al Sa'dun (Arabic السعدون) also known as Al Sa'dun family, Al Saadoun, Al-Sa'dun or the House of Sa'dun, is an Arab chiefly clan family of Husaynid origins that historically supplied the paramount sheikhs of the Muntafiq tribal confederation in southern Iraq. One of the most powerful tribal confederations of the Middle East and particularly Ottoman Iraq. The family had been offered the kingship of Iraq by the British, but rejected on the grounds that cooperation with non-Muslims against a Muslim polity was not acceptable. They subsequently continued their battles with the British throughout Iraq and eastern Syria. General Sir John Nixon would declare them the foremost obstacle in the conquest of Iraq. Their authority rested on hereditary prestige, military leadership, the settlement of disputes, the collection of taxes and tribute, the distribution of resources and recognition by the provincial government of the Ottoman Empire. A famous member was Abdul Muhsin al-Sa'dun, who served four times as Prime Minister of Iraq between 1922 and 1929.