This cavalry force was recruited from the Arab-Berber population of what is now Libya, following the Italian occupation in 1911-12. The first Savari units were raised in December 1912. The officers of the fourteen squadrons (twelve designated as "regular line" and two as "command") comprising this corps were nearly all Italian. Their troopers and some of the non-commissioned officers were Berber and Arab volunteers who had a long tradition of horsemanship. Seven line squadrons were recruited from Tripolitania and five from Cyrenica during the 1930s.