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'Handbook of Arabia. Vol. I. 1917' [147] (156/748)
The record is made up of 1 volume (371 folios). It was created in 1916. It was written in English and Arabic. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
PHYSICAL CHARACTER
147
I drain the eastern scarp are the Kharid (said to be perennial),
which loses itself somewhere in the sands east of Janf, and Wadis
I Bana and Tiban, which lead south-eastwards towards the coast
: of the Gulf of Aden.
II
Climate
The climate of Yemen naturally varies very greatly, both in
temperature and rainfall, according to altitude and district. The
coast is extremely damp and, though the sea-breezes lower the
temperature, the excessive humidity makes the heat very trying.
Heavy winds are prevalent from the sea, from north-west in summer
and south-west in winter, both uncomfortably damp. Winds
from the east usually bring sandstorms, but rain seldom reaches
the coast. The Tihamah is fiercely hot by day and fairly cool at
night, but it is comparatively free from the enervating dampness
of the coast-line; its rainfall is scanty and irregular. The maritime
ranges and intramontane plains have a feverish climate with close,
muggy nights, especially in the rainy season among the foot-hills ;
but as one approaches the higher elevation the air becomes more
healthy and bracing. The principal rainfall occurs in spring ; but,
on the higher ground, in summer as well, and then chiefly as
thunderstorms.
On the maritime ridge, at 5,000 ft, and over, winter fogs are
prevalent; mists come up from the ravines in the early after
noon, and lie thick till next morning and sometimes all next
day; they are not, however, without their advantages, as they
favour the growth and development of the coffee plant. This zone,
with its regular rainfall, due chiefly to the influence of the SW.
monsoon, may be considered as the most favoured district of Arabia;
broadly speaking, however, the district has two rainfalls, one in
early spring and another in late summer with the NE. monsoon.
The plateau has a much drier climate, of which that of San'a
may be taken as fairly typical. Here it may be described as cool
and pleasant all the year round : the nights are cold in winter but
the days warm, and in summer the heat, though considerable, is not
oppressive owing to the dryness of the air; a difference of more
than 20° may be sometimes observed between the wet- and dry-bulb
thermometer readings in May. The eastern plateau has much smaller
and less certain rainfall than the west, the bulk of which may be
expected in summer; the periods of fall, however, are often short,
and local famines are not uncommon. The eastern scarp is hot and
has a scanty rainfall, which decreases eastward. Here the season of
such precipitation as there is extends from November to February.
K 2
About this item
- Content
This volume is A Handbook of Arabia, Volume I, General (Admiralty War Staff, Intelligence Department: May, 1916) and contains geographical and political information of a general character concerning the Arabian Peninsula. The volume was prepared on behalf of the Admiralty and War Office, from sources, including native information obtained for the purpose of compiling the volume, since the outbreak of the First World War. Separate chapters are devoted to each of the districts or provinces of the Arabian Peninsula and include information on the physical character, as well as social and political surveys.
The volume includes a note on official use, title page, and a 'Note' on the compilation of the volume. There is a page of 'Contents' that includes the following sections:
- Chapter 1: Physical Survey;
- Chapter 2: Social Survey;
- Chapter 3: The Bedouin Tribes: A. Northern Tribes, B. Tribes of the Central West, C. Tribes of the Central South, D. Tribes of the Central East, Supplement: Non-Bedouin Nomads;
- Chapter 4: Hejaz;
- Chapter 5: Asir;
- Chapter 6: Yemen;
- Chapter 7: Aden and Hadhramaut: A. Aden and the Interior, B. Hadhramaut;
- Chapter 8: Oman: A. The sultanate of Oman, B. Independent Oman;
- Chapter 9: The Gulf Coast: A. The Sultanate of Koweit [Kuwait], B. Hasa, C. Bahrain, D. El-Qatar, E. Trucial Oman A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. ;
- Chapter 10: Nejd;
- Chapter 11: Jebel Shammar;
- Chapter 12: The Northern Nefūd and Dahanah Belts;
- Chapter 13: Settled Tribes of the North-West;
- Chapter 14: Settled Tribes of the West;
- Chapter 15: Settled Tribes of the South;
- Chapter 16: Settled Tribes of the Centre;
- Appendix: Note of Topographical and Common Terms;
- Index;
- Plates.
The front of the volume includes a 'List of Maps' and a 'Note on the Spelling of Proper Names'. Maps contained in this volume are:
- Map 1: Arabia: Districts and Towns;
- Map 2: Orographical Features of Arabia;
- Map 3: Land Surface Features of Arabia;
- Map 4: Tribal Map of Arabia.
The volume also contains fifteen plates of photographs and sketches by Captain William Henry Irvine Shakespear, Douglas Carruthers, Captain Gerard Leachman, Dr Julius Euting, George Wyman Bury, and Samuel Barrett Miles.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (371 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume is arranged in chapters. There is a contents page, list of maps, alphabetical index, and list of plates.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: There is a foliation sequence, which is circled in pencil, in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. of each folio. It begins on the front cover, on number 1, and ends on the last of various maps which are inserted at the back of the volume, on number 371.
- Written in
- English and Arabic in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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'Handbook of Arabia. Vol. I. 1917' [147] (156/748), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/E84/1, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100037114035.0x00009d> [accessed 9 March 2025]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/20/E84/1
- Title
- 'Handbook of Arabia. Vol. I. 1917'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, i-r:i-v, 1:381, 384:726, ii-r:ii-v, ii-r:ii-v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence