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'Handbook of Arabia. Vol. I. 1917' [195] (204/748)
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.
GOVERNMENT
195
an alien aristocracy imported by the senior confederate states, or is
the scion of some ancient ruling race. Intertribal jealousy, feuds,
and a fierce spirit of independence have prevented any revival of
autocratic government; for patriarchal rule tolerates very little pre
rogative, and only such influence as personality, prowess, or wealth
can command. Even a ruling sultan may be promptly deposed by
the tribe he misgoverns, and he can never rely on direct succession
if opposed to the tribal will: though his dynasty may brook all but
a general upheaval, an heir is often passed over for a more suitable
relative by the nominating chiefs ; and the same rule applies right
down the tribal scale to the sheikh of the smallest clan.
The largest unit for administrative purposes is the ' confedera
tion ' of several subordinate tribes with a larger one, whose Sultan
is sufficiently powerful to impose and maintain a sort of suzerainty
over the semi-detached tribeships around him, in addition to the
tribe under his direct control. The various tribes composing a
confederation rank according to their origin and fighting-strength;
for the tribal notion is that gain is no good without the grit which
alone can preserve it. Each tribe (or leading subdivision) manages
its own affairs under the rule of an ' 'Aqil' (wise man) who is always
a member of one of the senior clans (into which the tribe is again
subdivided), but not necessarily the oldest representative of his
house. Here again succession may be set aside, or an 'Aqil deposed
in favour of a cadet, by the will of the tribe. The tribe is again
divided into ' Afkhadh ' (sing. Fakhdh), or clans ; each of these is
under its own sub-'aqil, and its internal affairs may not be interfered
with, by the tribal 'Aqil. A clan is composed of a number of families
or households under a Sheikh, sometimes large enough to form an
entire settlement, which is technically known as a (habitation)
or, if strongly fortified, as a ddr (fortress). The Sheikh has no voice
in the management of individual family affairs, provided the head
of a family does not jeopardize the interests and peace of the clan.
The head of a family (usually also called Sheikh, by courtesy) leaves
household matters to his women-folk.
The tribesmen defer far more to their 'Aqils, or senior chiefs,
than to their actual Sultan (if they happen to acknowledge one),
who, as has been said before, is rarely, if ever, of tribal blood,
and has more often than not been thrust into power during some
crisis of tribal politics. His (the Sultan's) influence is directly in
relation to his wealth—in proportion, in fact, to the magnificence
of his establishment, his hospitality, and the military support his
wealth can procure ; but in time of public danger, against an alien
foe, all tribesmen would flock to the standard of their nominal
N 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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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