!['Handbook of Arabia. Vol. I. 1917' [‎327] (336/748)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000884.0x000298/IOR_L_PS_20_E84_1_0336.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "'Handbook of Arabia. Vol. I. 1917' [‎327] (336/748)")
'Handbook of Arabia. Vol. I. 1917' [327] (336/748)
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
327
(see Route No. 75); wells on the W. side of Feishshdhh near
a ruined fort; at RasDa'asah, 18 miles N. from foot of Dohat es-
Salwa, a masonry well with good water, 1 mile inland, at Fahdl,
16 miles N. from the same, 4 masonry wells with good water ;
at Bas Faheihll, 6 miles S. of Zubdra a single well; at Na'mdn,
7| miles S. of the same place, 2J miles inland, a stone-lined well
with good water at 7 fathoms, and a ruined fort; and at
Umm el-Ma, 12 miles S. of Ras 'Asheiriq, masonry wells inland
from the bay, with a ruined fort built by one of the recent Sheikhs
of Bahrein.
Climate
There are no statistics with regard to the climate of El-Qatar,
but it is described as exceedingly dry. Rather more rain is said
to fall in the course of the year than at Bahrein, but it may be
assumed that the average does not exceed 5 inches. Tempera
ture may be conjectured to resemble that.of Bahrein, but to be
slightly less equable, at any rate in the interior.
Population
The sedentary population is composed of communities and tribes
nearly all of which are common to El-Qatar and the Bahrein
Islands; they fall into some 25 groups, of which the' following are
the most numerous : A1 Bu 'Ainein (about 2,000), a clan of the
Al Subaih sub-tribe of the Beni Khalid (see p. 608), at Wakrah;
Al Bin 'Ali (1,750), Dohah ; Huwalah (2,000), and Wakrah;
Khaleifat (850), Wakrah ; Al Bu Kuwarah (2,500), Sumeismah,
Dha'd'in, and Fmveirat ; Ma'adhid (875), Wakrah, and Luseil;
Mahandah (2,500), Khor Shaqlq and Dhakhlrah ; Sulutah (3,250),
Ddhah; negro slaves (4,000), Dohah; free negroes (2,000),
There are some 500 Arabs from Nejd, and an equal number of
Bahdrinah and Persians. The total settled population, as estimated
on the conjectural basis of native statement, would be about 26,000.
The Bedouins proper to El-Qatar are the Beni Ha jar, and the
small tribe of the Ka'ban, but a large body of Na'im from Trucial
Oman have become detached from their tribe and now move
between Bahrein and Qatar. The peninsula is also visited by
Ahl Murrah from Hasa, and, in the cold weather, by Manasir from
Trucial Oman
A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates.
; both tribes are said to rob the villages when
occasion serves. 'Ajman are occasionally seen; the tribe made
a raid into Qatar in 1909. In 1904 Burchardt, travelling from
Hofuf to Dohah, had to pay tax to four tribes, Ahl Murrah,
Hajar, Dawasir, and Manasir : the tax was levied even on Turkish
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
Use and share this item
- Share this item
'Handbook of Arabia. Vol. I. 1917' [327] (336/748), 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_100037114036.0x000089> [accessed 9 March 2025]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100037114036.0x000089
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100037114036.0x000089">'Handbook of Arabia. Vol. I. 1917' [‎327] (336/748)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100037114036.0x000089"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000884.0x000298/IOR_L_PS_20_E84_1_0336.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000884.0x000298/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
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