File XXIII/8 'Travels in Oman. Visit of B. Thomas to the Musandam Peninsula. 1928. Notes on Shihuh dialects & people, also Kumzaris'

Content

This file contains a document entitled 'The Musandam Peninsula: its people the Shihuh and their dialects' written by Bertram Thomas, Adviser to the Sultan of Muscat.

This document contains Thomas's description of the settlements, traditions and customs of the Shihuh tribe of the Musandam Peninsula which he divides into three groups: 'the interior mountain Baduin [Bedouin]', 'the Kumazara' and 'the Dhuhuriyin'. Thomas practised craniofacial anthropometry and therefore the physical appearance of the Shihuh, notably their skull size/shape, is discussed at length, often in crude, racialised terms.

The document contains an appendix (folios 25-32) titled 'Shihuh Dialects' that focuses on the language used by the Shihuh. This is divided into two sections 'The Mountain Dialect' and 'The Dialect of Kumazara' and is interspersed with handwritten words and phrases in Arabic script.

Extent and format

1 file (31 folios)

Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear of the file.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 34; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.

Written in

English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script

Type

Archival file

Access & Reference

Original held at

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.

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

IOR/R/15/6/30

Former external reference(s)

File XXIII/8

History of this record

Date(s)

Mar 1927 (CE, Gregorian)

Exhibition history

`The Musandam Peninsula and its inhabitants the Shihuh' (Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society xv, 1928).

Subjects

Geographical exploration

Places

OmanMusandam Peninsula

People & organisations

Bertram Sidney Thomas

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Cite this record in your research

File XXIII/8 'Travels in Oman. Visit of B. Thomas to the Musandam Peninsula. 1928. Notes on Shihuh dialects & people, also Kumzaris', British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/6/30, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100000000831.0x000256> [accessed 28 January 2025]

Link to this record

https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100000000831.0x000256

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