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'Handbook of Yemen' [‎20v] (45/190)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (91 folios). It was created in 1917. It was written in English. 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

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on a broad open plain, 7,600 feet above sea-level. The
plain has an almost imperceptible decline towards the north,
and is surrounded by low barren hills, of which the highest
eminence is Jebel Nuqum, 1,000 feet, the crest of which is
surmounted by a Turkish fort and observation post with
two big howitzers which command the town. To reach
it takes some two hours' journey up a steep winding track.
The population is very variously estimated. Harris, in
1891, computed it at 50,000; Manzoni, in 1880, at about
25,000 ; the consular report for 1905 gave it as 20,000, and
A\ avell (1910) as 18,000. In any case the chronic commer
cial depression and the number of emptv houses (remarked
by various authorities) seem to indicate a rapidlv decreasing
population. About 6,000 (according to one authority)
are Jews.
Ihe town is divided into three distinct quarters : the old
Arab town proper containing the shops and Government
buildings ; the Bir el-'Azab, on the west, a spacious suburb
of modern official and private residences and walled gardens;
and the Qa at el-\ahud, or Jewish quarter, to the west
again. Fhe old town is surrounded by a forty-foot wall of
stone and mud flanked with ancieni towers at frequent
intPivals, to which the Turks have in more modern times
acded defences at the gates, notably the sally-port from the.
ci a el, a zigzag outlet of massive strength through which
ere is no public admittance. The original town-wall has
een extended in modern times to include the two nearer
quar eis the whole having a perimeter of seven to eight
nu es. here are several outlying fortified posts on the
spurs of the surrounding hills which help to guard the city
™ 1 There are ei g ht gates in all. The Bab
flio ia .i U ! in !, nor ^ wa ^ the main way of ingress for
thrnn^ 1 \ a ^ C ' ^ ^b el-Yemen, opposite, is the one
thp iT.-'i U 1C q i ? 1 ANS .^ ie carava n traffic towards the south;
consisting 8 strate g lca % the most important,
to rlmp (4, 166 se P aratc gates so arranged as effectively
to the mair ^ mm nec ^ ^at joins the Bir el-'Azab quarter
to the mam town; and the Bab el-Qa'ah or Bab el-Yahud,

About this item

Content

The volume is Handbook of Yemen. Prepared by the Arab Bureau, Cairo , 1st edn, 15 January 1917 (Cairo: Government Press, 1917).

The handbook contains information about Yemen under the following headings:

  • Area;
  • Physical Character (including Relief and Climate);
  • Population;
  • Districts and Towns;
  • Agriculture and Industries;
  • Trade (including Currency, and Weights and Measures);
  • Political;
  • Yemen Army Corps;
  • Tribal Notes;
  • Personalities;
  • Communications;
  • Routes.

The prefatory note states that the handbook had been compiled by Major K Cornwallis and Lieutenant-Commander D G Hogarth, RNVR from information obtained in Cairo (especially about tribes and personalities) and from material prepared for the Arabia Handbook issued by the Admiralty War Staff, Intelligence Division.

The volume contains an 'Outline Map of Yemen' (f 6).

Extent and format
1 volume (91 folios)
Arrangement

There is a list of contents at the front of the volume (f 5).

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at 1 on the front cover and terminates at 93 on the inside back cover. The numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and appear in the top right hand corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. page of each folio. This is the system used to determine the sequence of pages within the volume.

Pagination: the volume also has an original printed pagination sequence numbered 2-167 (ff 7-92).

Written in
English in Latin script
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'Handbook of Yemen' [‎20v] (45/190), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/17/16/14, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023644479.0x00002e> [accessed 23 November 2024]

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