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'Handbook of Arabia. Vol. I. 1917' [146] (155/748)
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
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146
YEMEN
best known among the latter being Kamaran Island, which lies quite
near the mainland some twelve miles south of Loheia.
(2) The maritime ranges throw out low foot-hills toward the
coast; but here and there they culminate in massifs rising 5,000 ft.
or so above sea-level. Such are Jebel Bura' and J. Reimah, while the
town of Menakhah itself, which is situated in this zone, is 7,500 ft.
above sea-level, and the neighbouring peak of Shibam 9,000 ft. The
maritime ranges are much intersected by wadis and, although the
Hodeidah-San'a road does pass through Menakhah, such gradients
as it encounters need not be climbed until the main ridge has to be
crossed, if these wadis are followed. There is, for example, a much
easier route to San'athan the Menakhah road running up the valley
of Siham (Saham) (see vol. ii. Route No. 55).
(3) The intramontane plains are much intersected by foot-hills
and rugged kopjes, and have an average altitude of 4,000 ft.
(4) The ridge, or main watershed, has an average altitude of
9,000 ft. and is a jumbled agglomeration of mountain masses, spurs,
and neks cut up in places by sheer ravines of the most formidable
character and filled with boulders; and there are peaks rising occa
sionally to over 10,000 ft.
(5) The central plateau has an altitude of 7,600 ft. at San'a and
rises gradually. southward, culminating between Yerim and Ibb,
where the mean altitude is 9,000 ft. Thence, southward, it dips
towards the Aden Protectorate border to a mean altitude of 5,000 ft.
Its general character is that of a steppe increasing in aridity towards
the E. The whole plateau is much broken by mountain ranges
and tall peaks (some of which rise 2,000 ft. above the general level),
especially towards the S. ; but northwards, towards Asir, it loses
much of its irregular character among low scattered ranges and
encroaching arms of the inland desert. It must be borne in mind
that the Yemen plateau is but the south-western and most tilted
corner of the great oblong plateau which forms the main physical
characteristic of the peninsula of Arabia.
(6) The plateau is not clearly defined eastwards, but dips gradually
and opens out into comparatively barren plains between low hills :
these merge eventually in the Great Red Desert, known locally as
Er-Raml, ' The Sand'. The western scarp of the central plateau
drains into the Red Sea through such wadis as the Suleil, Sardud,
Bajil, Siham, Rema', and Zebld. None of them contain perennial
water-courses, for they only flow into the sea in spate, and
even then rarely; but, the slope being steep, they carry down
much detritus to form not inconsiderable arable tracts in their
lower courses. Among the principal wadis that trend inland and
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' [146] (155/748), 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_100037114035.0x00009c> [accessed 18 January 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