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'Handbook of Arabia. Vol. I. 1917' [230] (239/748)
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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230
THE HADHRAMAUT
The other principal tribes, comparatively much less powerful
than the two foregoing, are: the in
Wadi
A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows.
Do'an; the
Nahad, in the upper Central Hadhramaut; the in the
southern side of the main
wadi
A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows.
; the and Tamimi, in the
lower Central Hadhramaut, east of the Jabiri; the and
Mandhil, in the plateau region and the lower Hadhramaut; the
Mahrah, east of the lower Hadhramaut; and the The
Mahrah country, which is a coastal tract, links the Hadhramaut
proper, on the west, with the Qara territory in the western confines
of Oman. The pop. is estimated at about 50,000. Inland, the
country is believed to consist of sandy steppes, but its boundaries
are unknown. The Sultan of Mahrah, who is also ruler of
Socotra, lives at Qishn, a rather poor fishing village about 36 miles
west of Ras Fartak. Seihut, situated near the mouth of the main
Hadhramaut valley, is a well-built town with many houses of stone,
and is said to have a population of 10,000. Hafat is another thriving
village on the coast from which 9,000 cwt. of frankincense is exported
annually, principally to Bombay.
The Wahidi, under one principal Sultan and several subordinate
chiefs, occupy the south-western district of the Hadhramaut which
stretches from the coast inland to the plateau. They are one of
the least aggressive tribes in the country and have, for the most
part, settled down into peaceful tillers of the soil or herdsmen.
They control 50 miles of coast from Ras el-Kelb to Balhaf (a small
Wahidi port), and carry on a little local sea-borne trade, having
several good but small harbours, all, however, open to the monsoons.
The total pop. is estimated at over 9,000 souls, including a few Jews.
The chief towns are Habban, with some 250 houses and 2,500 in
habitants, a mercantile settlement situated some 12 miles east ot
Yeshbum ; Hautah, 2,000 inhabitants ; Raidah, with some 1,001)
people; and Izzan (Hisan), a large village, with a pop. of about JOU.
The combatant portion of the population of the Hadhramau
is composed of bands of irregulars, and consists generally of t e
members of the tribes and their families, who all know the use o
arms. Some chiefs have in addition a special and more discipline
guard and corps of armed slaves. Thus the Sultan of the Kaai i
has an army, though somewhat irregular, of from 3,000 -4,000 meii
and 1,500 slaves, which is mainly in garrison in the different town
under his authority, including 1,000 maintained at Shiheir; e y
are lodged and nourished at his expense and receive a little pay
The Sultan of the Kathiri is supposed to be able to muster som
7,000 fighting-men and has also about 1,000 armed slaves. 1 e
is no cavalry in the Hadhramaut.
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' [230] (239/748), 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_100037114036.0x000028> [accessed 9 March 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