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'Handbook of Arabia. Vol. I. 1917' [231] (240/748)
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.
GOVERNMENT
231
Of governmental administration as a whole, in spite of the com
parative homogeneity of the region, there is none, in the usually
accepted sense of the term. The tribal lords have no care for what
are considered in Europe the duties of government. Education,
police, and public works are left entirely to private initiative,
and as a result the two last are almost entirely non-existent.
Instruction alone flourishes, and that only among the Seyyids and
townsmen. There are some schools for so-called primary, secondary,
and higher instruction ; in the two former the teaching is almost
exclusively confined to language, grammar, and religion. The
chief centre of higher instruction is at Seyyun, where the
Academy, known by the name Bibat, is a sort of annexe
to the Great Mosque; here there are about 100 students who
receive free board and lodging and 300 outside students who pay
fees of varying amounts. The teaching is confined to the intensive
study of grammar, law, and theology, to the almost entire exclusion
of the so-called modern sciences, astronomy (as interpreted by the
Arabs) alone excepted. The study of medicine, among others, is
entirely non-existent.
As for Law and Magistracy, the influence of the Seyyids is a
powerful curb on any oppression by the Muqaddams or tribal lords,
and in the Hadhramaut there is a sufficiently independent magis-
trature. The Seyyids have the greatest interest in seeing that the
Mussulman law is honoured and respected, because the law and
religion are one : the decadence of religion would inevitably bring
about the loss of that superstitious respect which the people have
for them as descendants of the Prophet.
Each town or village of any importance has a with a
sub-Qadhi for the country district round about. The Qadhis are
nominated by the Muqaddams, but the latter consult the Seyyids
and renowned savants before fixing on their choice ; sub-Qadhis
are nominated by the Qadhis. The Qadhis have both civil and
criminal jurisdiction, and base their decisions on the works of
jurists of the Shafei rite. Judgements must be drawn up in
writing and signed and sealed by the Qadhi who has delivered
them, but can only be put into execution on authorization by
the Muqaddam, who, however, uses his veto but rarely. The
jurisdiction of the sub-Qadhis is limited to marriage and other acts
of family life, the majority of the inhabitants of the country rarely
having recourse to the judge in their other affairs. Differences
between persons of the same family are in general adjusted by the
Abu, and differences between persons belonging to different families
by the Muqaddam. In the latter cases, failing accord, justice is settled
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' [231] (240/748), 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_100037114036.0x000029> [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