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'Handbook of Arabia. Vol. I. 1917' [353] (362/748)
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.
i
SOCIAL 353
hirers-out of camel-transport. Hence the society of the whole
district, and especially its towns, has an exceptionally commercial
and cosmopolitan character. (See pp. 370 ff.)
In the rest of Nejd comparatively little caravan traffic seems
to go on. Leachman heard in 1912 that trade had declined to
almost nothing in Riyadh; but Shaqrah, though not what it was,
seems still to be a trading centre. There is said to be regular
traffic between Riyadh and the south-western districts of the penin
sula by way of
Wadi
A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows.
Dawasir, but what its measure and character
may be is not known.
D. Curbency
The only currency in common use in Nejd is the silver dollar
{riydl) ; but when the Emirs' dues and the Meccan contributions
have been paid very few coins remain in circulation. There are no
smaller denominations except stray Turkish pieces, and these are
accepted only in Qasim. In S. Nejd even Turkish gold, in current
circulation in Hasa, is taken very reluctantly. Persian currency,
and the rupee, though common on the Gulf Coast, do not pass in
Nejd, except, possibly, with big merchants of Qasim towns or of
Shaqrah, and at heavy discount. Doughty, however, got for
a cheque in Aneizah. Ordinary exchange is effected by barter in
kind calculated on a basis of date-fruits, measured by the Sa' (see
below).
E. Weights and Measures
Dates are measured by weight, says Doughty, at Aneizah, but
what weights are used as a standard he does not say. Leachman
reports Indian weights and measures to be used at Shaqrah, but
gives no details. (Compare Indian scales used at Muscat, p. 244.)
Doughty (1877) found a measure of content, the Sah or (of
Medina), in use as the basis of trade in dry commodities throughout
W. Central Arabia. He says it varies according to locality, being
equivalent to nearly 2 pints at Teima; 2| a.t Ha'il; nearly 3 at
el-'Ala ; and 5 at Kheibar. He gave the following table :—
12 Sahs = 1 Medega (a small palm-basket).
5 Medegas = 1 Mejellad.
? Mejellads = l Hashiah (i.e. a skinful of dates.
Lorimer {Gazetteer of the Persian 1908) gave the following
information for both South Nejd and Qasim: ' Wholesale weights are
arabia i r?
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' [353] (362/748), 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_100037114036.0x0000a3> [accessed 3 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