'Handbook of Arabia. Vol. I. 1917' [‎381] (390/748)

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RECENT HISTORY AND PRESENT POLITICS 381
^ ® gether by close tribal relations and by what might be called a
national pride in Shammar achievements during the past 50 years.
The result is a measure of unity rare in Arabia. Combined with
mels valour and a plentiful supply of arms, it will continue to make Jebel
^ Shammar formidable to its neighbours. Over this group the Rashid
raits are revered autocrats. They themselves are tribesmen, being of the
Mel 'Abdah, one of the great Shammar divisions, and their hold on their
' ^ own people is undisputed. They share the tribal life. After the
Man first winter rains have quickened vegetation in the warm sandy
fa, hollows of the Nefud, they go out under tents with their horses and
race herds of camels ; and yearly, when their cattle have recovered from
leans the semi-starvation of winter, they lead—following a universal
wed nomad custom—a raid against some tribe which has troubled their
w k borders or grown so rich in flocks and herds as to concentrate upon
,M{1 itself the cupidity of its rivals.
Hal Since the days of the Emir Mohammed there has been a diplo-
ortl- matic connexion between Ha'il, Damascus, and Constantinople.
«, 'Abd el-Hamid cultivated Ibn Rashid's friendship in the hope of
lown establishing a point d'appui from which Ottoman influence, radiating
at over Arabia, might counteract the machinations of England, which
ildis he held to be based on Koweit and to extend to Riyadh. In 1904-5
in of small expeditions were sent from Basra to aid the Emir Abd el-
onls. 'Aziz, who was hard pressed by Ibn Sa'ud, and this policy has been
no* continued under the present Sultan. In December 1915 the Otto-
iGiild man Government was said to be reaping the fruits of its forethought
rnani and obtaining through Ibn Rashid camels for the expedition against
and Egypt; but personal relations between Wahabite Arabs and adherents
ied of the C.U.P., who are regarded by the former as little better than
haps infidels, are never likely to be easy, and as yet no permanent Turkish
no* representative has been posted at Ha'il.
raids The policy of the Emir Sa'ud ibn Rashid has been anti-British,
losed in that he has worked with the Turks and been hostile to the Sultan
fflj of Koweit; and lately he has shown some active hostility towards
0 te us, and towards sheikhs and tribes friendly with us in the Euphrates
t - e lye valley. But independence is, after all, the primary desire of the
jjjj . Shammar federation; although until lately the comparative ease
allS f with which the Turks could reach Ha'il from either the Hejaz Rail-
jgof way or Samawah, has contributed to make Jebel Shammar sensitive
mjd to Ottoman pressure.
■y If assured against both Turkish attack and Ibn Sa'ud, the Rashid
pU Emir would not be hostile to us. The princes of his house have the
M tastes and interests of nomads. They covet the Jauf oasis as a
11 0 . - point of control north of the desert, and are largely dependent on the