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'Handbook of Arabia. Vol. I. 1917' [391] (400/748)
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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THE NORTHERN NEFUD
391
Nolde claimed that this was the shorter route, and that the waterless
stage was shorter than that on the Jauf-Jubbah track. As a matter
of fact,from our present knowledge of the true position of Hayyaniyah
the distances between wells are practically the same, while the
total length of the journey is if anything longer. The latter half
of this route, between Hayyaniyah and Ha'il, is a recognized track
across the eastern end of the Nefud, and connects Jebel Shammar
with 'Iraq ; the sand-crossing takes two days and the going is
comparatively easy. The only other track in the Nefud of which
we have any record is one which is said to lead westwards from
Jubbah to Fajar (Eejr) and Tebuk. There would be a waterless
stage of 100 miles.
Deserted in summer, when the heat becomes intolerable, the Nefud
is, in winter and spring, an asylum for all the tribes upon its borders.
The sand-area, curiously enough, supports a considerable vegetation.
The dunes are more or less covered with large bushes of
(tamarisk) and artah (yerta), with scrub such as and 'actor, and
with tall succulent grasses, nussi (or nassi), and sobath (or
There are also many peculiar parasites that grow on the roots of
the ghadha ; these are typical desert growth—full of moisture and
greatly sought after by the drinkless fauna. The Nefud grasses
afford excellent feed for camels, and are so nourishing in the spring
months that these become quite independent of water for many
weeks at a time. Thus the Bedouins, living on their camel's milk,
are enabled to wander far into the depths of the waterless dunes..
The sands even lend themselves to artificial afforestation.
Doughty mentions how he found the ' great dune of Boreyda '
newly planted with ithl (tamarisk) trees. The natives set the
young plants in the loose sand and water them for one year. By
that time they have struck out long roots and are able to thrive
of themselves. ' Planted with tamarisks '—he notes—' the sands
of Arabia might become a green wood.'
The first rains fall about mid-November, and very soon afterwards
the sap begins to run in the twigs of the thorny bushes, and grass
and flowering weeds spring up in the sand.
The nomads have a great liking for the Nefud, finding, as they
do, an abundance of fuel and pasturage. The warm hollows afford
them a shelter which is much appreciated after the exposure of the
surrounding deserts. There is also comparative immunity from the
attacks of raiders ; although the Bedouins also complain that the
Nefud is dangerous on account of the ease with which an enemy can
track them in the sand.
The Bishr. the Wuld 'Ali, 'Awajah, Euqara, Sherarat, &c.,
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' [391] (400/748), 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_100037114037.0x000001> [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