"شخصيات، شبه الجزيرة العربية" [‎١‎٩‎٩] (٣٧٤/٢٠٣)

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is roughly a stretch of 50 miles from NW. to SE., and 25 miles from NE t
to SW. Its neighbours are the Bahr ibn Sekeinah and Beni Thuwwah on
the north, Rabi'ah wa Rufeidah, 'Alqam, Beni Mugheid, and Rabi'at
el-Yemen on the east, Ben Shi'bah on the south, and Munjahah and Beni
Hilal on the west.
The tribe is divided into seven subdivisions: the Beni Qutabah,
Beni Dhalim, Beni Junah, Jeis ibn Mas'udi, Beni Zeidin, Shahab, and
Umm Bina.
The chief Sheikh of the whole tribe is Ibrahim ibn Muta'ali of Julia,
a man much respected for his prowess in war and his wisdom in tribal
matters. He is now over 70 years of age, and for some time most of
the administration has devolved on his son, Ahmed ibn Muta'ali. The
latter is a tall man of about 30, with a fair skin, who first made his name
as a fighter when the Rijal el-M'a overran Mikhlaf el-Yemen just before
the rise of the Idrlsi. He fought the Sherif in 1910 at Muha'il and in
the Balahmar country, but withdrew his forces at a critical moment
owing to the appointment of Seyyid Mustafa, of the Bahr ibn Sekeinah, as
general of the whole Asir army. So greatly did the Rijal el-M'a resent
having an outsider placed over them, that soon after one of their minor
Sheikhs, Seyyid Yahya walad esh-Sheiri, with the full approval of the
tribe, attempted to murder him. Idrisi gave way on the matter, but
the mischief had been done, and the Rijal el-M'a took no further part
in the campaign.
Of the sub-tribes, the Beni Qutabah live in the fertile valley of
Wadi 'Us, which rises near Suda, and joining the Wadi Ahabesh near
Athalif eventually flows into the Wadi Dhofa' by Muha'il. The Beni
Qutabah stretch from near its source to beyond Athalif in a succession of
villages surrounded by cultivation. The slopes of the hills and the
valleys, except where cleared, are here, as elsewhere in the Rijal el-M'a
country, deeply forested. The Beni Qutabah, though dwelling in
villages, are of a wandering temperament, and are the chief camel
carriers on all the trade routes of Asir, going to Sabia, Qunfudah, Birk,
and sometimes as far as Blshah and Mecca. There is a small colony of
'Abadilah Ashraf, who live with them and wield a certain amount of
influence.
The Sheikh of Athalif, Ibrahim el-Hufdhi, is a man of some notoriety.
His father was made a Kaimmakam by the Turks, and granted a pension
of £15 a month, which was paid to his family until the tribe revolted.
Ibrahim el-Hufdhi went to Constantinople in I9 I 4 to assert his loyalty
to the Turks and ask that the pension should continue to be paid to him.
His influence in the tribe is not great.
The Beni Dhalim lie to the south of the Wadi'Os and are entirely
settled. They are the largest section, numbering 4,000 men, and also by
far the richest. They have most of the trade of Asir in their hands, and
bring petroleum, sugar, tea, clothing, &c., from Aden and Musawwa',
which they sell chiefly in the large village of Rijal. They have been the