"كُتيّب اليمن" [ظ‎‎١‎٠] (١٩٠/٢٥)

(2) The Highlands. —On the mountain ranges and massifs
we find the true mountaineer type, taller and bigger-
limbed than the lowlander and of lighter complexion.
There is no negroid taint in the Yemen hills, but there has
been some amount of intermarriage (confined to the mechan
ical and menial classes) with women of the serf class of
(possibly) Abyssinian or Persian origin.
(3) The Maritime Range, which skirts the Tihamah, is
peopled by a type intermediate between (1) and (2). Here
one observes the swarthy complexion of the plainsmen,
but without any negroid taint, except in the towns and
large settlements, where the tribal types have been merged.
(4) On the Eastern Plateau, towards the south-west edge of
the Great Red Desert, there is a taller race again, showing
every trace of the Ishmaelite immigration, which probably
came from Jauf. These eastward dwellers are known
collectively, by the Yemenis, as Ahl el-Mashriq, and are
feared for their dour fanaticism and fierce impetuous
character.
As in the adjoining province of Hadhramaut, the Arabs
are divided into four main classes, viz. (1) Seyyids or Ashrdf,
descendants of the Prophet, forming; a religious aristocracy ;
(2) tribesmen or Qabeil, belonging to the Qahtan, or
original South Arabian stock, who form the bulk of the
population and are the only class habitually carrying arms ;
(3) the trading classes ; and (4) the servile class, mostly of
mixed African descent and including the Jews.
Religion.
The Central Yemen follows the Zeidi sect, a survival of
Arabian Shiism, called after Zeid a great-grandson of the
Caliph r Ali. It was established in the Yemen by the Imam
Yahya el-Hadi, a.d . 901. Through him the present Imam of
Yemen claims descent from Fatimah, daughter of the Pro
phet. The Zeidists approach the Orthodox Sunni more
nearly, perhaps, than any other Shiah sect. They are, in