"دليل الجزيرة العربية المجلد I" [‎٦‎٧‎٤] (١٠٥٠/٧٢٩)

HADttBAMAUT
of whom go abroad to geek their fortune. The Kathiri tribe was formerly the most
powerful • they occupy the towns of Saiwun, Tarim, and A1 Ghuraf in the richest part
the main Hadhramaut valley. The chiefs of both the Ka'aiti and Kathiri are in political 1
relations with the British Government, through the Resident at Aden. The 'Amudi
in the Wadi Duwan, and the Nahdi, Awamir and Tamimf in the main valley, are the
principal tribes possessing permanent villages ; the Saiban, Hamumr, and Manahil
occupy the mountains between the main valley ancf the coast. ^ r .
The townsmen are the free inhabitants of the towns and villages as distinguished from
the Sayyids and the tribesmen; they do not carry arms, but are the working members
of the community, merchants, artificers, cultivators, and sevants, and; are entirely depen
dent on the tribes and chiefs under whose protection they live. The servfle class contains
a large African lement, brought over formerly when the slave trade flourished on this
coast; as in all Mohammedan countries they areweH treated, and often ri^e to positions
As already mentioned a large number of Arabs from Hadhramaut go abroad; the
Ka'aiti tribesmen take service with the irregular troops of Hyderabad; emigration on
a large scale has also gone on to the Butch colonies in Java and Sumatra since the begin-
ing of the 19th century. According to the census 6f i880, quoted by Van den Berg in
his Report published by the Government of the Butch East Indies in 1886, the number
of Arabs in those colonies actually born m Arabia was 2,500, while those born m the
colonies exceeded 20,000 ; nearly all of the former are from the towns m the Hadhramaut
valley between Shibam and Tarim. *, , r o j-n : nt* tw + o
Makalla and Shihr have a considerable trade wfth the Red Sea and Persian Gulf Ports,
as well as with the ports of Aden, Bhafar, and Masqat. A large share Of this is in the
hands of Parsee and other British Indian traders who have established themselves rn
the Hadhramaut ports. The pincipal imports are wheat, rice, sugar, piece-^oods, and
hardware. The exports are small; the chief items are honey, tobacco, and sharks fms.
In the towns in the interior the principal industries are weaving and dyeing.
The Mahra country adjoins the Hadhramaut proper, and extends along the coast trom
gihut eastwards to the east of Qamr Bay, where the Qara coast begins and stretches to
Murbat. The Sultan of the Mahra, to whom Sokotra also belongs, fives at Kishm, a poor
Village consisting of a few scattered houses about 30 miles west of Ra^ Fartak Sihu
is a similar village 20 miles farther west. The mountains rise to a height of 4 000 feet
within a short distance of the cdast, covered in places with trees among which are the
myrrh-and frankmcense-bearing shrubs. The gums for which the ctfast was celebrated
fn ancient days, are still produced. The best quality is obtained m the Qara country,
on the northern slope of the mountains'. Bhafar and the mountains behind i
visited and surveyed by Mr. Bent's party in 1894 There are severaf thrmn| villages
on the coast of which A1 Hafa is the principal port of export for frank incense ;^000 cwt.
is exported annually to Bombay.
Ruins of Sabaean buildings were found by J. T. Bent in the neighbourhood ofDhafar
and a remarkable cove or small harbour was discoverdat Khor Ron, which he identitiecl
With the ancient port of Moscha.
The following article brings out much additional matter regarding the Hadhramaut.
A eea.
In its broader sense, this region may be said to extend inland from the coast of the
Arabian Sea to about lat. 17° N. ; and from long. 47° E. to long. 53° E. Its frontiers are
fn no sense defined, but roughly it is bounded on the west by the Aulaki and Wahicu
territory, north by the great Ahqaf tract of desert, and east by the Bhofar province o
Oman. Thus considered, the region measures about 400 miles from east to west and has
a depth north and south varying from about 220 miles in the west, tailing to about
miles in the east.
In its more restricted sense, the term Hadhramaut refers to the broad valley running
for some hundreds of miles more or less parallel to the coast, by which the waters of the
many valleys of a large portion of the southern Arabian tableland probably drain into the
gea> between Saihut and Qishn.