Robert Alexander Wahab

“ It is well supplied with water and is surrounded by gardens and plantations; barley and wheat are grown, but the staple produce, as in all the cultivated districts of Hejaz, is dates, of which 100 different sorts are said to grow. Yambu’ has a certain importance as the port for Medina. The route follows for part of the way along the Wadi es Safra, which contains several small settlements with abundant date groves; from Badr Hunen, the last of these, the route usually taken from Medina to Mecca runs near the coast, passing villages with some cultivation at each stage. ”

“ The inner or plateau zone of Yemen stretches along the whole length of the province, with an average width of 120 m.; it lies entirely to the E. of the high range, and has therefore a smaller rainfall than the Jibal; its general character is that of a steppe increasing in aridity towards the E. where it merges in the desert, but broken in places by rocky ranges, some of which rise 2000 ft. above the general level, and which in the Hamdan district N. of Sana show evidence of volcanic action. ”

“ With these exceptions there are no settled villages between Maʽan and Medina, the stations on the pilgrim road being merely small fortified posts with reservoirs, at intervals of 30 or 40 m., which are kept up by the Turkish government for the protection of the yearly caravan.
The southern part of the province is more favoured by nature. Medina is a city of 25,000 to 30,000 inhabitants, situated in a broad plain between the coast range and the low hills across which lies the road to Nejd. ”

“ Hejaz remained in Egyptian occupation until 1845, when its administration was taken over directly by Constantinople, and it was constituted a vilayet under a vali or governor-general. The population is estimated at 300,000, about half of which are inhabitants of the towns and the remainder Bedouin, leading a nomad or pastoral life. The principal tribes are the Sherarat, Beni Atiya and Huwetat in the north; the Juhena between Yambu’ and Medina, and the various sections of the Harb throughout the centre and south; the Ateba also touch the Mecca border on the south-east. ”

“ The villages are substantially built of stone, often picturesquely situated on the spurs and crests of the hills, the houses clustering round the dars or towers which dominate the cultivated slopes and valleys. ”

“ They are divided into families, the chiefs of which are known as Munsibs, who are looked on as the religious leaders of the people, and are even in some cases venerated as saints. Among the leading families are the Sheikh Abu Bakr of Aināt, the el-Aidrus of Shihr and the Sakkāf of Saiyun. They do not bear arms, nor occupy themselves in trade or manual labour or even agriculture; though owning a large proportion of the land, they employ slaves or hired labourers to cultivate it. ”

“ The principal town of the Jibal is Ta‘iz, the seat of a Turkish mutassarif; its present population docs not exceed 4000, but it was formerly a large city, and from its position in the centre of a comparatively fertile district at the junction of several trade routes it must always be important. It contains five mosques and the Turkish government offices and barracks, and in the business quarter several cafes and shops kept by Greeks. The climate is unhealthy, perhaps owing to its position in a low valley, 4400 ft. ”

“ The main divisions of Nejd are the following: Jebel Shammar, Kasim, Sudēr, Wushm, ʽArid, Afláj, Harík, Yemāma and Wadi Dawāsir. J. Shammar is the most northerly: its principal settlements are situated in the valley some 70 m. long, between the two ranges of J. Aja and J. Selma, though a. few lie on their outer flanks. Jauf, Tēma and Khaibar, though dependencies of the Shammar principality, lie beyond the limits of Nejd. ”

“ The tribesmen, as in Arabia generally, are the predominant class in the population; all the adults carry arms; some of the tribes have settled towns and villages, others lead a nomadic life, keeping, however, within the territory which is recognized as belonging to the tribe. ”

“ Thirty miles further N. are the small towns of Ibb (6700 ft.) and Jibia, about 5 m. apart, typical hill towns with their high stone-built houses and paved streets. To the E. on the main road to the coast via Zubed is Udēn, the centre of a coffee-growing district; 80 m. to the N. is Manakha, a Turkish post on the main road from Hodeda to the capital, and the chief place of Jebel Haraz, which produces the best coffee in Yemen. ”

“ The name Kuwēt is the diminutive form of Kut, a common term in Irāk for a walled village; it is also shown in some maps as Grane or Grain, a corruption of Kurēn, the diminutive of Karn, a horn. It lies on the south side of a bay 20 m. long and 5 m. wide, the mouth of which is protected by two islands, forming a fine natural harbour, with good anchorage in from 4 to 9 fathoms of water. The town has 15,000 inhabitants and is clean and well built ”

“ The principal crops are wheat, barley, millet and coffee, the last-named more particularly on the western slopes of the range within reach of the moist sea-breezes. In many places the hillsides, otherwise too steep for cultivation, are cut into terraced fields supported by stone walls ”

“ As compared with the other classes, they are well educated, and are strict in their observance of religious duties, and owing to the respect due to their descent, they exercise a strong influence both in temporal and spiritual affairs. ”

“ Suwerikiya and Es Safina are the only villages of importance on this route.
Mecca and the holy places in its vicinity are described in a separate article; it is about 48 m. from the port of Jidda, the most important trade centre of the Hejaz province. The great majority of pilgrims for Mecca arrive by sea at Jidda. Their transport and the supply of their wants is therefore the chief business of the place ”

“ Kasim lies E. of J. Shammar in the valley of the W. Rumma the great wadi of northern Nejd; the chief towns Burēda and ʽAnēza are situated about 10 m. apart, on the north and south sides of the Wadi respectively. Doughty described ʽAnēza in 1879 as clean and well built with walls of sun-dried brick, with well supplied shops. Many inhabitants live in distant houses in gardens outside the town walls. ʽAnēza and Burēda each contain some 10,000 inhabitants. The dry bed of the Wadi Rumma in lower Kasīm is about 2 m. across, fringed in places with palm plantations; water is found at 6 or 8 ft. ”

“ His successor, Abdul Aziz Ibn Rashid, was, however, unable to maintain his position, and in spite of Turkish support, sustained a severe defeat in 1905 at the hands of Ibn Saʽud which for the time, at any rate, restored the supremacy to Riād. ”

“ The eastern route though more direct is less used; it passes through a barren country described by Burton as a succession of low plains and basins surrounded by rolling hills and intersected by torrent beds; the predominant formation is basalt. ”

“ Along its course lie the villages of Ayana, and Deraiya the former Wahhābi capital, destroyed by Ibrahim Pasha in 1817; and a few miles farther E. the new capital Riād, built by the emir Fēsal after his restoration and visited by Palgrave in 1863, and by Pelly two years later. ”