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'Gazetteer of Arabia Vol. II' [‎1074] (111/688)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (341 folios). It was created in 1917. It was written in English. 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. .

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Name.
KUR—KUR
clases in the towns and villages in 'Iraq. They are a sturdy and capable race and are
well represented in the army and military police. Some of the regular battalions,
which constituted the Baghdad division in the days of the Turks, to a considerable extent
consisted of, and were officered by, Kurds.
KURD TRIBE (II)— , -t, . -T -
An Arab tribe, notv -ithstanding their namo ; see rural tribes of Iraq.
KURIA MURIA* ISLANDS— , ^ ,
This group of islands lies 25 miles off the south-eastern Coast of jOman between
Ras Sharbatat and Ras Nus and is consequently a little to the east of Dhufar. The origin
of the English name " Kuria Muria'' is unexplained ; the Arabs call the islands Jazair
Bin-Ghalfan after a Mahra family who once seized them and in 1835 still claimed the group
as their property. The Kuria Murias are 5 in number and form a chain running for
50 miles due east and west. They are of granite and stand upon a granitic ledge, with
very deep water immediately outside, which extends hence under the sea to Ras Nus
and from there by land to Murbat, where it ends. During the north-east monsoon the
islands are exposed to winds blowing from all points of the compass. The north wind
sometimes lowers the temperature as much as 20° E. bringing it down to 50° and causing
severe sickness. Hallaniyah, the largest and central island of the group, is the only
one inhabited : the people are reported to speak a dialect closely allied to that current in
the neighbourhood of Murbat and resembling Mahri. The islands, in order from east to
west, are:—
Jilliyah
Position.
10 miles east of
Hallaniyah.
Dimensions
and physical
characteristics.
Oharzaut or Rodon-
do.
Eallanlyah
7 miles north-east of
Hallaniyah.
48 miles east-north
east of Ras Nus.
About i mile square.
It consists of por
phyriti'* syenite
and dark granite ;
the highest pf-int
is 500 feet.
Hardly more than a
large rock, 200
feet high, of reddish
granite.
The largest of the
islands, about 7|
miles long from
east to west by 3|
broad from nr>rth
to south. It con
sists of granite with
dark veins, and the
hills in the centre
form a cluster
of spires one of
which reaches a
height of 1,503 feet.
Remarks.
There is no fresh
water. There are
numerous gannets;
the only other living
creatures are rats,
mice, snakes, scor-
jions and centi
pedes. Some fine
sponges are obtain
able in from 5 to 7
fathoms of water.
Nil.
Water is abundant
but all slightly brack
ish. There are a
few tamarisk trees
and at the east end a
little grass. The na
tural fauna are wild
goats, whip-snakes,
scorpions and centi
pedes. The human
inhabitants number
ed 23 in 1835 and 36
including children.
b authorities on thi3 group are mentioned in the article on the 'Omftn Sultanate (footnote). The Chhart

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Content

Volume II of III of the Gazetteer of Arabia. The Gazetteer is alphabetically-arranged and this volume contains entries K through to R.

The Gazetteer is an alphabetically-arranged compendium of the tribes, clans and geographical features (including towns, villages, lakes, mountains and wells) of Arabia that is contained within three seperate bound volumes. The entries range from short descriptions of one or two sentences to longer entries of several pages for places such as Iraq and Yemen.

A brief introduction states that the gazetteer was originally intended to deal with the whole of Arabia, "south of a line drawn from the head of the Gulf of 'Aqabah, through Ma'an, to Abu Kamal on the Euphrates, and to include Baghdad and Basrah Wilayats" and notes that before the gazetteer could be completed its publication was postponed and that therefore the three volumes that now form this file simply contain "as much of the MSS. [manuscript] as was ready at the time". It further notes that the contents have not been checked.

Extent and format
1 volume (341 folios)
Physical characteristics

Foliation: This volume's foliation system 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.

Written in
English in Latin script
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'Gazetteer of Arabia Vol. II' [‎1074] (111/688), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/17/16/2/2, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023727632.0x000070> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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