'Personal Narrative of a pilgrimmage to Al-Madinah and Meccah. Vol. II' [‎79] (100/568)

XXV.—The Badawin of Al-Hijaz.
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rove and by preserving the ancient characteristics of the
)pier Nilotic family. The Ishmaelities are sub-Caucasian, and
slijdi are denoted in history as the Arab al-Musiarribah, the
sian, insititious or half-caste Arab.
with Oriental ethnography, which, like most Eastern
3wer sciences, luxuriates in nomenclative distinction, recognises
1 the a fourth race under the name of Arab ai-Mustajamah.
ithe These " barbarized Arabs " are now represented by such
item a population as that of Meccah.
That Aus and Khazraj, the Himyaritic tribes which
iting emigrated to Al-Hijaz, mixed with the Amalikah, the
still Jurham, and the Katirah, also races from Al-Yaman, and
:abs, with the Hebrews, a northern branch of the Semitic
mits family, we have ample historical evidence. And they who
:e of know how immutable is race in the Desert, will scarcely
; un- doubt that the Badawi of Al-Hijaz preserves in purity the
shed blood transmitted to him by his ancestors. 1
i 2 ■ ■ ———
had come with Hercules. We cannot but remark in Southern Arabia
ieties. t ^ e footprints ot the Hindu, whose superstitions, like the Phoenix
3 who which flew from India to expire in Egypt, passed over to Arabia with
unan, Dwipa Sukhatra (Socotra) for a resting place on its way to the
aman regions of the remotest West. As regards the difference between
ind to the Japhetic and Semitic tongues, it may be remarked that though
W ere nothing can be more distinct than Sanscrit and Arabic, yet that
;d the Pahlavi and Hebrew (Prof. Bohlen on Genesis) present' some re
markable points of resemblance. I have attempted in a work on
rabs," Sind to collect words common to both families. And further
d the resear ch convinces me that such vocables as the Arabic Taur J
bable. tlie Persian lora and the Latin "Taurus" denote an ancient
eaded ra PP roche n™t. whose mysteries still invite the elucidation of modern
. science,
to be
t was i The Sharif families affect marrying female slaves, thereby
ixture showing the intense pride which finds no Arab noble enough for
,0, the ^hem. Others take to wife Badawi girls; their blood, therefore, is
an or by no means pure. The worst feature of their system is the forced
,g the rehbacy of their daughters; they are never married into any but
bhanf families; consequently they often die in spinsterhood. The
effects of this custom are most pernicious, for though celibacy exists
,5 who m EaSt 11 13 ^ no means synonymous with chastity. Here it