'Gazetteer of Arabia Vol. I' [‎251] (266/1050)

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'ASlR
251
% total distance of about 34 miles. On the north they are bounded by the Rabi ah
TahabTn and Al-ad-Duraib. From Sirr the boundary goes south-west to Birk marching
first with the A1 Musa, and Pnally near the coast with the Munjahah. The coast ia
theirs for about 18 miles north of Birk, and then the boundary goes inland and so up
to Sabt-as-Sawala along the Hali border. The country is densely wooded and provi
des pasturage for large herds of camels and goats. The tribe is divided into the Ah!
Birk, the A1 Ikhtarsh, who live in the direction of Muhail, and are subdivided into the
A1 Misjar and A1 Am Jama'a, and the Arabs of the western parts whose subdivisions
have not been ascertained. The A1 Ikhtarsh are said to number 5,000 men and the
remainder, including the Ahl Birk 7,000.
The Ahl Birk and the Arabs inhabiting the villages along the sea coast, such aa
Nakhl-al-Birk, Nahud, and Sobakha, form the only respectable portion of the tribe.
They cultivate a little, grow date-trees in some of the villages, and supplement this by
collecting salt near Birk, which they sell to the neighbouring tribes. Muhammad
'Abdus is the chief Shaikh, a man of 35 years of age and a staunch adherent of the
Idrissi. He is nominal chief over the whole tribe, and does in fact have considerable
influence over them. But to keep them entirely in check is almost an impossibility
for they have the well-earned reputation of being one of the wildest and most intract
able tribes of the Asir. i -n j
Almost pagan, they lead an entirely nomadic life, subsisting on meat and milk and
buying what little they need from outside. They have closed the Sikkat-ash-Sharaf
to the Turks, who are obliged to travel by the more northern roads, the Sikkat-al-
Halawiyah or the Baraq road, and even ordinary travellers do not dare to pass through
their country except in large armed parties. As far as they may be said to have any
politics, they are pro-Idrissi, but they are far too out of hand to be of value as allies.
They afe at daggers drawn with all the neighbouring tribes with ths exception of the
Eijal-al-Ma', whose hand they fear.
'AU Ibn 'Abdu, the Shaikh of Birk, was recently reported to be in the pay of the Turks
and to be smuggling mails up to Abha, but the well-known attitude of the tribe renders
this improbable. In 1910 the Sharif tried to suborn him with the offer of £3,000. 'Ali
Ibn 'Abdu's only reply was to send him a Mauser cartridge.
Muhammad Ibn Hasan, chief of the A1 Ikhtarsh, is a notorious highwayman, and
has a bad reputation for treachery and cunning.
1. Ahl Birk . Chief Shaikh: Muhammad Ibn 'Abdu of Birk.
Other prominent Shaikhs:—
'Ali Ibn 'Abu (Shaikh of Birk).
Ali Ibn Muqdi (merchant),
Shaa'ban.
Muhammad Ibn Fai'i.
2. Al Ikhtarsh , Muhammad Ibn Hassan,
A1 Misjar,
Al Um Jama'a,
3 Western Arabs
ja' A far ah—
One of the 20 tribes of Ashraf. They are settled in and round Qoz-al-jVafarah t<5
the north of Jizan. Sharif Muhammad 'Ali is their chief Shaikh. He is said to bo
secretly disaffected to the Xdrissi, but openly is on good terms with him. The tribe
numbers about 600 men.
khatham—
The Khatham are a small settled tribe on the Abha-Taif road, with the Shumran to
their north and west and the Bui Qarn to their east and south. They do not muster
more than 1,500 men and are partly nomadic. The chief village of the settled portion
is Lasfar, where lives their chief Shaikh Jahaish Ibn 'Aqad, an old man of 60 ^ Ihe
nomads are camel owners, and are almost all engaged in the carrying trade to Bishah and
JSiamas. They excel in fighting, and are allied with Bui Qarn and Shumran,