'Gazetteer of Arabia Vol. I' [‎272] (287/1050)

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and Ashraf. Sabya itself, of course, contains merchants from other Muhammadan
countries, the strongest element coming from the Hadhramaut. Muhammad Yahya
Basah, the chief adviser of the Idrissi, and the Amir of all Mikhlaf-al-Yemen, which of
course includes Sabya, is from that country.
The Idrissi's standing army of about 500 men is entirely recruited from amongst the
Sudanese round Sabya, and they can muster about 10,000 men when the general rally
is sounded.
The following is a list of the chief villages and their approximate number of fighting
men.
S abya . Chief sections are :—
Ashraf-el-Khawaji
Sharif Idam
300
As-Sa'ada
Saiyid-al-Hasan
400
Al 'Arar
Saiyid 'Abdul Rahman Ibn 'Asar 400
Al-Husainiyah
Shaikh 'Uthman
300
Al-Ma'asir
Ahmad 'Ali
400
Villages round Sabya :—•
Al-Adaiyah
Muhammad Ibn Nasir
200
Al-Muhallah
Husain Abu Shu'ubi
1,500
Ad-Dahna
Saiyid-al-Hasan
600
Al Malha
Al Makki
800
Qadab
200
Shahada
100
Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Muslia
600
Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Isaira
200
Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Baish
400
Ta'ashar
50
Jabal Faifa
600
Umm-al-Khashab
400
As-Salama
1,000
Dhom? d
600
K htjlab.
100
Al-Hamma
120
Jabal-al-Milh
50
Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Baid
200
Jabal-an-Nad hir
300
Al-Madhaia
200
S ANH AN - AL-HIB AB—
See Qahtan.
SHAHRAN—
The Shahran cover a greater stretch of country than any other tribe in'Asir, and
are the largest numerically. The country round Bishah is theirs and they follow the
Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Shahran to its source and thence to within 20 miles of Sabya, a distance from
north to south of more than 200 miles. Their boundary from east to west of the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows.
Shahran is undefined and constantly changing, as one or the other of the neighbouring
nomad tribes gains the upper hand. Further south it is fixed and varies from 5 to 60
miles in breadth. Their neighbours on the north are the wandering Shalawa and Sabai',
on the east the' Abidah and Rufaidhat-al-Yemen, on the south the Naji, and on the west,
starting near the sea and working north, the Bani Shi'ba, Bani Mughaid, where they come
to within four miles of Abha, Bani Malik, Bui Ahmar, Bui Asmar, Bani Shihr, Bui Qarn,
and Shumran. The Shahran, like the Bani Shihr, Shumran, and other tribes of 'Asir,
trace their descent to the Rijal-al-Hajar. The tribe is divided into nine main divisions,
the A1 Mushait, A1 Rishaid, Al-al-Ghamar, Nahas, Kaud, Bani Bijad, Bani Wahab,
Sha'af Rashha, and Al Yinfa.
The Al Mushait are numerically the smallest, but politically the most important sub-
tribe, since they contain the ruling tribal family. In former days its influence over the
whole tribe was unquestioned, but since the Idrissi's rise to fame some sections have