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'Gazetteer of Arabia Vol. I' [‎373] (392/1050)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (523 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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BAI-BAI
873
in this wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. are Darsait at its mouth and Bait-al-Falaj, from which it takes its name,
1| miles from the sea. Ruwi is close to the left bank of Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Bait-al-Falaj at a point
8 4 miles from the sea; but its lands mostly drain to Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. 'Adai, in which we have included
it.
Bait-al-Falaj village is U miles from Matrah town ; its main feature (and raison d'etre)
is a large fortified residence of the Sultan of 'Oman, who comes to live here in the
hot weather. There are young date plantations watered by falajs from the wddi, Saih-al-
Harmal, and Ruwi. A village has sprung up on the north-east side of the fort; it con
tains some stone houses and a considerable number of less substantial buidings, about 30
in all. The inhabitants are 'Awamir and are mostly connected with the Harrison ; they
possess 60 camels, 30 donkeys, 70 cattle, and 200 sheep and goats. The situation of Bait-
al-Falaj, which overlooks the stony plain called Saih-al-Harmal, is open and airv for this
district and there is convenient access to the sea both at Darsait and at Matrah f with the
latter Bait-al-Falaj is connected by a road running through a natural opening in the hills
which is called Kharashif. There is a line of falajs leading from Ruwi to Bait-al-Falaj,
and a running stream of excellent water passes under the Sultan's house and on to the
village. There are also wells close by. The Sultan's house was used as headquarters by
the detachments of native infantry sent to assist the Sultan of Masqat in July 1913.
A telephone line connecting the Sultan's house at Masqat with Sib, passes within 150
yards of the house.—{ Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Gazetteer ; Murphy.)
There is now a good cart road connecting Bait-al-Falaj with Matrah and also with
Sidab.
BAIT-AL-FAQIH—
A town in the Yemen Tihamah, situated about 30 miles south-west of Hod idah. The
population is about 5,000 souls, but was greater when the town was a centre of the coffee
trade. It is garrisoned normally by a battalion, designed to overawe the Zaranik
tribe whose contumacious independence has ruined the town's trade. It was, like
Zabid, formerly also a centre of cotton and indigo production and of the weaving and
dyeing industry.
Ba t-al-Faqih is situated in a plain and is irregularly built of sun-dried bricks, and
can lay little claim either to importance or interest. It possesses three or four good
houses, two mosques, and a plentiful water-supply. Bait-al-Faqih is the place of
burial of one Saiyid Ahmad-ibn-Musa whose tomb is still an object of reverence and
pilgrimage. Niebuhr remarks that the surrounding country being sandy and sterile
does not allow of much cultivation ; it was, however, at that time covered with thorn
bushes and those kinds of plants which are utilised as roofing for the houses in the
Tihamah. He estimated the population of Bait-al-Faq"h then at 3,000 inhabitants.
—{Niebuhr, March and Aprils 1763, Manzoni, 1877-8 ; Harris.)
There is a village of the same name distinguished as Al-KabTr, and equidistant from
Hodaidah to the north, on the Lahiyah road.— {Handbook of Yemen.)
BAIT-AL-QARN—
A village in Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Fara' {q. v.),
BAIT BIN 'ATAIWI—
See 'Abadan.
BAITH NA'AM—
A name of A1 'Ali {q. v.),
BA'ITHAM—
See Nafud.
BAIYADH—
See ( Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. ) Tayin.
BAJAIDAH (T ribe)—
See Anizah (Tribe).

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Content

Volume I of III of the Gazetteer of Arabia. The Gazetteer is alphabetically-arranged and this volume contains entries A through to J.

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 (523 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. I' [‎373] (392/1050), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/17/16/2/1, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023909212.0x0000c1> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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