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'Gazetteer of Arabia Vol. I' [‎682] (737/1050)

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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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f)82
HADHRAMAUT
The status of women in the Hadhramaut appears to bo superior to that in many
Mussulman countries ; the wife lives in the same part of the house as her husband, but
receives her visitors in her own rooms. Divorce is very rare, the repudiation of a wife
without very reasonable cause being held in high contempt, and in so doing the individual
would certainly fail to obtain another wife in the same social scale. Polygamy is very
uncommon ; there is no harem and no eunuchs; in the event of the husband taking
another wife, the first quits his roof immediately and returns to her parents. Amongst
the Beduin of the Hadhramaut, polygamy is absolutely unknown. If a man definitely
leaves his town to seek fortune elsewhere, the wife may, and usually does, refuse
to follow him in this contingency it is considered legitimate for him to take another
wife, and he is not expected to continue to support the first.
The marriage dowry takes a somewhat peculiar form and is of a double character ;
there is, first of all, a legal ' tarif ' varying from 20 to 2J florins, according to the social
scale of the fiancee ;-and secondly, there is the nuptial gift, the amount of which varies?
according to the personal qualities of the fiancee ; the first may be reclaimed in the case
of a dissolution of marriage, the latter not.
In the Hadhramaut, the poor and rich dress much alike in form and style, the quality
of the material, the jewels worn, and the arms carried being the only indications of stutus.
The clothes worn by the townsmen resemble, in most respects, those of most orientals.
Sandals with thin soles, but no stockings, are worn ; when out of doors a kind of plaid
iradi), made locally, about seven yards long and a little short of a yard wide, is invariably
carried or thrown over the sholders. The head is shaven.
The garments of the tribesmen are similar in the main to those of the townsmen,
except that they are shorter, are worn somewhat differently, and the material is usually
woven in diamond ' check ' ; the jihbah or outer mantle is replaced by a shorter buttoned
Jacket; and the tribesmen carry their arms, a straight sword, a two-edged poniard,,
etc. The radi is also worn. The hair is grown long and falls over the shoulders, and
the head is covered either with a plain piece of stuff {dismal) worn turban-like or with
a fringed head-cloth {jihaf) falling over the shoulders.
The Beduin wear the same type of costume as the other members of their tribe, but
©f poorer material; they rarely wear sandals, and have their bodies* bare above the waist
band and below the knees. • • .
The garments, of the women are very similar to those of the men, and, excepting m
small particulars y like the dress in other districts of Arabia. They ordinarily wear not
sandals but boots of a yellow or red colour ; they wear their hair in short tresses to the
number of from 50 to 60, and married women, in addition, have a fringe, oyer the fore
head. The better classes go veiled, but the lower classes cover the head with a form of
kerchief {miqhah) which they can use as a veil to cover the forehead and mouth, if need
be. Young girls do not cover the face.
towns;
The larger towns in the Hadhramaut are not disagreeable in appearance. In general
they are well aired and comparatively clean; the streets are never paved, but on account
of the favourable climatic conditions and of the stony and porous nature of the soil,
this is no serious drawback. Along the wider streets little streams of water {midjaf
frequently run. The principal towns have bastioned ramparts and gates, and these
usually have a permanent guard and are shut at night; many towns in addition are
flanked by towers {kut) or castles (husn), of which the garrisons are composed of armed
slaves under the command of the dominant tribe. Some towns, and notably Terim,
have an extraordinary number of these exterior fortresses, distributed over a wide
area, and occupying every available commanding position.
HADHRAMAUT TRIBES.
AWAMIR—(Amri in Bent), north of Kathiri; 7,000 men.
HAMUMI—r
See article Hamumi.
JABIR (Jabberi in Bent)—
Smith of the- Kathiri ; 3,000 men,.

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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' [‎682] (737/1050), 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_100023909214.0x00008a> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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