'Gazetteer of Arabia Vol. I' [‎847] (902/1050)

HOF-HOQ
8i7
and 2 minor structures styled Qasr-al-Qubbah and Qasr-al-'Abid. Qasr-al-Qubbah has the
alternative name of Qasr Ibrahim, and Qasr-al-'Abid serves the purpose of a jail as well as
of a fort. These smaller fortifications are surrounded by moats, now dried and choked up
with rubbish. The only detached work is Qasr-al-Khazam, a fort situated a few hundred
yards from the west side of the town and having the Turkish cemetery immediately
to the south of it. In December, 1912, the military garrison of Kut consisted of one
regiment of so-called cavalry, no mounted on mules, 2 battalions of infantry, and 8
machine guns. There has of course been no Turkish garrison here since 1913.
Inhdbitanls.—The total population of Hofuf is estimated at about 25,000 souls. The
people are a mongrel race and are not divided into any well ascertained tribes, nor are
there many foreign immigrants among them. Genuine Persians are not found, but there
are a fair number of Arabs from Najd; most of the latter are shopkeepers and camel-
owners, but some of them are proprietors of date plantations. There are said to be in
the Rifa'ah quarter some 50 families descended from the Ja'far section of the Shammar
tribe.
About three-fourth of the people are Sunnis; the rest, with the exception of a few
Wahhabis, are Shi'ahs. There are 2 large Sunni schools called Madrasat Shaikh Abu
Bakr and Madrasat Shaikh 'Abdul Latif, at both of which boys from Bahrain, Masqat
and other distant places are received and educated. The principal Shi'ah schools
are those of Shaikhs Muhammad-bin-'Abtan, 'Amran-bin-Hasan, Musa-abu-KhamsIn
and Muhammad-bin-Shaikh Hussain.
Trade and manufactures. —Under normal conditions there is a considerable trade with
Riyadh in Najd whence ghi is received at Hofuf and to which cloth, sugar and rice are
sent in return. Before the recent wars in Najd the number of caravans coming into
Hofiif from Riyadh was on the average about one a week. Bedouins, from all the sur
rounding country supply their wants at Hof af, and a general market is held every Thurs
day in an open space outside the town upon the north side which is called the Saq-al-
Khxmis ;* but local trade is mostly carried on in private houses. Hofuf is celebrated
for the manufacture of elegant 'Abas, richly embroidered with golden or coloured
thread, and of brass coffee pots of curious shape which are exported as far as Basrah
and Masqat.
Administration. —Hofuf is the capital of the whole Hasa district; it is also the
headquarters of the Hasa Qadha and of the Hofuf Nahiyah. For purposes of internal
administration it is constituted as a municipality.
HOFUF—
One of ihe three principal quarters, or wards, of the town of 'Anaizah (a. v.) in central
Arabia.
HOFUF (K ut al)—
Or Kut; one of the three principal wards or quarters of Hofuf {q. v.), in the Hasa
district.
HOLI—
The singular form of Huwalah, or Hulah, {q. v.), the Sunni Arab tribe found in Bahrain,
Hasa, Qatar, Trucial 'Oman, and the island of Sirri.
HOMADH (U mm-al)—
See Farasan (Islands and Bank); bank, eastern side.
HOMAH—
One of the minor valleys which descend from Jabal Aja {q. v.) on its west side.
HOQAIN—
A village in Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Bani Ghafir (q. v.).
HOQAIN (W adi-al)—
The name by which Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Bani Ghafir is known from the village of Hoqain down to
the sea, a distance of perhaps 12 miles. At its mouth upon the sea Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. -al-Hoqain te
called Bat-ha Suwaiq or Bat-ha Yal Sa'ad.
•A view of the Suq-al-Khamu accompanieg Herr H. Burchardt's article Ost-Aralnen. 1906.