Present Social and Political Conditions in Arabia Author(s): Samuel M. Zwemer Source: The Journal of Race Development, Vol.

1, No. 2 (Oct., 1910), pp. 231-247 Published by: Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/29737860 . Accessed: 04/10/2013 02:06
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PRESENT SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS IN ARABIA

By Samuel M. Zwemer, F.R.G.S.

Arabia, which designated

as being at "the antipodes as "anti-industrial the him by more coming to the front.

by the great geographer, Ritter,

of progress," and characterized centre of the world," is once

The

general events

unrest are

of the Moslem

world,
Arabs

social, political
of the Peninsula,

and religious, has also reached the

and taking place within

its borders and along its coasts which are full of importance to a right understanding of the problems in the Near East.
Here indeed, tian is a region of Asia larger in area the largest peninsular projection and lies along the main more than scarcely receive more than India proper; of any continent,

which has produced

creed, commerce, yet its borders within the press.

the greatest of all rivals to the Chris?

of international highway once a year does an event than a passing mention in

And this is not without

sense a great deal unknown so largely

reason as Arabia
In writing unknown of view, is largely authority,
hardly has

is in a peculiar
it, the

land. with

concerning Not

first difficulty, and one than can hardly be avoided,

we must from a geographical and politics history George
From Not The the their north

is that

point Arabia the latest

quantities. but in regard unknown. says:

only to recent David

Mr.

Hogarth,
certain scientific

a one-hundreth altitude

part

points of the

of view

an exact

a single of scarcely and we depend process, the innermost interior. Between attempts to south, more

in Arabia is known. anything been methodically surveyed. even on the coast, has been fixed by point, on little more than guesses for all points in peninsula in from con? half

reached points by the Europeans a dark space of 650 miles to penetrate span it, intervenes to east. unseen and 850 from west area covers This than half a million square miles, or not much less than of Arabia.

siderably the whole

superficies

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232

SAMUEL M.

ZWEMEK

For knowledge
on the

of the interior we depend almost wholly

of less than a score of travelers who paid testimony a big price to penetrate the neglected The record peninsula.

of their travels is a testimony to the difficulties that must be met in exploring this region. Niebuhr alone of all his party returned to tell of Yemen; the rest died of fever and exposure. Huber was murdered by Bedouins and his journal published
after zoni his death. shot with Seetzen his own was murdered rifle by near Taiz and Man companion. a treacherous

Bent died from the effects of the Hadramaut climate, and Von Wrede, after suffering everything to reach the Ahkaf, returned to Europe to be scoffed at and his strange story labeled a romance! Only years after his tragic death was it corroborated. And Doughty, the chief among Arabian was out turned of explorers, Nejd, sick and penniless, to trudge on foot with a caravan hundreds of miles and to be betrayed near Mecca, escaping by the skin of his teeth. Almost all of the south-central half of Arabia is, according
to native report, by a vast wilderness occupied generally called Ruba-el-Khali?the No European has empty abode. ever entered this immense some 500, embraces tract, which

000 square miles, although three travelers, Wellsted in 1836, Von Wrede in 1843, and Joseph Halevy in 1870,with intrepid
boldness and maut reports region. explorer take west of Arabia. east gazed on its uttermost Some respectively. fringes Arabian For in regard from maps the west, south show caravan

tracks running through the heart of this desert from Hadra?

toMuscat at second Burton might and Riadh. hand the rest we have to this whole only vague mysterious and Doughty the opinion that an expressed cross this waterless in perhaps territory

early spring with

she-camels giving

full milk, but it would

a bold man to venture out to east, or 650 miles north Such

for the passage of 850 miles to south, this zone through

to discover the unknown in greatest heat, an enterprise, of value to although geography would count for little or nothing in the investigation of race and who knows whether this region may development yet not have ruins of former or remnants of half civilization, pagan tribes?

the world's

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CONDITIONS

IN ARABIA

233

There are, however, other districts in Arabia which are not desert, but inhabited by large tribes and in some cases
containing never been the Yemen, and of villages groups seen by western eyes. on to Nejran and smaller The cities which have biggest from geographical along the

feat left for a traveler to perform in all Asia is to get across

pass thence

Wady Dauasir to Aflaj and Nejd. We know that this jour? ney is followed by Arab caravans, and I met many of the Arabs from that district on my first and second visit to
Sanaa in in Yemen. There are plenty of wells and the journey

would lead through a long palm tract of over 100miles march

its early In regard stages. to recent exploration spaces we may from note two names.

Professor Alois Musil

removing some

penetrated North Arabia

the maps

in 1908-09,
between

of the blank

Bagdad
culties. alarm

and Damascus,
His from

but experienced

the greatest diffi?

were all carried out under incessant journeys or hostile robber bands tribes. On his second

excursion which was directed eastward, Musil was stabbed in the back by a lance and in the breast by a knife, while with his attendants he was stripped of everything down to his shirt. It was only his familiarity with languages andmanners and the friendly relations he had established on former
journeys, that got him out of this and similar awkward pre?

dicaments. He suffered also at the hands of thievish guides, whilst even worse difficulties were caused by the climate and
by the badness the of the drinking varied by days water, from with which 80?.5 more than once

laid him on a bed of sickness. He passed nights in the open

where these would temperature be followed to 23? Fahr., an air-temperature and of

115? Fahr. Early on December

inary

10, as told by him in a prelim?

of Sciences, he had diffi? report to the Vienna Academy in so his head-cloth and hard were culty adjusting blanket, men while his of dared take hold the water they frozen, hardly bottles for fear of their breaking. After sunrise they warmed

them by the fire; for to have kindled a fire earlier might have
the party to attack. On the third excursion, which, in the southwest examina? starting part of the region under it was with great difficulty that tion, proceeded southwards, exposed

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234

SAMUEL M.

ZWEMER

he found a guide. Nobody was willing to accompany him ' " in these Death paths' which, following on a ride through the desolate black desert of el-Bseita, led into the defiles of
arm of the sandy desert of Nefud. the westerly an English A year earlier, Douglas naturalist, Carruthers, to enter Central also attempted His object was to Arabia. cross reaching however, the Nafud Teima in getting is found desert but he was of that in the south through compelled He region. area to return, succeeded, of new terri? and Teima.

a considerable between

tory. He
which

found many
in our maps

inhabited places in the blank area

Ma'an, Jowf

He says this country is not all hostile desert, but in many places good grazing land with plenty of game. He was the
Nafud. to set eyes on the western first European edge of the Great It is evident from the above record of recent explora? tion that we must of a visit rely on rumor or the passing traveler Arabia Riadh since in regard there to the movements is so little Western real condition and those who of politics in Central contact with the inte? of affairs native live on the coast or in Nejd are often and yet The

rior provinces. Of the even for example in ignorance, icant movements except

for hearsay in Islam took

report,

it was in this very part of Arabia that one of the most signif?
its rise a century ago.

influence of thisWahabi revival on Islam not only in Arabia but even in India and in Africa and its subsequent develop?
ment through the Moslem brotherhoods are well known.

The chief strongholds of the old sect are still along the coast of the Persian Gulf, in Oman and also in Ajman and the
Dauasir. Wady old-time beliefs the Arabs. The effect of the Wahabi It built movement a wall was felt the entire old Wahabi the of fanaticism throughout around the In the latter and fanaticism in all their place they continue so as to be a proverb among

peninsula. states,

postponed of all, this movement Most intensi? part of the peninsula. fied the race hatred between the Turks and already existing the Arabs, which is one of the chief factors in the Arabian problem.

prevented of the opening

and travel, and exploration to civilization doors in that

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CONDITIONS In order to understand this

IN ARABIA and its relation

235 to

problem

that of the nearer East it is important first to sketch briefly the present geographical and political conditions of the main
divisions often Yemen, of the characteristics. forgotten with their distinctive peninsula, together is not a unit; and because Arabia this we treat Oman, the seven Hasa, provinces Hejaz, Irak and Nejd, somewhat chief is

Hadramaut,

distinctively. Hejaz, the Holyland of Mecca and Medina.

fertility region ries and Dahna. entire maps on the north of Asir. stretches Oman coast

of Arabia, includes the sacred cities Yemen is bounded by the line of

and east so as to include clearly to the unknown between no the has defined important bounda? of the shore

Hadramaut northward

is the peninsula north

the

region southern

of the Gulf and the Indian Ocean, while Hasa

district of El-Katar Irak-Arabi called El-Bahrein).

covers the

peninsula (on some or Irak is the northern

river-country, "Turkish-Arabia"

to what is called politically corresponding or the Bagdad and Busrah vilayets.

As to the present division of political power in Arabia, it is sufficient here to note that the Sinai peninsula and the 200 miles coast south of the Gulf of Akaba are Egyptian;
and Hasa Hej az, Yemen their politicalboundaries are nominally Turkish but provinces, are shifting and uncertain. Thepres

ent Shereef of Mecca would gladly dictate to the Sublime Porte while the Bedouin tribes even in Hejaz acknowledge
neither that they never it was The In and come nor Shereef and waylay the pilgrim caravans to the holy cities or damage the new railway unless receive In Yemen the Arabs have large blackmail. Sultan ceased to fret under on their the galling yoke of the Turk since the of Sana in 1873. by capture a successful in 1892 was nearly revolution. was again in arms, and revolt against Turk? shoulders until of the declaration Present of the conditions constitution will be de? r?gime.

put insurrection

1899 Yemen continued change later. the

ish rule scribed

In Hasa, the real sovereignty of Turkey only exists in three or four towns while all the Bedouin and many of the villagers to the Turks neither nor obedience love. yield tribute,

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236

SAMUEL M.

ZWEMER

Irak alone is actually Turkish and yields large revenue. But even here Arab uprisings are frequent. Nominally, however, Turkey holds the fairest province on the south,
the religious centers of the west total and area the fertile northeast of Arabia,-one-fifth of the Britain The has of the peninsula.

The
Turkey. important

remaining
Great center.

four-fifths of Arabia
agencies system postal of

is independent
the Persian

of

or consulates

at every Gulf

isBritish; the rupee has driven the piastre out of themarket, and 95 per cent of the commerce is in English hands.
Petty rulers calling themselves Sultans, Ameers or Imams

have for centuries divided Sultanate of Oman and the great Nejd-kingdom
governments, important its seat of power and and has become but influence the former lost was

the land between

them. The are the only

its glory when to Zanzibar, transferred state under British

practically

a native

protection. Nejd in its widest sense is governed to-day by The territory of this ruler is the Ibn Rashid dynasty. bounded on the south by that of Ibn Saood with its capital at Riadh, and it has for four decades disputed the suprem? acy of independent Arabia with the Ibn Rashid family. The only foreign power dominant inArabia, beside Turkey, isGreat Britain. Aden became a British possession in 1839, and since then British influence has extended until it now embraces a district 225 miles long by 50 broad, and a popu?
lation of perhaps 200,000. Perim and including Socotra, independent Muscat, made dized This by and exclusive by tribes on the with from Muscat treaties the coast, are also British, all the while to coast from Aden southern Certain to the Great islands of Bahrein and are have subsi? islands on

annual

rapid

provinces

Britain, or presents. payments of Arabia division survey of the present political that except for its has already made plain designation Arabia is far from being which a unit. deter?

geographical provinces at mine, and To have least

Not only is the country divided politically,

but many of the

its population politi

characteristics special physical a of in measure, the character This province

its future begin

development. with Oman:

historically,

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CONDITIONS

IN ARABIA

237

cally and geographically, has always been the most isolated part of all Arabia. As regards communication with the other
parts island of with the Arab the been it is the was for centuries Oman world, past an sea on one side and the desert on the other. and called the has for many and Imams

In area centuries

largest of the provinces under rulers independent in the coast towns and

Seyyids.
few Hindu

The population
traders

is almost wholly Arab,

slave

save the
popula?

tion which is considerable. The Arab tribes are originally derived from two different stocks, known as the Yemeni and Muadi. These names have changed since the beginning of the eighteenth century to Hinani and Ghaffri. The former
are the most and in open numerous, continuous yet these feud and two rival races have been antagonism for centuries,

keeping the country in perpetual turmoil. In some of the inland towns they inhabit separate quarters. In the town of Somail, about 50 miles inland from Muscat, a broad road marks the division between the dwelling place of the two clans, yet open hostility sometimes takes place across this
street into of on boundary. sub-tribes the Arabs in the These two parent stocks each are subdivided, family group

as in all Arabia,

into many
or "houses."

tribes which are again divided

In Oman

has its own Sheikh.

of Oman fertile

It is interesting to note that very few

are nomadic. and there Agriculture are numerous is carried towns of

districts

from 3000 to 6000 inhabitants. The Omanese state has in declined and steadily power prosperity since the beginning of the last century. At that time the Sultans of Muscat
exercised rule as far as Bahrein to the northwest, had posses?

sion of part of the Persian Coast and called Zanzibar their own. At this time the Oman Arabs began their extensive
journeys the slave that in Africa and, trade, explored traffic was suppressed of urged by the enormous profits of the continent. When every part the prosperity of Oman decreased,

and although the present ruler, Seyyid Feysul bin Turki,

his province is practically nominally independent, state under British control. In the words of Lord
Oman subsidize be justifiably may, indeed, regarded its ruler; we dictate we its policy; as a British should tolerate

is

a native Curzon:
We inter

dependency. no alien

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238
ference. I have little

SAMUEL M.
doubt that

ZWEMER
the time will come . . . when

myself

the Union

Jack will be seen flying from the castles of Muscat.

I should

of a port upon the Persian to Russia Gulf the concession regard by any power as a wanton as a deliberate to Great insult of the status rupture Britain, to war; and I should the quo and as an international provocation impeach who was guilty of acquiescing in such surrender, as a traitor British minister, " to his country.

The vice-regal visits of Lord Curzon in 1903 left no one in doubt of the firm resolve on the part of the British govern?
ment to prevent voyage intrusion with his on the part stately of any other power in

the politics
Curzon's

of the Gulf,

and especially
escort

of Oman.
of fighting

Lord
ships

was a fitting sequel to the emphatic declaration Lansdowne in the British parliament that
would be resisted with all the means at our disposal.

of Lord

Any attempt by any foreign power to establish a naval base in the Gulf

The policy of Great Britain

her legitimate or stronger briefer than claim to

in all this part of Arabia and

in expressed by Lord Curzon be

cannot supremacy than those used words

in his address to the chiefs of the Pirate Coast in Northern

Oman, sanguinary, towns, more and rivals no part of Arabia a record more boasts naval with and of blockades, sieges sacking wars inter-tribal and the murder of relatives which for
said

chieftainship.
the Viceroy, constant "your fathers ana grandfathers before you

"Chiefs/'

have doubtless told you of the history of the past. You know that a hundred
years every ago man there was were a marauder troubles and fighting in the Gulf; almost or a pirate and slave-trading flour? ;kidnapping on without no ship could went stint or respite; fishery was a scene of annual that the British government the subjects Indian and traders and state that this coasts, the relations the

put

and bloodshed ished; fighting out to sea without fear of attack; the pearl of peace there was none. it was Then conflict; intervened and said its legitimate must affairs thus that, influence in the in the interests seas that . . wash

of its own

of of were

not

continue and which guardian

government ties between

created, to be the

and protectors and you have relations as the Trucial of the States, known States, as you know, has bound not to enter or corre? into any agreement itself, not to admit with the agent of any other govern? any other Power; spondence to part with and not of its territories. These any portion ment; engage? on every ments are binding one of you, and you have adhered faithfully are also binding to them. in their effect the British upon They reciprocal government with no other Power. Every one

government became overlords your

. out of Chiefs, constituted by your own consent of inter-tribal there peace, grew of India and yourselves whereby

British

up political the British

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CONDITIONS government,
there is no

IN ARABIA

239

and as long as they are faithfully

fear that any one else will are be allowed

observed by the Chiefs

to tamper with your rights

or liberties.

Sometimes
there these

I think that the record of the past is in danger of

persons powers? condition in modern have created and should Britain Great ask, Why of your States and of your history of the Gulf are the answer. We were here The times had shown It was its face our in these waters. as well every as order. called commerce At who

and being forgotten, to exercise continue families before We your

and the present any other Power fou nd strife and we security that was

threatened

for protection.

port

along these coasts the subjects of the King of England still reside and trade. The great Empire of India, which it is our duty to defend, lies almost at your
gates. We saved you not from extinction or held have at the hands we are of your have not we neighbors; we

opened these seas to the ships of all nations and enabled their flags to fly in
peace. your We have seized but we independence, this century unselfish territory; it. We preserved enterprise; your not destroyed to throw going shall not wipe out

away the most

page

of costly and triumphant in history."

No one can impartially study the history of Great Britain in the Persian Gulf without endorsing these last words. The great benefits that have followed the treaties of peace with the Arabs of Oman are manifest most of all by a comparison of that part of the Arabian Coast with the long stretches of country between Katif and Busrah or along the Red Sea which are Turkish. The former enjoy peace and the tribes
have There settled down The little to commerce latter are and fishing and date culture. is safety for the traveler commerce nearly everywhere in a continual state or agriculture and wealth

is increasing. there is very for many

of warfare, and the entire

coast is unsafe because of the laissez faire policy of Turkey

decades.

Were British protection and intervention to extend beyond the coast there is every reason to believe that the interior of Oman would also be pacified and a large extent of country find agricultural prosperity. Recent events all point to such a political issue and the day may not be far distant
"when of Muscat" The more the Union evident Jack ambitions resisted will become be seen flying from a British the castles and Oman altogether of Russia and Germany, territory. not to

speak of France,

in this part of the Nearer East will be the

since Captain Mahan stoutly by England called attention to the strategic of the in Gulf importance an article published in the National 1902. Review,

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240

SAMUEL M.

ZWEMER

Anglo-Russian Convention signed in September, 1907, in regard to their sphere of influence in Persia, signifi? cantly omitted all mention of the Persian Gulf but in the course of the negotiations (to quote from official documents) the Russian government "explicitly stated that they do not deny the special interests of Great Britain in the Persian
Gulf."1

The

At the head of the Gulf lies the Arab town of Kuweit, the present-day key of international politics in this whole region. Kuweit is the Arabic diminutive form of Kut, which signifies a walled-village, and was settled by Arabs from the Nejd about 150 years ago. It is a town of about 12,000 inhabi? tants and located on the south side of a fine deep bay 20 miles long east and west and 10 miles broad; this inlet has good holding ground and suitable depth for anchorage even
of large of the steamers. overland With a few improvements it Kuweit would

be a splendid harbor and its location at the future terminus

railway gives strategic importance.

When
by

I visited Kuweit in 1894, on the way to Busrah from Bahrein, the town was technically Turkish, although ruled
an Arab chief. Europeans were looked upon with sus?

picion and followed about with the curiosity of Moslem fanaticism. Sheikh Mohammed bin Subah was glad to pass
me on to Busrah, overland, and so get rid of "the man-with the-books."

When
dently degree no

I made

a second visit
nor will that

in 1902 the town was evi?

it ever be such again. exists in the town, One

longer Turkish freedom

does not have to sit long in an Arab gathering to judge of the

of political or to know

from which direction the wind of popularity blows. Kuweit was changed. Everything Turkish was at a big discount;
even the innocent English jabber fez was that at the Mosul Everything who could series his a premium, a few words of English wore. colporteur and the hammals looked bin himself as proud Subah sole as

if they held a Government

of events and that elder
1The

position.

Into the complicated

killed chief

began when brothers younger

September 26,

Mobarek to make
1907.

Times,

of London,

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CONDITIONS

IN ARABIA

241

(1897), and ended when he sought and obtained British protection against the Turks and the Emir of Nejd, I do not
desire has to enter been now. It is a long to story of Arab as intrigue as

well as of diplomacy
very

on the part of England.

the Turks and,

The result
far as one

humbling

can judge, very happy to the inhabitants of Kuweit. And this masterly move of the pieces by Great Britain on the international chess-board in the struggle for the highway of the nations in the Mesopotamian valley has decided the future of that region, as well as of the Bagdad Railway.
Germany
"A "holding foreign the

has

been

check-mated.
said Dr. some Rohrbach, or could close years open ago the in the entire Spectator; European

power," harbor

of Kuweit

trade with India by the Bagdad route in the middle, at the most vital spot. To England as soon as the Bagdad line is running Kuweit would be, if not
wholly, Canal. renounce mercial as important a position as the to the Suez entrance very nearly If we do nothing to stop England we virtually from holding Kuweit, in the future to turn to our account the power com? the immense and political consequences of the Bagdad route to Southern Asia."

According to Dr. Rohrbach, if Germany is to seize the trade which England has hitherto monopolized, now is the
time to act, before the Russians carry their railway to Ban?

dar Abbas, whence it will undoubtedly be extended along the Gulf to Bushire and Busrah. He appeals to Germans to remember their diplomatic successes in Siam and on the Yangtsze and take their courage in their two hands. To shrink
so favorable, back now from an opportunity he urges, would a be throwing and he concluded with the away winning card, in must remain Turkish." words, emphatic type: "Kuweit

It is because of this international jealousy that there is delay in the completion of the Bagdad railway and not only because of financial difficulties. When the Turkish Sultan
gave Germany the concession for the Bagdad for 1,200 miles she across railway, he

also gave the right to hold Turkish soil no less than 12miles
on each when side of that Britain railway the whole ahead with

of North Arabia.
Great

And although Germany was disappointed

took Kuweit, is pushing

her railway. On the other hand, Sir William Wilcocks, the wizard of the Nile, has been sent by the Young Turks to
build irrigation works in Mesopotamia and flood 3,000,000

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242

SAMUEL M.

ZWEMER

desert acres with new life and make the desert to blossom like the rose. It is proposed by some to run a British railway, to
in two years, be completed and on to Cairo. Damascus all the way from Bagdad to

All this will have its influence on the future of north Arabia In and tend to its rapid economic and social development. the western province of Hejaz another railway is bringing Arabia into closer touch with the world. While the Bagdad Railway will not be completed for some
years, unless there be more of international agreement and

less of political rivalry, the Hejaz railway is already built as far asMedina and is being rapidly extended toMecca, the capital not only of Arabia, but of Islam. In September 1909 the special correspondent of the London Times reported the
impressive
"

ceremonies

which

were

held

at Medina

to cele?

brate the opening of the railway to the Holy City:

at the Prophet's the After prayers tomb, performing early morning the town, and there to the station wended its way outside Mission Imperial a vast from all quar? crowd of Musulmans found sunrise assembled before a short Pasha made in Kiazim ters of the globe. Field-Marshal speech,

which he declared himself extremely satisfied with the work of all who had
been and engaged a striking enthusiastic of the in the making speech was delivered cheers, expressed his by Other railway. an Egyptian, that notables Ali Kiamil, the Prophet to the followed him, amid who, had not per?

rejoicing

mitted
neers faction declared

the railway to reach the Holy City before the Khalif had granted a
to the people. official at the the an Pasha Djevad from the Sultan, messsage success had crowned which open." conveyed expressing their work, and engi? troops his Majesty's satis? and then officially

Constitution

line

The from

station railway the sacred Mosque

has

been

built

some

distance

which

contains

the tomb

away of Moham?

med and the electric power that is used to light the station also illuminates the tomb of the Prophet every night and so
the latest into way When Governor him on tomb the products the most the their General of western secluded civilization have was forced Arabia. appointed carried people of the request the Prophet's to complete respect for the their part of patriarchal Kiazim Pasha the the enthusiastic crowd. do his and out At toward utmost

Field-Marshal of Hejaz, shoulders amid he stretched that

the multitude and line

out his arm

swore

he would

to Mecca, and Constitution,

to maintain to stamp

enforce

injustice.

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CONDITIONS

IN ARABIA

243

While

pilgrims from Asia Minor

of the new many railway of the Arabs

and Turkey welcome

and doubt

the

construction conveniences,

its modern appreciate of open? the wisdom

ing this new highway and fear it will end as doubtless itwill, in disclosing the sacred cities to the gaze of the infidel. The new railway to Mecca is fitted up with a chapel car
in the shape feet of a mosque. the This car allows are verses pilgrims from to perform

their devotion

during the journey and has a minaret

six

Around sides high. chart at one end indicates the direction other Arabs end are vessels consider such for the ritual prayer de-luxe

a the Koran; of prayer, and at the Few with orthodox Moham? be this

ablutions. in accord

med's
clash true tion.

teachings
and between in Yemen, The Arabs element caused whose

and as long as his teaching

the standard of character and We civilization medievalism. after the

is the ideal

of conduct standards

there must

modern even

of Arabian

unchangeable find the same

tionary stir was Sudan

the proclamation of the Constitu? a reac? will for a long time to come prove in the Ottoman Considerable Empire. a year are said by his reaction two does Imams not ago by the appearance of a

in Yemen followers

new Mahdi

named Seyid Mehmed.

of the world

This man

from the

to number a return to set

the regeneration

25,000 preaches to the old Islam,

and the Turkish

battalions of

authorities
to

have had
district has indicate and

to despatch
preserve in.

five
order.

infantry

Although
with the

at first there was enthusiasm in this part of Arabia

Constitution, fact that the each other new are than at Sana This together are again disput? for Yemen. peace the new

for the new ing with

While

the town Arabs

in the Turkish provinces aremerely

Constitution inimical. their are usually Arabs own tribe and sheikh politics. interested But r?gime, content and so where in wider

of the suspicious those of the desert to look no further concern their themselves is religion To what issues.

domestic only with involved they become extent the present as well

and in parts a reflection menace

of Mesopotamia

that of the feeling to the old faith, cannot be fully

in Yemen, disturbances as in Hejaz, are however, the new Turkish rule is a determined.

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244

SAMUEL M.

ZWEMER

It will doubtless make the maintenance of peaceful rela? tions with the Arabs a constant difficulty of the future for Such are the present political the Turkish government.
conditions in the Turkish provinces of Arabia. in Arabia. the whole and the Since south inte? with opened

We

turn now to the large district on the south named

one of the least known extended has been regions

Hadramaut,

Aden was occupied by the English

have authority coast of Arabia. rior partly Aden there. practically The coast

in 1839, their influence and

along surveyed now communication has been

explored.

Makallahhas and an Indian

by steamers,

post-office

Both
days when

in their architecture
show the Arabs that their of Mecca

and domestic arts the Arabs

ancestors and Medina were were civilized in the in ignorance.

of Hadramaut

The old empire of the Himyarites has left its record not only on the rocks in hundreds of inscriptions but on the language and customs of the people. Add to this the long influence of
trade zation. came of Java and Sumatra all the wealthy Arabs Nearly traces the intimate den Berg and Van from Hadramaut, countries to exist these continue between that relations to the original by Hadramaut be who them divided do the tribes of Islam in the Malay archipelago conquests of the country may Arabs. The population into four classes. there are the large First, or Bedouins trade or scattered are all over for the the carrying soldiers land, town with India and the Malay archipelago, and one can

understand why South Arabia

is so far on the road to civili?

of nomads

dwellers.

Although

their low state of civilization makes

nearest the nomads, live in tents, as do the they never of the north. The rich have houses and the poor the Arabs are of better there live in caves. the town Second, Arabs, as the if not purer stock. have East-Indian blood, Many have in the third Between The intermarried town them class and and with own the Javanese the for centuries. of the are fertile live larger part the Bedouins there Seyyids trace their

Hadramis They lands. feuds.

are called who

of aristocratic

hierarchy,

frequent a sort and Sh?rifs, from Mo descent

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CONDITIONS

IN AKABIA

245

is enormous; they have consider? and learning. of education and are the custodians able wealth, are all external and conservative oppose Although they are on of law and the side in their country, influence they not class are the negro The fourth order. slaves; although hammed. Their influence in Oman, they are found everywhere of eastern Hadramaut Arabs The rapidly. multiply Their all of the first class. country has few oases, nearly are very poor. In stature the Mahrahs the inhabitants as numerous as almost the dwarfs; for dress they only wear a loin-cloth. and are and are Ex? a coun?

treme poverty and misery are the lot of those who dwell on
coasts but Western villages, Hadramaut agriculture try of mountain is, like Yemen, and prosperity.

Nejd, the heart of Arabia,has had no peace between the warring factions of Ibn Rashid and Ibn Saud for nearly a century. About five years ago Abdul Aziz the Sultan of Hail died leaving three sons named Metaab, Mishaal and
Mahomet. but his ment. three Inviting The oldest him of them and his succeeded second cousins plotted two younger to the rule of Nejd, to overthrow the govern? brothers to a sort

of picnic outside
brothers, except three scoundrels, boy would sister and cousins cut

the town, they killed Mohamet

the youngest

and his

who was badly wounded. The some months the however, after, fearing recover went with six slaves to the house of his the poor fellow at Hail. in pieces Since before then her he eyes.

After this outrage Sultan Ibn Rashid,

became supreme

the oldest of the three

himself

has been murdered and Saood and Feysul have in their turn been captured and imprisoned by the uncle of the infant son left by Metaab. Turkey claims the suzerainty over the Ibn Rashid family, but can not easily establish her authority.
no more recent information in regard of in The last changes political ascendency Nejd. from the west who has seen the ruler of Nejd was on his journey to Jauf in 1909. S. S. Butler Further have taken place but it is not at all probable may I have the reform their Their r?gime. hatred of everything natural that to these traveler Captain changes that the

Arabs of Nejd will be satisfied with Turkish rule, even under

love for independence and savors of western civiliza

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246

SAMUEL M.

ZWEMER

tion will still for many years prevent Turkey from fulfilling her ambitions and making this part of Arabia in reality what
it is only character the sketched in name, an Ottoman The kaleidoscopic province. as they exist to-day of the political conditions in seven provinces of Arabia and which have been briefly above have only problem. emphasized The country the diverse is not character politi? a unit

of the Arabian

cally and never has been. The only unity of Arabia is that of religion. It is the religion of Islam that at the same time binds together the Arabs in their hatred of foreigners and divides them in their counsels and politics.
As relation at any a strong Arabia. regards the future, there are three factors in the prol and may that case against

lem: first, that of the independent Arab

tribes and their

to Turkey. has become Rebellion chronic time threaten to become In revolution. leader might The once more unite all the Arabs to Mecca

the Turks and set up an independent Moslem

railway from Damascus

kingdom
is not

in

only

a challenge to the other powers on the part of Turkey to keep off Arabia, but was intended to strengthen her military
position in the peninsula and prevent such a possible up?

rising of the Arab tribes. The second and more important factor for the future is British policy in Arabia. That the whole country owes an immense debt to Great Britain in the past I have already
shown. To the outside observer there seems no doubt that

her policy

is aggressive

in the intraland of Aden and that

Arabs welcome it. On the coasts, both on the South many and on the Persian influence But is supreme. Gulf, British

what
of

is the real aim of British policy

that can read

in Arabia?

He who

can answer

question the neglected peninsula. The third factor is Christian this until the this will

the future

of a large part I have reserved is no

missions. but to my

last, the controlling in the years factor prove to come. While it is inevitable that the advent of western commerce civilization and politics will through modify as it has Moslem in Arabia in India and Egypt, thought it is not to be taken for granted that either of these harbin

mentioning that doubt

mind

there

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CONDITIONS

IN ARABIA

247

gers of progress is necessarily

in conflict with Islam. Christ?

ian missions, however, although they have only recently to a their and Arabia entered yet prove efficiency potency

degree above the hopes of many. The United Free Church of Scotland with its strong medical mission near Aden, the educational work of the Danish Church in connection with this mission, the work of the Church Missionary Society at Bagdad and that of the American Arabian mission on the Persian Gulf, through schools, hospitals and daily contact
with udice was the people, has been borne definite results. already Prej? name and the of which disarmed, Christian, and a by-word, has become and respected outlook a zeal for missions that knows in Arabia may demand no discouragement, but have

a hissing honored. The strong faith

and

it is decidedly hopeful. While it was the opinion of both Doughty

who crossed Arabia and knew its people now at as

and Palgrave,
few other trav? there

elers, that there is no hope for this land in Islam, every one of
the thirty-five missionaries work believes

is hope for the social and spiritual regeneration of this great

in the Gospel, and after twenty years country effort we gladly endorse the prophetic words
"When and

of missionary of Palgrave:
then, ranks other

and Mecca shall have the Koran from Arabia, disappeared can we expect assume to see the Arab that place in the then, only, of civilization from which Mohammed and his book have more than any cause, long held him back."

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