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Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: GUI-HAN |
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HADRAMUT , a district
The coastal plain is narrow, rarely exceeding 10 m. in width, and in places the hills extend to the seashore. The principal ports are Mukalld and Shihr, both considerable towns, and Kusair and Raida, small fishing villages; inland there are a few villages near the foot of the hills, with a limited area of cultivation irrigated by springs or wells in the hill torrent beds. Behind the littoral plain a range of mountains, or rather a high plateau, falling steeply to the south and more gently to the north, extends continuously from the Yemen highlands on the west to the mouth of the Hadramut valley, from which a similar range extends with hardly a break to the border of Oman. Its crest-line is generally some 30 M. from the coast, and its average height between 4000 and 5000 ft. A number of wadis or ravines cutting deeply into the plateau run northward to the main Wadi Hadramut, a broad valley lying nearly east and west, with a total length from its extreme western heads on the Yemen highlands to its mouth near Sihut of over 500 M. Beyond the valley and steadily encroaching on it lies the great desert extending for 300 M. to the borders of Nejd. The most westerly village
capital , but now almost buried by the advancing desert. Lower down the first large villages are Henan and Ajlania, near which the wadis `Amd, Duwan and el `Ain unite, forming the W. Kasr. In the W. Duwan and its branches are the villages of Haura, el Hajren, Kaidun and al Khureba. Below Haura for some 6o m. there is a succession of villages with fields, gardens and date groves; several tributaries join on either side, among which the W. bin Ali and W. Adim from the south contain numerous villages. The principal towns are Shibam, al Ghurfa, Saiyun, Tariba, el Ghuraf, Tarim, formerly the chief
interest
inscriptions on the stones. Kabr Hud is in the main valley some distance east of Kasm; not far from it is Bir Borhut, a natural grotto, where fumes of burning sulphur issue from a number of volcanic vents; al-Masudi mentions it in the loth century as an active volcano. Except after heavy rain, there is no running water in the Hadramut valley, the cultivation therefore depends on artificial irrigation from wells. The principal crops are wheat, millet, indigo, dates and tobacco; this latter, known as Hamumi tobacco, is of excellent quality.Hadramut has preserved its name from the earliest times; it occurs in Genesis as Hazarmaveth and Hadoram, sons of Joktan; and the old Greek geographers mention Adramytta and Chadramotites in their accounts of the frankincense country. The numerous ruins discovered in the W. Duwan and Adim, as well as in the main valley, are evidences of its former prosperity and civilization. The people, known as Hadrami (plural Hadarim), belong generally to the south Arabian stock, claiming descent from Ya'rab bin Kahtan. There is, however, a large number of Seyyids or descendants of the Prophet, and of townsmen of northern origin, besides a considerable class of African or mixed descent. Van den Berg estimates the total population of Hadramut (excluding the Mahra and Gara) at 150,000, of which he locates 50,000 in the valley between Shibam and Tarim, 25,000 in the W. Duwan and its tributaries, and 25,000 in Mukalla, Shihr and the coast villages, leaving 50,000 for the non-agricultural population scattered over the rest of the country, probably an excessive estimate. The Seyyids, descendants of Ilosain, grandson of Mahomet, form a numerous and highly respected aristocracy. They are divided into families, the chiefs of which are known as Munsibs, who are looked on as the religious leaders of the people, and are even in some cases venerated as saints. Among the leading families are the Sheikh Abu Bakr of Ainat, the el-Aidrus of Shihr and the Sakkaf of Saiyun. They do not bear arms, nor occupy themselves in trade or manual
The tribesmen, as in Arabia generally, are the predominant class in the population; all the adults carry aims; some of the tribes have settled towns and villages, others lead a nomadic life, keeping, however, within the territory which is recognized as belonging to the tribe. They are divided into sections or families, each headed by a chief
district
commander
resident
The townsmen are the free inhabitants of the towns and villages es distinguished from the Seyyids and the tribesmen: they do not carry arms, but are the working members of the community, merchants, artificers, cultivators and servants, and are entirely dependent on the tribes and chiefs under whose protection they live. The servile class contains a large African element, brought over formerly when the slave trade flourished on this coast; as in all Mahommedan countries they are well treated, and often rise to positions of trust. As already mentioned, a large number of Arabs from Hadramut go abroad; the Kaiti tribesmen take service in India in the irregular troops of Hyderabad; emigration on a large scale has also gone on, to the Dutch colonies in Java and Sumatra, since the beginning of the 19th century. According to the census of 1885, quoted by Van den Berg in his Report published by the government of the Dutch East Indies in 1886, the number of Arabs in those colonies actually born in Arabia was 2500, while those born in the colonies exceeded 20,000; nearly all of the former are from the towns in the Hadramut valley between Shibam and Tarim. Mukalla and Shihr have a considerabletrade with the Red Sea and Persian Gulf ports, as well as with the ports of Aden, Dhafar and Muscat; a large share of this is in the hands of Parsee and other British Indian traders who have established themselves in the Hadramut ports. The principal imports are wheat, rice, sugar, piece goods and hard-ware. The exports are small; the chief items are honey, tobacco and sharks' fins. In the towns in the interior the principal industries are weaving and dyeing. The Mahra country adjoins the Hadramut proper, and extends along the coast from Sihut eastwards to the east of Kamar Bay, where the Gara coast begins and stretches to Mirbat. The sultan of the Mahra, to whom Sokotra also belongs, lives at Kishin, a poor village
Ruins of Sabaean buildings were found by J. T. Bent in the neighbourhood of Dhafar, and a remarkable cove or small harbour was discovered at Khor Rori, which he identified with the ancient port of Moscha. End of Article: HADRAMUT If you wish, you can link directly to this article.
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