ANTIQUITIES

arabia cannot be said to be "destitute of antiquities," but the material for the study of these is still very incomplete. the difficulties in the way of travelling in arabia with a view to scientific investigation are such that little or nothing is being done, and the systematic work which has given such good results in egypt, palestine and babylonia-assyria is unknown in arabia. yet the passing notes of travellers from the time of carsten niebuhr show that antiquities are to be found. _prehistoric remains._--since prehistoric remains must be studied where they are found, the difficulty in the way of exploration makes itself severely felt. that such remains exist seems clear from the casual remarks of travellers. thus palgrave (_central and eastern arabia_, vol. i. ch. 6) speaks of part of a circle of roughly shaped stones taken from the adjacent limestone mountains in the nejd. eight or nine of these stones still exist, some of them 15 ft. high. two of them, 10 to 12 ft. apart, still bear their horizontal lintel. they are all without ornament. palgrave compares them with the remains at stonehenge and karnak. doughty (_arabia deserta_, vol. ii.), travelling in north-west arabia, saw stones of granite in a row and "flagstones set edgewise" (though he does not regard these as religious), also "round heaps, perhaps barrows," and "dry-built round chambers," which may be ancient tombs. j.t. bent (_southern arabia_, pp. 24 ff.) explored one of several mounds in bahrein. it proved to be a tomb, and the remains in it are said to be phoenician. _castles and walls._--in the south of arabia, where an advanced civilization existed for centuries before the christian era, the ruins of castles and city-walls are still in existence, and have been mentioned, though not examined carefully, by several travellers. in yemen and hadramut especially these ruins abound, and in some cases inscriptions seem to be still _in situ_. great castles are often mentioned in early arabian literature. one in the neighbourhood of san'a was described as one of the wonders of the world by qazwini (_athar ul-bilad_, p. 33, ed. wustenfeld, gottingen, 1847, cf. _journal of the german oriental society_, vol. 7, pp. 472, 476, and for other castles vol. 10, pp. 20 ff.). the ruins of the city of ma'rib, the old sabaean capital, have been visited by arnaud, halevy and glaser, but call for further description, as arnaud confined himself to a description of the dike (see below), while halevy and glaser were interested chiefly in the inscriptions. _wells and dikes._--from the earliest times the conservation of water has been one of the serious cares of the arabs. all over the country wells are to be found, and the masonry of some of them is undoubtedly ancient. inscriptions are still found in some of these in the south. the famous well zemzem at mecca is said to belong to the early times, when the eastern traffic passed from the south to the north-west of arabia through the hejaz, and to have been rediscovered shortly before the time of mahomet. among the most famous remains of ma'rib are those of a great dike reminding one of the restored tanks familiar to visitors at aden. these remains were first described by arnaud (_journal asiatique_, january 1874, with plan). their importance was afterwards emphasized by glaser's publication of two long inscriptions concerning their restoration in the 5th and 6th centuries a.d. ("zwei inschriften uber den dammbruch von marib," in the _mitteilungen der vorderasiatischen gesellschaft_, berlin, 1897). another dike about 150 yds. long was seen by w.b. harris at hirran in yemen. above it was a series of three tanks (_a journey through the yemen_, p. 279, london, 1893). _stones and bronzes._--the 19th century has brought to the museums of europe (especially to london, paris, berlin and vienna) a number of inscriptions in the languages of minea and saba, and a few in those of hadramut and katabania (qatta-bania). these inscriptions are generally on limestone or marble or on tablets of bronze, and vary from a few inches to some feet in length and height. in some cases the originals have been brought to europe, in other cases only squeezes of the inscriptions. the characters employed are apparently derived from the phoenician (cf. lidzbarski's _ephemeris_, vol. i. pp. 109 ff.). the languages employed have been the subject of much study (cf. f. hommel's _sud-arabische chrestomathie_, munich, 1893), but the archaeological value of these remains has not been so fully treated. very many of them are votive inscriptions and contain little more than the names of gods and princes or private men. a few are historical, but being (with few and late exceptions) undated, have given rise to much controversy among scholars. their range seems to be from about 800 b.c. (or 1500 b.c. according to e. glaser) to the 6th century a.d. few are still _in situ_, the majority having been taken from their original positions and built into houses, mosques or wells of more recent date. among these remains are altars, and bases for statues of gods or for golden images of animals dedicated to gods. the earlier stones are devoid of ornamentation, but the later stones and bronzes are sometimes ornamented with designs of leaves, flowers, ox-heads, men and women. some bear figures of the conventionalized sacred tree with worshippers, similar to babylonian designs. besides these there are gravestones, stelae with human heads, fragments of limestone, architectural designs as well as bronze castings of camels, horses, mice, serpents, &c. (cf. d.h. muller's _sudarabische alterthumer im kunsthistorischen museum_, vienna, 1899, with plates). _seals, weights and coins._--the vienna museum possesses a small number of seals and gems. the seals are inscribed with sabaean writing and are of bronze, copper, silver and stone. the gems of onyx, carnelian and agate are later and bear various figures, and in some cases arabic inscriptions. one or two weights are also in existence. a number of coins have been brought to the british museum from aden, san'a and ma'rib. others were purchased by g. schlumberger in constantinople; others have been brought to europe by glaser, and are now in the vienna museum. these are imitations of greek models, while the inscriptions are in sabaean characters (cf. b.v. head, in the _numismatic chronicle_, 1878, pp. 273-284; g. schlumberger, _le tresor de san'a_, paris, 1880; d.h. muller, _op. cit._ pp. 65 ff. and plates). for the problem of arabic antiquities in rhodesia see rhodesia and zimbabwe. (g. w. t.) history _introduction._--arabia is a land of semites, and is supposed by some scholars to have been the original home of the semitic peoples. although this cannot be said to be proved, the studies, linguistic and archaeological, of semitic scholars have shown it to be probable. the dispersion from arabia is easy to imagine. the migration into babylonia was simple, as there are no natural boundaries to separate it from north-east arabia, and similar migrations have taken place in historic times. that of the aramaeans at an early period is likewise free from any natural hindrance. the connexion with palestine has always been close; and the abyssinian settlement is probably as late as the beginning of the christian era. of these migrations, however, history knows nothing, nor are they expressed in literature. arabian literature has its own version of prehistoric times, but it is entirely legendary and apocryphal. it was, and still is, the custom of arabian historians to begin with the creation of the world and tell the history from then to the time of which they are writing. consequently even the more sober histories contain a mass of fables about early days. many of these, taken in part from jewish and christian sources, find a place in the koran. of all these stories current at the time of mahomet, the only ones of any value are the accounts of the "days of the arabs," i.e. accounts of some famous inter-tribal battles in arabia. _authorities._--until recently the arab traditions were practically the only source for the pre-islamic history of arabia. the old testament references to arabs were obscure. the classical accounts of the invasion of aelius callus in 26 b.c. threw little light on the state of arabia at the time, still less on its past history. the greek writers from theophrastus in the 4th century b.c. to ptolemy in the 2nd century a.d. mention many names of arabian peoples and describe the situation of their cities, but contribute little to their history, and that little could not be controlled. the same applies to the information of pliny in his _natural history_. in the 19th century the discovery and decipherment of the assyrian inscriptions gave a slight glance into the relations between arabs and assyrians from the 8th century b.c. but the great contribution of the century to the early history of arabia was the collecting and translating of numerous early arabian inscriptions (cf. section _antiquities_ above), which have done service both by their own indication of a great civilization in arabia for nearly (or more than) a thousand years before the christian era, and by the new stimulus which they gave to the study and appreciation of the materials in the assyrian inscriptions, the old testament, and the greek and roman writers. at the same time the facts that the inscriptions are undated until a late period, that few are historical in their contents, and for the most part yield only names of gods and rulers and domestic and religious details, and that our collection is still very incomplete, have led to much serious disagreement among scholars as to the reconstruction of the history of arabia in the pre-christian centuries. all scholars, however, are agreed that the inscriptions reach as far back as the 9th century b.c. (some say to the 16th) and prove the existence of at least four civilized kingdoms during these centuries. these are the kingdoms of ma'in (minaean), of saba (sabaean), of hadramaut (hadramut) and of katabania (katabanu). of the two latter little is known. that of hadramut had kings from the time of the minaeans to about a.d. 300, when it was conquered by ethiopia. the limits of the kingdom of katabania are not known, but it has its own inscriptions. as to the sabaean kingdom there is fair agreement among scholars. the inscriptions go back to 800 b.c. or earlier, and the same applies to the kingdom. a queen of this people (the "queen of sheba") is said (1 kings x.) to have visited solomon about 950 b.c. there is, however, no mention of such a queen in the inscriptions. an assyrian inscription mentions ith'amara the sabaean who paid tribute to sargon in 715 b.c. at this time the sabaeans must have been in north arabia unless the inscription refers to a northern colony of the southern sabaeans. the former opinion is held by e. glaser, who thinks that in the 9th and 8th centuries they moved down along the west coast to the south, where they conquered the minaeans (see below). the sabaean rule is generally divided into periods indicated by the titles given to their rulers. in the first of these ruled the makarib, who seem to have been priest-kings. their first capital was at sirwah. ten such rulers are mentioned in the inscriptions. their rule extended from the 9th to the 6th century. the second period begins about 550 b.c. the rulers are known as "kings of saba." their capital was ma'rib. the names of seventeen of these kings are known from the inscriptions. their sway lasted until about 115 b.c., when they were succeeded by the himyarites. during this period they were engaged in constant strife with the neighbouring kingdoms of hadramut and katabania. the great prosperity of south-west arabia at this time was due in large measure to the fact that the trade from india with egypt came there by sea and then went by land up the west coast. this trade, however, was lost during this period, as the ptolemies established an overland route from india to alexandria. the connexion of saba with the north, where the nabataeans (q.v.) had existed from about 200 b.c., was now broken. the decay that followed caused a number of sabaeans to migrate to other parts of arabia. the minaean kingdom extended over the south arabian jauf, its chief cities being karnau, ma'in and yathil. some twenty-five kings are known from the inscriptions; of these twenty are known to be related to one another. their history must thus cover several centuries. as inscriptions in the minaean language are found in al-'ula in north arabia, it is probable that they had colonies in that district. with regard to their date opinion is very much divided; some, with e. glaser and f. hommel, maintaining that their kingdom existed prior to that of saba, probably from about 1500 b.c. or earlier until the sabaeans came from their home in the north and conquered them in the 9th century. other scholars think, with d.h. muller, partly on palaeographical grounds (cf. m. lidzbarski's _ephemeris_, vol. i. pp. 109 seq., giessen, 1902), that none of the inscriptions are earlier than about 800 b.c. and that the minaean kingdom existed side by side with the sabaean. it is curious that the sabaean inscriptions contain no mention of the minaeans, though this may be due to the fact that very few of the inscriptions are historical in content. about 115 b.c. the power over south arabia passed from the sabaeans to the himyarites, a people from the extreme south-west of arabia; and about this time the kingdom of katabania came to an end. the title taken by the new rulers was "king of saba and raidan." twenty-six kings of this period are known from the inscriptions, some of which are dated. in this period the romans made their one attempt at direct interference in the affairs of arabia. the invasion under aelius gallus was an absolute failure, the expedition being betrayed by the guides and lost in the sands of the desert. during the latter part of this time the abyssinians, who had earlier migrated from arabia to the opposite coast of africa, began to flow back to the south of arabia, where they seem to have settled gradually and increased in importance until about a.d. 300, when they became strong enough to overturn the himyarite kings and establish a dynasty of their own. the title assumed by them was "king of saba, raidan, hadramut and yemen." the himyarites were, however, still active, and after a struggle succeeded in establishing a jewish sabaean kingdom, having previously accepted judaism as their religion. their best-known king was dhu nuwas. the struggle between them and the abyssinians now became one of judaism against christianity. the persecution of the christians was very severe (see e. glaser's _die abyssinier in arabien und afrika_, munich, 1895, and f.m.e. pereira's _historia dos martyres de nagran_, lisbon, 1899). apparently for this reason christian abyssinia was supported from byzantium in its attempts to regain power. these attempts were crowned with success in 525. of the christian abyssinian kings in arabia tradition tells of four, one only of whom is mentioned in inscriptions. the famous expedition of abraha, the abyssinian viceroy, against mecca, took place in 570. five years later the persians, who had been called in by the opponents of christianity, succeeded in taking over the rule and in appointing governors over yemen. (see further ethiopia: _the axumite kingdom_.) _hira, ghassan and kinda._--before passing to the time of mahomet it is necessary to take account of three other arabian powers, those of hira, ghassan and kinda. hira. the kingdom of hira (hira) was established in the boundary land between the euphrates and the arabian desert, a district renowned for its good air and extraordinary fertility. the chief town was hira, a few miles south of the site of the later town of kufa. the inhabitants of this land are said in tabari's history to have been of three classes:--(1) the tanukh (tnuhs), who lived in tents and were made up of arabs from the tehama and nejd, who had united in bahrein to form a new tribe, and who migrated from there to hira, probably at the beginning or middle of the 3rd century a.d., when the arsacid power was growing weak. the arabian historians relate their conflict with zenobia. (2) the 'ibad or 'ibadites, who dwelt in the town of hira in houses and so led a settled life. these were christians, whose ecclesiastical language was syriac, though the language of intercourse was arabic. a christian bishop of hira is known to have attended a synod in 410. in the 5th century they became nestorians. (3) refugees of various tribes, who came into the land but did not belong to the tanukh or the 'ibad. there is no trustworthy information as to the earlier chiefs of this people. the dynasty of the lakhmids, famed in arabian history and literature, arose towards the end of the 3rd century and lasted until about 602. the names of twenty kings are given by hisham al-kalbi in tabari's history. although so many of their subjects were christian, the lakhmids remained heathen until nu'man, the last of the dynasty. the kingdom of hira was never really independent, but always stood in a relation of dependence on persia, probably receiving pay from it and employing persian soldiers. at the height of its power it was able to render valuable aid to its suzerain. much of its time was spent in wars with rome and ghassan. its revenues were derived from the bedouins of the surrounding lands as well as from its own subjects at home. about 602 the lakhmid dynasty fell, and the persian chosroes (khosrau) ii. appointed as governor an arab of the tribe of tai. shortly after it came into relation with islam. see g. rothstein's _die dynastie der lakhmiden in al-hira_ (berlin, 1899); th. noldeke's _geschichte der perser und araber zur zeit der sassaniden_ (leiden, 1879). [illustration: arabia] ghassan. in the beginning of the 6th century a.d. a dynasty known as the jafnids, enter into the history alike of the roman and persian empires. they ruled over the tribe of ghassan in the extreme north-west of arabia, east of the jordan, from near petra in the south to the neighbourhood of rosafa in the north-east. of their origin little is known except that they came from the south. a part of the same tribe inhabited yathrib (medina) at the time of mahomet. the first certain prince of the jafnid house was harith ibn jabala, who, according to the chronicle of john malalas, conquered mondhir (mundhir) of hira in 528. in the following year, according to procopius, justinian perceived the value of the ghassanids as an outpost of the roman empire, and as opponents of the persian dependants of hira, and recognized harith as king of the arabs and patrician of the roman empire. he was thus constantly engaged in battles against hira. in 541 he fought under belisarius in mesopotamia. after his death about 569 or 570 the friendly relations with the west continued, but about 583 there was a breach. the ghassanid kingdom split into sections each with its own prince. some passed under the sway of persia, others preserved their freedom at the expense of their neighbours. at this point their history ceases to be mentioned in the western chronicles. there are references to the ghassanid nu'man in the poems of nabigha. arabian tradition tells of their prince jabala ibn aiham who accepted islam, after fighting against it, but finding it too democratic, returned to christianity and exile in the roman empire. as islam advanced, some of the ghassanids retreated to cappadocia, others accepted the new faith. see th. noldeke, _die ghassanischen fursten aus dent hause gafna's_ (berlin, 1887). kinda. in the last decade of the 5th century a new power arose in central arabia. this was the tribe of kinda under the sway of the family of aqil ul murar, who came from the south. they seem to have stood in much the same relation to the rulers of yemen, as the people of hira to the persians and the ghassanids to rome. abraha in his invasion of the hejaz was accompanied by chiefs of kinda. details of their history are not known, but they seem to have gained power at one time even over the lakhmids of hira; and to have ruled over bahrein as well as yemama until the battle of shi'b ul jabala, when they lost this province to hira. the poet amru'ul qais was a member of the princely family of kinda. other parts of arabia. outside the territory of the powers mentioned above, arabia in the 6th century was in a state of political chaos. bahrein, inhabited chiefly by the bani'abd qais and the bani bakr, was largely subject to persian influence near its coast, and a persian governor, sebocht, resided in hajar, its chief town. in oman the arabs, who were chiefly engaged in fishing and seafaring, were azdites mixed with persians. the ruling dynasty of julanda in their capital suhar lasted on till the abbasid period. no persian officials are mentioned in this country; whether persians exercised authority over it is doubtful. on the west coast of arabia the influence of the kingdom of yemen was felt in varying degree according to the strength of the rulers of that land. apart from this influence the hejaz was simply a collection of cities each with its own government, while outside the cities the various tribes governed themselves and fought continual battles with one another. _time of mahomet._--thus at the time of mahomet's advent the country was peopled by various tribes, some more or less settled under the governments of south arabia, kinda, hira and ghassan, these in turn depending on abyssinia, persia and rome (i.e. byzantium); others as in the hejaz were ruled in smaller communities by members of leading families, while in various parts of the peninsula were wandering arabs still maintaining the traditions of old family and tribal rule, forming no state, sometimes passing, as suited them, under the influence and protection of one or another of the greater powers. to these may be added a certain number of jewish tribes and families deriving their origin partly from migrations from palestine, partly from converts among the arabs themselves. mahomet appealed at once to religion and patriotism, or rather created a feeling for both. for mahomet as a religious teacher and for the details of his career see mahomet. it is enough here to outline his actions in so far as he attempted to create a united, and then a conquering, arabia. though the external conquests of the arabs belong more properly to the period of the caliphate, yet they were the natural outcome of the prophet's ideas. his idea of arabia for the arabians could only be realized by summoning the great kings of the surrounding nations to recognize islam; otherwise abyssinia, persia and rome (byzantium) would continue their former endeavours to influence and control the affairs of the peninsula. tradition tells that a few years before his death he did actually send letters to the emperor heraclius, to the negus of abyssinia, the king of persia, and cyrus, patriarch of alexandria, the "mukaukis" of egypt, summoning them to accept islam and threatening them with punishment in case of refusal. but the task of carrying out these threats fell to the lot of his successors; the work of the prophet was to be the subjugating and uniting of arabia. this work, scarcely begun in mecca, was really started after the migration to medina by the formation of a party of men--the _muhajirun_ (refugees or emigrants) and the _ansar_ (helpers or defenders)--who accepted mahomet as their religious leader. as the necessity of overcoming his enemies became urgent, this party became military. a few successes in battle attracted to him men who were interested in fighting and who were willing to accept his religion as a condition of membership of his party, which soon began to assume a national form. mahomet early found an excuse for attacking the jews, who were naturally in the way of his schemes. the bani nadir were expelled, the bani quraiza slaughtered. by the time he had successfully stormed the rich jewish town of khaibar, he had found that it was better to allow industrious jews to remain in arabia as payers of tribute than to expel or kill them: this policy he followed afterwards. the capture of mecca (630) was not only an evidence of his growing power, which induced arabs throughout the peninsula to join him, but gave him a valuable centre of pilgrimage, in which he was able by a politic adoption of some of the heathen arabian ceremonies into his own rites to win men over the more easily to his own cause. at his death in 623 mahomet left arabia practically unified. it is true that rival prophets were leading rebellions in various parts of arabia, that the tax-collectors were not always paid, and that the warriors of the land were much distressed for want of work owing to the brotherhood of arabs proclaimed by mahomet. the tribes were a seething mass of restlessness, their old feuds ready to break out again. but they had realized that they had common interests. the power of the foreigner in arabia was broken. islam promised rich booty for those who fought and won, paradise for those who fell. _early caliphs_.[1] 1. _conquest._--one task of the early caliphs was to find an outlet for the restless fighting spirit. abu bekr (632-634), the first of these caliphs, was a man of simple life and profound faith. he understood the intention of mahomet as to foreign nations, and set himself resolutely to carry it out in the face of much difficulty. hence as soon as he assumed office he sent out the army already chosen to advance against the romans in the north. the successful reduction of the rebels in arabia enabled him in his first year to send his great general khalid with his arab warriors first against persians, then against romans. his early death prevented him from seeing the fruits of his policy. under the second caliph omar (634-644) the persians were defeated at kadesiya (kadessia), and irak was completely subdued and the new cities of kufa and basra were founded (635). in the same year damascus fell into the hands of the arabs under abu 'ubaida. in 636 jerusalem fell and received a visit from the caliph. three years later the fateful step was taken of appointing moawiya (mu'awiyya) governor of syria. in 640 'amr-ibn-el-ass (amr ibn al-'as) invaded egypt and the following year took alexandria and founded fostat (which later became cairo). the victory at nehavend in 641 over the persians, the flight of the last sassanid king and the capture of rei or rai (class. rhagae) in 643 meant the entire subjugation of persia and crowned the conquests of omar's caliphate. the reign of the third caliph othman (644-656) was marked by the beginning of that internal strife which was to ruin arabia; but the foreign conquests continued. in the north the moslem arms reached armenia and asia minor; on the west they were successful as far as carthage on the north coast of africa. after the murder of othman, 'ali (656-661) became caliph, but moawiya, governor of syria, soon rebelled on the pretext of avenging the death of othman. after the battle of siffin (657) arbitration was resorted to for the settlement of the rival claims. by a trick 'ali was deposed (658), and the omayyad dynasty was established with its capital at damascus. institution of navy. during these early years the arabs had not only made conquests by land, but had found an outlet for their energy at sea. in 640 omar sent a fleet of boats across the red sea to protect the moslems on the abyssinian coast. the boats were wrecked. omar was so terrified by this that when moawiya applied to him for permission to use ships for an attack on the islands of the levant, he resolutely refused. othman was less careful, and allowed a fleet from africa to help in the conquests of the levant and asia minor. in 649 he sanctioned the establishment of a maritime service, on condition that it should be voluntary. abu qais, appointed admiral, showed its usefulness by the capture of cyprus. in 652 abu sarh with a fleet from egypt won a naval battle over the byzantine fleet near alexandria. 2. _internal affairs._--in the meantime what had become of arabia and its unification? the first task of abu bekr had been to reduce those rebels who threatened to destroy that unity even before it was fully established. this he did by the aid of the great general khalid. first he swept down on the bani hanifa in yemama, who with their rival prophet mosailama (mosailima) and 40,000 men were in arms. the battle of yemama (633) was fierce and decisive. mosailama was slain. the bani hanifa returned to islam. bahrein was influenced by this battle, and the rebellion there, which was threatening, was crushed. oman was reconquered by huddhaifa, who became its governor. ikrima settled mahra. muhajir, with the help of ikrima, succeeded with difficulty, but thoroughly, in defeating amr ibn ma'dikarib and qais ibn 'abd yaghuth in yemen and ashath ibn qais in hadramut. the hejaz and tehama were cleared of the plundering nomads by 'attab and tahir. at the end of the first year of his caliphate abu bekr saw arabia united under islam. the new national feeling demanded that all arabs should be free men, so the caliph ordained that all arab slaves should be freed on easy terms. the solidarity of arabia survived the first foreign conquests. it was not intended that arabs should settle in the conquered lands except as armies of occupation. thus it was at first forbidden that arabs should buy or possess land in these countries. kufa was to be only a military camp, as was fostat in egypt. the taxes with the booty from conquests were to be sent to arabia for distribution among the moslems. omar tried to prevent the advance of conquests lest arabia should suffer. "i would rather the safety of my people than thousands of spoil and further conquest." but men could not be prevented from pouring out from their homes in search of new conquests and more booty. many of those who went forth did not return. they acquired property and rank in the new lands. kufa attracted chiefly men of south arabia, basra those of the north. both became great cities, each with a population of 150,000 to 200,000 arabians. yet so long as the caliphs lived in medina, the capital of arabia was the capital of the expanding arabian empire. to it was brought a large share of the booty. the caliphs were chosen there, and there the rules for the administration were framed. thence went out the governors to their provinces. omar was the great organizer of arabian affairs. he compiled the koran, instituted the civil list, regulated the military organization. he, too, desired that mahomet's wish should be carried out and that arabia should be purely moslem. to this end he expelled the christians from nejran and gave them lands in syria and irak, where they were allowed to live in peace on payment of tribute. the jews, too, were shortly after expelled from khaibar. the secondary position that arabia was beginning to assume in the arabian empire is clearly marked in the progress of events during the caliphate of othman. in his appointments to governorships and other offices, as well as in his distribution of spoil, othman showed a marked preference for the members of his own tribe the koreish (quraish) and the members of his own family the bani omayya (umayya). the other arab tribes became increasingly jealous of the koreish, while among the koreish themselves the hashimite family came to hate the omayyad, which now had much power, although it had been among the last to accept islam and never was very strict in its religious duties. but the quarrels which led to the murder of othman were fomented not so much in arabia as in kufa and basra and fostat. in these cities the rival parties were composed of the most energetic fighting men, who were brought into the most intimate contact with one another, and who kept up their quarrels from the home land. in kufa a number of the koreish had settled, and their arrogance became insupportable. the governors of all these towns were of othman's own family. after some years of growing dissatisfaction deputies from these places came to medina, and the result was the murder of the caliph. syria alone remained loyal to the house of omayya, and othman had been advised to take refuge there, but had refused. arabia itself counted for little in the strife. yet its prestige was not altogether lost. after the murder the rebels were unwilling to return home until a new caliph had been chosen in the capital. the egyptian rebels managed to gain most influence, and, in accordance with their desire, 'ali was appointed caliph by the citizens of medina. but medina itself was being corrupted by the constant influx of captives, who, employed at first as servants, soon became powerful enough to dictate to their masters. in the struggle that ensued upon the election of 'ali, arabia was involved. ayesha, talha and zobair, who were strong in mecca, succeeded in obtaining possession of basra, but were defeated in 656 at the battle of the camel (see ali). in the south of arabia 'ali succeeded in establishing his own governor in yemen, though the government treasure was carried off to mecca. but the centre of strife was not to be arabia. when 'ali left medina to secure basra, he abandoned it as the capital of the arabian empire. with the success of moawiya damascus became the capital of the caliphate (658) and arabia became a mere province, though always of importance because of its possession of the two sacred cities mecca and medina. both these cities were secured by moawiya in 660, and at the same time yemen was punished for its adherence to 'ali. the final blow to any political pretensions of medina was dealt by the caliph when he had his son yazid declared as his successor, thus taking away any claim on the part of the citizens of medina to elect to the caliphate. _the omayyads._--the early years of the omayyads were years of constant strife in arabia. the kharijites who had opposed 'ali on the ground that he had no right to allow the appeal to arbitration, were defeated at nahrawan or nahrwan (658), but those who escaped became fierce propagandists against the koreish, some claiming that the caliph should be chosen by the faithful from any tribe of the arabs, some that there should be no caliph at all, that god alone was their ruler and that the government should be carried on by a council. they broke up into many sects, and were long a disturbing political force in arabia as elsewhere. on the death of 'ali his house was represented by his two sons hasan and hosain (husain). hasan soon made peace with moawiya. on the accession of yazid, hosain refused homage and raised an army, but was slain at kerbela (680). 'abdallah ibn zobair (of the house of hashim) immediately stepped forward in mecca as the avenger of 'ali's family and the champion of religion. the two sacred cities supported him. medina was besieged and sacked by the troops of yazid (682) and mecca was besieged the following year. the siege was raised in the third month on the news of the death of yazid, but not before the ka'ba had been destroyed. 'abdallah remained in mecca recognized as caliph in arabia, and soon after in egypt and even a part of syria. he defeated the troops of merwan i., but could not win the support of the kharijites. in 691 abdalmalik ('abdul-malik) determined to crush his rival and sent his general hajjaj against mecca. the siege was begun in march 692, and in october the city was taken and 'abdallah slain. abdalmalik was now supreme in arabia and throughout the moslem world. during the remaining years of the omayyad dynasty (i.e. until 750) little is heard of arabia in history. the conquests of islam in spain on the one side and india on the other had little or no effect on it. it was merely a province. _the 'abbasids._--the accession of abul 'abbas (of the house of hashim) and the transference of the capital of the caliphate from damascus to kufa, then anbar and soon after (in 760) to bagdad meant still further degradation to arabia and arabs. from the beginning the 'abbasids depended for help on persians and turks, and the chief offices of state were frequently filled with foreigners. in one thing only the arabs conquered to the end; that was in their language. the study of arabic was taken up by lexicographers, grammarians and poets (mostly of foreign origin) with a zeal rarely shown elsewhere. the old arabian war spirit was dying. although the arabians, as a rule, were in favour of the omayyad family, they could not affect the succession of the 'abbasids. they returned more and more to their old inter-tribal disputes. they formed now not only a mere branch of the empire of the caliphate, but a branch deriving little life from and giving less to the main stock. in 762 there was a rebellion in favour of a descendant of 'ali, but it was put down with great severity by the army of the caliph mansur. a more local 'alyite revolt in mecca and medina was crushed in 785. in the contest between the two sons of harun al rashid all arabia sided with mamun (812). in 845-846 the lawless raids of bedouin tribes compelled the caliph wathiq to send his turkish general bogha, who was more successful in the north than in the centre and south of arabia in restoring peace. _the carmathians._--towards the close of the 9th century arabia was disturbed by the rise of a new movement which during the next hundred years dominated the peninsula, and at its close left it shattered never to be united again. in the year 880 yemen was listening to the propaganda of the new sect of the carmathians (q.v.) or followers of hamdan qarmat. four years later these had become a public force. in 900 'abu sa'id al-jannabi, who had been sent to bahrein by hamdan, had secured a large part of this province and had won the city of katif (ketif) which contained many jews and persians. the arabs who lived more inland were mostly bedouin who found the obligations of islam irksome, and do not seem to have made a very vigorous opposition to the carmathians who took hajar the capital of bahrein in 903. from this they made successful attacks on yemama (yamama), and attempts only partially successful at first at oman. in 906 the court at bagdad learned that these sectaries had gained almost all yemen and were threatening mecca and medina. abu sa'id was assassinated (913) in his palace at lahsa (which in 926 was fortified and became the carmathian capital of bahrein). his son sa'id succeeded him, but proved too weak and was deposed and succeeded by his brother abu tahir. his success was constant and the caliphate was brought very low by him. in arabia he subjugated oman, and swooping down on the west in 929 he horrified the moslem world by capturing mecca and carrying off the sacred black stone to bahrein. the fatimite caliph 'obaidallah (see fatimites), to whom abu tahir professed allegiance, publicly wrote to him to restore the stone, but there is some reason to believe that he secretly encouraged him to retain it. in 939, however, the stone was restored and pilgrimages to the holy cities were allowed to pass unmolested on payment of a tax. so long as abu tahir lived the carmathians controlled arabia. after his death, however, they quarrelled with the fatimite rulers of egypt (969) and began to lose their influence. in 985 they were completely defeated in irak, and soon after lost control of the pilgrimages. oman recovered its independence. three years later katif, at that time their chief city, was besieged and taken by a bedouin sheik, and subsequently their political power in arabia came to an end. it was significant that their power fell into the hands of bedouins. arabia was now completely disorganized, and was only nominally subject to the caliphate. the attempt of mahomet to unify arabia had failed. the country was once more split up into small governments, more or less independent, and groups of wandering tribes carrying on their petty feuds. of the history of these during the next few centuries little is known, except in the case of the hejaz. here the presence of the sacred cities led writers to record their annals (cf. f. wustenfeld's _die chroniken der stadt mekka_, 4 vols., leipzig, 1857-1861). the two cities were governed by arabian nobles (_sherifs_), often at feud with one another, recognizing formally the overlordship of the caliph at bagdad or the caliph of egypt. thus in 966 the name of the caliph moti was banished from the prayers at mecca, and an 'alyite took possession of the government of the city and recognized the egyptian caliph as his master. about a century later (1075-1094) the 'abbasid caliph was again recognized as spiritual head owing to the success in arms of his protector, the seljuk malik-shah. with the fall of the bagdad caliphate all attempts at control from that quarter came to an end. after the visit of the sultaft bibars (1269) mecca was governed by an amir dependent on egypt. outside the two cities anarchy prevailed, and the pilgrimage was frequently unsafe owing to marauding bedouins. in 1517 the osmanli turkish sultan selim conquered egypt, and having received the right of succession to the caliphate was solemnly presented by the sherif of mecca with the keys of the city, and recognized as the spiritual head of islam and ruler of the hejaz. at the same time yemen, which since the 9th century had been in the power of a number of small dynasties ruling in zubed, san'a, sa'da and aden, passed into the hands of the turk. for the history of yemen during this period cf. h.c. kay, _omarah's history of yaman_ (london, 1892), and s. lane-poole, _the mahommedan dynasties_, pp. 87-103 (westminster, 1894). little more than a century later (1630), a yemen noble khasim succeeded in expelling the turk and establishing a native imamate, which lasted until 1871. for descriptions of it in the 18th century cf. c. niebuhr's accounts of his travels in arabia in 1761. _oman._--since the separation from the caliphate (before 1000 a.d.) oman had remained independent. for more than a century it was governed by five elected imams, who were chosen from the tribe of al-azd and generally lived at nizwa. after them the bani nebhan gained the upper hand and established a succession of kings (_maliks_) who governed from 1154 to 1406. during this time the country was twice invaded by persians. the "kings of hormuz" claimed authority over the coast land until the beginning of the 16th century. in 1435 the people rose against the tyranny of the bani nebhan and restored the imamate of the tribe al-azd. in 1508 the portuguese under albuquerque seized most of the east coast of oman. in 1624 a new dynasty arose in the interior, when nasir ibn murshid of the yariba (ya'aruba) tribe (originally from yemen) was elected imam and established his capital at rustak. he was able to subdue the petty princes of the country, and the portuguese were compelled to give up several towns and pay tribute for their residence at muscat. about 1651 the portuguese were finally expelled from this city, and about 1698 from the omanite settlements on the east coast of africa. for the history of oman from 661 to 1856 cf. g.p. badger, _history of the imams and seyyids of oman by salil-ibn-razik_ (london, hakluyt society, 1871). (g. w. t.) _wahhabi movement._--modern arabian history begins with that of the wahhabi movement in the middle of the 18th century. its originator, mahommed ibn abdul wahhab, was born (1691) at ayana in nejd, and after studying in basra and damascus, and making the pilgrimage to mecca returned to his native country and settled down at huremala near deraiya. the abuses and corruptions which had overgrown the practice of orthodox islam had deeply impressed him, and he set to work to combat them, and to inculcate on all good moslems a return to the pure simplicity of their original faith. in 1742 mahommed ibn saud, sheik of deraiya, accepted his doctrines, and enforced them by his sword with such effect that before his death in 1765 the whole of eastern nejd and el hasa was converted to the faith of abdul wahhab, and accepted the political supremacy of ibn saud. his son and successor, abdul aziz, in a rapid series of successful campaigns, extended his dominion and that of the reformed faith far beyond the limits of nejd. his attacks on the pilgrim caravans, begun in 1783 and constantly repeated, startled the mahommedan world,[2] and compelled the attention of the sultan, as the nominal protector of the faithful. in 1798 a turkish force was sent from bagdad into el hasa, but was compelled to retreat without accomplishing anything, and its discomfiture added much to the renown of the wahhabi power. in 1801 saud, son of the amir abdul aziz, led an expedition to the euphrates, and on the festival of bairam, the 20th of april, stormed kerbela, put the defenders to the sword, destroyed the sacred tomb, scattered the sacred relics and returned laden with the treasures, accumulated during centuries in the sanctuary of the shia faith. mecca itself was taken; plundering was forbidden, but the tombs of the saints and all objects of veneration were ruthlessly destroyed, and all ceremonies which seemed in the eye of the stern puritan conqueror to suggest the taint of idolatry were forbidden. on the 14th of october 1802 the amir abdul aziz, at the age of eighty-two years, was murdered by a shia fanatic when at prayers in the mosque of deraiya, and saud, who had for many years led the wahhabi armies, became the reigning amir. in 1804 medina was taken and with its fall all resistance ceased. the wahhabi empire had now attained its zenith, a settled government was established able to enforce law and order in the desert and in the towns, and a spirit of arabian nationality had grown up which bade fair to extend the wahhabi dominion over all the arab race. it already, however, bore within it the germ of decay; the accumulation of treasure in the capital had led to a corruption of the simple manners of the earlier times; the exhaustion of the tribes through the heavy blood tax had roused discontent among them; the plundering of the holy places, the attacks on the pilgrim caravans under the escort of turkish soldiers, and finally, in 1810, the desecration of the tomb of mahomet and the removal of its costly treasures, raised a cry of dismay throughout the mahommedan world, and made it clear even to the turkish sultan that unless the wahhabi power were crushed his claims to the caliphate were at an end. but turkey was herself fully occupied by affairs in europe, and to mehemet ali, then pasha of egypt, was deputed the task of bringing the wahhabis into subjection. in october 1811 an expedition consisting of 10,000 men under tusun pasha, the pasha's son, a youth of sixteen, landed in hejaz without opposition. saud with his main forces had started northwards to attack bagdad, but returning at once he met and defeated tusun with great loss and compelled him to retire. medina and subsequently mecca were eventually taken by the egyptians, but in spite of continual reinforcements they could do little more than hold their own in hejaz. in 1813 mehemet ali was compelled to take the field himself with fresh troops, but was unable to achieve any decisive success, and in 1814 tusun was again defeated beyond taif. in may 1814 saud died, and his son, abdallah, attempted to negotiate, but mehemet ali refused all overtures, and in january 1815 advanced into nejd, defeated the wahhabi army and occupied ras, then the chief town in kasim. terms of peace were made, but on the retirement of the egyptians abdallah refused to carry out the conditions agreed on, which included the return of the jewels plundered by his father, and another campaign had to be fought before his submission was obtained. ibrahim pasha replaced tusun in command, and on reaching arabia in september 1816 his first aim was to gain over the great bedouin tribes holding the roads between hejaz and his objective in nejd; having thus secured his line of advance he pushed on boldly and defeated abdallah at wiya, where he put to death all prisoners taken; thence rapidly advancing, with contingents of the friendly harb and muter tribes in support of his regular troops, he laid siege to ras; this place, however, held out and after a four months' siege he was compelled to give up the attack. leaving it on one side he pushed on eastwards, took aneza after six days' bombardment and occupied bureda. here he waited two months for reinforcements, and with his bedouin contingent, strengthened by the adhesion of the ateba and bani khalid tribes, advanced on shakra in wushm, which fell in january 1818 after a regular siege. after destroying huremala and massacring its inhabitants, he arrived before deraiya on the 14th of april 1818. for six months the siege went on with varying fortune, but at last the courage and determination of ibrahim triumphed, and on the 9th of september, after a heroic resistance, abdallah, with a remnant of four hundred men, was compelled to surrender. the wahhabi leader was soon after sent to constantinople, where, in spite of mehemet ali's intercession, he and the companions who had followed him in his captivity were condemned to death, and after being paraded through the city with ignominy for three days were finally beheaded. deraiya was razed to the ground and the principal towns of nejd were compelled to admit egyptian garrisons; but though the arabs saw themselves powerless to stand before disciplined troops, the egyptians, on the other hand, had to confess that without useless sacrifices they could not retain their hold on the interior. in 1824 turki, son of the unfortunate abdallah, headed a rising which resulted in the re-establishment of the wahhabi state with riad as its new capital; and during the next ten years he consolidated his power, paying tribute to and under the nominal suzerainty of egypt till his murder in 1834. his son, fesal, succeeded him, but in 1836 on his refusal to pay tribute an egyptian force was sent to depose him and he was taken prisoner and sent to cairo, while a rival claimant, khalid, was established as amir in riad. mehemet ali and his son ibrahim pasha were, however, now committed to their conflict with turkey for syria and asia minor, and had no troops to spare for the thankless task of holding the arabian deserts; the garrisons were gradually withdrawn, and in 1842 fesal, who had escaped from his prison at cairo reappeared and was everywhere recognized as amir. the few remaining egyptian troops were ejected from riad, and with them all semblance of egyptian or turkish rule disappeared from central arabia. for a time it looked as if the supremacy of the wahhabi empire was to be renewed; el hasa, harik, kasim and asir returned to their allegiance, but over oman and yemen fesal never re-established his dominion, and the bahrein sheiks with british support kept their independence. ibn rashid. a rival state had, however, arisen, under abdallah ibn rashid in jebel shammar. driven into exile owing to a feud between his family and the ibn ali, the leading family of the shammar, abdallah came to riad in 1830, and was favourably received by the amir turki. in 1834 he was with fesal on an expedition against el hasa when news came of the amir's murder by his cousin masharah. by abdallah's advice the expedition was abandoned; fesal hastened back with all his forces to riad, and invested the citadel where masharah had taken refuge, but failed to gain possession of it, until abdallah with two companions found his way into the palace, killed masharah, and placed fesal on the throne of his father. as a reward for his services abdallah was appointed governor of jebel shammar, and had already established himself in hail when the egyptian expedition of 1836 removed fesal temporarily from nejd. during the exile of the latter he steadily consolidated his power, extending his influence more especially over the desert tribes, till on fesal's return in 1842 he had created a state subject only in name to that of which riad was the capital. on the death of abdallah in 1843, his son talal succeeded. he set himself to work to establish law and order throughout the state, to arrange its finances, and to encourage the settlement in hail of artificers and merchants from abroad; the building of the citadel and palace commenced by mehemet ali, and continued by abdallah ibn rashid, was completed by talal. the town walls were strengthened, new wells dug, gardens planted, mosques and schools built. his uncle obed, to whom equally with abdallah is due the foundation of the ibn rashid dynasty, laboured to extend the shammar boundaries. khaibar, tema and jauf became tributary to hail. though tolerant in religion talal was careful to avoid the suspicion of lukewarmness towards the wahhabi formulas. luxury in clothing and the use of tobacco were prohibited; attendance at the mosque was enforced: any doubt as to his orthodoxy was silenced by the amount and regularity of the tribute sent by him to riad. equally guarded was his attitude to the turkish authorities; it is not improbable that talal had also entered into relations with the viceroy of egypt to ensure his position in case of a collision with the porte. during his twenty years' reign jebel shammar became a model state, where justice and security ruled in a manner before unheard of. fesal may well have watched with jealous anxiety the growing strength of his neighbour's state as compared with his own, where all progress was arrested by the deadening tyranny of religious fanaticism. the amir mahommed. on the 11th of march 1868 talal, smitten with an incurable malady, fell by his own hand and was succeeded by his brother matab; after a brief reign he was murdered by his nephews, the elder of whom, bandar, became amir. mahommed, the third son of the amir abdallah, was at the time absent; with a view of getting his uncle into his power, bandar invited him to return to hail, and on his arrival went out to meet him accompanied by hamud, son of obed, and a small following. warned by a hurried sign by hamud that his life was in danger, mahommed at once attacked bandar, stabbed him and took possession of the citadel; a general massacre of all members of the house of ibn rashid followed, and next day mahommed appeared with his cousin hamud in the market-place of hail, and announced his assumption of the amirship. a strong and capable ruler, he soon established his authority over all northern and western nejd, and in 1872 the opportunity arrived for his intervention in the east. in that year abdallah, who had succeeded fesal in riad in 1867, was deposed, but with the assistance of mahommed was reinstated; two years later, however, he was again deposed and forced to seek refuge at hail, from which place he appealed for assistance to the turkish authorities at bagdad. midhat pasha, then governor-general, seized the occasion of asserting turkish dominion on the persian gulf coast, and in 1875, in spite of british protests, occupied el hasa and established a new province under the title of nejd, with its headquarters at hofuf, of which abdallah was appointed governor. this was an event of some importance, as it constituted the first turkish claim to the sovereignty over nejd abandoned by egypt thirty-three years earlier. the turks did not support their client by advancing into nejd itself, and he and his rivals were left to fight out their battles among themselves. turkey was indeed too much occupied by the war with russia to pay much attention to arab affairs, though a few years later she attempted to occupy bahrein by a _coup de main_, which was only frustrated by the action of a british gunboat. owing to the dissensions among the ruling family of riad, the towns of eastern nejd gradually reverted to their former condition of independence, but menaced in turn by the growing power of hail, they formed a coalition under the leadership of zamil, sheik of aneza, and in the spring of 1891, aneza, bureda, shakra, ras and riad assembled their contingents to contest with ibn rashid the supremacy in nejd. the latter had besides 20,000 of his own south shammar tribesmen, the whole strength of the harb bedouins, some 10,000 men, and an additional support of 1000 mounted men from his kinsmen, the northern shammar from the euphrates, while the muter and ateba tribes took part with the allies. the total strength of each side amounted to about 30,000 men. zamil's forces held a strong position between aneza and bureda, and for over a month desultory fighting went on; finally an attack was made against the defenders' centre, covered by 20,000 camel riders; the men of aneza broke and the whole allied forces fled in disorder; zamil and his eldest son were killed, as were also two of the ibn saud family, while the remainder were taken prisoners. aneza and bureda surrendered the same day, and shortly after ras, shakra and riad tendered their submission. this victory placed the whole of northern and central arabia under the supremacy of mahommed ibn rashid, which he held undisputed during the rest of his life. recent history. on his death in 1897 his nephew abdul-aziz, son of the murdered amir matab, succeeded; during his reign a new element has been introduced into nejd politics by the rising importance of kuwet (koweit) and the attempts of turkey to obtain possession of its important harbour. in 1901 a quarrel arose between sheik mubarak of kuwet and the amir of hail whose cause was supported by turkey. a force was equipped at basra under ahmad feizi pasha with the intention of occupying kuwet; mubarak thereupon appealed to great britain and action was taken which prevented the turkish designs from being carried out. kuwet was not formally placed under british protection, but it was officially announced by the government on the 5th of may 1903 "that the establishment of a naval base or fortified port in the persian gulf by any other power would be regarded as a very grave menace to british interests which would certainly be resisted with all the means at its disposal." in the meantime sheik mubarak had found useful allies in the muntafik arabs from the lower euphrates, and the wahhabis of riad; the latter under the amir ibn saud marched against ibn rashid, who at the instigation of the porte had again threatened kuwet (koweit), compelled him to retire to his own territory and took possession of the towns of bureda and aneza. sheik mubarak and his allies continued their advance, defeated ibn rashid in two engagements on the 22nd of july and the 26th of september 1904, and drove him back on his capital, hail. the porte now made another effort to assist its protege; two columns were despatched from medina and basra respectively, to relieve hail, and drive out the wahhabis. ahmad feizi pasha, in command of the basra column, 4200 strong, crossed the desert and reached the wells of lina, 200 m. from hail, on the 5th of march 1905; here, however, he received orders to halt and negotiate before proceeding farther. the turkish government realized by this time the strength of the hostile combination, and in view of the serious state of affairs in yemen, hesitated to undertake another campaign in the deserts of nejd. arrangements were accordingly made with the wahhabis, and on the 10th of april ahmad feizi pasha left lina, ostensibly with the object of protecting the pilgrim road, and joined the medina column by the end of the month. bureda and aneza were occupied without opposition, the rebellious sheiks amnestied by the sultan and loaded with gifts, and formal peace was made between the rival factions. history of european influence. british intervention in oman. european influence was not felt in arabia until the arrival of the portuguese in the eastern seas, following on the discovery of the cape route. in 1506 hormuz was taken by albuquerque, and muscat and the coast of oman (q.v.) were occupied by the portuguese till 1650. in 1516 their fleets appeared in the red sea and an unsuccessful attempt was made against jidda; but the effective occupation of yemen by the turks in the next few years frustrated any designs the portuguese may have had in s.w. arabia. even in oman their hold on the country was limited to muscat and the adjacent ports, while the interior was ruled by the old yariba (ya-'aruba) dynasty from their capital at rustak. the persian occupation, which followed that of the portuguese, came to an end in the middle of the 18th century, when ahmad ibn said expelled the invaders and in 1759 established the ghafari dynasty which still reigns in oman. he was succeeded by his son, who in 1798 made a treaty with the east india company with the object of excluding the french from oman, and the connexion with great britain was further strengthened during the long reign of his grandson sultan said, 1804-1856. during the earlier years of his reign he was constantly at war with the wahhabi empire, to which oman became for a time tributary. the piracies committed by the jawasimi arabs in the gulf compelled the intervention of england, and in 1810 their strongholds were destroyed by a british-indian expedition. the overthrow of the wahhabis in 1817 restored sultan said to independence; he equipped and armed on western models a fleet built in indian ports, and took possession of sokotra and zanzibar, as well as the persian coast north of the straits of hormuz as far east as gwadur, while by his liberal policy at home sohar, barka and muscat became prosperous commercial ports. on his death in 1856 the kingdom was divided, majid, a younger son, taking zanzibar, while the two elder sons contested the succession to oman. the eldest, thuweni, with british support, finally obtained the throne, and in 1862 an engagement was entered into by the french and english governments respecting the independence of the sultans of oman. he was assassinated in 1866, and his successor, seyyid turki, reigned till 1888. on his death several claimants disputed the succession; ultimately his son fesal was recognized by the british government, and was granted a subsidy from british-indian revenues, in consideration of which he engaged not to cede any of his territory without the consent of the british government; similar engagements have been entered into by the tribes who occupy the south coast from the borders of oman westward to the straits of bab-el-mandeb. british sphere of influence. the opening of the overland route to india again brought the west coast of arabia into importance. aden was occupied by the british in 1839. the hejaz coast and some of the yemen ports were still held by mehemet ali, as viceroy of egypt, but on his final withdrawal from arabia in 1845, hejaz came under direct turkish rule, and the conquest of yemen in 1872 placed the whole red sea littoral (with the exception of the midian coast, ceded by egypt on the accession of abbas hilmi pasha) under ottoman administration. the island of perim at the southern entrance of the red sea has been a british possession since 1857, while the promontory of shekh said on the arabian side of the strait is in turkish occupation. in order to define the limits between turkish territory and that of the independent arab tribes in political relations with great britain, a joint commission of british and turkish officers in 1902-1905 laid down a boundary line from shekh said to a point on the river bana, 12 m. north-east of the small town of kataba, from which it is continued in a north-easterly direction up to the great desert. this delimitation places the whole of southern arabia, east of this line, within the british sphere of influence, which thus includes the district surrounding aden (q.v.), the hadramut and oman with its dependencies. turkish rule. the provinces of hejaz and yemen are each administered by a turkish governor-general, with headquarters at taif and sana respectively; the country is nominally divided up into divisions and districts under minor officials, but turkish rule has never been acquiesced in by the inhabitants, and beyond the larger towns, all of which are held by strong garrisons, turkish authority hardly exists. the powerful bedouin tribes of hejaz have always asserted their independence, and are only kept quiet by the large money payments made them by the sultan on the occasion of the annual pilgrimage to the holy cities. a large part of asir and northern yemen has never been visited by turkish troops, and such revenues as are collected, mainly from vexatious customs and transit duties, are quite insufficient to meet the salaries of the officials, while the troops, ill-fed and their pay indefinitely in arrears, live on the country as best they can. yemen revolt. a serious revolt broke out in yemen in 1892. a turkish detachment collecting taxes in the bani merwan lands north of hodeda was destroyed by a body of arabs. this reverse set all yemen aflame; under the leadership of the imam, who had, since the turkish occupation, lived in retirement at sada, 120 m. north of the capital, the powerful tribes between asir and sana advanced southwards, occupied the principal towns and besieged the few turkish fortified posts that still held out. in many cases the garrisons, arab troops from syria, went over to the insurgents. meanwhile, reinforcements under general ahmad feizi pasha reached hodeda, manakha was retaken, sana relieved, and by the end of january 1893 the country with the exception of the northern mountainous districts was reconquered. a state of intermittent rebellion, however, continued, and in 1904 a general revolt took place with which the normal garrison of yemen, the 7th army corps, was quite unable to cope. the military posts were everywhere besieged, and sana, the capital, was cut off from all communication with the coast. during february 1905 reinforcements were sent up which raised the garrison of sana to a strength of eight battalions, and in march a further reinforcement of about the same strength arrived, and fought its way into the capital with the loss of almost all its guns and train. the position was then desperate, wholesale desertion and starvation had decimated the garrison, and three weeks later ali riza pasha, the turkish commander, was compelled to surrender. the fall of sana made a deep impression at constantinople, every effort was made to hasten out reinforcements, the veteran ahmad feizi pasha was nominated to the supreme command, and anatolian troops in place of the unreliable syrian element were detailed. the scale of the operations may be judged from the fact that the total number of troops mobilized up to the beginning of july 1905 amounted to 126 battalions, 8 squadrons and 15 batteries; the rebel leader mahommed yahiya had at this time a following of 50,000. by the end of june, ahmad feizi pasha was in a position to advance on manakha, where he organized an efficient transport, rallied the scattered remnants of ali riza's army, and with the newly arrived troops had by the middle of july a force of some 40 battalions available for the advance on sana. he left manakha on the 17th of july, and after almost daily fighting reached sana on the 30th of august; on the 31st he entered the city without serious opposition, the insurgents having retreated northward. authorities.--d.g. hogarth, _penetration of arabia_ (london, 1904); c. niebuhr, _travels and description of arabia_ (amsterdam, 1774); a. zehme, _arabien und die araber seit hundert jahren_ (halle, 1875); j.l. burckhardt, _travels in arabia_ (london, 1829); r.f. burton, _pilgrimage to el medinah and meccah_ (london, 1855), _midian revisited_ (1879); w.g. palgrave, _central and eastern arabia_ (london, 1865); c. doughty, _arabia deserta_ (cambridge, 1888), and an abridgment, containing mainly the personal narrative, under the title of _wanderings in arabia_ (london, 1908); l. van den berg, _le hadramut et les colonies arabes_, &c. (batavia, 1885); c. huber, _journal d'un voyage en arabie_ (paris, 1891); j. euting, _reise in inner arabien_ (leiden, 1896); e. nolde, _reise nach inner arabien_ (brunswick, 1895); l. hirsch, _reise in sud arabien_ (leiden, 1897); j.t. bent, _southern arabia_ (1895); r. manzoni, _il yemen_ (rome, 1884); a. deflers, _voyage en yemen_ (paris, 1889); j. halevy, _journal asiatique_ (1872); lady anne blunt, _pilgrimage to nejd_ (london, 1881); e. glaser, _petermann's mitt._ (1886, 1888 and 1889); w.b. harris, _journey through yemen_ (edinburgh, 1893); j.r. wellsted, _travels in arabia_ (london, 1838); capt. f.m. hunter, _aden_ (london, 1877). consult also _proc. r.g.s._ and _geogr. journal_. for geology see h.j. carter, "memoir on the geology of the south-east coast of arabia," _journ. bombay branch roy. asiat. soc._ vol. iv. pp. 21-96 (1852); doughty's _arabia deserta_; w.f. hume, _the rift valleys and geology of eastern sinai_ (london, 1901). for ancient geography of arabia:--a. sprenger, _alte geographie arabiens_ (berne, 1875); e.h. bunbury, _history of ancient geography_ (london, 1883); d.h. muller, _hamdani's geographie_ (leiden, 1884); e. glaser, _geschichte und geographie arabiens_ (berlin, 1890). (r. a. w.)