Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 2.djvu/267

Rh ARABIA 247 population, are rarely bloody; the object being most often with the one party to carry off, and with the other to protect, a flock of sheep or a herd of camels : booty is aimed at, not slaughter. If positive hatred or a desire to kill exist, such feelings are usually limited to two or three individuals at most, one of whom has perhaps been ridi culed in satirical verse, to which they are very sensitive, or had a distant relation killed in some previous fray. Bloodshed, too, is expensive, as it must be made up for either by more bloodshed or by paying the price, the &quot; deeah,&quot; as it is called, and which varies, according to the importance of the person killed, from ten to fifty camels, or even more. Previous to Mahomet s time it was left optional to the injured tribe either to accept this kind of compensation or to insist on blood for blood ; but the Prophet, though by his own account despairing of ever reducing the nomade portion of his countrymen to any fixed observances, succeeded on this point in establishing among them the rule, that a fair &quot; deeah,&quot; if offered, must of necessity be accepted : a merciful regulation, tending to cut short otherwise interminable feuds. Instances are, however, not wanting in Arab history of fiercer and more general Bedouin conflicts, in which the destruction, or at least the complete subjugation, of one tribe has been aimed at by another, and when great slaughter has accordingly taken place. Such were the wars of Pekr and Thagleb in the Gth century, of Kelb and Howazin in the 8th, of Harb and Oteybah in the 18th, with others. But these are comparatively rare events. The Bedouins regard the plundering of caravans or travellers, whether on business or otherwise, simply as a supplementary measure that takes the place of passports or custom dues exacted elsewhere. The land is theirs, they say, and trespassers on it without leave must pay the forfeit. Hence whoever can show anything equivalent to a permission of entrance into their territory, has, in the regular course of things, nothing to fear. This permission is obtained by securing the protection of the nearest Bedouin sheykh, who, for a politely-worded request and a small sum of money, will readily grant the pass, in the shape of one or two or more men of his tribe, who accompany the wayfarers as far as the next encampment on their road, where they hand their charge over to fresh guides, equally bound to afford the desired safeguard. In the interior of the peninsula the passport is given in writing by one of the local town governors, and is respected by the Bedouins of the district; for, however impudent and unamenable to law these nomades may be on the frontiers of the impotent Ottoman government in Syria or the Hejaz, they are quiet and submissive enough in other and Arab-governed regions of the peninsula. But the rash traveller who ventures on the desert strip without the pre cautions above mentioned is likely enough to atone for his negligence by the loss of his luggage; and should he resist, perhaps his life also. Utterly ignorant of writing and unacquainted with books, the Bedouins trust to their memory for everything; where memory fails, they readily eke it out with imagina tion. Hence their own assertions regarding the antiquity, numbers, strength, &c., of their clans are of little real worth; even their genealogies, in which they pretend to be eminently versed, are not to be much depended on; the more so that their own family names hardly ever exceed the limits of a patronymic, whilst the constantly renewed subdivisions of a tribe, and the temporary increase of one branch and decrease of another, tend to efface the original name of the clan. Few tribes, accordingly, now preserve their ancient, or at least their historical titles; and the mass of the Bedouin multitude resembles in this respect a troubled sea, of which the substance is indeed always the same, but the surface is continually shifting and changing. As, however, no social basis or ties are acknowledged among them except those of blood and race, certain broad divisions are tolerably accurately kept up, the wider and more important of which may here be noted. First, the Anezah clan, whose pasture-grounds extend Anezah. from Syria southward to the limits of Jebel Shomer. It is numerous, and, for a Bedouin tribe, well armed. Two- thirds of the Arab horse trade, besides a large traffic in sheep, camels, wool, and similar articles, are in the hands of these Anezah Bedouins. Their principal subdivisions are the Sebaa on the north, the Woold-Alee on the west, and the Kuala on the south; these are generally on bad terms with each other. If united, they could muster, it is supposed, about 30,000 lances. They claim descent from Rabeeah. Second, the Shomer Bedouins, whose pasturages Shomor. lie conterminous to those of the Anezah on the east. Their numbers are about the same. Thirdly, in the northern desert, the Howeytat and Sherarat, comparatively small Howeytat. and savage tribes. Also the Soleebee clan, which, however, is disowned by the Arabs, and seems to be of gipsy origin. Next follow, in the western desert, the Benoo-Harb, a iiarb. powerful tribe, supposed to muster about 20,000 lances. Their origin is from Keys-Eylan. They are often trouble some to the Meccan pilgrims. In the eastern desert are the Moteyr, the Benoo-Khalid, and the Ajmans, all numerous Moteyr. clans, often at war with each other. To the south, in Nejd itself or on its frontiers, are the Hodeyl, Oteybah, and others, others. These all belong to the &quot; Mustareb,&quot; or northern Arabs. The Bedouins of southern or &quot;pure Arab&quot; origin are Southern comparatively few in number, and are, it seems, with few Bedouins, exceptions, even poorer and more savage than their northern brethren. Al-Morrah, on the confines of Oman, Al-Yam and Kahtan, near Yemen, and Benoo-Yas, between Hareek and the Persian Gulf, are the best known. The total number of the Bedouin or pastoral population throughout Arabia appears, including men, women, and children, not to exceed a million and a half it may even fall short of it. Whatever be the clan, the only authority it submits to Organisa- is that of its &quot; elder,&quot; or &quot; sheykh,&quot; a title which, however, tion. does not necessarily imply advanced age, but is given to any one who, on account of birth, courage, wealth, liberality, skill, prudence, or some other fortunate quality or accident, has been chosen to the leadership. Descent has something to do with rank, but not much, as every individual of the tribe considers himself equal to the others; nor are the distinctions of relative riches and poverty greatly taken into account. This is natural in a state of things where property itself, consisting almost wholly of live stock, is of an essentially uncertain and fluctuating character, and the Bedouins have no other. To the &quot;sheykh&quot; all disputes are referred; he is consulted, though not necessarily obeyed, on every question which regards the general affairs of the tribe, whether in peace or war; there is no other magistrate, and no law except what he and the other chief men of the clan may consider proper. But in fact, for most personal and private affairs, every man does pretty much what is right in his own eyes. Nominally Mahometan, most of the Bedouins pay slight Religim. attention to the ceremonial precepts of the Koran; the five daily prayers and the annual fast of Ramadhan are not much in favour among them ; and however near a tribe may be to Mecca, few of them visit it as pilgrims. Wahhabee influence exercised, sword in hand, has, however, of late enforced some degree of Islamitic observance among the Bedouins of Nejd and the adjoining districts: elsewhere nomade Mahometanism is pretty nearly confined to the profession of the Divine Unity; among the remoter and wilder tribes sun-worship, tree-worship, and no worship at