Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1921.djvu/1400

 1348 ARABIA

systems of government. The total area is approximately 1,000,000 square miles, with a population of between five and six millions.

1. The Kingdom of Hejaz, which has attained its independence during the course of the Mar, has an estimated area of 100,000 square miles, and an estimated population of at least 750,000. But, at present, its frontiers are uncertain, especially that on the north. Should it be extended in the final settlement up to or near to Maan, both its area and its population will be considerably larger. Hejaz is barren or semi-barren in its entire area. It may be regarded as the most important princij>ality in Arabia in virtue of its possession of Mecca (80,000 inhabitants), and Medina (40,000 inhabitants), the Holy Places of Islam. Formerly included in the Turkish Vilayet of Hejaz, which extended from Akaba in the north to Asir in the south (but latterly, only from Medina Salih in the north), it was the chief centre of Ottoman influence in Arabia ; and by means of the Hejaz railway, with its terminus at Medina, the Turks were enabled to main- tain garrisons in the ports and the chief towns of •the interior. But the Sherif, or Emir of Mecca, as Hereditary Keeper of the Holy Places, wielded great influence throughout the Moslem world. Ottoman control was largely maintained in the past by the payment of an annual subsidy, but the presence of the Turks and their maladministration was always resented. Early in the war the British Government guaranteed the autonomy of the Hejaz, in the event of a successful revolt, and on June 5, 1916. Huskin IBM Ali, the present Emir, proclaimed his independence. In November, 1916, the Emir Husein issued a proclamation assuming the title King of Hejaz. The Treaty of Peace with Turkey recognises the Hejaz as a free and independent State. The capital is Mecca, and the chief port is Jidda, in the Red Sea, population about 30,000.

2. The Emirate of Nejd and Hasa, the more powerful of the two Central Arabian principalities, has its capital at Riyadh, whence the Sand dynasty exercises jurisdiction over the neighbouring groups of oases. It is the modern representative of the Wahabite Empire founded about 1745 by Mohammed Ibn Sand, Sheikh of Dariyah. The present Emir of Riyadh, Abd el-Aziz es-Satjp, who maintains an intermittent conflict with the neighbouring Emirate of Jebel Shammar, expelled the Turks from Hasa in 1913, and has extended his influence to include Hofuf in the region of the Persian Gulf. Estimated population about 250,000. (South Nejd (south of Rigadh) has about 50,000 inhabitants, Central Nejd about 100,000, Kasin 50,000, and Stasa 50,000.)

3. The Emirate of Jebel Shammar, which lies to the north of Nejd, was formerly within its jurisdiction ; but since the middle of last century it has maintained its independence under the Rashid dynasty. It has its capital at Hail, and is far more Bedouin in character than its southern rival. The present Emir of Haile is Abdullah ibn Mitah, born in 1907, who succeeded on the assassination of his father, Ihn Rashid, in May, 1920. Kstimated population, including the Shammar, 200,000.

4. The Principate of Asir, on the west coast of Arabia, between Hejaz and Yemen, has its capital at Sabiyah in Southern Asir. The principate is in the hands of the Idrisi family, the present ruler being Mohammkd ibn Ali el-Idkisi. This principate, however, has no effective jurisdiction over Highland Asir, where the power is chiefly in the hands of the head of the Aidh family chief of the Beni Mugheid tribe. Estimated population of