Arabgir, or ARABKIR (anc. Anabracc), a town of Asiatic Turkey, in the province of Sivas, in a mountainous and rocky district, not far from the Euphrates, and on the caravan road from Aleppo to Trebizond. Pop. 30,000, nearly one-fourth Armenians, the rest Turks. It is to the enterprise and industry of the Armenians that the town owes its prosperity. It is specially noted for the manufacture of goods from English cotton yarn.
Arabia—called by the inhabitants, Jezirat-al-Arab (the peninsula of Arabia); by the Turks and Persians, Arabistan—is the great south-western peninsula of Asia, and is situated 12° 40'—34° N. lat., and 32° 30'—60° E. long. Its greatest length from NW. to SE. is about 1800 miles; its mean breadth, about 600; its area, 1,230,000 sq. m.; and its population conjectured to be not much above 5,000,000. It is bounded on the N. by the highlands of Syria, and the plains of Mesopo- tamia (or by a line from El Arish on the Mediterranean to the Euphrates delta); on the E., by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Omân; on the S., by the Arabian Sea; and on the W., by the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. Midway between Mecca and Medina runs the tropic of Cancer. Ptolemy is supposed to be the author of the famous threefold division into Arabia Petraea—i.e. the Arabia of the city of Petra, in the NW.; Arabia Felix (an incorrect translation of Yemen, which does not signify 'happy,' but the land lying to the right—i.e. to the south of Mecca, Orientals regarding as the cardinal point not the north but the east), along the W. and SW. coasts; and Arabia Deserta, in the interior. The more precise divisions are: the Sinaitic Peninsula (see SINAI), between the Gulfs of Suez and Akaba; the Hedjâz (the Barrier), the larger and northern strip to the east of the Red Sea; Yemen, the southern and smaller strip to the east of the Red Sea; Hadramaut, the region along the southern coast; Omân, the extreme south-eastern end of the peninsula, as large as England and Wales; El-Hasa, along the Persian Gulf; Nejd, the Central 'Highlands' of Arabia.
In shape, Arabia is an irregular parallelogram, broadest at the southern end; in character, it is mainly African. The vast central plateau rises from a height of 2500 feet in the north to 7000 feet in the SW., and is bounded by western and southern mountain chains, the former attaining, to the south of Mecca, a height of 8500 feet. Between the mountains and the sea is a low hot strip of land, partially fertile, of varying width. There is a desert in the north of the interior, the mountainous country of Nejd near the very centre, and to the south of Nejd another very sterile sandy desert. Hedjâz and Yemen extend from the Red Sea indefinitely towards the interior, and consist partly of the Tehâma, or low country, along the sea, and partly of the mountain district beyond. Mecca and Medina, with their seaports Jiddah and Yembo, are in Hedjâz. Yemen is on the whole well watered, has rich and fertile valleys, and contains one-fifth of the whole population of Arabia. Yemen possesses two very important commercial towns, Mocha and Loheia, situated on the coast of the Red Sea. Hadramaut is little known, but resembles the Hedjâz in character. Omân is mainly mountainous, is partly very fertile, and possesses the good harbour of Muscat. It has considerable trade, and some manufactures of cotton, silk, and arms. Hasa is comparatively level and fertile. Large portions of Arabia are perfectly arid; nowhere does a river reach the sea all the year round; but the more fertile portions are so extensive as to constitute two-thirds of the total area: one-third of the whole may be accounted desert and uninhabitable.
Our knowledge of the interior of Arabia is still very imperfect in detail. The largest portion of it lies in that great desert zone which stretches from the shores of the Atlantic to those of the Northern Pacific. Nejd, the northern highland or central plateau of Arabia, is a compact settled district, culminating in the crescent-shaped Jebel Toweyk, which is intersected by numerous valleys, roaring torrents during the rains, but dry depressions at other times. North of Nejd, and separated from it by a narrow arm of Nefûd, or the northern desert of Arabia, is the smaller plateau of Jebel Shomer, crossed by the ranges of Jebel Aja and Jebel Selma. The northern desert, partly stony, and partly a burning expanse of red sand, is thinly sprinkled over with oases of wells and grass, serving as halting-places for the caravans of merchants or pilgrims. The oasis of Jauf, 60 miles long by 10 miles broad, contains 40,000 settled inhabitants. Dahna, the southern and main desert of Arabia, extends from Nejd to the Hadramaut coast-range, and has never been explored by any European. It is, however, an almost absolutely sterile sand-waste. See MUSCAT, ZANZIBAR.
Politically, Hedjâz, Yemen, and El-Hasa are really three Turkish provinces; the Sinaitic Peninsula is in Egyptian hands; England exercises much influence in Hadramaut through her possession of Aden; the Sultan of Omân is independent, and in alliance with England; Nejd, the seat of the once powerful Wahâbi State (see WAHÂBIS), is independent. The Emir of Shomer or Shamma pays a small annual tribute to the Sherif of Mecca, in recognition of Turkish supremacy.
Arabia has, on the whole, an African climate. Though it is surrounded on three sides by the sea, its mountain chains exclude in a great measure the modifying influence of currents of air from the ocean. In several parts of Arabia hardly a refreshing shower falls in the course of the year, and vegetation is almost unknown: in other sultry districts, the date-palm is almost the only proof of vegetable life. Over large sterile tracts hangs a sky of almost unbroken serenity. The short rainy season which occurs on the west coast during our summer months, fills periodically the wâdys (hollow places) with water, while slight frosts mark the winters in the centre and north-east. During the hot season, the Simoom (q.v.) blows, but only in the northern part of the land. The terraced districts are more favourable to culture, and produce wheat, barley, millet, palms, tobacco, indigo, cotton, sugar, tamarinds, excellent coffee, senna, and many aromatic and spice plants, as balsam, aloe, myrrh, frankincense, &c. Arabia is destitute of forests, but has vast stretches of desert grass fragrant with aromatic herbs, and furnishing admirable pasturage for the splendid breed of horses. Coffee, one of the most important exports, is an indigenous product both of Arabia and Africa.
In the animal kingdom, an African character prevails generally. Sheep, goats, oxen, camels, and horses are abundant among the settled inhabitants; the wandering tribes have no oxen. Gazelles and ostriches frequent the oases of the deserts, where the lion, panther, hyena, and jackal hunt their prey. Monkeys, pheasants, and doves are found in the fertile districts, and flights of locusts often make sad devastation. Fish and turtle abound on the coast. The noble breed of Arabian horses has been cultivated for several thousand years. The best are reared in Nejd; they never reach the European market. But the most characteristic of all animals in the peninsula is the camel, which has been both poetically and justly styled 'the ship of the desert.' It may be regarded as an Arabian animal, for it seems to be proved that it is not a native of Africa, but has migrated from the peninsula with its master. The camel is not found among the figures of animals in the ancient Egyptian paintings on walls, nor does it appear to have been known to the Carthaginians. The breed of Omân is celebrated for its beauty and swiftness. Among the minerals of Arabia may be mentioned—iron, copper, lead, coal, basalt, and asphaltum, and the precious stones, emerald, carnelian, agate, and onyx. Pearls are found in the Persian Gulf, where, on the island Bahreyn, in the town Bédaa, and on the coast adjoining it, 'all are slaves to one master, Pearl.'
But the most interesting feature of the peninsula is its ancient and peculiar population. The Arab is of medium stature, muscular make, and brown complexion. Independence looks out of his glowing eyes; by nature he is quick, sharp-witted, imaginative, and passionately fond of poetry. Courage, temperance, hospitality, and good faith are his leading virtues; but these are often marred by a spirit of rapacity and sanguinary revenge. His wife or wives do the work, keep the house, and educate the children.
Arabian life is either nomadic or settled. The wandering tribes, or Bedouin, who have, however, their allotted winter and summer camping-grounds, and a strong attachment to their own mode of life, entertain notions of the rights of property differing seriously from those regulating the West; yet even their most marauding tribes are not without a traditional code of law and honour, the only law recognised among them; the enforcing of it is left to every tribesman. The settled tribes, styled Hadesi and Fellahs, are despised by the Bedouin, who scorn to intermarry even with the few artisans that accompany every tribe. The Bedouin are several times outnumbered by the settled population, and therefore must not be regarded as normal Arabs, who are adventurous, commercial, and willing to become sailors. Yet mountain and desert barriers and patriarchal anarchy make Arabia the 'anti-industrial centre of the world,' where passing centuries bring no improvements save such as are forced on it by foreigners. The export of coffee, dates, figs, spices, and drugs, though still considerable, is said to be only a shadow of the old commerce which existed before the circumnavigation of Africa. Arabia has few manufactures, but carries on a transit-trade in foreign fabrics, besides importing these to some extent for its own necessities. Education is mostly confined to that within the household, where, however, a boy is instructed in reading and writing, in grammar, history, and poetry, and where he is trained to habits of politeness and self-restraint. In the few higher public schools, writing, grammar, and rhetoric compose the whole curriculum. The government is patriarchal, and the chief men of the various tribes have the title of Emir, Sheikh, or, in a religious sense, Imâm. Their function appears limited to leading the troops in the time of war, to levying tribute, and to the administration of justice. A spirit of liberty in the people moderates the authority of their chieftains; but instances of extreme despotism have not been unfrequent both in early and modern times.
History.—The Arabs are of two main races. The one occupying the north half of the country is conveniently called the Ishmaelite; the other, covering the southern half, is called the Yoktanic if we use the Hebrew word—the Kahtanic if we use their own—and is in Arabia regarded as the pure old Arab stock. The origin of the Kahtanites is probably African. In prehistoric times they issued from Yemen, the most highly civilised part of the peninsula, in powerful colonies to Omân and Central Arabia.
If blessed is the country that has no annals, peculiarly blessed was Arabia before Islam, for then 'the history of the Arabs was the songs of the bards.' In 24 B.C. Ælius Gallus, prefect of Egypt under Augustus, attacked Yemen unsuccessfully. Trajan appropriated some extreme northern parts bordering on the empire, but they were restored after his death. Persia, too, intruded over the nearest frontier. In the 4th century the Abyssinians invaded Yemen, not for the first time, and they long ruled it. Again, in 529, a large Abyssinian army subdued Yemen, and held their ground for 76 years. But Hedjâz, the Barrier, proved impenetrable against Persia, Egypt, Rome, and Byzantium. The Arabs lived then more after the manner of the Bedouins at the present time, in tents of hair or woollen cloth, following the pasture, exchanging sheep for what corn they needed; their wealth consisting in camels, sheep, horses, and slaves. Government was not, but sheikhs chosen from certain families led the camps. The usage of blood revenge, calling out the kin of the slain against the kin of the murderer, punished or prevented homicide, and thus precluded alike peace and extermination. Gambling and drunkenness were common. Polygamy, and the husband's absolute power of divorce, the common practice of burying female children alive, and many old proverbs, as 'The best son-in-law is the grave,' illustrate the position of woman. Arabs were incurably prone to pillage, passionately fond of freedom, proud of birth, hospitable, true to their word, true to their tribe or to a tribesman, right or wrong, against the world. Scarcely ever was any tribe at peace with all its neighbours. But one bond of union was the annual fair of Okâdh, near Taïf, a day's journey west from Mecca, which lasted all the pilgrimage month, and at which horse races, gymnastic sports, and poetic contests relieved the seriousness of trade. Mohammed, to prevent the feuds kindled by these contests, put an end to the fair. Another bond was the Kâaba, the small rude temple of unknown antiquity at Mecca, wherein the tribal idols were collected. In Mohammed's youth, these numbered 365. Late in the 5th century the Koreish tribe became foremost at Mecca, and guardians of the Kâaba. This post had ever been an object of rivalry and war among the tribes of both north and south, giving not only a religious pre-eminence over all Arabia, but the disposal of the offerings of gold, silver, or of other kinds, accumulated in the temple, a fund which was increased by commerce on the Red Sea coast. To religion, destined to play so decisive a part in Arabian history, Arab nature is not much addicted. Before Islam, the primitive Sabæanism was forgotten, or miserably degenerate; the tribal idols, stones, fetiches of simplest kinds, and jinns, were worshipped, and Allah, 'the God,' was vaguely acknowledged. But two monotheistic religions had cast roots among the tribes. Many Jews had immigrated into Arabia after the destruction of Jerusalem, and had made many proselytes, especially in Yemen, whither the Abyssinian conquerors had, in the 4th century, brought Christianity. In north Central Arabia this religion had found earlier access. In Mecca, Mohammed was born of the Koreish tribe in 571, the year of the Elephant, when the Abyssinians of Yemen had brought elephants to the unsuccessful siege of Mecca. Taught by the merits and shocked by the corruptions of those two religions, and by the lack of anything better, he, after a while, introduced by the sword his own doctrines, thus forming the grand epoch in Arabian history, and bringing Arabia into close connection with the general history of civilisation. His flight (Hedjrah) in July 622, on being driven from Mecca to Medina, where he gathered his first body of adherents, forms the Moslem era. Now, for the first time, the people of Arabia became united under one sceptre and one creed, and powerful enough to erect new empires in the three quarters of the world: in Palestine, Mesopotamia, and Persia; in Egypt and the north of Africa; in Spain. The dominion of the Arabs, from the time of Mohammed to the fall of the Caliphate of Baghdad in 1258, or even to the expulsion of the Moors from Spain in 1492, is an important period in the history of civilisation (see MOORS, CALIF). But the movements that had such great effects on the destinies of other nations, left the peninsula itself in an exhausted and neglected condition. The monotonous darkness and storms of patriarchal anarchy are broken during the next thousand years by few events of importance. The invasion of Abu Taher, leader of the Carmathian sect (died 950), from the Euphrates, left no remnant of the califate, and little of orthodox Islam. Arabia was broken up into several independent principalities. The Turks subdued Yemen in the 16th century, and were expelled in the 17th. Omân, during the 16th and 17th centuries, was in the hands of the Portuguese, who held Muscat and other important points on the coast, 1508-1659; of the Dutch, who gained and lost many points; and of the Persians, who were driven out by the native prince Ahmed ibn Sa'ood, in 1759, who thus became Sultan of Omân. About 1760, Mohammed-ibn-Abd-il-Wahâb, in Nejd, came forward as restorer of primitive Islam. The sword of his convert Prince Sa'ood gave the Wahâbis dominion from the frontiers of Mecca to the Persian Gulf. After his death, Mecca and Medina were soon added. The Wahâbi empire was shattered (1812-18) by Mohammed Ali, viceroy of Egypt, but almost immediately restored itself. Omân, however, had seized the opportunity to regain independence under its native sultan. It is now the most progressive part of Arabia, and contains about 1,500,000 settled inhabitants. Shomer, to a considerable extent Christian, had, in the beginning of the 8th century, successfully resisted the Ommiade (Omayyad) Califs; had thereafter probably become nominally Moslem, then really heathen; was absorbed by the Wahâbis, and freed itself when they fell. Its settled population is now about 275,000; the capital is Hâyel. The Jowf had been early converted by the sword from some measure of Christianity to Islam; had soon thereafter gravitated into primeval heathenism; became the Wahâbi empire's northern limb, and then quietly a province of Shomer. Hasa also freed itself, but, after an obstinate resistance, was reconquered. It is now Turkish. Nejd, the remaining Wahâbi domain, has more than a million of settled inhabitants; its capital is now Riâd. After Mohammed Ali's short independence, Yemen and the Hedjâz were restored to Turkey by treaty in 1841.
Authorities on Arabia are Pococke, Niebuhr, Burekhardt, Burton, Palgrave, and Welsted.