Page 125 - PERSIAN 8 1912_1920

TOR THE TEAR 101* 115
Except for small parties of Ajman tribesmen raiding to the sOutib*
Nojd Affair*. nearly all the desert routes to Nejd -were
unusually Bale throughout the year and
h.ave been moving frqoly and regularly by the Boreidah routo.
security has resulted from the continuance of tne truce between ** Bin
<?aud ” an(* ** hacked up bv the former’s strong rule over the
Liouin tribes of the interior. The wells at Al-Gara and As-8afa, which
u ere destroyed by the Shammar last year, were re-opened in January by a party
0f the Jiblan Umtair.
Owing to strained relations continuing between “ Bin Saud ” and the
Sheriff of Mecca, the latter prohibited all Nejd people from coming to Mecca,
Medina, and other places within his authority in Hedjaz. This measure probably
injured the Sheriff more than any one else for, as a consequence, all Nejd traffic
hi been diverted to Kuwait and Hasa.
Trouble is anticipated at Hail between Zamil ibn Sebban and his cousin,
Saud bin Saleh as-Scbhan. The former who is guardian to the young Saud “ Ibn
jiashid " is well disposed to him, while Saud bin Saleh as-Sebhan, who has a
large following, wishes to kill “ Ibn Rashid” and usurp the power for theSebhan
family- As the yotmg “ Ibn Rashid ” is the last of his line, that family is on
the verge of extinction for no -doubt jealousies between the members of the
Sebliin family will ultimately lead to the boy’s death. Zamil ibn Sebhan is
reported to be an upright fair-dealing man but unfortunately has not the same
control in financial matters which Saud bin Saleh possesses through his family
connections.
“ Ibn Rashid ” and the Shammar appear to have led a particularly
peaceful life during the year for only one
"Iba R&ihid’a " Raids.
small raid on the Thaffir tribe was report­
ed at the end of March. In the second week of December it was reported that
,;Ibn Rashid ” had ordered the whole Shammar tribe to concentrate at As-Sabt
wells and await his arrival from Hail As-Sabt is some three days north­
west from Al-Hafar, and it is not yet known against whom “Ibn Rashid”
intends to move.
Bin .Saud with the TJmtair, Al-Monah, Sabai, and Sahul tribes was
reported to have left the Urmah plain in
u Bin Sand's ” Balds.
February to raid the Ateyba and, on
10th March, a messenger came into Kuwait bringing details of its success
near Jabal-au-Nir on the RiadhMecca road; a considerable amount-of loot
in camels and tents was taken and several of the Ateyba Shaikhs submit­
ted to “ Bin Saud. ” Sections of the same tribe were twice again raided by
him: once in April at Slia’ara three days west of Shagra when Afas bin
Rabaiyah, one of their Shaikhs, was killed with some 25 others, and a second time
near Kharmah in south-west Washm when it was said “ Bin Saud ” took some
1,500 camels, 2,000 sheep, 30 horses and a large quantity of tents and camp gear
as booty. In the first week of August he raided the Al-Morrah tribe near
Kharj. In November “ Bin Saud ” left Riadh on a tax-collecting tour in
Kasim after which it was said he intended to move northwards ; late r news
derived in the second week of December proved, however, that he had returned
'to Riadh, though his force had been kept intact.
The “ Araif ” successfully raided the Kahtan tribe in south-west Nejd
in February. Seeing that no material
The "inif."
help was forthcoming from the Sheriff
Mecca, the “ Araif ” joined the Ateyba tribe about May in their summer
pastures near Matrubah on the Riadh and Boreidah roads to Mecca, It
15 for sheltering the “ Araif ” that this tribe has been continuously harassed
and subjected to constant raids by “ Bin Saud”.
The improvement of relations between the various tribes reported last
year has continued, a result hardly to
Tribal Polina. have been anticipated and probably due
to the effective pressure which can be brought to bear by one or
of the three principal rulers, so long as friendly terms and. the
dance of power is maintained between Shaikh Mubarak, ** Bin Saud ** and
Rashid”.
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