Page 158 - A Hand book of Arabia Vol 1 (iii) Ch 4,5

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YEMEN f
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4 Zebld the ancient capital of the lowlands, now the residence
of a Kaimmakam and a centre of Turkish administration, has
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always been, and still is, one of the most considerable towns of
Yemen. The population was given by Manzoni, in 1880, as 15,000 ; h
Bury (1913), however, computed it at 8,000, and this latter figure *
probably gives the more correct estimate at the present moment.
The town, quadrilateral in form, is surrounded by strong walls,
restored in recent times and in good condition. There are four
gates : on the north, the Bab esh-Sham leading to Beit el-Faqlh ;

on the east, the Bab esh-Shabariq, to Hais and Ta'izz ; on the
south-west, the Bab en-Nahl; and on the south, the Bab el-
Qurtab. Zebid is still famous for its university and Sunnite
college which is housed in the Great Mosque, and there are three
other large mosques, besides a number of smaller ones. The bazaar
is characterized by Manzoni as ‘ the finest in Yemen ’, and is well
stocked with local produce of vegetables and fruit, besides imported
supplies. Outside the walls are the Beshi fort and barracks for
a considerable Turkish garrison. The town is on the Hodeidah-
Beit Sl-Faqih-Mocha telegraph line.
In the extensive tract of Wadi Zebld cotton and indigo are
cultivated as special products, but not to the same extent as
formerly; and the weaving and dyeing industries, for which at one
time Zebid was famous, have been largely transferred to Hodeidah
(see p. 157). The turbulent Zaranik, who occupy the district to
north, with the head-quarters of their chief at Huseinlyah, 9 miles
distant, much disturb the town’s communications.
5. Beit el-Faqlh, an ancient seat of learning, lies some 30 miles
east by south of Hodeidah. The population is about 5,000, but
was greater formerly when the town was the centre of the coffee
trade. It is garrisoned normally by a battalion, stationed there
to .overawe the Zaranik tribesmen, whose incursions have ruined
the town’s trade. Like Zebid, it was formerly also a centre of the
cotton and indigo production and of the weaving and dyeing
industries. (There is another town of the same name, distinguished
as el-Keblr ; it is about equidistant from Hodeidah on the north,
on the Loheia road.)

6. Hais, about 20 miles south-east of Zebid, lies at the junction
of two main roads, to Ta‘izz and to Ibb, on the telegraph line
from Hodeidah to Mocha ; it is a small garrisoned town, much
decayed.
7. Sheikh Sa‘id, important only as a telegraph station, is
situated on the extreme south-westerly point of Arabia, on the
Strait of Bab el-Mandeb, opposite the island of Perim, with which