Page 256 - A Hand book of Arabia Vol 1 (iii) Ch 6 -10

(

DISTRICTS 305

former Turkish fort ; Ruqaiqah, 1 mile S. of Hofuf, a large Bedouin
permanent camp.
The principal towns arc:
1. Hofuf, the capital of the region, in the SE. corner of the
cultivated area, 40 miles inland, with the desert close on the S.
and cultivation round the other three sides. The town has three
quarters : (L) Kut in the NW. ; (2) RifcVah in the E.; (3) Na'athil in
the S. and W. Kut is a fortified enclosure with numerous towers,
built by Ibrahim Pasha, GOO yards square and surrounded by
a ditch ; it formed till 1913 the residence of the Turkish garrison
and community. It contains a domed Sunni mosque, also built
by Ibrahim, a military hospital, two forts, and a jail ; the number
of houses is 1,200. Rifa'ah, with 2,100 houses, is the highest and
most healthy quarter, containing the homes of the wealthier
■
classes. Na'athil, with 1,700 houses, is the poorer quarter, though
it too has wealthy residents, and contains the largest Shiah mosque
in Arabia. Kut has on its E. side the Suq with an arcade of shops,
while on the S. it is separated from Na'athil by a grove of palms.
It is enclosed by a wall 24 ft. high, with two gates; the wall sur­
rounding the rest of the town is 12 ft. high, with six gates, but no
ditch. The houses of Hofuf are largely of stone, with gj-psum
mortar, and nearly all have their own wells, with water at a depth
of about 25 ft. The streets, with one or two exceptions, are narrow
and filthy. A detached fort, Qasr el-Khazam, lies a few hundred
a yards from the W. of the town, by the Turkish cemetery ; to the
li SE. is a group of gardens with a large well, called Suiceidarah.
53 Outside the N. of the town is the Suq el-Khaims, where a market
for Bedouins is held on Thursdays. The inhabitants, said to
number 25,000, are described as of mixed Arab stock, with a few
immigrants from Nejd. Three-quarters are Sunni; the remainder,
with the exception of a few Wahabi, are Shiah. The special
manufactures of Hofuf have been already mentioned ; for its trade
with Riyadh and with the Gulf through ‘Oqair, see above, p. 301.
2. Mubarraz lies 2 miles N. of Hofuf, with which it is connected
by a raised causeway ; it has the desert on the W., but cultivation
on the other sides, and is surrounded by a dilapidated wall, with
gates N. and S., but no ditch. Outside the wall on the W. is the fort
Qasr Sahud, and beyond this the camping-ground, Hazam (see above,
p. 304). The town contains five quarters, of which the largest,
t :
‘Ayuni, is in the centre and SW., containing the market, the per­
i
i manent shops and the former residence of the Turkish Mudir.
In the NW. quarter, Siydsib, resides the headman of the town"
i The number of houses, mostly of stone and lime, is estimated at
M AHA HI A l U

• .: