Page 84 - A Hand book of Arabia Vol 1 (iii) Ch 1,2

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POLITICS 41

I ’ ii I wav and the road from Jiddah to Mecca. Their control was
krallv nil over the rest of the province, including the tracks
I,-.uling inland from Yambo‘, Wejh, &c., and tire tracks connecting
Mecca” and Medina. Only by grace of the Grand Sherif (on
uhmn pressure could be exerted through his subsidy), or of heavy
blackmail, could the,Turks prevail with the Bedouin tribes. Over
the populace of Mecca, Medina, Jiddah, and Yambo‘ they had
a certain moral, as well as military, hold, through their power to
promote or discourage the influx of pilgrims. But, for the rest,
their occupation rested'on their force, on the disorganization and
poverty of the liomadic population, and on their influence with the
Grand Sherif of Mecca. They never colonized the province, and
remained aliens in it up to the time of their recent expulsion.
2. Yemen.—This province the Turks occupy normally with a much
largpr garrison (30,000 or more). This force they have distributed
in the ports of North Asir and Yemen : in the towns of the central
and Southern parts of the latter region, in the Imam’s strongholds
in the northern part, and in Tbha in inland Asir ; and also in posts
a]png the roads connecting the Yemen towns. They do not attempt
to occupy ^permanently the Yemen plateau beyond about a day’s
journey eastf’of San'a, or the inland region lying north of the Imam’s
residences, with the exception of one small district in Asir. Their
occupation of this much, however, is effective only at the cost of
constant fighting with the highland farmer's and with the nomads
of theTihatnah, taxes being rarely collected, outside garrison towns,
except at bayonet-point.
Ottoman rule is profoundly detested in Yemen, partly on account
of its interference with ancient independence, partly because it is
credited with having caused the great decline of local economic
prosperity which has taken place during the past half-century. At
the same time more than one unprejudiced observer has testified
• •*
that; in a singularly arduous country inhabited by an intractable
population, the Turks have conducted their administration without
undue severity, and about as efficiently as could be expected of
miens. They are usually seen at their best far from their centre,
il.nd in a wild country which keeps them on the alert, and compels
pom to mingle tact with force. An attempt to replace them in
enien might prove an arduous task, in view of the difficulty (which
nis already baffled the Turks themselves) in uniting the Zeidist
population of the central highlands with the Sunnite (Shafei) popu-
an 'l01181— ^le cxtrei.uo north and the extreme south. But religious
L,.c Political conditions in the province are bound to be affected
b iccent events in Hejaz.