"The Social Organization of the Tribes of the Aden Protectorate". Parts I and II. In: Royal Central Asian Journal, Vol. XXX, Part II (May 1943); Parts III-IV (September 1943).

HAMILTON, Robert Alexander Benjamin.

Edité par London: Royal Central Asian Society, 1943

A propos de cet article

First appearance in print of the complete record, including the question and answer segments, of a two-part lecture series on the complex mosaic of Adenese society, with particular focus on its tribesmen. Robert Alexander Benjamin Hamilton (1903-1961), the 12th Lord Belhaven and Stenton from 1950, served as a colonial administrator and political officer in the protectorate between 1934 and 1946. In the words of General Sir John Shea, introducing the lecture on 23 September 1942, "naturally one's inclination is to hedge round these tribes. [but] the study of their ancient social organizations and of their heritage is absolutely necessary" (p. 142). Hamilton's goal was to replace commonplace crude generalizations with the specific detail sorely needed by Aden's expanding ranks of British operatives and civil servants. In the first lecture, he discusses the two main peoples - the Yemeni and Mushreqi - and their three different forms of tribal chief, including appointed and de facto Suzerains, as well as elected hereditary leaders. The lecture goes on to address the holy classes including Sharifs and Seyyids, the Manaqid (hereditary judges) of the Mushreq, and the landless (Raya, Dha'if, Heiq, and Asakar). Finally, he turns to the Akhdam, Hajur, and Jewish inhabitants. In the second lecture, he expounds on the makeup of the tribesmen class and Aden's different tribal confederations. Hamilton was the son of Robert Edward Archibald Hamilton, an Indian Army officer and a British political operative in the Middle East. The latter is alluded to extensively by Philby in The Heart of Arabia (1922) and, when political agent at Kuwait, he was chosen to be part of the British Mission to Riyadh, the capital of the Al Saud. Hamilton's first lecture was first published in the Royal Central Asian Journal, Volume XXIX, Parts III and IV in mid-1942. For the present reprinting, the journal's editors added a transcript of the extensive discussion generated by the talk, including the opening commentary by Sir Bernard Reilly. In 1949, the author published The Kingdom of Melchior: Adventure in South West Arabia, a fuller first-hand account of the region's tribal culture and customs. Macro 1121. Two works, octavo, pp. 142-57 and 267-74 within the journals. Original red card wrappers, spines and front covers lettered in black. Covers lightly creased and toned, Part I with small split at head of spine, a little foxing to contents. Very good copies indeed.

N° de réf. du vendeur 157199

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: "The Social Organization of the Tribes of the Aden Protectorate". Parts I and II. In: Royal Central Asian Journal, Vol. XXX, Part II (May 1943); Parts III-IV (September 1943).
• Éditeur: London: Royal Central Asian Society, 1943
• Édition: Edition originale