Tarim, Yemen

Tarim (

Wadi Hadhramaut and its tributaries have been inhabited since the Stone Age. Small mounds of flint chippings – debris from the manufacture of stone tools and weapons – and windblown dust can be found close to canyon walls. Further north and east are lines of Thamudic ‘triliths’ with a few surviving crude inscriptions. On the fringes of the Rub' al Khali north of Mahra, a seemingly ancient track leads – according to local legend – to the lost city of Ubar.^[2]

Hadhramaut's early economic importance stemmed from its part in the incense trade. Authorities exploited their position on the overland route from

In 1488, the Kathiris, led by Badr Abu Towairaq, invaded Hadhramaut from the High Yemen and established their dola, first in Tarim and then in Seiyun. The Kathiris employed mercenaries, mainly Yafa'is from the mountains north-east of Aden. About a hundred years after arriving their momentum was lost. The Yafa'is usurped western Hadhramaut and created a separate dola, based at Al-Qatn.^{[citation needed]}

British and the Qu'aiti Dynasty: 1882–1967

In 1809, disaster struck Hadhramaut following a

Despite establishing a regionally advanced administration, by the 1930s the Qu'aiti Sultan Saleh bin Ghalib (r. 1936–1956) was facing stiff pressure to modernize – a task for which he seriously lacked resources. These demands were largely initiated by returning Yemeni emigrants, such as the Kaf Sayyids of Tarim. The family of Al-Kaf had made fortunes in Singapore, and wished to spend some of their wealth improving living conditions at home. Led by Sayyid Abu Bakr al-Kaf bin Sheikh, they built a motor road from Tarim to Shihr – hoping to use it to import goods into Hadhramaut, but were frustrated by opposition from the camel-owning tribes who had a transport monopoly between the coast and interior.[7]

In February 1937, a peace between the Qu'aiti and Kathiri sultanates, totally unprecedented in the history of that region, was brought about essentially by the efforts of two men: Sayyid Abu Bakr al-Kaf and Harold Ingrams, the first political officer in Hadhramaut. Sayyid Abu Bakr used his personal wealth to finance this peace, which was known universally thereafter as "Ingrams Peace." This brought some stability, permitting introduction of administrative, educational and development measures.^[8] Tarim remained under Kathiri rule. However, Tarim, alongside the neighboring settlement of Al Ghuraf, were pockets of Kathiri territory in the country of the Tamim. The Tamim, a subset of the larger Bani Dhanna tribe,^[9] occupied the land in between Tarim and Seiyoun and owed political allegiance to the Qu'aiti Sultanate.^[10]

Modern era: 1967 to present

In November 1967, the British withdrew from

The Hadhramaut Valley is a large region in southern Yemen spanning approximately 90,000 square kilometres (35,000 square miles). It consists of a narrow, arid coastal plain bounded by the steep escarpment of a broad plateau averaging around 1,400 m (0.87 mi) of altitude, with a sparse network of deeply sunk wadis (seasonal watercourses). Although the southern edge of Hadhramaut borders the Arabian Sea, Tarim is located around 180 km (110 mi) inland from the coast and 35 kilometres (22 miles) north-east of Seiyun. The region is characterized by rocky plateaus that reach elevations of around 900 m (3,000 ft), and are separated by numerous valleys. The closest airport to Tarim is located approximately 30 kilometres (19 miles) away, in the city of Seiyun. The only international flights directly to Seiyun originate in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia, and Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Otherwise, travelers can fly to the capital city of Sanaa. Then one can either take another flight from Sanaa to Seiyun, or travel by bus or car to Tarim from Sanaa. The distance from Sanaa to Tarim is approximately 640 km (400 mi), and driving time ranges from six to eight hours.^[12]

Climate

Tarim has a

It is estimated that Tarim contains up to 365 masājid (mosques); one, the Sirjis' Mosque, dates back to the seventh century. From the 17th to the 19th century, these mosques played a decisive role on the influence of Islamic scholarship in the area. Tarim's Al-Muhdhar Mosque is crowned by a mud minaret measuring approximately 53 metres (174 feet), the highest in Hadhramaut and Yemen.^[14][15] The minaret was designed by the local poets Abu Bakr bin Shihab and Alawi Al-Mash-hūr. Completed in 1914, Al-Muhdar Mosque is named in honor of Omar Al-Muhdar, a Muslim leader who lived in the city during the 15th century.^[16]

Tarim also features the massive Al-Kaf Library which is attached to Al-Jame'a Mosque and houses more than 5,000 manuscripts from the region covering religion, the thoughts of the Prophets, Islamic law, Sufism, medicine, astronomy, agriculture, biographies, history, mathematics, philosophy, logic, and the eight volumes of

Tarim is famous for its innumerable palaces – a collection of approximately thirty

Qasr al-'Ishshah Complex

The complex of 'Umar bin Shaikh Al-Kaf, Qaṣr al-ʿIshshah (قَصْر ٱلْعِشَّة) is one of the original Kaf houses in Tarim. Shaikh al-Kaf built the house on proceeds made in South Asian trade and investment in Singapore's Grand Hotel de l'Europe during the 1930s.^[18] 'Ishshah derives from the Arabic root ʿ-sh-sh (عشّ), meaning to nest, take root, or establish. Qasr al-'Ishshah is a collection of several buildings constructed over a forty-year period. The first building, known as Dar Dawil, was constructed during the 1890s. As Umar's family grew, so did the size of the complex.

Qasr al-'Ishshah exhibits some of the finest examples of lime plaster decoration (malas) in Tarim. The decorative program of the exterior south façade finds its antecedents in Mughal royal architecture, as well as the colonial forms of the Near East, South Asia and Southeast Asia. Interior stucco decoration differs from room to room, including Art Nouveau, Rococo, Neo-Classical and combinations of the three.^[19] The ornamentation often incorporates pilasters along the walls framing openings, built-in cabinetry with skilled wood carvings, elaborate column capitals, decorated ceilings, niches and kerosene lamp holders, as well as complex color schemes.

From 1970 to 1991, Qasr al-'Ishshah was expropriated by the PDRY and divided up as multi-family housing. The house was recently returned to Al-Kaf family and legal ownership rights are shared amongst many of Shaikh al-Kaf's descendants. In 1997, the Historical Society for the Preservation of Tarim rented half of the house to present the building to the public as a house museum, the only one of its kind in the Hadhramaut.^[20]

Education

Rabat Tarim

Rabat Tarim is an educational institution teaching Islamic and Arabic sciences. In 1886, a group of Tarimi notables decided to build a religious institution for foreign and domestic students in Tarim, and accommodate foreign students. Those notables were Mohammed bin Salem Assri, Ahmed bin Omar al-Shatri, Abdul-Qader bin Ahmed al-Haddad, Ahmed bin Abdul-Rahman al-Junied and Mohammed bin Omar Arfan.^{[citation needed]} Rubat Tarim was inaugurated on 2 October 1887. Supervision was ascribed to the mufti of Hadhramaut, Abdul-Rahman Bin Mohammed Al-Meshhūr. Early teachers in Rubat Tarim were Alwi bin Abdul-Rahman bin Abibakr al-Meshhūr, Hussein bin Mohammed al-Kaf, Ahmed bin Abdullah al-Bekri al-Khateeb, Hassan bin Alwi bin Shihab, Abu Bakr bin Ahmed bin Abdullah al-Bekri al-Khatīb and Mohammed bin Ahmed al-Khatīb. They were delegated to teach when Abdullah bin Omar al-Shatri was appointed upon returning from Mecca, where he had studied for four years.^{[citation needed]} Al-Shatri taught at Rubat Tarim voluntarily until his death in 1942. He was succeeded by his sons (Mohammed, Abu Bakr, Hasan and Salem). In 1979, Rubat Tarim was closed by the PDRY. It reopened after the unification of Yemen in 1991 and continues to function.^{[citation needed]}

According to statistics from 2007, the number of scholars graduating from Rubat Tarim has reached over 13,000. Foreign students currently total about 300, with 1,500 Yemeni students. Many graduates later traveled abroad to propagate Islam and establish religious institutions. Several became authors and publishers in the Tradition, Interpretation of Quran and other branches of religious knowledge. The most famous scholar among them was probably Abdul Rahman Al-Mash-hūr.^[21]

Other

Dar al-Zahra is a sister institute of Dar al-Mustafa which offers education for Muslim women. Faculty of Sharea and Law, Al-Ahqaff University.^{[citation needed]}

Notable people

• Mohamed Alghoom: a world renowned Maestro and the leader of the Heritage Symphonies Project.
• Shaykh Al-Habib Umar bin Muhammad bin Salim bin Hafeez
   – Dean, Dar Al-Mustafa
• Shaykh Al-Habib Ali Mashhour bin Muhammad bin Salim bin Hafeez: Imam of the Tarim Mosque and Head of Fatwas Council
• Shaykh Amjad Rasheed: Islamic scholar
• Abdullah bin Omar al-Shatiri: Islamic scholar, died in 1942
• Habib Hasan bin Abdullah al-Shatiri: Grand Shaykh of Tarim, died in 2007.
• Al-Habib Salim bin Abdullah al-Shatiri : Grand Shaykh
• Al-Habib Kadhim Jafar Muhammad al-Saqqaf Leading scholar, and teacher at Dar Ul Mustafa
• Habib 'Ali Zain Al Abideen al-Jifri
  : Sayyidi Islamic scholar, and leading teacher of Dar Al-Mustafa
• Abdul Rahman Al-Mash-hoor
• Abu Baker Salem
  : Arab singer songwriter that gained popularity throughout the Arab world.

See also

• Hadhramaut Mountains
• Qabr Hud
• House of Bolkiah (Sultan of Brunei)

References