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NEJD

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Originally appearing in Volume V19, Page 352 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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NEJD , a central See also:

province of See also:Arabia, bounded N. by the Nafud See also:desert, E. by El See also:Hasa, S. by the Dahna desert and W. by See also:Asir and See also:Hejaz. It lies between 2o° and 28° N. and 41° and 48° E., extends nearly 550 M. from See also:north to See also:south, 450 from See also:east to See also:west, and covers approximately 18o,000 sq. m. The name Nejd implies an upland, and this is the distinctive See also:character of the province as compared with the adjoining coastal districts of Hejaz and El Hasa. Its See also:general See also:elevation varies from 5000 ft. on its western border to 2500 in Kasim in the north-east, and somewhat less in Yemama in the south-east. In the north the See also:double range of See also:Jebel Shammar, and in the east the ranges of J. Tuwek and J. 'Arid rise about 1500 ft. above the general level, but on the whole it may be described as an open See also:steppe, sloping very gradually from S.W. to N.E. of which the western and See also:southern portion is desert, or at best pasture See also:land only capable of supporting a See also:nomad See also:population; while in the north and east, owing to greater abundance of See also:water, numerous fertile oases are found with a large settled population. The See also:principal See also:physical features are described in the See also:article ARABIA. The See also:main divisions of Nejd are the following: Jebel Shammar, Kasim, Suder, Wushm, 'Arid, Aflaj, Harik, Yemama and See also:Wadi Dawasir. J. Shammar is the most northerly: its principal settlements are situated in the valley some 70 M. See also:long, between the two ranges of J. Aja and J.

See also:

Selma, though a few See also:lie on their See also:outer flanks. Jauf, Tema and Khaibar, though dependencies of the Shammar principality, lie beyond the limits of Nejd. The See also:capital, See also:Hail, has been visited by several Europeans, by W. G. See also:Palgrave in 1862, when Talal was emir, and by Mr See also:Wilfrid and See also:Lady See also:Anne See also:Blunt, See also:Charles Doughty, C. See also:Huber, T. Euting and See also:Baron E. Nolde during the reign of Mahommed b. Rashid, who from 1892 till his See also:death in 1897 was emir of all Nejd. Its well ordered and thriving See also:appearance is commented on by all these travellers. The See also:town is surrounded by a See also:wall and dominated by the emir's See also:palace, a stately, if somewhat gloomy See also:building, the walls of which are quite 75 ft. high, with six towers, the whole giving the See also:idea of an old See also:French or See also:Spanish See also:donjon. Hail lies at the See also:northern end of the valley, 2 M.

S.E. of J. Aja, at an See also:

altitude of about 3000 ft. The highest point of J. Aja, the western and higher of the twin ranges, is according to Huber 4600 ft. above See also:sea-level. The valley is about 20 M. in width and is intersected with dry ravines and dotted with See also:low ridges generally of volcanic origin. See also:Wells and springs are the only source of water See also:supply, both for drinking and for See also:irrigation. The principal crops are See also:dates, See also:wheat and See also:barley and See also:garden produce; See also:forage and firewood are very scarce. The population was estimated by Nolde in 1893 at 1o,000 to 12,000. Among the other settlements of J. Shammar are Jafefa and Mukak at the northern See also:foot of J. Aja, Kasr and Kafar at its southern foot, Rauda, Mustajidda and Fed at the foot of J. Selma, all large villages of 3000 to 5000 inhabitants.

'Akda is a small valley in the See also:

heart of J. Aja, an See also:hour's ride from Hail; it was the See also:oldest See also:possession of the See also:Ibn Rashid, since 1835 the ruling See also:family of J. Shammar, and is a See also:place of See also:great natural strength. Kasim lies E. of J. Shammar in the valley of the W. Rumma the great wadi of northern Nejd; the See also:chief towns Bureda and 'Aneza are situated about to m. apart, on the north and south sides of the wadi respectively. Doughty described 'Aneza in 1879 as clean and well built with walls of See also:sun-dried See also:brick, with well supplied shops. Many inhabitants live in distant houses in gardens outside the town walls. 'Aneza and Bureda each contain some 1o,000 inhabitants. The dry See also:bed of the Wadi Rumma in See also:lower Kasim is about 2 M. across, fringed in places with See also:palm plantations; water is found at 6 or 8 ft. in the dry See also:season and in See also:winter the wells overflow. The See also:staple of cultivation is the date-palm, the See also:fruit ripening in See also:August or See also:September. Fruit trees and See also:fields of wheat, See also:maize or See also:millet surround the villages, but the extent of cultivationis limited by the See also:necessity of artificial irrigation.

Kahaf a, Kuseba and Kuwara are the principal villages of upper Kasim; and 'Aneza and Bureda, Madnab, Ayun and See also:

Ras of lower Kasim. Doughty's and Huber's explorations did not extend east of Kasim, and for all details regarding eastern and southern Nejd Palgrave is the only authority. According to him, a long desert See also:march leads from Madnab to Zulfa the first See also:settlement in Suder, where the land rises steadily to the high calcareous tableland of J. Tuwek. The entire See also:plateau is intersected by a See also:maze of valleys, generally with steep See also:banks, as if artificially cut out of the See also:limestone. In these countless hollows is concentrated the fertility and population of Nejd; gardens and houses, cultivation and villages lie hidden from view among the depths while one journeys over the dry flats, till one comes suddenly on a See also:mass of See also:emerald See also:green beneath. Suder forms the northern end of the plateau, `Arid the southern, while Wushm appears to lie on its west, and Aflaj and el Harik below it and to the south and south-west respectively. The principal town is Majma the former capital of Suder, a walled town situated on an See also:eminence in a broad shallow valley surrounded by luxuriant gardens and trees. Tuwem, Jalajil and Hula are also described by Palgrave as considerable towns. 'Arid is entered at Sedus, on the W. Hanifa, a broad valley bottom with precipitous sides, here 2 or 3 M. wide, full of trees and brushwood. Along its course lie the villages of Ayana, and Deraiya the former Wahhabi capital, destroyed by See also:Ibrahim See also:Pasha in 1817; and a few See also:miles farther E. the new capital Riad, built by the emir Fesal after his restoration and visited by Palgrave in 1863, and by Pelly two years later.

It was then, and still is, a large town of perhaps 20,000 inhabitants with See also:

thirty or more mosques, well-stocked bazars, and like the towns of Kasim, surrounded by well-watered gardens and palm groves. To the south the valley opens out into the great plains of Yemama, dotted with groves and villages, among which Manfuha is scarcely inferior in See also:size to Riad itself. Still farther to the south-east lies the See also:district of Harik, with its capital Hauta, the last in that direction of the settled districts of Nejd, and on the See also:borders of the southern desert. Palgrave visited El Kharfa the chief place of the Aflaj district some 8o m. S.W. of Riad. This district seems to be scantily peopled as compared with Suder or Yemama, and a large proportion of the inhabitants are of mixed See also:negro origin. While there, he made inquiries about the adjoining district of W. Dawasir. Its length was stated to be ten days' See also:journey or 200 m.; scattered villages consisting of palm-See also:leaf huts lie along the way, which leads in a south or south-See also:westerly direction to the See also:highlands of Asir and See also:Yemen. The Bedouin who occupy the See also:remainder of Nejd consist in the main of the four great tribes of the Shammar, Harb, 'Ateba and Muter. The first-named represent that See also:part of the great Shammar tribe which has remained in its ancestral See also:home on the southern edge of the Nafud (the northern See also:branch long ago emigrated to See also:Mesopotamia); many of its members have settled down to town See also:life, but the tribe still retains its Bedouin character, and its See also:late chief, the emir Mahommed Ibn Rashid, the most powerful See also:prince in Nejd, used to live a great part of the See also:year in the desert with his tribesmen. The Harb are probably the largest of the Bedouin tribes in the See also:peninsula; they are divided into a number of sections, several of which have settled in the oases of Hejaz, while others remain nomadic.

Their territory is the steppe between Kasim and See also:

Medina, and across the See also:pilgrim road between Medina and See also:Mecca, for the See also:protection of which they receive considerable subsidies from the See also:Turks. The 'Ateba circuits extend from the Hejaz border near Mecca along the road leading thence to Kasim. The Muter occupy the desert from Kasim northwards towards See also:Kuwet. Nejd became nominally a dependency of the See also:Turkish See also:empire in 1871 when Midhat Pasha established a small See also:garrison in El Hasa, and created a new See also:civil district under the See also:government of See also:Basra, under the See also:title of Nejd, with headquarters at Hofuf. Its real See also:independence was not, however, affected, and the emirs. the death of Cretheus, the boys, who had been brought up by herdsmen, quarrelled for the possession of Iolcus. See also:Pelias expelled See also:Neleus, who migrated to See also:Messenia, where he became See also:king of See also:Pylos (See also:Apollodorus i. 9; Diod. Sic. iv. 68) and the ancestor of a royal family called the Neleidae, who are historically traceable as the old ruling family in some of the Ionic states in See also:Asia See also:Minor. Their presence is explained by the See also:legend that, when the See also:Dorians conquered See also:Peloponnesus, the Neleidae were driven out and took See also:refuge in See also:Attica, whence they led colonies to the eastern shores of the See also:Aegean. By Chloris, daughter of See also:Amphion, Neleus was the See also:father of twelve sons (of whom See also:Nestor was the most famous) and a daughter Pero.

Through the contest for his daughter's See also:

hand (see See also:MELAMPUS) he is connected with the legends of the prophetic See also:race of the Melampodidae, who founded the mysteries and expiatory See also:rites and the orgies of See also:Dionysus in Argolis. According to See also:Pausanias (ii. 2. 2, v. 8. 2) Neleus restored the Olympian See also:games and died at See also:Corinth, where he was buried on the See also:isthmus.

End of Article: NEJD

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