Large 8vo. viii, 292 pp., half-title, 7 plates, 1 large folding genealogy table, 1 folding map, modern green morocco, new end papers, spine gilt, slight worming to top white margins not affecting text, backing to map and folding plate, backed lesions to half-title, previous owner’s inscription on title page, otherwise copy in good condition, Imprimerie du Government, Batavia, first French edition, 1886.

Synopsis

Rare first French edition of this monumental work. First published in Dutch in 1885, also in Batavia on the island of Java. A report on the ancient Hadramaut in Yemen today, based on colonial accounts and early 19th century Arabic manuscripts. Interesting are the statistics contained in it on the early emigration of the Arabs to Southeast Asia, in particular to Java, Malaysia and Sumatra, as well as the cultural comparison between the emigrated Arabs and those who remained in Arabia. The folding map shows the migration areas of the individual tribes, the panels show the costumes and architecture of Hadramaut.
Since the early 19th century, large scale Hadhramaut migration has established sizeable Hadhrami minorities all around the Indian Ocean, in South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Africa including Hyderabad, Bhatkal, Gangolli, Malabar, Sylhet, Java, Sumatra, Malacca and Singapore.
In Hyderabad, the community is known as Chaush and resides mostly in the neighborhood of Barkas.
Several Indonesian ministers, including former Foreign Minister Ali Alatas and former Finance Minister Mari’e Muhammad are of Hadhrami descent, as is the former Prime Minister of East Timor Mari Alkatiri.
Hadhramis have also settled in large numbers along the East African coast, and two former ministers in Kenya, Shariff Nasser and Najib Balala, are of Hadhrami descent.
Twenty one editions of this work were published in 4 languages between 1886 and 2010, and held by 114 libraries world wide.