Hadhramaut

The origin of the name "Ḥaḍramawt" is not exactly known, and there are numerous competing hypotheses about its meaning. The most common folk etymology is that the region's name means "death has come," from Arabic: حَضَر‎, romanized: ḥaḍara, lit. 'he came' and Arabic: مَوْت‎, romanized: mawt, lit. 'death', though there are multiple explanations for how it came to be known as such. One explanation is that this is a nickname of 'Amar ibn Qaḥṭān, a legendary invader of the region, whose battles always left many dead. Another theory is that after the destruction of Thamūd, the Islamic prophet Ṣāliḥ relocated himself and about 4,000 of his followers to the region and it was there that he died, thus lending the region its morbid name "death has come." A third related etymology posits that حضر refers to the inhabitants of the area, themselves, and hints that the way of life of the ancient Hadhrami people was severe and ascetic in the eyes of the bordering kingdoms situated in today's North Yemen.

Ḥaḍramawt has also been identified with Biblical Hazarmawet (Biblical Hebrew: חֲצַרְמָוֶת‎; Genesis 10:26[1] and 1 Chronicles 1:20).[2] There, it is the name of a son of Joktan (who is identified with Qahtan in Islamic tradition), the purported ancestor of the South Arabian kingdoms. According to various Bible dictionaries, the name "Hazarmaveth" means "court of death," reflecting a meaning similar to the Arabic folk etymologies.

Scholarly theories of the name's origin are somewhat more varied, but none have gained general acceptance. Juris Zarins, rediscoverer of the city claimed to be the ancient Incense Route trade capital Ubar in Oman, suggested that the name may come from the Greek word ὕδρευματα hydreumata, i.e. enclosed (and often fortified) watering stations in wadis. In a Nova interview,[3] he described Ubar as:

a kind of fortress/administration center set up to protect the water supply from raiding Bedouin tribes. Surrounding the site, as far as six miles away, were smaller villages, which served as small-scale encampments for the caravans. An interesting parallel to this are the fortified water holes in the Eastern Desert of Egypt from Roman times. There, they were called hydreumata.

Though it accurately describes the configuration of settlements in the pre-7th century Wadi Ḥaḍramawt, this explanation for the name is anachronistic and has gained no wider scholarly acceptance. Already in the period before the advent of Islam in the 7th century CE, variations of the name are attested as early as the middle of the First Millennium BC. The names ḥḍrmt (𐩢𐩳𐩧𐩣𐩩) and ḥḍrmwt (𐩢𐩳𐩧𐩣𐩥𐩩) are found in texts of the Old South Arabian languages (Ḥaḍramitic, Minaic, Qatabanic, and Sabaean), though the second form is not found in any known Ḥaḍramitic inscriptions.[4] In either form, the word itself can be a toponym, a tribal name, or the name of the kingdom of Ḥaḍramawt. In the late fourth or early third century BC, Theophrastus gives the name Άδρραμύτα,[5] a direct transcription of the Semitic name into Greek.

As Southern Arabia is the homeland of the South Semitic language subfamily, a Semitic origin for the name is highly likely. Kamal Salibi proposed an alternative etymology for the name which argues that the diphthong "aw" in the name is an incorrect vocalization.[6] He notes that "-ūt" is a frequent ending for place names in the Ḥaḍramawt, and given that "Ḥaḍramūt" is the colloquial pronunciation of the name, and apparently also its ancient pronunciation, the correct reading of the name should be "place of ḥḍrm." He proposes, then, that the name means "the green place," which is apt for its well-watered wadis whose lushness contrasts with the surrounding high desert plateau.

Region close to Seiyun in the Hadhramaut Valley

Narrowly, Hadhramaut refers to the historical Qu'aiti and Kathiri sultanates , which were in the Aden Protectorate overseen by the British Resident at Aden until their abolition upon the independence of South Yemen in 1967. The current governorate of Hadhramaut roughly incorporates the former territory of the two sultanates It consists of a narrow, arid coastal plain bounded by the steep escarpment of a broad plateau (Arabic: ٱلْجَوْل‎, romanized: al-Jawl, averaging 1,370 m (4,490 ft)), with a very sparse network of deeply sunk wadis (seasonal watercourses). The undefined northern edge of Hadhramaut slopes down to the desert Empty Quarter. Where the Hadhramaut Plateau or Highlands (Arabic: هَضْبَة حَضْرَمَوْت‎, romanized: Haḍbat Ḥaḍramawt) meets the Gulf of Aden in the Arabian Sea, elevation abruptly decreases.[7]

In a wider sense, Hadhramaut includes the territory of Mahra to the east all the way to the contemporary border with Oman.[8] This encompasses the current governorates of Hadramaut and Mahra in their entirety as well as parts of the Shabwah Governorate.

The Hadhramis live in densely built towns centered on traditional watering stations along the wadis. Hadhramis harvest crops of wheat and millet, tend date palm and coconut groves, and grow some coffee. On the plateau, Bedouins tend sheep and goats. Society is still highly tribal, with the old Seyyid aristocracy, descended from the Islamic prophet Muhammad, traditionally educated, strict in their Islamic observance, and highly respected in religious and secular affairs.

Mountains

See also: Geology of Yemen and Geography of Yemen

Hadhramaut Mountains
Mahrat Mountains[9] جِبَال ٱلْمَهْرَة
Wadi Hadhramaut
Highest point
Coordinates	15.3°N 50.7°E / 15.3; 50.7
Naming
Native name	جِبَال حَضْرَمَوْت  (Arabic)
Geography
Hadhramaut Mountains Show map of Yemen Hadhramaut Mountains Show map of Middle East Hadhramaut Mountains Show map of Asia
Country	Yemen
Region	Middle East

The Hadhramaut Mountains (Arabic: جِبَال حَضْرَمَوْت‎, romanized: Jibāl Ḥaḍramawt)[10] also known as the "Mahrat Mountains"[9] (Arabic: جِبَال ٱلْمَهْرَة‎, romanized: Jibāl Al-Mahrah), are a mountain range in Yemen.[11] They are contiguous with the Omani Dhofar Mountains to the northeast,[7] and James Canton considered Aden in the southwest to be in the mountains' recesses.[12]

• 
  The city of Tarim
• 
  Hajjarin in Wadi Dawan
• 
  Shibam in Wadi Hadhramaut, with mountains in the background
• 
  Al-Mukalla with the Hadhramaut in the background, as seen from the Gulf of Aden in the Arabian Sea

Among western explorers, the British travellers Theodore and Mabel Bent ventured into the region on multiple occasions in the 1890s. “A few months before the Bents arrived in Southern Arabia, a German scholar, Leo Hirsch, reached Wadi Hadhramaut in search of Himyaritic inscriptions. He was the first European to penetrate so far inland. Although the Bents followed, Mabel could justly claim to be the first European woman to visit the Wadi (preceding Doreen Ingrams who went there in 1934, and Freya Stark in 1935).”[16] The Bents published these explorations in their monograph Southern Arabia (1900).

Historically, Hadhramaut was known for being a major producer of frankincense, which was mainly exported to Mumbai in the early 20th century.[17] The region has also produced senna and coconut. Currently, Hadhramout produces approximately 260,000 barrels of oil per day; one of the most productive fields is Al Maseelah in the strip (14), which was discovered in 1993. The Yemeni government is keen to develop its oil fields to increase oil production in order to increase national wealth in response to the requirements of economic and social development in the country. Oil contributes 30-40% of the nation's GDP, over 70% of total state revenues, and more than 90% of the value of the country's exports.[18]

Since the early 19th century, large-scale Hadhramaut migration has established sizable Hadhrami minorities all around the Indian Ocean,[19] in South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Africa including Hyderabad, Aurangabad,[20][21] Bhatkal, Gangolli, Malabar, Sylhet, Malay Archipelago, Sri Lanka, southern Philippines and Singapore. In Hyderabad and Aurangabad, the community is known as Chaush and resides mostly in the neighborhood of Barkas. There are also settlements of Hadhrami in Gujarat, such as in Ahmadabad and Surat.

In older history, several Sultans in Malay Archipelago, such as the Sultanate of Malacca,[22] Sultanate of Pontianak or Sultanate of Siak Indrapura, were descents of Hadhrami. In the 19th century, Hadhrami businessmen owned many of maritime armada of barks, bridges, schooners and other ships in Malay archipelago.[23] In modern time, 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 (2006).[24]

Hadhramis have also settled in large numbers along the East African coast,[25] and two former ministers in Kenya, Shariff Nasser and Najib Balala, are of Hadhrami descent. It has been claimed that genetic evidence links the Lemba people of Zimbabwe and South Africa, to the people of the Hadramaut region.[26] Among the Hadramaut region there has been a historical Jewish population.[27]

• Architecture of Mud: documentary Film about the rapidly disappearing mud brick architecture in the Hadhramaut region
• Nova special on Ubar, illustrating a hydreuma
• Book review of a biography of Qu'aiti sultan Alin din Salah
• Hadhrami migration in the 19th and 20th centuries
• Ba`alawi.com Ba'alawi, the Definitive Resource for Islam and the Alawiyyen Ancestry
• جبال حضرموت (Arabic Wiki)
• هضبة حضرموت