Product Description

This study of small, sedentary tribes of farmers and traders in the northern highlands of the Republic of Yemen is based on field research and local documents. The tribes concerned have their territories in the rugged, mountainous region of Razih, west of the town of Sa'dah, and have existed there for centuries in much the same form. Middle Eastern tribes are often regarded as disorderly, warlike and inherently opposed to states. The tribes of Razih defy these stereotypes: they have effective modes of governance based on written agreements, and an abiding concern for maintaining law and order, containing and resolving conflicts and minimising violence. They also have a long history of symbiotic cooperation with states, though they have opposed those which flouted their interests or ideals. This book aims to understand the factors which have shaped and sustained this remarkable tribal politico-legal system by examining it within the context of its geographical and economic environment, and of the past four centuries of uninterrupted Muslim rule.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #593571 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05-10
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 400 pages

About the Author
Shelagh Weir was formerly curator for the Middle East in the Department of Ethnography at The British Museum, and is currently a Senior Research Associate in the Anthropology Department of the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. Her previous books include Palestinian Embroidery, Palestinian Costume, The Bedouin and Qat in Yemen: Consumption and Social Change.