{"product_id":"a-guide-to-yemen-by-an-ottoman-deputy-of-al-hudaydah-مرات-اليمن-miratu-l-yemen-i-e-mirror-of-yemen","title":"[A GUIDE TO YEMEN BY AN OTTOMAN DEPUTY OF AL-HUDAYDAH] مرات اليمن \/ Miratü’l-Yemen [i.e., Mirror of Yemen].","description":"\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eZÜHDÜ EFENDI (1860-after 1915).\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eKader Matbaasi, Istanbul, AH 1328 [= CE 1912].\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eOriginal stapled pinkish wrappers. Foolscap 8vo (17 × 12 cm). In Ottoman script (Old Turkish in Arabic letters). 79, [1 blank] p. Contemporary paper slip pasted to the front wrapper; two small labels in Ottoman script. Two ex-library stamps of the “Union and Progress Party Library, Kadıköy” on two pages, accompanied by a manuscript note indicating that the copy was presented to the library by the author. Otherwise, a good copy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eExceedingly rare first and only edition of this striking pamphlet written by an Ottoman deputy in Al-Hudaydah, presenting a detailed guide for travellers from the eastern, southern, and northern regions across Yemen, richly describing the country's geography, agriculture, social structure, trade, productions, demography, natural environment, and historical background.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eThe author also prepared and submitted a report to the Ottoman parliament on the Imam Yahya Rebellion, which includes in this rare pamphlet a brief account of the uprising, beginning with his guide from Aden and continuing through the districts of Sheikh Othman. After outlining the region's history, human and physical geography, and providing detailed information on local trade, he proceeds to describe Cheikh Saïd and Muha, focusing on their historical background, agricultural structure, and mineral resources. From Muha to Hudaydah, he offers a detailed account of the coastal zone, devoting the most extensive section to Hudaydah, where he himself had served for many years as a deputy and customs officer both before and after the Imam Yahya Rebellion.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eIn addition to discussing the languages spoken in the region, tribes, culinary culture, and customs, the author includes separate chapters on coffee and tumbaki tobacco. He also refers to kat (Catha edulis), a flowering plant cultivated in East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, especially in Yemen, whose leaves produce a stimulating effect when chewed. After introducing the mineral resources of the area, he devotes ten pages to Tihamah, the Red Sea coastal plain of the Arabian Peninsula from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Bab el-Mandeb, before describing the route onward to Sana'a.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eThe pamphlet then proceeds systematically through the mountainous regions of Yemen (Jabal Haraz, Jabal Sirat, and Sana'a), before continuing southward to Taiz and northward toward Hudaydah, Hays, Zabid, and Bayt al-Faqih. It concludes with detailed itineraries and travel conditions covering routes from Sana'a to Lahej, the coastal town Al-Salif on the Red Sea, Jazan, the Farasan Islands including Sokotra, as well as Abu 'Arish, Abha, Yam, and Hashid.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eThe author, who came to Yemen at the age of 17 due to his father’s appointment, began his official career on 3 April 1880 when he was assigned as an assistant registrar of revenues in the accounting office of the Hudaydah Sanjak. After serving continuously in the region for 32 years, he was elected deputy for the Hudaydah Sanjak of the Yemen Vilayet in 1910. Following the dissolution of the Ottoman Parliament (Meclis-i Mebûsan) on 18 January 1912, he returned to Yemen.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eRe-elected from Hudaydah in the 1912 general elections, the author later compiled and published in Istanbul his first-hand notes on Yemen, including its geography, commerce, markets, and navigation. During the Italo-Turkish War, Italy dispatched its navy to the Red Sea, blockading the Yemeni coasts, especially Hudaydah, which disrupted communication with Istanbul; as a result, he was unable to attend the Parliament that sat between 18 April and 4 August 1912. In the 1914 general elections, he was elected once again as deputy for Hudaydah.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\"\u003eÖzege 13777.; As of March 2026, OCLC shows only three copies in the North American libraries: Saint Joseph Seminary College, Dallas Theological Seminary, and University of California College of the Law, San Francisco. (OCLC 876720172).\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Khalkedon Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46926444298371,"sku":null,"price":1500.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0390\/3294\/6819\/files\/15-2_sml-Kopya.jpg?v=1775470894","url":"https:\/\/khalkedonrarebooks.com\/products\/a-guide-to-yemen-by-an-ottoman-deputy-of-al-hudaydah-%d9%85%d8%b1%d8%a7%d8%aa-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%8a%d9%85%d9%86-miratu-l-yemen-i-e-mirror-of-yemen","provider":"Khalkedon Rare Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}