Part 21

The tribesmen, as in Arabia generally, are the predominant class in the population; all the adults carry arms; some of the tribes have settled towns and villages, others lead a nomadic life, keeping, however, within the territory which is recognized as belonging to the tribe. They are divided into sections or families, each headed by a chief or abu (lit. father), while the head of the tribe is called the mukaddam or sultan; the authority of the chief depends largely on his personality: he is the leader in peace and in war, but the tribesmen are not his subjects; he can only rule with their support. The most powerful tribe at present in Hadramut is the Kaiti, a branch of the Yafa tribe whose settlements lie farther west. Originally invited by the Seyyids to protect the settled districts from the attacks of marauding tribes, they have established themselves as practically the rulers of the country, and now possess the coast district with the towns of Shihr and Mukalla, as well as Haura, Hajren and Shibam in the interior. The head of the family has accumulated great wealth, and risen to the highest position in the service of the nizam of Hyderabad in India, as Jamadar, or commander of an Arab levy composed of his tribesmen, numbers of whom go abroad to seek their fortune. The Kathiri tribe was formerly the most powerful; they occupy the towns of Saiyun, Tarim and el-Ghuraf in the richest part of the main Hadramut valley. The chiefs of both the Kaiti and Kathiri are in political relations with the British government, through the resident at Aden (q.v.). The 'Amudi in the W. Duwan, and the Nahdi, Awamir and Tamimi in the main valley, are the principal tribes possessing permanent villages; the Saiban, Hamumi and Manahil occupy the mountains between the main valley and coast.

The townsmen are the free inhabitants of the towns and villages as distinguished from the Seyyids and the tribesmen: they do not carry arms, but are the working members of the community, merchants, artificers, cultivators and servants, and are entirely dependent on the tribes and chiefs under whose protection they live. The servile class contains a large African element, brought over formerly when the slave trade flourished on this coast; as in all Mahommedan countries they are well treated, and often rise to positions of trust.

As already mentioned, a large number of Arabs from Hadramut go abroad; the Kaiti tribesmen take service in India in the irregular troops of Hyderabad; emigration on a large scale has also gone on, to the Dutch colonies in Java and Sumatra, since the beginning of the 19th century. According to the census of 1885, quoted by Van den Berg in his _Report_ published by the government of the Dutch East Indies in 1886, the number of Arabs in those colonies actually born in Arabia was 2500, while those born in the colonies exceeded 20,000; nearly all of the former are from the towns in the Hadramut valley between Shibam and Tarim. Mukalla and Shihr have a considerable trade with the Red Sea and Persian Gulf ports, as well as with the ports of Aden, Dhafar and Muscat; a large share of this is in the hands of Parsee and other British Indian traders who have established themselves in the Hadramut ports. The principal imports are wheat, rice, sugar, piece goods and hardware. The exports are small; the chief items are honey, tobacco and sharks' fins. In the towns in the interior the principal industries are weaving and dyeing.

The Mahra country adjoins the Hadramut proper, and extends along the coast from Sihut eastwards to the east of Kamar Bay, where the Gara coast begins and stretches to Mirbat. The sultan of the Mahra, to whom Sokotra also belongs, lives at Kishin, a poor village consisting of a few scattered houses about 30 m. west of Ras Fartak. Sihut is a similar village 20 m. farther west. The mountains rise to a height of 4000 ft. within a short distance of the coast, covered in places with trees, among which are the myrrh- and frankincense-bearing shrubs. These gums, for which the coast was celebrated in ancient days, are still produced; the best quality is obtained in the Gara country, on the northern slope of the mountains. Dhafar and the mountains behind it were visited and surveyed by Mr Bent's party in 1894. There are several thriving villages on the coast, of which el-Hafa is the principal port of export for frankincense; 9000 cwt. is exported annually to Bombay.

Ruins of Sabaean buildings were found by J. T. Bent in the neighbourhood of Dhafar, and a remarkable cove or small harbour was discovered at Khor Rori, which he identified with the ancient port of Moscha.

AUTHORITIES.--L. Van den Berg, _Le Hadramut et les colonies arabes_ (Batavia, 1885); L. Hirsch, _Reise in Südarabien_ (Leiden, 1897); J. T. Bent, _Southern Arabia_ (London, 1895); A. von Wrede, _Reise in Hadhramut_ (Brunswick, 1870); H. J. Carter, _Trans. Bombay As. Soc._ (1845), 47-51; _Journal R.G.S._ (1837). (R. A. W.)

HADRIA [mod. _Atri_ (q.v.)], perhaps the original terminal point of the Via Caecilia, Italy. It belonged to the Praetutii. It became a colony of Rome in 290 B.C. and remained faithful to Rome. The coins which it issued (probably during the Punic Wars), are remarkable. The crypt of the cathedral of the modern town was originally a large Roman cistern; another forms the foundation of the ducal palace; and in the eastern portion of the town there is a complicated system of underground passages for collecting and storing water.

See _Notizie degli scavi_ (1902), 3. (T. As.)

HADRIAN (PUBLIUS AELIUS HADRIANUS), Roman emperor A.D. 117-138, was born on the 24th of January A.D. 76, at Italica in Hispania Baetica (according to others, at Rome), where his ancestors, originally from Hadria in Picenum, had been settled since the time of the Scipios. On his father's death in 85 or 86 he was placed under the guardianship of two fellow-countrymen, his kinsman Ulpius Trajanus (afterwards the emperor Trajan), and Caelius Attianus (afterwards prefect of the praetorian guard). He spent the next five years at Rome, but at the age of fifteen he returned to his native place and entered upon a military career. He was soon, however, recalled to Rome by Trajan, and appointed to the offices of _decemvir stlitibus judicandis_, _praefectus feriarum Latinarum_, and _sevir turmae equitum Romanorum_. About 95 he was military tribune in lower Moesia. In 97 he was sent to upper Germany to convey the congratulations of the army to Trajan on his adoption by Nerva; and, in January of the following year, he hastened to announce the death of Nerva to Trajan at Cologne. Trajan, who had been set against Hadrian by reports of his extravagance, soon took him into favour again, chiefly owing to the goodwill of the empress Plotina, who brought about the marriage of Hadrian with (Vibia) Sabina, Trajan's great-niece. In 101 Hadrian was quaestor, in 105 tribune of the people, in 106 praetor. He served with distinction in both Dacian campaigns: in the second Trajan presented him with a valuable ring which he himself had received from Nerva, a token of regard which seemed to designate Hadrian as his successor. In 107 Hadrian was _legatus praetorius_ of lower Pannonia, in 108 _consul suffectus_, in 112 _archon_ at Athens, _legatus_ in the Parthian campaign (113-117), in 117 _consul designatus_ for the following year, in 119 consul for the third and last time only for four months. When Trajan, owing to a severe illness, decided to return home from the East, he left Hadrian in command of the army and governor of Syria. On the 9th of August 117, Hadrian, at Antioch, was informed of his adoption by Trajan, and, on the 11th, of the death of the latter at Selinus in Cilicia. According to Dio Cassius (lxix. 1) the adoption was entirely fictitious, the work of Plotina and Attianus, by whom Trajan's death was concealed for a few days in order to facilitate the elevation of Hadrian. Whichever may have been the truth, his succession was confirmed by the army and the senate. He hastened to propitiate the former by a donative of twice the usual amount, and excused his hasty acceptance of the throne to the senate by alleging the impatient zeal of the soldiers and the necessity of an imperator for the welfare of the state.

Hadrian's first important act was to abandon as untenable the conquests of Trajan beyond the Euphrates (Assyria, Mesopotamia and Armenia), a recurrence to the traditional policy of Augustus. The provinces were unsettled, the barbarians on the borders restless and menacing, and Hadrian wisely judged that the old limits of Augustus afforded the most defensible frontier. Mesopotamia and Assyria were given back to the Parthians, and the Armenians were allowed a king of their own. From Antioch Hadrian set out for Dacia to punish the Roxolani, who, incensed by a reduction of the tribute hitherto paid them, had invaded the Danubian provinces. An arrangement was patched up, and while Hadrian was still in Dacia he received news of a conspiracy against his life. Four citizens of consular rank were accused of being concerned in it, and were put to death by order of the senate before he could interfere. Hurrying back to Rome, Hadrian endeavoured to remove the unfavourable impression produced by the whole affair and to gain the goodwill of senate and people. He threw the responsibility for the executions upon the prefect of the praetorian guard, and swore that he would never punish a senator without the assent of the entire body, to which he expressed the utmost deference and consideration. Large sums of money and games and shows were provided for the people, and, in addition, all the arrears of taxation for the last fifteen years (about £10,000,000) were cancelled and the bonds burnt in the Forum of Trajan. Trajan's scheme for the "alimentation" of poor children was carried out upon a larger scale under the superintendence of a special official called _praefectus alimentorum_.

The record of Hadrian's journeys[1] through all parts of the empire forms the chief authority for the events of his life down to his final settlement in the capital during his last years. They can only be briefly touched upon here. His first great journey probably lasted from 121 to 126. After traversing Gaul he visited the Germanic provinces on the Rhine, and crossed over to Britain (spring, 122), where he built the great rampart from the Tyne to the Solway, which bears his name (see BRITAIN: _Roman_). He returned through Gaul into Spain, and then proceeded to Mauretania, where he suppressed an insurrection. A war with the Parthians was averted by a personal interview with their king (123). From the Parthian frontier he travelled through Asia Minor and the islands of the Aegean to Athens (autumn, 125), where he introduced various political and commercial changes, was initiated at the Eleusinia, and presided at the celebration of the greater Dionysia. After visiting Central Greece and Peloponnesus, he returned by way of Sicily to Rome (end of 126). The next year was spent at Rome, and, after a visit to Africa, he set out on his second great journey (September 128). He travelled by way of Athens, where he completed and dedicated the buildings (see ATHENS) begun during his first visit, chief of which was the Olympieum or temple of Olympian Zeus, on which occasion Hadrian himself assumed the name of Olympius. In the spring of 129 he visited Asia Minor and Syria, where he invited the kings and princes of the East to a meeting (probably at Samosata). Having passed the winter at Antioch, he set out for the south (spring, 130). He ordered Jerusalem to be rebuilt (see JERUSALEM) under the name of Aelia Capitolina, and made his way through Arabia to Egypt, where he restored the tomb of Pompey at Pelusium with