Evening Star Newspaper, June 7, 1931, Page 56

12 NATIONS OF WORLD | WELCOME ARABIA Dual Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd Contains Moslem Shrines. In recognizing the dual kingdom of | Hejaz and the Nejd the United States | welcomes to the family of nations two ! extensive areas of the vast Arablan | Peninsula whose national names are | far less familiar than geographic !n-} tures they embrace, according to & bul- | letin from the National Geographic So- ejaz has the two holy cities of the Moslem world, Mecca and Medina," the bulletin continues, “the Nejd sprawls over the second largest desert area in the world. In fact, the Nejd rates ‘sec- onds' on two contrasting geographic areas: second to the Sahara in respect to its arid expanse and second to the ! remote Antarctic Continent in respect to the size of its unexplored domain. “Southeastern Nejd, ~the district known as Roba-el-Khall, is as barren of names as the Sargossa Sea. It was that region which Bertram Thomas, English explorer, penetrated for the first time early this year. Site of Garden of Eden. “Other parts of the new nation em- brace territory whose story goes back to the early chapters of human history. | In the sandy desert wastes of the A abian Peninsula are the neglected ruins of little known cities and civiliza- tions, while along its northern borders are the Holy Lands of Christendom, the caravan trails and the relics of classical empires of Syria, and the traditional site of the Garden of Eden itself in the present-day kingdom of Irag. “Dwarfed by the huge bulk of the continent to which it is attached, the Arabian Peninsula is likely to be classed with peninsulas nearer home, such as Florida. But 60 Floridas would be lost in this huge Asian projection; it is, in fact, a third as large as the entire United States. “The new dual kingdom of Hejaz and the Nejd, which dates only from 1926, embraces, or rather claims, all but the narrow eastern and southern fringes of this vast domain. The Nejd, roughly speaking, may be said to include the sandy core of Arabla, much of it un- explored and uninhabited, even by the nomadic tribesmen who constitute most of King Ibn Saud’s 3,000,000 subjects. Moslem Shrines in Hejaz. “Hejaz, the smaller part of the dual kingdom, is better known. From Brit- ish Transjordan it extends, a narrow strip, along the Red Sea coast for 900 miles to the Province of Asir. a pro- tectorate of the Nejd. Within its boundaries are the famous cities of Mecca and Medina, the most sacred shrines for one-seventh of the world’s population. “Neither of these cities, however, is the residence of King Ibn Saud, the Arab chieftain who was the George Washington of the new nation. Two capitals are maintained. One is Mecca. but Ibn Saud spends most of his time in the other capital, Riad, and rules Hejaz through an agent-general resid- ing in Mecca. Riad is & lonely oasis, hidden almost 500 miles back in the desert. | “Why is Hejaz and the Nejd a dual | kingdom? Austria-Hungary before the | war offers a convenient parallel case. | The Hejaz and the Nejd are two large | expanses of country brought together | by a powerful ruler, but the people of | each have deep-seated differences | which prevent a more perfect union. ‘The Nejd, home of the warlike Waha- bis, or Arab ‘fundamentalists’ must be administered in the simplest possible manner, without ministers of state, con- | stitutions or other formalities. Hejaz More Civilized. 4 “The Hejaz, however, has a ‘consti- tution’ and six departments, three of | which are responsible in the first place | to the agent-general at Mecca. Many people of the Hejaz, less nomadic, live ! in cities, or along the pilgrim railroad ! which extends from Transjordan to Me- dina. burial place of Mohamemd. ““The Wahabis of the Nejd are a com- paratively new sect of Moslems. Abdul Wahib, from whom the tribesmen de- rive their name, founded the Wahabis in the latter part of the eighteenth century. Aroused by Moslem religion and the lavish expenditure of time and wealth in building mosques, he pleaded for pure Mohammedanism under the Koran and the return of the old, wild, vigorous faith of the desert. “Wahabi simplicity is carried to the | extreme in Riad, the inland capital. The city is surrounded by a 25-foot wall | of sun-baked mud bricks. Its only decoration is & row of pinnacles around the top of the wall, of a shark's tooth design. Massive guard towers overlook each of the nine city gates. Inside the | wall there are no graceful white minarets towering above huge gilded mosque domes, nor are there any elabo- rate shrines or rich prayer carpets suth as are found in Moslem cities outside of the Wahabi country. Riad Mosque Is Simple. “The great mosque of Riad is a drab, | squatty building of the same construc- tion as the wall. No costly shrines adorn its interior. In fact, the build- ing is little more than a shady place of prayer where the faithful are pro- tected from the piercing rays of the desert sun. The palace and the fort are the only other large buildings with- in the wall. They, too, are architec- turally unpretentious, while the rows of flat-topped houses bordering the dusty Riad streets are severe in their plainness. “Ibn Saud, the ruler who has raised two obscure Arab kingdoms to a posi- tion of gaining recognition by world powers, has been called the ‘Cromwell ! of the Desert. In 1901, Ibn Saud was an obscure exile in Kowelt, on the Per- sian Gulf. He owned not an acre of Jand and had few friends. But that yvear. at the age of 20, the youthful exile gathered & small party of hot-blooded companions about him, led them into! the desert. and surprised and captured | Riad, capital of Nejd and historic!| home of his ancestors. | “By 1913, having consolidated his powe rand position in Central Arabia | Ibn Saud attacked and took from the ‘Turks the Hasa Province on'the Pery sian Gulf. In 1921 Jebel Shammar, the district between Riad and the Syrian Desert, was added. In 1924 he con- quered the kingdom of Hejaz and en- tered Mecca victorious. Tbn Saud rose from poverty to riches, from a_prince- . ling to King of Arabia, in 23 years. ‘Arabia for the Arabs' has been his slogan. City to Have Radio. “Ibn Saud recently signed a contract for 15 wireless stations in his domain. Even the holy city of Mecca will have its wireless telephone and telegraph, al- though only Mohammedan faithful may construct and operate the system with- in the sacred precincts. Installation of electric street cars, motor trucks and radios are among King Ibn Saud’s plans for the modernization of Mecca apd Medina. “Through Jidda, the venerable Red Sea port, the modern ‘industrial revolt in the desert,’ is pouring. in the form of boxed dynamos, radio tubes, typewriters, motor cars, wire and other accessories which Arabia must draw from the ‘in- fidel’ world In 1926 motor cars were almost unknown in Arabia. By Janu- ary 1, 1930, 1,500 had n imported. 250 of which were for a royal motor transport.” S o Symons’ much-discussed *problem” inting, “My Lord I Mest in' Every ondon Lane and Street,” has been re- | jected for the Royal Academy in Lon- con because of lack of room, and will be txhibited elsewhere by the qrist. —Main Floor. Circulating Library Our Budget Plan Is At Your Service A small down pay- ment sends your pur- chases home. Balance in convenient “monthly payments. “Home Sweet Home” —the “life size” bunga- low on the Fourth Floor. 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