A Tribal Order: Politics and law in the mountains of Yemen [Archives:2007/1075/Reportage]
Review by: Dr. Aviva Klein-Franke,
Martin-Buber Insitute for Jewish Studies, University of Colgone, 50923 Colgone, Germany
This book is the result of fieldwork in Jabal Razih in the northern area of Yemen. The anthropologist Shelagh Weir visited the region three times and spent there in the years 1977, 1979-80 and in 1993 about twenty months. Most of the time during her fieldwork she dwelled in madinat al-Nazir and studied the cultural and social institutions of the village. The village is inhabited by one of ten small tribes that settled in the Razih region. The author found this village an ideal fieldwork-base, because it was socially and occupationally heterogenous, personalities in official positions, men prominent in tribal and government affairs lived in the village, and the weekly market was a good meeting place of locals and visitors from remote places.
At the time of her first visit in 1977, travelling in the area was difficult, for instance, no motor truck was available and most places could only be reached in the traditionally way, by foot, as hundreds of years before. First in 1979 routes for a Trans-Razih trucks was established. During the periods of her research the Razihis used two currencies, the Saudi Riyal (SR) for everyday transaction and for bigger business transactions, like land purchase or sale the used the Riyal Faransi (Maria Theresia Taler). Weir investigated the institutions of a traditional society in transition to modernity and therefore her description of life in al-Nazir is an “ethnographic present” document of the 1970s.
The book has three parts with a total of eleven chapters. It also includes two appendixes: 1. A list of chronological events affecting Razih. 2. A catalogue of Razihi documents, mostly papers of pacts and treaties, signed between tribal groups, tribes, among the ruling elite itself, or with the state authorities. Shelagh Weir could collect over 350 documents covering a period of nearly four centuries. According to Weir, these documents testify the predominantly contractual basis of political relations in Razih, which show remarkable continuities in structures and practices. In addition, these documents provide information about legal and political matters. Therefore they are an important primary source to catch local people “inscribing” their own system of ruling into their place back through time. Unfortunately there are no translations in English of these invaluable primary sources, which the author explains by: “because of lack of space”.
Furthermore, the book includes tables, maps and plans of Jabal Razih, fort and fortress, notes, glossary, bibliography, index and 49 photos, which were published in b/w and coloured.
Shelagh Weir was – before her retirement – a curator for Middle Eastern Ethnography at the former Museum of Mankind. Her research on Razih was conducted under the auspices of the British Museum. Initially she intended to study the crafts in Razih and was also interested to study the local economy. A dispute which broke out between Al-Nazir and a neighbouring-tribe opened for her a fascinating window to study tribal law, how the chiefs who were fighting for recognition of their political powers sought for a solution, reached a conclusion and achieved the necessary political balance to carry on without loosing face or status. This striking event, which took place during her second visit in 1979, urged her to change the aim of her research and to focus not on the ethnographic subject but to switch on and emphasis historical matters. The political relations in Razih in structure and practice became the major issue in her fieldwork (Part II, chapter eight).
Weir dedicated two chapters (Part III, chapters nine and ten) to a historical survey of the last 400 years. She summarized key-features of Zaydism and the Zaydi state and of life in the region under the rule of the two Ottoman invasions, the political situation of Razih during the rule of the Idrisi in 'Asir and along the coast. She described the state-tribe relationship between the tribes of Razih in the el-Qasimi period until Imam Yahya Hamid ad-Din and his son Ahmad. Razih's political power had to struggle year after year to oppose conditions, which were dictated by the central government. Reasons that occurred tensions between the Imams and the tribal leaders was mainly on the issue of taxes. The most important taxation in this area was based on agricultural products, sorghum and on coffee (p. 259). The local representative of central authority collected the money from the tribes and forwarded it to the treasury house, bayt al-mal. The Imam in return would give loans or stipend to the leader of the tribes. In the 19th century Imam al-Mansur changed the system of taxation. He divided the canonical taxes (wajibat or huquq Illah) into two categories: one for the treasury, which was the zakat tax which was collected on agriculture and animals, and the other for the Imam, which was collected from traders, mostly at the markets, as a rent (haqq al-qa ' or haqq al-mafrash).
The author also describes life in Razih in the first period of the republic and the struggle to keep the political power in the hands of the tribal leaders (chapter eleven). After years of supporting the Royals in the civil war, toward the end of the war realized the chiefs in Razih that they had to accommodate to the republican state. They still regarded the traditional way of ruling as valid and wanted to negotiate with the republicans on the state-tribe relationship. Therefore, after the end of the civil war, in the early 1970s, they provided a draft with terms of their capitulation in which they demanded to keep their privileged status. Furthermore, in the draft they elaborated that the state should be ruled according to the precepts of Holy Law and the waqf property would be administrated according to the spirit of its creators. Apart from that, the tribes of the north wanted to pay only the zakat and demanded that Razihis should be appointed as policemen and border guards and their wages should be paid by the state.
In addition to the draft other details were mentioned, e.g., their expectations towards the new state on behalf and to the benefit of their people, such as roads, schools, hospitals, water pumps, mechanical ploughs, a central telegraph system and branch-office to issue passports, so that they could travel to Saudi Arabia (many of them were guest-workers in the neighbouring country. They realized what the state could provide for its inhabitants and they benefited from the technical development).
Although in the first years of the existence of the new state, the republicans saw that it was essential for their legitimacy to deliver basic social services and to develop the infrastructure in the country. But they did not have the means or the manpower capacity to do it. Therefore, the new state continued to regulate the relationship with the leaders of the tribes in the northern part of the country in a similar way as it had been in the time of the Imams, which means, that the tribal chiefs continued to supervise taxation and to maintain order by using tribal law as before. The state paid them salaries, like loans, based on a fraction of the zakat collected from the tribes' members.
Because the relief from the central authority in Sanaa reached the area of Razih very slowly, the Razihis took the initiative and established small bodies to enforce modernization in their region. They were called “Local Development Associations” (LDA, p. 288). The government, which was incapable of implementing such projects itself, encouraged these informal groups and granted them autonomy. In 1973 the government incorporated them into a nationwide umbrella organization called “The Confederation of Yemeni Development Associations” CYDA, in which the president of the republic was elected to be their president (p. 290). The state via CYDA supervised and coordinated the LDA projects. In 1985 there were nearly 200 LDA groups nationwide. The state allowed LDA to use half of the local taxes and also redirected them foreign aids as well as released LDA from import-taxes on heavy equipment needed for building the roads. A few years later, the activities of the LDA representatives were integrated into the government bodies and the head of the LDA groups became established as members of the “General Peoples Congress” Party. Later in the 1980s the government transferred the responsibility for local projects from the LDA to provincial and local governors, which caused the decline of the LDA organizations in the country.
The first official visit by a republican delegation in 1980 (p. 294) brought some changes in the situation. The republican officials made extended promises to the tribes. The Naziri proudly invited them to a lavish banquet followed by a qat party and a delegation of Razihi' leaders accompanied the delegation back to Sanaa.
Shortly after the unification with southern Yemen in 1990, “Yemen Arab Republic” and the “People's Democratic Republic of Yemen” formed one state: the “Republic of Yemen”. The new government increased democratization in the country; urged liberation of the press and allowed free political bodies and NGO groups to be established.
A national referendum on the constitution was held in 1991. In 1993 the first national multi-party parliamentary elections was held. The country was divided into 301 constituencies (sing. da'irah), each of which directly elected a delegate to the Council of Representatives (majlis al-nuwwab). In Razih fourteen candidates stood for election. All of them were males from the major clans of the leading tribes. This means that the electoral system did not challenge the structure of the tribal order and their inequalities in Razih. Hence, due to the election and its procedures, the central government had gained some respect among the inhabitants. Concerning the state-tribe relations – probably not only in the case of Razih – due to the election, the people breathed a whiff of democracy. They felt the new spirit of the times (Zeitgeist). They realized the political system of the new regime's authority and appreciated this impact of the democratic processes on their lives; there were discussions on the constitution, the establishment of the electoral committees and the registration of candidates and voters. Although all these acts and omissions had left a flash of approved-statehood on the people, the traditional power of the tribes was unshakeable. The introduction of the new system of elected representatives, which meant giving opportunity to individuals to gain political power, did not change the traditional political power within the tribes, as the author stated: “In the delineation of constituencies, state and tribal geo-political conceptions remained congruent” (p. 306).
Weir analyzed in her study why the situation did not change. Within the tribal system, the tribes, as shown by the example of Razih, should in many respects be regarded as mini state; they have internal administrative divisions and they possess clearly defined territories with political borders as well as control of their domains. Furthermore, they are able to mobilize men for defence and protection or for war. They are socially and occupationally stratified. They have permanent offices of leadership and have exclusive juridical institutions acting according to their tribal law. Tribes also enter into formal alliances to protect and promote their interests and acknowledge super tribal courts of appeal. In addition all political relationship at every level of the system is based on written contracts, pacts and treaties. In spite of all what has been mentioned above, the tribal structure today is part of the state and subject to its superior authority.
The case of Razih challenged common assumptions about tribes and states in the north of the country. The nature of the relationship in historical perspective should be considered from both sides. Due to new roads and infrastructure, today Razih is no longer a citadel in a remote province and an isolated place; modern equipment and machines for agriculture and the increase of motor trucks on the roads help to maintain contacts with other regions. The more the state will continue to bound the tribes tightly to the centre – and the case of Razih is a good example to show this – the more it will gain political stabilization in these regions and the country.
Summary
Weir describes many situations from the past: the Ottoman periods, Yemen under Imams' rule, the civil war and its outcome for the inhabitants of the northern part of Yemen as well as the reaction of the ruler and the people to this development and challenges. She could observe how the tribal leaders absorbed step by step the newly established central institutions of the republic. Her book is an important document describing a traditional society in transition.
During the months of her fieldwork in the region, Shelagh Weir collected multiple ethnographic and historical data, embracing many aspects of the life of the people in the region of Al-Razih and especially that of the village of Al-Nazir.
Shelagh Weir started her study almost twenty years ago, when Yemen made its first steps as a republic. In the historical overviews from the documents she gathered and from information she acknowledged from the collective memory of the people by collecting their oral traditions in interviews and observations she provided information essential to understand the political situation both in the past and today.
The traditional society as presented by the tribes needs more time to gain trust in the state. We realize that the reasons for tensions between the government and the tribes especially in the north of the country are rooted in the past and belong to the structure of the tribes. The tribes and their rulers are actually not willing to destroy the institutions of their “mini state”. They see it in their responsibility to keep their legacy and transmit it to the next generation. Hence, they are looking for ways to find harmony, not to oppose but to cooperate with the state. The older generation and even more the younger generation have learned to see the positive sides of the republic, and they enjoy the benefits the state has provided them with. Although they want to keep the structure of their political tribe-family units and their culture, the tribes and their leaders recognize the state as supreme authoritative body.
By her valuation and conclusion of her study the author demonstrates deep and sensitive insights. Her professional attitude of keeping a certain distance from the events around her allowed her sharp but respectful descriptions of many delicate situations in families and of political affairs in the regions of Razih. Hence she shows that she has also remained a friend of the Razihis.
The book is written in a very fluent, readable way. The publisher has also invested thoughts and has produced a book with a beautiful layout.
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