No description available.

Senna comprises c.300-350 species and is one of the most species-rich and widely distributed genera in the family Leguminosae (Fabaceae). It is most diverse in tropical America, with secondary centres of diversity in tropical Africa, Madagascar and Australia. Only a few species are found in South Eastern Asia and in the Pacific Islands. Several Senna species are used as purgatives or laxatives in medicine, and some species are cultivated for their attractive flowers and foliage. The taxonomic revision of Senna species from Arabia presented here is based principally on herbarium specimens from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and on field observations made in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Sultanate of Oman and the Republic of Yemen. These materials and observations also formed the basis for a review of the morphological features of the Senna species in Arabia, which was undertaken in the context of the morphological variability of the whole genus. The taxonomic revision recognises nine species that occur in Arabia: Senna alexandrina Mill., S. didymobotrya (Fresen.) H.S. Irwin & Barneby, S. holosericea (Fresen.) Greuter, S. hookeriana Batka, S. italica Mill., S. obtusifolia (L.) H.S. Irwin & Barneby, S. occidentalis (L.) Link, S. sophera (L.) Roxb. and S. tora (L.) Roxb. The study demonstrated that a putative tenth species, S. socotrana (Serrato) Lock, previously thought to be endemic to the region, is morphologically indistinguishable from the widespread Senna sophera. Consequently the study presents S. socotrana (Serrato) Lock as a syn. nov. Four taxa, S. alata (L.) Roxb., S. artemisioides (DC.) Randell subsp. artemisioides, S. auriculata Roxb., and S. multiglandulosa (Jacq.) H.S. Irwin & Barneby, are recorded as or cultivated in the Arabian Peninsula. A phylogeny is presented for the genus Senna, including all nine Arabian species, based upon the chloroplast DNA regions matK and rps16 and analysed in a parsimony and Bayesian framework. Sampling new to this study included 118 accessions of Arabian species representing substantial parts of their geographic range within the Arabian Peninsula. Sequence data newly generated from a further 13 accessions were added to 104 generated in previous studies bringing the number of accessions representing other Senna species from across the range of the genus to 117. The phylogeny is useful in a taxonomic context and is also suggestive of the phylogenetic utility of some features, especially the morphology of the pods. Reconstruction of the morphological diversification of extrafloral nectaries in the context of the phylogeny suggests that it may have been more complex than outlined in previously published work. The phylogeny shows Senna species found in the Arabian Peninsula are placed in three separate clades, suggesting that Senna arrived in the Arabian Peninsula at least three times independently. Dating the phylogeny using a relaxed molecular clock in a Bayesian approach indicates that these arrivals happened at different times over the past c. 20 Mya, suggesting that a common geological explanation is unlikely and that dispersal must have played a key role in developing these biogeographic patterns.

No description available.

For 150 years after 1820, Oman and the littoral sheikhdoms of the Arabian Gulf were known respectively as Trucial Oman and the Trucial States. This reflected the series of agreements beginning in 1820 progressively extending British control of the external policies of the area, leaving domestic and internal affairs in the hands of the traditional rulers. The trucial system was imposed initially to put down piracy by the Qawasim whose depredations on British trade with India reached a climax at the beginning of the nineteenth century. For many years an accepted version, the allegations of piracy have recently been challenged; this thesis seeks to investigate the issue using archive material from the Bombay Presidency and from the Cairo Citadel, material not previously investigated. It is the writer's contention that the traditional justification for British intervention and control of the Gulf, namely piracy, does not take into account the influence of Wahhabism or Anglo-French rivalry dating from the Egyptian campaigns of Napoleon. Thus, the trucial system rested on a more varied and complex origin than has generally been accepted and reflects more pervasive British interests than a simple humanitarian motive.

No description available.

The Sultanate of Oman has 1700 km of coastline extending from the Arabian Gulf south to the Arabian Sea. The demersal fish distributions and assemblages have not previously been well defined. In winter, variations in the oceanography of the area are minimal. In summer, however, the Arabian Sea is strongly influenced by the southwest monsoon. For this study the continental shelf off Oman was divided into eight regional areas and research trawl data on the distribution of demersal fish assemblages was studied using two forms of multivariate statistical analysis: two-way indicator species analysis and detrended correspondence analysis. The study was carried out to examine the influence on the species assemblages of geographical zonation, seasonal variation, and factors such as depth, time of day, and distance from untrawlable ground. There was seasonal variation in the fish assemblages and this variation was greatly influenced by the summer monsoon. Within each regional area depth appeared to be the major factor determining species distribution. In addition to the multivariate analyses, univariate techniques were applied to the catch rate data for forty commercial species to study in detail the influence of time of day and distance from untrawlable ground, factors which could potentially influence stock assessment estimates of fish biomass. Because the data were highly unbalanced, they were analyzed using General Linear Model with five factors, two continuous variables, and ten interaction terms to examine variation in the log-transformed catch rates. The factors time of day and distance from untrawlable ground, in combination with other factors, had significant effects on the catch rates for half of the species. / Graduation date: 1995

Modern breech-loading rifles flooded into Arabia and the region around the Persian Gulf between 1880 and World War I. This work examines in detail, and analyzes, the introduction of modern arms to Arabia, the origin of those arms, the trade patterns by which they were moved, and the international and local political factors that affected the trade. The international arms trade was driven by three major factors. First, the rapid technological development of small arms in the nineteenth century fed the market, resulting in the availability of hundreds of thousands of obsolete military rifles for resale. Each time new rifles were adopted by the armies of Europe, old stocks were dumped on the private arms market. Second, international politics and European colonial rivalry contributed to the growth and maintenance of the arms trade. The French Consul at Muscat protected the trade in the Persian Gulf, while French arms dealers commanded a substantial portion of the trade. British efforts to slow the flow of arms through Muscat was hampered by European politics. Third, the internal politics of the region created a demand for the modern arms. Inside Arabia, the resurgent Saudis fought Rashidis and Hashimites in a series of wars, while other tribal raids and wars further built the demand for modern rifles: if one group had modern weapons, its enemies felt a need for them also. Outside Arabia, a strong demand for weapons in Persia and on the Northwest Frontier of India helped pull weapons to the markets of the Gulf. This thesis deals first with the changing technology of weapons in the nineteenth century, so that the military impact of the new weapons can be understood. The types of modern rifles introduced to the Peninsula is then reviewed, finding that the Peabody-Martini and the Martini-Henry, and their numerous variations, were the weapons most commonly imported in the decades around the turn of the century. With this information as background, the international politics of the arms trade are examined. Emphasis is on the Anglo-French rivalry at Muscat that gave treaty protection to French arms dealers. European fears that modern arms would reach Africa and make colonial control of the continent difficult or impossible led, in 1890, to the arms control provisions of the General Act of Brussels. The Act did not, however, extend to Arabia. The heart of the work is a detailed examination and analysis of the arms trade in and around Arabia. The arms trade in the region was centered in two main entrepots, Djibouti in French Somaliland and Muscat in southeast Arabia. By the late l890s, the bulk of the trade was passing through the Suez Canal before transshipment at one of these ports. Just over half of the arms reaching Muscat were exported to Persia and the Northwest Frontier, with the remainder reaching Arabia or Mesopotamia. The patterns of the private arms trade were complex, both at sea and on land, and are discussed at length. The political use of weapons by the Ottoman Government, and by European states, contributed to the flood of guns into Arabia. The Ottomans, in particular, used their stocks of obsolete weapons to arm their client tribes in Arabia. Ottoman purchases of Sniders, Martinis, and finally Mausers, gave them a constant supply of older rifles for distribution. The arms trade in Arabia was controlled by international and local political developments, and fed by the availability of modern arms on the international market. The trade was complex and impossible to prevent so long as the European states and the Ottomans continued to sell or distribute obsolete rifles as new guns were adopted.

This dissertation aims to formulate a view of Arabian tribalism in the pre- Islamic period and its development in Islamic times. The first part assesses the historical usability of the literary source material of the Jahiliya. The focus is on oral historical traditions - the ayyam al- carab. These are found to have remained textually fluid until the time of their recording. This fluidity may have affected style and form but did not substantially affect certain historical elements. The more inter-tribal and less local the account was, the more reliable it is likely to be historically. A sample comparison between tribal hostility and tribal distribution showed that the accounts seem to be highly consistent. The second part of the thesis is concerned firstly with establishing a Jahili profile for two tribal groups; secondly with tracing the affairs of their descendants into the Umayyad period. The tribal groups of Taghlib and Ghatafan were picked for examination. Both were strong cohesive groups in the pre-Islamic period. In Islamic times, Taghlibis lose importance since they opted to remain Christian, thus, Taghlibis are virtually impossible to trace. Ghatafanis did join Islam on a far greater scale and are often mentioned in the Islamic period. After the second civil war Ghatafanis are only ever mentioned as individuals. Close kin continued to cooperate but cooperation above this level was only conducted within the Qaysi faction. The third part discusses changes in the tribal system. A review of the functions of modern tribal genealogies illuminates the process by which genealogies can change in order to reflect changing realities. Early Arabic genealogies are clearly seen to be also naturally dynamic and the subject of deliberate change. New links reflected new realities, particularly the political alliances forged under the Umayyads. A belief in a single progenitor led to a move towards creating genealogical links to one ancestor, while the conditions of the conquests let to a regionalization of tribalism. The professionalization of the Marwanid army enabled cross-regional tribal co-operation which resulted in dividing in two the Umayyad army and Arab genealogies.

No description available.

Thesis advisor: Kathleen Bailey / My thesis will be analyzing the politics of education in the Gulf in order to understand why education performance remains low. The problem extends beyond Islamic culture and rentierism. These are merely factors. The problem of education stems from the government itself in mismanaged bureaucracy and the ruling family that dominates politics. My thesis will be looking closely at Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar. My approach is looking at how the Ministry of Education or other departments responsible for implementing and enforcing education policy and how they function within the state and impact education performance for students. My thesis will cover a number of themes, such as; rentierism, culture (political, traditional, etc.), and other factors that impede education and development. My conclusion is that bureaucratic mismanagement with emphasis on rentier and cultural factors are the cause of generating the mismatch of skills making students ill prepared for the globalized world. The problems of education has differed since the 1960s to the present due to how oil shape politics and development. In addition, rentierism has changed and developed and forcing the Gulf to address more societal needs than previously before. The government is the main cause and will be discussed is how this mismanagement and centralized control over education does not prepare students for the workforce in a technologically advanced world.! / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: Islamic Civilization and Societies.