YEMEN UPDATE
 
YEMEN ARTICLES
Samuel Wilson:
A British Soldier in Yemen in 1799
 
by Daniel Martin Varisco
[Yemen Update 36 (1995):22,44]
 
 
During the late 18th and early 19th centuries a number of British officers passed through Yemen. Many of their reports were preserved in the records of the India Office, but very few of these are readily accessible today. A number of years ago, while looking up some references in the Cleveland Public Library, I came across a handwritten manuscript (22 pages) by Samuel Wilson from the year 1799. This manuscript is located in the John G. White collection, one of the premier collections of early orientalist publications in the U.S.A.
The title of the manuscript is: "Journal of a Route from Mocha to Sennar by Captain Samuel Wilson by the way of Beitul Fakih begun on the 5th of June 1799 and from Senaar to Mocha by the way of Yemen on the 5th of July." In a letter written in 1973 to Michael Albin, then associated with the White collection, from J. A. Baxter of the India Office Library, there is some background information on Captain Wilson. He was born about 1761. In 1786 he became a Lieutenant in the British command in Bombay; the promotion to Captain came in 1796. Only a few short months after his trip to Yemen in the summer of 1799 he married Anne Bond Crozier in Bombay. In 1819 he attained the rank of Major General and died in 1827.
The account of Wilson is interesting for the observations he made in traveling from the coast to Sanaa. His ear for Arabic is not too keen, as can be readily assessed from the peculiar rendering of the Yemeni capital as "Sennar". Indeed, reconstructing the points of his itinerary is an interesting challenge. (I am still working on "Moosheed", some 25 miles from Mocha.) This would be a worthwhile manuscript to publish, if anyone feels like spending enough time in Cleveland.
In the following paragraphs I will provide some of the details from his account, which begins at the port of Mocha where the author disembarked in June, 1799. The first stage of his trip from Mocha took Wilson to "Rowvais", a journey of about 12-14 miles. This village consisted of 40-50 "miserable Huts". The sheikh of the area collected revenues from the people on date palms, "Jowarree" (an Indian term for sorghum), and salt. Wilson commented on the local salt industry in the area. The second leg of the trip brought the captain to "Moosheed", a distance of another 10-12 miles. Here there was a market and another sheikh. The government collected a tax of 1/4 dollar on all camels, whether loaded or not. Another 13 miles brought him to "Sherjar" On the way he passed near the town of "Maish", which he said was close to the foot of the mountains. I am not sure what Captain Wilson was imbibing at the time, but he claims this town had 100,000 inhabitants.
The fourth day brought Wilson to "Zebeede", a further journey of some 20 miles. He estimated more than 300 shops in the market here. The local government took a tax (for protection services) of 1/4 dollar per camel. Grammar aside, Captain Wilson (p. 7a) commented that "Their (!) are several Banians who reside in this town, who mostly trade in coarse cloths the manufacture of Bengal, Swat, and other parts of India, cotton, and some times sugar and grain." Growing near Zabid he observed indigo, cotton, mustard and sorghum.
On the fifth day he arrived at "Beitul Fakih", which he estimated was about 80 miles from Mocha. This was said to be the main point for coffee coming down from the mountains. At this time it was under the control of the Zaydi imam. According to Wilson, coffee was repacked, weighed and cleaned here. There was a tax of 2.5 dollars on every "bekar" (480 lbs.) entering the city and a futher tax of 3 dollars per "bekar" leaving the city. (One might compare this to the fares on the bridges and tunnels entering New York City.)
 
His itinerary continued towar Sanaa. The sixth day ended at "Mootahine", the seventh at "Abookheer", the eighth at "Samfoor" (although he delayed and reached it on the ninth day), the tenth at Sehan, the eleventh at "Moofaak". the twelth at "Khoomis", the thirteenth at "Mukia" and the fourteenth at Sanaa. All in all he took the scenic route of two weeks for the trip from Mocha to Sanaa. On his way back he traveled south to Dhamar, Yarim, Ibb and Ta'izz. He estimated the distance from Ta'izz to Mocha at about 73 miles.
In Sanaa Captain Wilson was received by a retinue of the imam's guards, who fired volleys in the air, sang [zamil, no doubt] and danced [bar'a]. As a military man, Wilson discovered that a private in the infantry of the imam received about 2 dollars per month, while a cavalryman would receive up to 9 dollars a month (although they had to buy their own arms and clothing). At the time the imam's forces were said to number about 1000 cavalry and some 10,000-20,000 infantry. His ability to estimate civilian population is again subject to derision: his best guess was that the population of Sanaa was between 200,000 and one million!
During this time the Banian merchants were not allowed to live in Sanaa, although he encountered them in Yarim and Ibb. Wilson estimated that there were about 1000 Banians in Yemen at the time (although it is unclear if he includes Aden in this estimate). They were not permitted to practice their religion openly, such as the practice of cremation of the dead. Neither were they permitted to bring women with them (a situation not unlike the modern Gulf). If a Banian did not leave Yemen within a year, he had to pay a large sum of money.
There are a number of comments on local customs, yet most of these are more informative of the traveler's attitudes then useful for documentation. Wilson was impressed by the passion of Yemenis for drinking coffee and "smoaking" the "hookah" or waterpipe. "One meets with few travellers, who have not at all times a pipe or Hookah in their mouths as they go along," (p. 6a), he writes. When he inquired why the villages were often on top of high mountains crags, he was told there were three reasons: the danger of flash floods, interest in conserving agricultural land, and defense from marauders (pp. 10b, 11a).
 
Return to Yemen Articles