Khuriya Muriya Islands
The Churiya - Muriya Islands (Arabic جزر خوريا موريا, DMG Ǧuzur Ḫūriyā Muriya ) are a group of five islands in the Arabian Sea. The archipelago is located in the homonymous bay about 40 km off the southeast coast of Oman and extends in an east-west extent of about 73 km. The approximately 72.3 km ² large island group is Omani territory and belongs to the wilaya Shalim and Hallaniyyat Islands in the province of Dhofar.
- 4.1 language
History
In ancient times, the island group of islands were Zenobius (Latin Zenobii insulae or Greek Ζηνοβίου νησία, Zenobiou nesia ) or Doliche (Greek: Δολίχη ) called. They were in the Bay of Churiya - Muriya (Latin: sine Sacha Lites; Greek: Σαχαλίτης κόλπος, Sacha Lites kolpos ) and marked the boundary between the Parthian Empire and the Old South Arabian Hadramawt Kingdom, the inner side of the bay, the limit of the Parthian Empire represented.
Ptolemy refers to them as seven small islands (the two rocks in front of al - Qibliyya were probably counted), at the entrance of the " Persian Gulf " are the sine Sacha Lites towards India.
The sparseness of the natural environment forced the islanders are mainly feeding on seafood. In the 12th century, al - Idrisi reports that the islands belonged to the sphere of influence of al- Shihr. In winter, the inhabitants were very poor and only during the sailing season they managed to live reasonably adequate. Their voyages led them to Oman to Aden and the Yemen. The main trading goods were tortoiseshell and sometimes amber. Al- Idrisi calls the Churiya - Muriya Bay in its reports Ǧawn al - Hasi ( Bay of herbs). The archipelago was visited in turn by the Arab tribes of the Shihr and Mukallā from the Hadramaut and Yemen's Hudaydah strain to exploit the rich guano deposits of the islands al - Hasikiyya and al - Qibliyya. The legacy of countless seabirds served as fertilizers, especially for growing tobacco.
The Churiya - Muriya Islands invaded again only in modern times in the consciousness of Europeans, when they were rediscovered by Afonso de Albuquerque on his way to India in 1503. The Portuguese gave the islands also still in use today in Europe name. Although the original meaning of the name is obscure, it is in " Curia Muria" to the Portuguese version of " Churian Murian " of the medieval Arab geography. The islands but were also mentioned by other historians Portuguese: Almeida describes in a little-known description of the journey of two Jesuits to the islands. In January 1589 Antonio De Montserrat and to the better-known Pedro Páez six or seven days have stopped on the islands. According to him, the islands are 10 miles from the mainland. The Jesuits went on a islands they " Suadie " (probably as- Sauda ') called and near an island called " Hazquie " (probably al - Hasikiyya ) came ashore. The missionaries describe both islands as very small and the inhabitants were very poor. Residents should have their houses covered with washed ashore seaweed and have lived from fishing. Since they had no wood for cooking, they dried the fish first in the sun and then ate it raw. The lake seemed a lot to flush Bernstein on land, because they had offered him the Fathers in large quantities for little money.
In 1818 Qawasim raided by the emirate of Ras al -Khaimah, the islands, with the intention of using it as a base for attacks on merchant ships ( = piracy). All residents were displaced, and the islands remained uninhabited for several years. Some time ago, or probably some time after the attack were the islands in possession of the Ibn Khalfan, a subset of the Mahra tribe who settled in the vicinity of Mirbat. From this clan, the South Arabian name is derived for the islands, " Dschazā ʾ ir bin Khalfan ," derived.
Mid-19th century the islands were part of the Sultanate of Masqat. French plantation owners from the island of Réunion came from time to time to illicitly to load guano.
It was this valuable natural fertilizer, which the British government in 1854 led to Sultan Said ibn Sultan urge to leave the islands to the British Empire. The subrogation agreement was signed on 14 July 1854. Between 1855 and 1860 up to 50 ships sailed concurrently to the archipelago and built from a total of approximately 200,000 tons of guano from al - Hasikiyya and al - Qibliyya. In 1861, a communication station for a submarine of the "Red Sea and Karachi Telegraph Company " was built on al - Hallaniyya. The idea to use the island as a stopover point was, but in 1862 dropped again as the submarine cable never worked properly. 1868, the islands of the former crown colony of Aden were slammed and subordinate to the local governor. Later, the colony was transformed into a British protectorate. In December 1883 Colonel SB Miles took on the HMS Dragon a research trip along the southern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. As one of the last stations he visited al - Hallaniyya. From 1953, the British High Commissioner of Aden took over the administration of the islands. After the proclamation of the Yemen Arab Republic took over in 1963, the British " Chief Political Resident of the Persian Gulf " in Bahrain in control.
On November 30, 1967, the islands were returned amid protests of the emerging People's Democratic Republic of Yemen to the Sultanate of Oman, which ( until 1971 ) himself was at that time still a British protectorate. In the recent past there have been from the former Yemeni state federation because of this disentanglement repeated tensions between the two countries, as the islands extend the Exclusive Economic Zone of Oman. In the area of the islands further oil and gas reserves are suspected. It was not until 1995, these disagreements could be resolved through a border agreement.
Geography
From west to east, the islands are called al - Hasikiyya ( جزيرة الحاسكية, DMG Ǧazīrat al - Ḥāsikiyya ), as- Sauda ' ( الجزيرة السوداء, DMG al - Ǧazīra as- Sawdā ʾ, al - Hallaniyya ( جزيرة الحلانية, DMG Ǧazīrat al - Ḥallāniyya ) Dscharza ʿ ut ( جزيرة جرزعوت, DMG Ǧazīrat Ǧarza ʿ UT) and al - Qibliyya ( الجزيرة القبلية, DMG al - Ǧazīra al - qibliyya ).
The islands represent the top of a oceanic ridge and consist mainly of granite and limestone. The islands rise abruptly to about 500 m above the sea, although there are flatter areas. The bare rocky islands are sparsely overgrown with bushes. The islands al - Qibliyya and al - Hasikiyya are easily covered with guano, which is not however mineable. The islands are tourists rarely visited because of its remote and inaccessible location ( especially during the Charifs ).
The archipelago is an important breeding site for seabirds, especially for some kinds of sailors from the southern oceans. Exposed, non-native here pets (especially feral goats (on al - Hallaniyya ) and cats (on al - Hallaniyya and as- Sauda ' ), rats ( brown rats Rattus norvegicus) on al - Hasikiyya and the house rat (Rattus rattus ) on al - Hallaniyya ) provide a medium threat dar. Currently nothing is done about it by the state. However, there are plans to set up on the four major islands bird sanctuaries ( see table above).
All of these areas are larger than the respective land surfaces of the islands and therefore also comprise surrounding marine environment. The proposed reserves include all important Seevögelnistplätze.
The individual islands
The following remarks are based on the descriptions in Hay, Rupert, Kuria Muria, 1947, p 280 NATIONAL IMAGERY AND MAPPING AGENCY and: SAILING DIRECTIONS ( ENROUTE ), RED SEA AND THE PERSIAN GULF, NINTH EDITION, Bethesda (Maryland ), 2001. (PDF; 141 kB)
Al - Hasikiyya
The westernmost island of the group is located 34 km north-east of Ras NAWS and the mainland village Hasik. It consists of reddish granite and is completely without vegetation. In her earlier guano was mined and it is still slightly covered with bird droppings. Two conical summit at the southern end rise up to 155 meters. To the east are two small bays. It is in the breeding season, flocks of birds, mainly of gannets, populated. There live no people on it.
As- Sauda '
As- Sauda ' is the second largest island and is located approximately 21 km east of al - Hasikiyya. From the 399 -meter peak near the center of the island it falls irregularly from the coast. The island is also made of granite and is - with the exception of some grass and moss near the summit - bald. There are numerous small coves riffgeschützte. On it there is also brackish water. Previously, this island was once inhabited; However, it has been abandoned for a long time, since the inhabitants have migrated after Hallaniyya.
Al - Hallaniyya
The island of al - Hallaniyya is the only inhabited and by far the largest island of the group. The centrally located main island is ' eight kilometers east of as- Sauda. The island is rugged and bare, except for some tamarisk trees and some grass in the east. On the island live wild goats. On the coast, sea turtles are occasionally observed. The central area of the island has steep granite cliffs that reach a height of 495 meters. At the northeastern end of the island, Cape Ras al- Hallaniyya, then a three -kilometer-long limestone cliff from the highest point of the island with 501 meters drops almost vertically into the sea. The easternmost point is Ra's Sayyir, the westernmost Arichi Frahunt.
Al- Hallaniyya can be reached by boat or plane. In the shallower western part of the island is the only settlement, with a population of around 100 to 150 residents. In the vicinity there is a landing strip. From there, the mountain rises steeply to the east. The residents have boats and visit - if the weather permits - the other islands to catch birds and collect bird eggs. In addition, they live mainly from fishing. During Charif from mid-May to mid-September driving from the bottom of the ocean, cold, nutrient-rich water to the surface, and the water is then rich in fish. The sea is rough but during this time and a stiff breeze fills the air at the coast with sea spray. In this season, it is also often foggy. The population remained virtually unchanged over the centuries. It was
- 23 inhabitants in 1841
- 36 in 1883
- 50 in 1936
- 70 in 1947
- 78 in 1967
- 53 in 1976
The island has archaeological sites dating from pre-Islamic times, especially the settlement in Anzaur Valley (Arabic وادي انظور, DMG Wādī Anẓawr ) and the Faghari Cave (Arabic مغارة فغارة, DMG Maġarat Fagara ).
Dscharza ʿ ut
Dscharza ʿ ut is around 10 km east of Ra's al - Hallaniyya, is rocky, dry and has a 70 -meter-high twin peaks. The base of the island consists of four red granite rocks.
Al - Qibliyya
Al- Qibliyya, the easternmost island lies 21 km east of al - Hallaniyya. This rocky, barren island is dominated by several limestone cliffs. A small sandy cove located on the northwest side of the island. The highest peak rises 168 meters. It is dry, and is inhabited only by seabirds, although the discovery of some graves testify that they had once inhabited. Nearby stand two rocks from the sea:
- Four - Peaked skirt, a separate small rocky island lies 830 meters NNW of the northwestern end of the island. It has a base diameter of 140 m and a surface of 1.5 ha
- Well rock, a small rock that reaches just above the water surface is 800 meters SSW of the southwestern end of al - Qibliyya. It has a base diameter of 85 meters and an area of 0.6 ha
Population
Language
Sir Rupert Hay reported in 1947 that the islanders shauri (English Shahari ) calls. This language is mainly spoken by the cave-dwelling tribes of the QAMR and Qara Mountains. Interestingly, the islanders call their language Schihri. Ash- Shihr is today an Arab -speaking city far away in southern Yemen. However, the islands were ruled at times al - Idrisi by the Sultan of Shihr, and even at times of Pedro Páez, who was a prisoner of the Sultan, ruled this dynasty the islands. Folk wisdom brings the old city " Zufar " with the modern Mirbat in conjunction. Al- Idrisi reported that the islanders speak the ancient language of the ' Ad people and would not be understood by the Arabs. The current name of the language Shauri derives from Schahara strain, which claims to be from Schaddad, son of ' Ad, descended.