ABSTRACT
The earliest colonists of the peninsula of Arabia appear to have been the Cushites, who were succeeded in the north by the Ishmaelites and Adnanites, and in the south by the Kahtanites. According to Arab genealogists the classification of tribes is very elaborate and extends to twelve or more grades and ramifications, for which there are no corresponding names in our language. A powerful Maaddic tribe occupying the sea ports on the Pirate coast, viz., Ras al-Khyma and Khor Fakan on Cape Mussendom, and engaged principally in fishing. They are a branch of the great Maawal tribe occupying the Persian Coast from Burdistan to Bundar Abbas, and at one time in rebellion against Nadir Shah; they are better known as the Joasmees and took a prominent part in the piratical enterprises of the Persian Gulf Arabs when they roamed the Indian Ocean plundering indiscriminately merchant vessels of all nations and murdering their crews.
