ABSTRACT

Policing the frontier regions of Empire in the Middle East was heavily dependent on the indigenous community establishing and maintaining territorial boundaries, enforcing social control, and policing tribal communities. The imperial policies employed evolved over time, and required considerable borrowing from other colonial contexts, trial and error, and modification during times of trouble and resistance. The tribal communities of Southern Palestine, Transjordan, Sinai and Saudi Arabia were crucial in enforcing control across these expansive frontiers. Through flexible policing practices, incorporation of Bedouin knowledge, commitment from local tribal leaders, cooperation among static policing posts, the Camel Corps, mobile units and desert patrols the Bedouin proved central to implementing local and regional colonial policing processes. This paper investigates the range of strategies, practices and mechanisms of policing in the frontiers during the British colonial era and considers their outcomes. Despite Bedouin resistance to British rule, their recruitment into a local force was pivotal in securing the frontier of Empire and the reliance on tribes was also indicative of the power of the Bedouin in the frontier zones.

摘要

中东帝国边境地区的治安严重依赖土著社区建立和维护领土边界、加强社会控制和维持部落社区治安。帝国所采用的政策随着时间的推移而演变，需要大量借鉴其他殖民环境、反复试验以及在遇到麻烦和抵抗时期进行修改。巴勒斯坦南部、外约旦、西奈半岛和沙特阿拉伯的部落社区在加强对这些广阔边境的控制方面至关重要。通过灵活的警务实践、吸收贝都因人的知识、当地部落领袖的承诺、静态警务站、骆驼队、机动部队和沙漠巡逻队之间的合作，贝都因人被证明是实施地方和区域殖民警务进程的核心。本文调查了英国殖民时代边境警务的策略、实践和机制的范围，并考虑了它们的结果。尽管贝都因人反对英国的统治，但他们被招募到当地军队对于确保帝国边境的安全至关重要，对部落的依赖也表明贝都因人在边境地区的力量。