Valin trips to the Arabian Peninsula

This valuable and fair study about northern Arabia in the mid-19th century was written by the Finnish Arabist George August Valen after two visits he made to those lands, and it was published in English in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society in London in two installments, the first in 1852, the year the author died, and the second two years after his death, in 1854. Unfortunately, fate was unkind to the man, and most of his excellent study remained unknown to the general readership; only a handful of specialists in Arab geography and history had access to it, despite it being the greatest study on its subject written by a Westerner at that time. As for our Sheikh Abdulwali, he was known as the true European pioneer who succeeded in entering northern Arabia, having traveled there twice and returned with information that scholars considered treasures. Despite his limited means, the harsh desert conditions, scarcity of water, primitive people, and the dangers of invasion unfamiliar to Europe, Abdulwali insisted on battling the rugged terrain, enduring hardship, and facing fears of banditry, in order to learn as much as possible about the dialects, lands, tribes, traditions, trade, agriculture, soil, climate, water, crops, and other aspects of the region.