File 600/1905 Pt 6 'Aden Hinterland: Upper Yaffai; treaties with Sultan Kahtan and other Chiefs' [‎95r] (185/212)

Accompaniments to the Confidential letter No. 193-P., dated the \§th August
1903, to the Government of lndia t Foreign Department.
I.
No. 224, dated the 2nd August 1903.
From—Brigadier-General P. J. Maitland, C.B., Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. , Aden ;
To—The Honourable Mr. S.W. Edgkrley, C.I.E., I. C. S., Secretary to the Gov
ernment of Bombay, Political Department.
I have the honour to report the present state of affairs with regard to the
Upper Yafifai. I think it will be advisable, in the first instance, to give a brief
account of this tribe, whose strength and position gives them peculiar importance.
2 . Originally the Yaffai were one tribe and extended over a large part of
the south-west corner of Arabia. They were the dominant race in this part of
the Arabian Peninsula, and are still regarded as the most powerful tribe in
Yemen, but portions of the Yaffai have split off and became attached to, or
incorporated in, other tribes, while the tribe itself has become divided into the
two portions which have hitherto been known to us as the Upper Yaffai and
the Lower Yaffai, hut which are properly designated “ STaffai as Saffal ” and
“ Yaffai Beni Kashi.’'
3. It is not necessary here to attempt a description of the country of the
Yaffai (known as “ Tafia but it may be stated that it is of very considerable
extent and almost entirely mountainous. It appears to be on the whole well
watered, fertile and thickly populated. The inhabitants speak of it as the
“ blessed Yaffa.” The people, especially the Upper Yaffai, differ from the
great majority of those in the Aden protectorate in being real fighting men.
Bands of Yaffai are frequently employed by the chiefs of less warlike tribes in
their contests with each other, and occasionally the Yaffai take service
at Hyderabad. The Kaiti Chief of Shahar and Mokalla is of Upper Yaffai
origin, and usually has a body of Yaffai tribesmen in his pay. Nevertheless,
the Yaffai generally, especially the Yaffai as Saffal, keep a good deal to them
selves. Until recently the chiefs of the latter have never visited Aden, nor
have we had any direct relations with them.
4. In all questions connected with the tribes in Southern Arabia it is
necessary to bear in mind the nature of the tribal organization in this country
and the position of the chiefs. I think it is now clearly understood that the
power of the Sultans of the tribes of Southern Arabia is limited. They are
elected by the tribe, always, it is true, from the members of a certain family,
hut on the understanding that the power bestowed by the tribesmen may be
taken away by them and given to another member of the family at pleasure.
In many cases a Sultan heads a confederacy rather than a tribe, several clans of
different origin agreeing to support a Sultan who is primus inter pares —a leader,
rather than a ruler. No Sultan has despotic power. Some are, of course, much
stronger than others, hut few can put a tribesman to death for any cause what
ever. In some instances the Sultan has hardly any direct authority at all. He
can act only “ ba-al-basr,” that is, by diplomacy. On the other hand, even the
most loosely knit confederacies appear to have greater powers of cohesion
than would be imagined, and elect Sultans from the same family for generation
after generation. No tribe or group of tribes can do without a Sultan. It
seems to be felt that in war (that is to say, in a contest involving the whole
tribe) a leader is required who shall be apart from the jealousies of the
Sheikhs of the various sections. The Sultan is also useful as a court of
appeal, to whom disputes between the Sheikhs and their immediate tribes
men can be referred. Further, almost all tribes have dependants. These
are either weak tribes or fragments cf tribes who receive protection, in
con 467—1