'Personalities, Arabia' [‎250] (254/374)

250
The Emir is Nasir ibn Sha'if ibn Seif, who lives at Dhala. He became
Emir in 1911 and is the son of Sha'if ibn Seif'Abd el-Hadi who attended
the Delhi Durbar A public or private audience held by a high-ranking British colonial representative (e.g. Viceroy, Governor-General, or member of the British royal family). during the Boundary Commission of 1902. He is a man
of 36, good-natured but weak and avaricious and of little ability. He
has two brothers, 'Abd el-Hamid and Seif, the latter of whom is said to
possess a considerable amount of energy and character. The ruling house
is unpopular with the tribesmen.
When the Turks appeared in 1915 they took from him some fifteen
hostages and deprived him of his position. Towards the end of the year
they summoned him to Lahej and made a settlement by which they
released the hostages, keeping his son in their stead, and reinstated him
with the gift of 50 rifles and a subsidy. It is doubtless owing to this that
the neighbouring tribes of Quteibi and 'Alawi were coerced into joining
them. Sheikh Qasim of Zobeid, who accompanied him to Lahej, received
a gift of 10 rifles.
Emir, Nasir ibn Sha'if ibn Seif, 'Abd el-Hamid ibn Sha'if ibn Seif,
Seif ibn Sha'if ibn Seif.
Sub-Tribes. Sheikhs.
Sheiri (1) Ahmed Muthanna of Al Beishi. Friend of Emir. Former tribal
influence has passed to Sheikh of Melahah. Has custom house
at Khoreibah.
(2) Samih Salim.
Deiri Muflahi Yahya ibn Salih in Radfan hills. Influential and well disposed.
Seyyid Abd el-Razzaq ibn 'Abd er-Rahman of Jebel Harir. Loyal
and influential in tribal disputes.
Seyyid Mohammed Tahar. Spiritual master of J. Jihaf. Old but
loyal and revered by people.
Ali ibn Ali ez-Zindani of Sarir. Loyal but uninfluential.
Seyyid 'Ali Ridthwyn es-Safani of Jebel Dhubayyat. Influential
in tribal affairs.
Seyyid Fadl ibn 'Alawi of Radfan hills. Popular. A hypocrite
but useful.
; Ghalib ibn Ahmed Hidiyan, Naqlb of Jebel Kifa, south of Jebel
Jihaf. On bad terms with Emir. Loyal to us.
Muqbil Naji', of Zindani family on Jebel Jihaf. Was pro-Turk,
but made overtures to Aden in 1914.
Azraqi Hasan ibn Ahmed. Loyal to us. Declares himself independent
of the Emir, to whom his adherence is very important.
Mihrabi
Ahl Ahmed
8. 'Audillah.
The 'Audillah is a predatory tribe mustering 5,000 fighting men
(including 'asakir) and inhabiting the Kaur, the main ridge of the Aden
Hinterland. It is bounded on the north by the Beida Sultanate, on the
south by the Oleh confederation of Dathinah, on the east by the 'Aulaqi,
and on the west by Yafa'. The tribesmen are mainly pastoral, but culti
vate sufficient barely for their needs. They hold a weekly market at
Laudar, near the south foot of the Kaur, which the neighbouring tribes
attend under a mutual understanding of neutrality. Here lives their
Sultan, Qasim ibn Hamld el-Ghabir, a man who is powerless to curb
their freebooting tendencies, but who provides the only ready channel
by which the tribe can be approached. He made overtures for treaty