File 600/1905 Pt 6 'Aden Hinterland: Upper Yaffai; treaties with Sultan Kahtan and other Chiefs' [‎92r] (179/212)

No. 250, dated Aden, the 9th August 1903 (Confidential).
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. at Aden,
To—The Hon’ble Mr. S. W. Edgerley, C.I.E., Secretary to the Government of
Bombay, Political Department.
I have the Roiiour to state that X received from Colonel Wahab, on the
5th instant, a copy of his letter to the Secretary, Government of India, No. 308,
dated 28th July 1903, which I had not before seen. The letter, which was
probably written before the receipt of the telegrams of the Government of
India of 25th July, is of a controversial character, but I think I may notice
one point, viz., the remark in paragraph 4 regarding the expediency of men
tioning, in the treaty with the Mausatta, the outlying dependencies of Nawa
and Juban.
2 . I have explained in paragraph 17 of my letter No. 224 of 2nd August,
sent by last mail, that we purposely avoided mentioning the dependencies of
the tribes in the treaties. The instructions of the Secretary of State were to
avoid pledges likely to cause difficulty when demarcation takes place. Further,
it has not been customary to name dependencies in treaties with the Aden
tribes. I do not think there is any instance in which dependencies have been
named in such treaties. In the absence of very much fuller information than
we possess, it would, I think, have been highly dangerous to insert in a treaty
the names of dependencies which are on the border land between the Yaffai-as-
Saffal and Turkish territory. As far as our information goes, the Turks are
likely to put in a claim to Juban, and nothing definite is known here about
Nawa.
3. I would add that, as I understand the position, it appears to be
peculiarly the province of the Boundary Commission to determine the status of
the outlying districts on the borders of the tribes within the sphere of British
influence, and that any attempt on the part of this Besidency to enter into
such questions would lead to complications, and possibly create those difficulties
which I was specially instructed to avoid.
4i. With regard to the grievances of Ali Mohsin Askar and his quarrel
with his uncle, Ali Askar, the Nakib of the Mausatta, which form the subject
of Colonel Wahab’s No. 312, dated 3rd August 1903, a brief explanation is
perhaps desirable. Ali Mohsin Askar, though usually regarded as the
probable successor to the Chiefship of the Mausatta, and the person who
carries on, in the name of his uncle, most of the business of the tribe, has no
claim to have his name inserted in a treaty; and if he had proposed this, his
uncle would probably have disallowed it at once. Ali Mohsin Askar, besides
what he has done for the Commission, has certainly been of assistance in
arranging the Mausatta treaty, and in appeasing the feud between his uncle
and Sultan Kahtan. He placed, however, rather a high value on his services,
and wanted a regular stipend for himself. This was impracticable, stipends
being only granted by treaty; but after much discussion I told him that I
would allow him a fixed sum out of the allotment for Darbar 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). presents which
is at the disposal of the Resident. Government will no doubt remember that,
when I first took up the appointment of Resident at Aden, the whole of the
allotment (now standing at Rs. 31,000) was apportioned among the tribes.
This was a tentative arrangement. After watching its working for some
time I reported against it, and Government approved its abandonment. But
there seemed to me no insuperable objection to granting a sort of personal
allowance out of the “ Darbar 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). Presents ”, as a special case. The allowance
(twenty dollars a month) is strictly contingent on Ali Mohsin Askar’s good
behaviour and further assistance when required. He appeared to be well
satisfied and our parting was perfectly cordial.
5. The quarrel between Ali Mohsin Askar and his uncle was on this
wise.
Under arrangements made by the First Political Assistant, the Nakib
was given a lump sum, calculated on a certain scale, for the parting presents