File 600/1905 Pt 5 'Aden Hinterland: Treaty with Sultan of Balahaf' [‎155v] (94/152)

11. Sultan Mohsin bin Saleh, on the other hand, has considerable personal
influence oyer the tribes and, as far as I have been able to ascertain, alone has
power to exercise any real control over them. This influence he has established
in the course of the past ten years by natural force of character and strength
of action.
12. It was in 1SS5 that Sultan Uadi binNasirof Balahaf, his elder brother
was elected to occupy the position of titular Sultan of the Wahidi. He, it is
to be noted, was the third of the Sultans of Balahaf to occupy this dual posi
tion, his predecessors being Nasir, bin Abdulla , the first Sultan of Balahaf,
and Ahmad bin Nasir his son. They, it will be remembered, were first granted
sole enjoyment of the revenues of Balahaf for themselves and their successors
by Sultan Abdulla, the eighth Sultan of the Wahidi, upon their fortifying the
post.
13. And it was very shortly after 1885 that, after a troubled and precarious
rule for a brief period only, Sultan Hadi proved himself incompetent to fill the
position to which he had been elected and was entirely ousted by his younger
and more enterprising brother, Sultan Mohsin bin Saleh.
14. During the next few years various troubles arose between Sultan
Mohsin and the tribes and inhabitants of the old capital of Habban. These
were mainly due to disputes concerning the property tax “ Ashur ” to a share
in which Sultan Mohsin laid a claim which was resisted by the inhabitants; a
certain influential merchant of Uabban of the family of Alaiwas being one of
his most vigorous opponents. And it was in consequence of these troubles that
Mohsin first made an ineffectual appeal to the Aden Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. , and then had
resort to the Upper Aulaki tribe, with whose assistance he reinstated himself at
Habban, but with wdiom he afterwards himself quarrelled owing to their
attempt to, in their turn, secure a share in the very property tax which was at
the bottom of all the troubles. ' -
15. The eventual outcome of those disturbances was that Sultan Mohsin
was compelled to vacate the old capital of Habban, and to reside instead at the
neighbouring town of Azzan which he has ever since made his head-quarters.
A descendant of another branch of the ruling family named Nasir bin Saleh
was invited to occupy the old seat of Government at Habban and to this day
occupies the position of Sultan of that town, and receives a share not of the old
property tax but of the customs dues. This Sultan Nasir, however, is now
evidently a nominal Sultan only. He is generally admitted to be a practical
nonentity and to only occupy his present position at Habban on sufferance.
16. Sultan Mohsin’s fresh application for assistance to the Aden Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India.
which was refused in 1894, and the refusal of which led to his intrigues with
the French and Turks and culminated in the conclusion of the treaty of 1895,
in which Mohsin was not included as a signatory are comparatively modern
history. In 1901, it wall be remembered, that the Sultans of Balahaf, including
Sultan Saleh tin Abdulla, and various other Sheikhs of the Wahidi wished
Sultan Mohsin to be recognised as titular Sultan and that their request was
negatived in Government Resolution, Political Department, No. 2845, dated
16th April 1902. Recent events connected with the loot of the buggalow Large trading vessel.
•‘Fateh al-Salam” I need not here recapitulate.
17. The main fact is that Sultan Mohsin bin Saleh has throughout all
vicissitudes maintained a position of supremacy in Balahaf affairs and of com
parative supremacy throughout the Wahidi country which he still occupies,
and that he is really the only nominee for the tribal sultanate whom the
Bedawin tribes of the district will in any way recognize.
18. It is admitted that the Sultanate of Bir Ali is independent, and it may
be admitted that the Sultanate of Habban is also tacitly recognized. But the
most influential chief of the country and the only chief who really exercises
control over the tribes is Sultan Mohsin bin Saleh, who may still be termed
Sultan of Balahaf and its dependencies, but who really occupies at his head
quarters of Azzan the position held in former days by the old Sultans of Hab
ban, coupled with that of the leading representative of the family which enjoys
the revenues of the port of Balahaf.
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