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‘Military report on the British Protectorate of Aden and the Amir of Dala’s territories, with special reports on certain other tribes and adjoining border districts’ [‎20r] (44/490)

The record is made up of 1 volume (243 folios). It was created in 1905-1908. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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17
previously mentioned. The administration of civil and criminal justice is
according to the usual Mahomedan law, and is in the hands of the Kadi
of Lahej, but the Sultan occasionally adjudicates in serious cases.
The Akrabi
Are a small tribe of some 250 fighting men. They bear a warlike
reputation and were originally a sub-tribe of the Abdali, till over ico years
back, they asserted their independence, and wrested the fort of Bir
Ahmad from the Sultan of Lahej The revenue they originally derived
from transit dues has greatly declined, and their chief source of income is
the sale of forage, jowari, wood, etc.
The Yafa'i.
Yafa is divided into two powerful tribes connected by origin and inter
course, but quite separate from the point of view of administration.
The two main divisions are, according to British nomenclature, the
Upper Yafa'i and the Lower Yafa’i. These divisions are based on the
respective geographical positions of the tribes as well as on the fact
of the Upper Yafa’i inhabiting higher country. At the same time, these
appellations are not technically correct as the Arabic name for the Upper
Yafa’i is the Yafa’i as Sufal (Sufal meaning “ low,”) and the Lower
Yafa’i are always referred to as the Yafa’i Bani Kasid. Although it is as
well to mention this anomaly, it will be found simpler to retain the accus
tomed designations of “Upper ” and “ Lower " throughout.
The Upper Yafa’i or Yafa'i as Sufal are a large and warlike tribe in
habiting a very rugged and mountainous country As no British force has
ever penetrated into it, is more than usually difficult to gauge their fighting
strengths This has, however, been estimated at some 20,000 to 25,000
fighting men.
The Upper Yafa’i are divided into 5 main tribes, and certain dependen
cies, owning allegiance to the Sultan, are also included among them.
The principal divisions of Upper Yafa proper are —
The Mausata, numbering some 8,000 fighting men.
The Dube, numbering about 5,000 fighting men.
The Muflahai numbering some 5,000 men.
The B’osi, numoering some 500 men.
The Da’ucii, numbering some 500 men.
Each of these sub-tribes are further sub-divided into a number of clans.
In addition, there are the following Utached tribes :—
The Shaibi, with a fighting strength of about 2,500.
Rube’aten with some 400 fighting men.
N avva ,, ,, ,, ,,
Juban „ „ 800 „ „
Dabiani „ „ w „ „
The ruler of the Upper rata’i is the Sulttn Kahtan bin’Umr. His
authority is, however, far from absolute, and he might rather be described
as the hereditary chief in time of war or nat onal stress.
The Mausata are, under the rul# of a chief, styled the Nakib, and
except that they now acknowledge the frmily of Kahtan, the Ahl She Mi Ali
[C57QMGIB] C

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Content

The volume, a military report compiled in the Intelligence Branch of the QMG’s [Quartermaster General’s] Department and published at the Government Central Printing Office, Simla, is comprised of several sections, as follows:

  • section I, a Military Report on the British Protectorate of Aden , prepared by Captain Ernest Arthur Frederick Redl (ff 10-52), and including chapters on: geography; ethnography, with details of the different tribes living in the Protectorate; climate and health; natural resources; harbours and anchorages; communications; fortresses; history; native inhabitants’ administration; the military organisation and strength of native inhabitants; and political relations. A handwritten note is included in the report (f 49), and concerns the entitlements of Protectorate Chiefs to salutes, and issue to them of arms and ammunition, 1906;
  • section II, a Report on the Amir of Dala’s [Ad Dali’] Territories , prepared by Major J K Tod (ff 54-118), and including chapters on: geography; ethnography; climate and health; resources; communications; forts and fortified posts; history; administration, and military. Following the report is a gazetteer providing greater detail of the sixteen districts in Dala, including: topography; ruling families and allegiances; villages and population figures, including numbers of fighting men; water resources; agricultural and industrial activities;
  • section III, Reports on Haushabi, Subehi and Yafa’i Tribes, Turkish and North Western Border Districts and the River Tiban , divided into chapters, all prepared by Captain Redl unless otherwise specified, on: 1) the Haushabi [al-Ḥawshabī] (ff 120-130), and including a handwritten note, dated December 1905 (f 122), noting that the Sultan of Haushabi has agreed to abide by an agreement of 1895; 2) the Subehi tribes near the Turkish border (ff 130-144); 3) the districts of Turkish Yemen adjoining the British boundary (ff 144-165); 4) Tribes of the north-west frontier Region of British India bordering Afghanistan. (ff 165-172); 5) a memorandum of the Yafa’i [Yāfi‘] tribe, prepared by Captain Gonville W Warneford (ff 172-183); 6) The Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Tiban (ff 184-185);
  • section IV, Routes (ff 186-228), detailing numerous routes between key points in Aden province, noting: distances; stages; nature of the terrain and its suitability for different modes of transport; available resources en route; territories crossed. A (duplicated) confidential memorandum, written by Captain G A F Sanders of the Aden Brigade, dated 24 August 1905, containing additional information for stages 5 and 6 of route 5 has been added to the volume (ff 195-198);
  • appendix I, a brief statement on inland trade between Aden and the Arabian mainland, 1903 (ff 229-230).

The volume is extensively illustrated throughout with fold-out maps, plans and illustrations, prepared by the Intelligence Branch (I.B.) and all of which describe the topography and terrain of the region. There are three maps included in a pocket at the end of the volume: a map of the Aden Protectorate (f 242); a view from the ruined village of Lakmat Magharam about one-and-a-half miles west of Sanah [Ṣanʻā'] (f 240); and a road sketch from Khalla through Awabil [‘Awābil] to the upper plateau of the Rubiatein [Ar Rubay‘atayn] tribe (f 241).

Extent and format
1 volume (243 folios)
Arrangement

The volume is arranged in four sections (numbered I-IV), with a single appendix. Sections I-III are arranged in numbered chapters while section IV is arranged in twenty-three numbered routes. The volume’s contents page (ff 6-8) lists the sections and their respective chapters/routes, with page numbers referring to the volume’s printed pagination system. A general index (ff 231-238) lists placenames referred to in the volume in alphabetically ascending order, also with page numbers referring to the volume’s printed pagination.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 243; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.

Pagination: the file contains an original printed pagination sequence.

Written in
English in Latin script
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‘Military report on the British Protectorate of Aden and the Amir of Dala’s territories, with special reports on certain other tribes and adjoining border districts’ [‎20r] (44/490), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/59, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100034845247.0x00002d> [accessed 2 April 2025]

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