‘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’ [73r] (150/490)
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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
io6
Shahad, a commanding eminence south of Jalela > had been occupied and
fortified, and a detachment with a gun had been pos'ed on Jabal Jihaf.
This was the state of affairs when the British Commission, under
2 Colonel Waliab, arrived and encamped at
Dala on the 26th January, 1902.
The Turkish Commission arrived 3 weeks later, having been delayed
by various causes.
At the first meeting, the Turkish Commissioners advanced an extra
vagant claim which included Jabal Harir, the whole of the Shairi, Jabal
jihaf, the Mafari, Azraki, Mihrabi, Humedi and Ahmadi, and left to the
Amir little of his territories beyond the town of Dala itself and the
Hal min and A 1 Aj'ud countries. They drew a cordon of Arab levies at a
short distance round the north of Dala town with orders to fire upon
anyone w'ho attempted to pass from the British camp. They occupied
Jabal Mafari with Arab levies, and when a protest was made reinforced
them by regular troops. So uncompromising was their attitude that
negotiations were broken off and the situation referred to Government.
Strong diplomatic representations to the Porte proved ineffectual and*
the unsatisfactory state of affairs lasted throughout the year.
In December the Amir Shaif proceeded to India at the invitation of
1903. the Government, to attend 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).
.
He was accompanied by his son Sef and a
few Shekhs and followers. The party returned in February 1903.
In January 1903 a force consisting of the Dublin Fusibers, the 23rd
Bombay Rifles, No. 6 British Mountain Battery, the Abbottabad Mountain
Battery, two 7 pr. camel guns, and detachments of the Hampshire Rewi-
ment, the 2nd Bombay Grenadiers, the Aden Troop, and the Bombay
Sappers and Miners was concentrated at Dala, and military posts were
established at Nobat Dukem and Dar Akkan in the Tiban valley. The
ostensible object was to act as a support to the Commission in the event
of a proposed move into the Yafa country to the north-east. Two
cruisers of the Mediterranean squadron were retained at Aden. A field
telegraph was laid from Aden to Dala.
The effect^ upon the progress of the negotiations was soon apparent.
The Furks received ordeis from Constantinople to evacuate all positions
which they had occupied with military force subsequently to the agree
ment between the British and Ottoman Governments to delimit 0 the
frontier. They withdrew from Jabal Mafari, Jabal Jihaf, and Jabal Shahad,
and in hebruary the British Commissioners with a strong escort visited
those places, and the Ahl Haj Said district to verify the evacuation
Further pressure induced the Porte to order its Commissioners to
concede in principle the British claim for the Amir of Dala’s border and
to withdraw from Jalela. This they did on the 21st March, retiring’with
all their troops to Kataba. 0
c ,/ i ; he P° St at Jalela ' V3S occu P ied b Y a British detachment and the
Bnti-h Commission advanced to Sanah, a mile and a half south of
Kataba.
. Here fresh differences of opinion arose as to the detailed interpie-
tation 01 the British claim, and the Question had to be again referred to
the Governments at London and Constantiuopie.
In May 1903 outrages by some of the A 1 Aj’ud tribes upon the
caravan route led to the despatch from Dala of a column consisting of 100
About this item
- 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 View the complete information for this record
Use and share this item
- Share this item
‘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’ [73r] (150/490), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/59, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100034845247.0x000097> [accessed 6 April 2025]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100034845247.0x000097
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100034845247.0x000097">‘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’ [‎73r] (150/490)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100034845247.0x000097"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000884.0x0003b8/IOR_L_PS_20_59_0164.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000884.0x0003b8/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/20/59
- Title
- ‘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’
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:11v, 13r:14v, 16r:28v, 30r:30v, 32r:35r, 36r:36v, 38r:56v, 58r:67r, 68r:69r, 70r:79r, 80r:85v, 87r:88r, 89r:89v, 91r:95v, 97r:98v, 100r:101r, 102r:105v, 107r:108r, 109r:113r, 114r:116v, 118r:120v, 122r:124v, 126r:126v, 128r:130v, 132r:132v, 134r:135r, 136r:136v, 138r:157v, 159r:161v, 163r:163v, 165r:165v, 167r:182v, 184r:188v, 190r:190v, 192r:239v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence