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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’ [‎80v] (165/490)

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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¥
Jabal S ha-
had.
Kharba
ridgp.
Communi
cations on
the pla
teau.
116
for troops. The crest line then rises to the flat-topped ridge of Jaba
Harir which bounds the view to the east.
Enclosed in this amphitheatre of mountains lies the Dala plateau.
Its eastern part is broken by tbe rocky ridges of the Shairi country
which rise to a high peak at their southern end, \\hile north of them Jabal
Akram of the Muflahai (Yafa) stands conspicuous.
Immediately north-east of Dala town is a mass of rocky hills which
hide from view the open plain at the head of the Khureba pass. Just
beyond these hills to the north stands the commanding isolated hill Jabal
Shahad, which over-looks all routes across the plateau from Dala, and
from the Khureba pass, and which was fortified and occupied by the
Turks throughout 1902.
In the plain that lies stretched below as one looks north from Jabal Di
Bet, the village of A 1 Kabar on a conical hill is a central object a mile
distant.
Half a mile further north is the shrine of Wali Shafi, which stands at
the eastern foot of the Kharba ridge : this is a narrow sharp crested ridge
which rises 150 to 200 feet above the plain, and lies across it east and west
about £ a mile in length. Near its western end, not far from the foot of
Jabal Jihaf is another abrupt rocky hill on which stands the village of Ar
Rabat.
Looking past the eastern side of A 1 Kabar, and about a mile beyond it
A 1 Jalela is seen, on a low ridge which runs north-w'est from Jabal Shahad. ^ ,
A mile and a half north of A 1 Jalela another isolated hill, Jabahas Soda,
similar in appearance to Jabal Shahad rises from the middle of the plain.
Kataba is visible on a clear day, the direction being over Wali Shafi
and the low hills near Sirafi. Over the western shoulder of Jabal-as-Soda
3 towers on a ridge mark the position of Lakmat Ash Sh’ub, and still
further A 1 Ukla may be discerned at the foot of the Mares hills.
Over the eastern shoulder of Jabal Shahad, A 1 Husen, where a weekly
Tuesday market is held, may be seen on a spur which runs west from
Jabal Akram.
The main route from Dala to Kataba goes past A 1 Kabar, and A 1
Jalela, passes east of Jabal-as-Soda, and joining the main caravan route
by the Nakil Khureba goes north passing near the Shairi villages of
Lakmat A 1 Hajfar, Jalas, and A 1 Wab’eh, passes west of A 1 Minadi and
Af Khobar, and east of Sanah. An alternative path almost equally good
goes from Jalela, west of Jabal-as-Soda, and cuts into the first near Jalas. .5-
The distance from Dala to Kataba is 12 miles.
Another route on leaving Dala crosses the‘ habils ’ on the western side
of the valley, goes by Ar Rabat, A 1 W’ara, Kaukaba and Sirafi, thence
skirts the foot of Jabal Jihaf passing Shab-al-As'ud, and Bajaha, and
going dowm the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Haza, whence it branches either north to Kataba
or west by Habil-as-Suk to the Tiban valley. This route is a good deal
more winding and rougher than the first.
A somewhat rough path leads along the foot of the Shairi hills to A
Husen.
There are many lateral communications, paths between all villages.

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
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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’ [‎80v] (165/490), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/59, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100034845247.0x0000a6> [accessed 4 April 2025]

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