![‘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’ [‎129v] (263/490)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000884.0x0003b8/IOR_L_PS_20_59_0301.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "‘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’ [‎129v] (263/490)")
‘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’ [129v] (263/490)
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.
with bad, but forage (karbi) sufficient for some 500 animals, and in
ordinary seasons, jowari, would probably be available with a day’s notice.
The hired camel men with the Boundary Commission have found no
difficulty in supplying their camels (300 to 400) with karbi, on which they
principally subsist, while in the "Amri country.
Wood and Fuel —
^ The^Wadis are all well wooded, tamarisk being the commonest tree.
Rak and ‘ ashak which afford good camel grazing, as well as mimo
sa, are frequently seen. There is a grove of date-palms near the springs
of Hav^mi. The “ulub ’ (ber) tree grows among the cultivation. They
are much valued by the Arabs as camel and cattle food/ are carefully
pruned, and considered as private property. The upper part of the
Wadi
A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows.
Hidaba, above A 1 'shar, is exceptionally green and well* wooded, bastard
fig, with tamarind and a few palms furnishing the principle varieties.
The grazing is, however, better in the lower reaches. The Amri country
would be considered distinctly good, as a camel grazing country as south
Arabian countries go, and plenty of fuel can be procured everywhere.
Villages —
These, as a rule, are poorly built and consist of a cluster of stone hovels
with one, or a few, roughly built stone “ dars " (towers) among them.
A good many dars having teen knocked down by the Haushabi Sultan
in the last few years, the people are probably w’aiting for more settled
times before rebuilding. The villages in the neighbourhood of Hidaba,
the residence of the Head-Shekh, are somewhat more prosperous in ap
pearance. An uncommon feature is the presence, in this part, of conical
thatched roofs to the stone houses. Bee-hives are often to be found in
large numbers near the villages, and a considerable quantity of honey
must be produced. Many of the villages possess one solidly built tower,
generally in a commanding position, which serves as a “Keep” for the
inhabitants in time of alarm. The Haushabi Sultan has a strongly built
tower at Minjara, garrisoned by about half a dozen of his soldiers of
whom he maintains 50 to loo, mostly in Musemir, in a commandino-
position on the left bank of the
Wadi
A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows.
Hidaba, with the object o*f
overawing the Subehi raiders.
Occupations-*
I he people seem to have no particular trade or industry. Most of
them are engaged in tilling their land and some in the carrying trade
between Aden and Turkish Yemen. There was formerly a market at
Hawemi, but lately owing to the excessive dues levied by the Sultan,
it has fallen in to desuetude. The people do most of their buying and
selling at Mirza, or Suk al Hurvva, in Turkish Yemen, and at Suk ar
Rabu just over the Kubati border.
Livestock—
Few cattle and sheep have been observed. Goats, however, are more
plentiful. Small numbers of cattle, etc., could be purchased at the
various villages. Chickens and eggs, in small quantities also obtainable.
1 here are no horses and few donkeys.
Camels —
Probably 300 is quite the outside number of working camels in the
country. Many of these are engaged in the carrying trade between
Ta.z or Mavta and Aden. After about a week's notice, the Commission
were able to hire 80 camels iOcally.j
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
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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’ [129v] (263/490), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/59, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100034845248.0x000040> [accessed 4 April 2025]
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- 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