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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’ [‎145r] (294/490)

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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21 I
The system adopted by the Turks in more distant regions is to select
some Shekh of strong (and probably unscrupulous) character and to farm
out the tithes to him. He has the moral support of the Government, and,
in consequence of the abuses necessarily resulting from such a system,
not infrequently the support of the Government troops to enforce the
payment of taxes, often in excess of the actual assessment.
Other districts again, either by reason of their distance, or their
inaccessibility; refuse payment altogether. The Turkish procedure, in such
cases, takes the form of a military expedition consisting of a few hundred
infantry and a mountain gun or two, which at intervals of some 7 years,
visits the defaulting districts. In case of very distant or less productive
districts, the visitation may only occur once in 10 to 15 years.
The inhabitants either flee or offer resistance, generally the latter.
The resistance having been overcome and the inhabitants having fled, the
Turkish force establishes itself in the district, laying hands on all that they
can in the way of supplies and portable property, and usually knocking
down the Shekh’s and chief men’s towers “ pour encourager les autres ”.
When the people are tired of staying away, they^ open negotiations, with
the invariable result of their compromising with a lump sum for their
arrears. The Turkish force then moves to the next district. If the first
occupation has been really effectual, less resistance may be looked for on
subsequent occasions.
Such raids or “revenue-collecting” expeditions constitute in many
cases the only pretence of Turkish rule or administration.
Briefly then, Turkish districts may be said to come under one of three
heads—
(а) Districts which pay directly and with regularity to the
Government.
(б) Districts whose taxes are farmed out to local Shekhs strong
enough to enforce payment (with occasional armed assistance).
(<?) Districts which only pay under compulsion when visited by
a strong Turkish military force.
The districts on the British boundary from the Kaza of Kataba to the
Badu, would be included in the first and second categories; Yusufi, Kubati,
Humedi, and Zureki in the third; while the Hakmi, again, are under the
influence cf the Turkish representatives at Shekh Said and Mokha.
Regular garrisons in the vicinity of the frontier exist at Taiz, usual strength
500 men* to 1 or 2 battalions,— at Kataba—probably 50 to 200 men
normally, at Shekh Said and Mokha, 2 companies normally at each.
Though not actually near the border it is as well to mention Turbat-at-Tayar
in Dubhan ; there is always a small garrison there and it is used as a base
for tax-collecting expeditions. On these occasions troops are moved up
from Taiz or from wherever they can be spared. The Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Ma’din can
be reached thence either by the Nakil Basit and the Hakimi country or past
Makatira and through the Humedi.
A fruitful source of border incidents is the line of frontier customs
posts, which exist at the following places
j Qn the Amiri border near Kataba, a customs post with a levy of
some 20 Arabs mostly from the A 1 Aud district. Their nominal

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.

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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’ [‎145r] (294/490), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/59, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100034845248.0x00005f> [accessed 5 April 2025]

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