‘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’ [186v] (377/490)
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.
SECTION IV.
ROUTES.
Group I. A. —Summary of Routes from Aden to Dala.
Stages and distances are from Shekh Othman, a town on the British border, 9J
miles north-west of Aden camp by a good metalled road. The camping-ground is at
the north-west end of the town, and there are several wells, the best of which are
slightly brackish.
All routes practicable for camel transport.
Route No.
Stages.
M1 tes.
Remarks.
I
6
75
By Bir Said Ali, Nobat Dukem, the Hardaba valley and
Nakil Rabad to Dala. Route regularly used by troops
marching. Line followed by Field Telegraph.
Alternative stages.
(a) By Lahej to Salim ... alternative to first two stages.
(b) West of Jimil Hill ... alternative to 5th stage.
(c) By Nakil Khureba ... ■ ) . , AtU .
(J, By Nakil Thoba ... j alternauve to 6lh sla g e '
{e) By Nakil Tuwana ... alternative to 5th and 6th
stages.
2
4
68
To Lahej, and thence by the Madefin route across the
desert to DarSheban, thence w/d Jimil to Ghail Hardaba
joining Route No. 1. Alternative to the first 45 stages
of No. 1. Very direct, but suitable for small mounted
parties only because of severe waterless desert march.
Alternative stage —By route across the desert from
Shaka, quite practicable for infantry.
3
7
75
By Nobat Dukem and the Mashwara route. Alternative
to the last half of Route No. 1, but involves two passes,
the Nakil Mashwara which is long and stiff, and the
Nakil Darja-an Nishfi which is rather difficult.
Alternative sfog*—From Matlah to Rahwat al Hanani
by Amrat Zubed, alternative to 4th and 5th stages, for
small parties.
4
8
90
By Nobat Dukem, Musemir, the Tiban Valley and
Wadi
A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows.
Tabaghain.
Alternative to the latter half of No. 1.
Favourable for troops, as there is plentiful wafer-supply,
and good going, the only difficulty being the Nakil
Darja-an Nishfi in the last stage.
Lateral communications.
X. From Habil Maswedainthe Tiban Valley below MusemirtoAl Milah.
2. From Safa Atla in the
Wadi
A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows.
Milah to As Soda in the
Wadi
A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows.
Suhebiya.
3. From the Tiban Valley up the
Wadi
A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows.
Makhran to Masna in the Selat Mashwara.
4. From the Tiban Valley up the
Wadi
A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows.
Shan to Khushan in the Azraki Valley.
5. From Ar Radu’a in the Hardaba Valley to Dar al Jabr in the
Wadi
A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows.
Dabab.
6. Front Dar al Jabr to Al Hajaf.
7. From Jimil to the Yafa country.
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’ [186v] (377/490), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/59, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100034845248.0x0000b2> [accessed 5 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