ملف رقم ٦٠٠ لسنة ١٩٠٥ الجزء ٦ "المنطقة الداخلية لعدن: يافع العليا؛ معاهدات مع السلطان قحطان وزعماء آخرين" [و‎‎٥‎٤] (٢١٢/١٠٣)

Political Department.
Bombay Castle, 22nd December 1905.
From
The Honourable SirSTEYNING W. EDGERLEY, K.C.V.O., C.I.E.,
Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay ;
To
Sir LOUIS W. DANE, K.C.T.E., C.S.I.,
Secretary to the Government of India,
Foreign Department.
Sir,
I am directed to invite a reference to the marginally* noted corre
spondence relative
1903.
Letter to the Govemmontof India, No. 193-p., dated the 19th August
to the negotiation
Telegram from the Government of India, No. 2064-e., dated ihe 1st Q +,. Ql f TT
September 1903. 01 a treat y With
1903^ ^ ^ overnment * n( h a > No* 268, dated the 4th November Sultan Kahtan bin
Letter from the Government of India, No. 61-e.a., dated the 8th Omar of the Upper
January 1904. Yaffai.
2. I am to forward, for the orders of the Government of India, a copy of
a letter No. 6857, dated the Cth November 1905, and of its enclosures, from the
Political Resident, Aden, from which it will be seen that Sultan Kahtan does
not occupy the position with his tribesmen which he was represented to possess
when the treaty of October 1903 was concluded with him. He is evidently
unable to fulfil his covenants with us and has lost any nominal position he held
amongst the Yaffai. It is probably true that in the stress of boundary delimita
tion persons coming forward as representing the tribe were too readily accepted
at their own valuation. It will be seen that there is a divergence of opinion
between Major Jacob and General Mason as to the best attitude to adopt. The
latter is of opinion that it would be impolitic to abandon Sultan Kahtan at the
present juncture. He suggests that the loss of his position by Sultan Kahtan
was the direct outcome of his having entered into treaty relations with us and
therefore recommends that the stipend of $ 50 per mensem now paid to him
should be converted into a personal allowance.
3. His Excellency is inclined to believe that he could never have had more
than a purely nominal position and that if he had really been a person of weio-ht
m the counsels of the tribe his visit to Aden would not have led to the results
attributed to it. His Excellency the Governor in Council thinks that it would
.better therefore to intimate to Sultan Kahtan that Government treated
with him as Chief and that, as he is not in a position to perform the oblio-ations
he undertook, Government must recognize that fact and act accordino-ly i e
consider the agreement with him at an end. It is for the Governmental India
o consider whether anything in the shape of compensation should be paid to
oultan Kahtan. His Excellency the Governor in Council is not inclined to