File 600/1905 Pt 3 'Aden Hinterland: Situation; Withdrawal of Political Agent from Dthala; Treaties with Haushabi, Kotaibi and Alawi chiefs' [‎121v] (238/508)

4
D'lUin mielit be formally banded orer to the Abdali Snltan,* by whom a small
jja ° r^rricnn jg already maintained there,
* E . S^ot^mbeT 1905. ~S *. 293-296.
garrison
from there to Aden#
- It would seem important that the arms snd ammunition promised
under’ Hie agreements under reference should be presented simultaneously with
X sterling of the agreements themselves, _ and that the propped allowances
should be paid punctually upon the expiry of a month from the date of their
conclusion ; and I would recommend that the necessary orders should issue to
pncnrP this obiect.
8 As *o the draft agreements (Appendix “ A ”) these would seem to meet
reauirements and are baaed partly on agreements which have been formerly
concluded uith the Chiefs of this Protectorate, and partly on the lines of the
old Fael Zamin bonds of Kathiawar. They have not yet been commented on
bv the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , iTthala, but copies, together with a copy of this letter,
are being furnished to him at once, and any remarks or suggestions of import
ance wtich he may have to urge regarding them will be communicated with the
least possible delay.
0 Meanwhile I attach, for ready reference, copies of the marginally noted
agreements, as a separate Appendix “ B”
.which have previously been concluded
with the tribes concerned, and of the
agreement which the Kotaibi Chief refused
to sign in 19QA
1 .—H*ushabi Treaty, 1695 .
At-dUti-iiun-h.>bi Agreement, 18 E 5 .
U.— K-v. iihi Asre«nuTJt, 1SSS.
t'ropos-cd Agreement, 1904.
III. - Al*wi Tr»ty# 1 ** 95 :
Al*w i Agreem*r.t ngariins Dar A1 Qnabtan.
Memo. Ko 4£7, dated the 7tb July 1907. (Secret).
Froro—M ajor Jacob, Politica’ Agent, D'thala,
To—Thp First Assistant Resident at Aden.
Bead Government of India’s Secret Despatchf Xo. 74. dated 25th April
t Pro. No, 363 in Secret E„ Jnce 19:7, Nos. 349- 1907, tOthe address of His Majesty’s SeCTe-
3 : 4 . tary of State for India received with
Aden Residency’s Secret Xo. 3803, dated 22nd June 1907 ; and also Simla
Foreign Office telegram of 27th June 1907, to the address of Resident, Aden,
received with Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. Secret Xo, 3908 of 29th idem.
Hinterland politics ever were a Kaleidoscopic aspect. The Kotaihi tribes
men are not under Amiri control, nor indeed have they ever been so. Hinter
land History will corrobarate this assertion.
I believe that the concessions mentioned in paragraph 9 of the above quoted
Government of India's despatch are altogether suitable and imperative. I
cmnot predict—although elsewhere I have recommended this course—the
final working of the policy of paying the stipend through Amir Shaif. This
point I can forthwith elucidate by calling a meeting of the Chiefs concerned.
This need not delay the presentation to the Kotaibi Chief of the stipend and
arms, for in spite of my statement of the relative positions of the Amir of
IFthaia and the Kotaibi tribesmen, I believe I can arrange for the stipend
being now agreeably received through the Amir’s medium. The end in view is
sound and if attained—as I think very probable—will serve to enhance the
Amir’s importance, and will turther tend to militate against the general dis
integration (so visible everywhere) of the Amir’s suzerainty.
With an eminent wr iter and present day statesman I would ask ** what
purpose is served by an ideal (here Amiri suzerainty, if it is not to make a
guide for practice and a land mark in dealing with the real” (here tribal
democracy) :—and again, “if an ideal has no point of contact *\ith what exists
it is probably not much more than the rapid outcome of intellectual self-
indulgence. If it has such point of contact, then there is sure to be some
thing which a man can do towards the fulfilment of his hopes ”.
The least we can do is to keep in view this goal of Arairi suzerainty how
ever nebulous it may now indeed appear.