File 37/1905 Pt 4 'Aden Frontier Delimitation' [‎31v] (69/1197)

12
maintained that the orders as to withdrawal ^"tcordinS/lotinued 0 ^
STd did not affeot their Arab levies, w 'ich t ey 7
maintain. “ Suheb ” they affected to .^ de .^ u a ^ m T“ part of Jalela, which
of the Shairi country, Jabal bhahad bm ^ th X no ; th . P eastern delimitation,
was not mentioned m the Irade. ^ admit that the Yaffai and
the Turkish Commissioners continued to ref claimed the Shairi and
Aulaki were included in the nine tribes, and ^ey stiU clai J ^ Their
Shaibi, and all the Amin country to the eas d south-east, and having
idea of delimiting north-east was in fact to 0 jadthli border, and then
struck the Bana river, to follow its course to bo hadUU 1 w
along that to the sea, thus cutting off from Ade ^ whom p ^ oteo torate
tmtiePhtdlitt concluded* ' The only effect, ^^^V^nd 1 M^rTcthere
were^none^at^that time^at* Lakhmat-as-^Saleh™ and this ^neutralised by the
continued presence of the Arab levies.
The Turkish Commissioners further declined to take part in a joint survey of
"Sa£»“Zli t »"rZ iofoTmatbc .< ». »» .
from the existing maps on either side.
54. Colonel Wahah also reported that, in spite of the endeavours of the
British Commission to establish friendly relations with their Turkish col eagu s,
the attitude of the latter continued to he one of suspicion, and even _ of hostility
At night the Turkish patrols were pushed out from Jalela to within a snort distance
of the British camp, and by day their Arab levies watched every movement. Shots
were fired at the camp on the night of the 24th November, and somewhat late
a solitary unarmed sepoy Term used in English to refer to an Indian infantryman. Carries some derogatory connotations as sometimes used as a means of othering and emphasising race, colour, origins, or rank. having strayed out of camp towards Jalela, was fired
on bv Arab levies from that place. Colonel Wahab further informed the
Resident at Aden that it would be necessary to occupy Dthala with a force
approximately equal to the Turkish force at Jalela, which, when reinforced by
the garrisons to be withdrawn from the other posts, would amount to not less
than°400 men with 4 or 5 guns, and ftie Resident telegraphed for permission
to mobilize the Aden column and to purchase 1,000 camels.
55 . Colonel Wahab also proposed, in a letter to the Resident dated 16th
November, that treaties should he entered into with the Yaffai-as-Safal (Upper
Yaffai) and the Upper Aulaki, and on the 18th November he wrote that he did
not consider it would be possible for the Commission to move to the north-east
until a satisfactory understanding had been come to with the Sultans and Sheikhs
of the former, for, in spite of their expressed desire for British protection, the
jealousies of rival factions would make an advance into their country a very
hazardous proceeding until their full support had been secured.
56. The question of treaties with these tribes had in fact been engaging
the attention of the Aden 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. for some time
^Foreign department letter p as t. As far back as July 1901 the Viceroy of India
t°i’ atG bt had desired the Resident* to report on the desirability
0 f concluding treaties with the Upper Yaffai (Yaffai-
as-Saf^l) and Upper Aulaki, also with the minor chiefships of Bedaand Behan;
and the Resident had expressed an opinion in favour of making formal agree
ments with all the north-eastern tribes. It was known that the Turks had
induced two leading men of the Yaffai-as-Safal to accept stipends, and though
this arrangement had been repudiated by the tribe as a whole, and the persons
in question had little power, the fact enabled the Turks to lay claim to the tribe.
Overtures had also been made by the Turks to Behan and to the Upper Aulakis.
On 26th October 1901 the Resident wrote :—“ I would strongly recommend that
a treaty he concluded with the Upper Y r affai. If Government approve this, and
if treaties are also concluded with the Chiefs of Beda and Behan and the Upper
Anlakis, our protectorate *vould, I think, be completely secure against any
serious encroachment” (in that quarter). “Disputes as to boundaries there
may be until a line has been demarcated from the sea-coast to the great desert,
but I should not anticipate much trouble in the case of the Upper Yaffai country.