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File 37/1905 Pt 4 'Aden Frontier Delimitation' [‎36r] (78/1197)

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The record is made up of 1 file (596 folios). It was created in 1904. It was written in English, Arabic and French. 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
would have to be Mdertak^Hho^tthe goods'll of tTe^Mausatt ’’''s'l”',’,/
among the Yaffai sections, and partly on accounf Tth^ Tuik' j f lousies
to create a party hostile to the TWJ«h q if ^ Turkish endeavours
serious rival il fte peln of h s brotwLmu'v^ 86 ) had a
receipt of Turkish pay and was 11 TT , bl ? 0mar ’ who had been in
He had once already driven KaL n m 1 ° f l 11 ® P ro - Turkis h party,
the latter had turnedttm tables onhLandreSstawlt^ t , h ° U = h
moving about the Yaffai country with a small follow?™ „ Saleh was
opportunities of doing mischief. following, on the look-out for
sfAtstscTzrs %i c c;
ompany had been withdrawn, as already stated, and the 2 nd Battalion Dublin
lusihers (originally only 600 strong) had been diminished by invaliding &c
unti no more than 400 rifles remained with the Head-Quarters. Besides the
Dublins, there were at Dthala about 300 of the 1 st Bitlfllmn TTarwrvoi-.'
regiment, and 550 ot* the 123rd Rifles (Native Infantry) • also No 6
Mountain Battery and two 7-poundei camel ^ lit fe^o e
1,200 infantry and eight mountain guns. This was by no means a lai-e force
m the circumstances, and owing to the retention in Somaliland of °the 600
nfantry sent over at a time of alarm (paragraph 89), no reinforcements
could be sent up from Aden, without unduly diminishing the garrison of that
place^ Further, the attitude of some of the tribes on the line of communication
T t0 , u ^ asme ® s » and was necessary to keep two or three hundred
Native Infantry at the posts on the road, for the protection of convoys and
travellers between Nobat Dakim and Dthala. J 93
93. It had already been found necessary to send a small column into the
country of the Ahl Abdulla, one of a group of tribes known collectively as the
AI Ajud. Ihese elans acknowledge the suzerainty of the Amir of Dthala but
are not much under his control. They inhabit the hilly country between the
Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Hard aba, up which goes the road to Dfchala, and the middle course of the
narrow valley of the river Bana. Their position on the flank of the Dthala
road gives them an importance they would not otherwise possess. The obiective
of the column was the village of Dthabra, the people of which had been concerned
m several petty attacks on travellers and small convoys. The village was
reached after slight resistance, and its towers and principal houses destroyed
The troops afterwards returned to Dthala, by another road, without encountering
an enemy. This was in May, and since then the Ahl Abdulla had been
quiet, but the Kotaibi, who are the strongest of the Al Ajud clans, were givino-
trouble over the collection of dues from passing caravans. This was an ancient
source of difficulty. Many years before it had been decided that the Kotaibi
had no right to enforce the payment of dues by persons travelling on the
Dthala road, and some punishment had even been inflicted on them ; but owino*
to the inactivity which had been imposed on the Residents of Aden, of
late years, by the complaints of the Turks at every movement made outside of
Aden itself, the matter had been allowed to drop, and the Kotaibi Chief collected
money from traders and others using the road, without let or hindrance; nor
would the Resident now have interfered, owing to the importance of keeping
the country quiet while the Boundary Commission was in it, had not the Sheikh
greatly increased the payments he exacted, refused to visit either the Resident
or his suzerain the Amir, and behaved with insolence towards caravans bringin 0 *
supplies to the troops. He was, therefore, informed that his right to levy dues
was not recognised, and that the practice must cease. -To oblige the Kotaibi
to^ comply, and to protect the road where it is adjacent to their country, a
military post was established at the village of Sulek, and garrisoned by 80
Native Infantry under a British Officer. The posts at Nobat Dakim and
Hardaba were also strengthened.
con 1049—6

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Content

This file contains correspondence and documents related to the work of the Aden Boundary Commission, the British Government body tasked with the delineation of the borders of the British Protectorate of Aden. Much of the correspondence in the file relates specifically to the Subaihi border region.

The file contains a number of letters from Colonel Robert Alexander Wahab, the Commissioner of the Aden Boundary Commission, sent to the Political and Secret Department of the 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. in London (and the British Political 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. in Aden). The file also contains extracts from Wahab's diary related to his work on the commission.

The file contains a detailed report on the demarcation of the frontier entitled: 'Report on the Demarcation of the Frontier between the Tribes in the Protectorate of Aden and the Turkish Province of Yemen; by Major-General P. J. Maitland, C.B., Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. at Aden' (folios 25-44).

The file contains a number of maps as follows:

  • a printed map of the Sheikh Sa'id Peninsula (folio 94);
  • a printed map of the border region of the British protectorate of Aden (folio 112);
  • a printed map entitled 'Map of Haushabi and Subaihi Border' with list of place names in English and Arabic (folio 237);
  • a printed map of the Sheikh Sa'id Peninsula (folio 239);
  • a hand-drawn entitled 'Map Illustrating Southern Subaihi Frontier Proposals Referred to in Sir N O'Conor's Telegram No. 112' (folio 288);
  • a printed sketch-map entitled 'Aden Boundary Commission Survey Sketch Accompanying No. 19 of 15th March 1904' (folio 291);
  • a printed sketch entitled 'Aden Boundary Commission Survey Sketch Accompanying No. 21 of 15th March 1904' (folio 456);
  • a printed map entitled 'Aden Frontier Survey, Subaihi Boundary in Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Ma'din' (folio 457).

The file also contains correspondence related to French claims of ownership over Sheikh Said (Cheikh Said), a peninsula near the island of Perim on the Mandeb Strait at the entrance to the Red Sea. The file contains original copies of articles on this topic that were printed in the French newspaper La Dépêche Coloniale in September and October 1904 .

The majority of the correspondence in the file is in English, but also enclosed is a limited amount of correspondence from the Ottoman Ambassador in London that is in French.

The volume includes a divider which gives the year that the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references contained in it arranged by year. This divider is placed at the front of the volume.

Extent and format
1 file (596 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.

The Subject 37 (Aden) contains 5 files, IOR/L/PS/10/63-67.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation commences at the inside front cover and terminates at the inside back cover; 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.

Written in
English, Arabic and French in Latin and Arabic script
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File 37/1905 Pt 4 'Aden Frontier Delimitation' [‎36r] (78/1197), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/66, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100027010726.0x00004f> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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