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Coll 1/12 'Policy in the Protectorate: treaty with the Upper Yafai Chiefs, and other Chiefs in the Protectorate' [‎142r] (283/376)

The record is made up of 1 file (188 folios). It was created in 14 Feb 1929-1 Aug 1939. 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

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IttAdraamut) - which prosont the eemblaoce of an
orderly natiro J5tate* The tribewcen for tae jaoet
part are wild t intensely conservative and used to
modern firearms* The authority exercised by their
chiefs is local and often precarious* &ven a British
officer travelling on duty has usually to obtain
permission to enter a tribal territory and is expected
to make presents in cash for the most trifling
assistance he may receive* In these circumstances trie
continuance of a policy of aloof indifference diluted
with bribes will be difficult* and the success of our
endeavours by diplomacy and* on occasion* Air force
to ensure quiet - if no progress or trade development •
in our Protectorate seems very problematical* It is*
1 consider* essential to decide on our future policy
and to begin its execution at a time when* by the
tardy fulfilment of our treaty obligation of
protection* our prestige is higher than it was and
other local circumstances are not unfavourable*
7. A possible policy* in view of tne growth of
the Arab National Movement and the emergence of an
independen t Yemen State* would be to renounce our
Protectorate over the greater part of tne territory and
leave the inhabitants to the - not very tender - mercy
of the 2eidi ruler* however satisfactory the effect
on our immediate relations with the Imam* the
inevitable consequence of this would be to make enemies
of tribesmen who are now passively our friends and to
leave them to a government which is 1 think incapable*
so far away from its centre, of preventing their enmity
finding constant expression in interferenoe with
trading caravans and other aggressive acts against ue*

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Content

The file contains papers regarding proposals to alter the basis of treaty relationships with tribes in the Aden Protectorate, comprising annotated treaty drafts, plus correspondence between the Foreign Office, the Colonial Office, 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. Political Department, the Aden Resident (later Chief Commissioner, then Governor), and the Air Ministry.

The correspondence primarily concerns a proposal by the Resident (Sir Stewart Symes) to replace existing individual tribal treaties with a single instrument, and to cease payments of fixed stipends for general service in favour of payments for services rendered. The proposed change in policy was later abandoned by the Chief Commissioner, Sir Bernard Reilly.

The correspondence also concerns Symes's conference at Lahej, and the pact with the Lahej and other Chiefs to defend against Yemeni incursion into the Aden Protectorate; the deteriorating relationship between the Aden Protectorate and the Imam of San'a; and the suggestion by the Resident that a Chiefs' council should be established along the lines of the tribal councils in Baluchistan, to act as the central authority for the settlement of tribal affairs.

The papers dated 1939 concern the Tripartite Agreement with the Qu'ayti [Qu'ayṭī] and Kathiri Sultans in the Aden Protectorate; the treaty between the British Government and Sultan Salih bin Ghalib Al Qu'ayti [Ṣāliḥ bin Ghālib Al Qu'ayṭī], Sultan of Shihr and Mukalla; and the reconstituted Qu'ayti-Kathari Agreement of 1918.

A copy of the Report by Sir Gilbert Clayton on his Mission to the Imam of San'a (Colonial Office, 1926) is enclosed at folios 156-187.

The following treaty and agreement drafts are found within the file:

  • the agreement [the Lahej Pact] between the Chiefs of tribes and districts within the Aden Protectorate made 6 April 1929 in the presence of the Resident and Commander-in-Chief, ff 119-120;
  • a draft treaty between the Chiefs of Upper Yafa and His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, agreeing to adhere to the purposes of the Lahej Pact of 6 April 1929, ff 84-85, 64-65, and 46;
  • a draft agreement reconstituting the Qu'ayti-Kathiri Agreement of 1918, between His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, His Highness the Qu'ayti Sultan of Shihr and Mukalla, and the Kathiri Sultan of Seiyun, on behalf of the Sultans of the Family of 'Abdulla al Kathiri, dated 26 February 1939, ff 19-23;
  • a draft treaty between His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, and Sultan Ja'far bin Mansur al Kathiri, Sultan of Seiyun, dated 2 March 1939, ff 17-18;
  • a draft treaty between His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, and Sultan Salih bin Ghalib al Qu'ayti, Sultan of Shihr and Mukalla, dated 13 August 1937, ff 3-6.

The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the end of the correspondence (folio one).

Extent and format
1 file (188 folios)
Arrangement

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

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 188; 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. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 15-188; these numbers are also written in pencil and circled, but have been superseded and therefore crossed out. A typescript pagination sequence is present in parallel between ff 156-87.

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Coll 1/12 'Policy in the Protectorate: treaty with the Upper Yafai Chiefs, and other Chiefs in the Protectorate' [‎142r] (283/376), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/1450, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100029535657.0x000054> [accessed 24 April 2024]

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