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Coll 1/12 'Policy in the Protectorate: treaty with the Upper Yafai Chiefs, and other Chiefs in the Protectorate' [163r] (325/376)
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
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
*3
of His Majesty’s Government in regard to this question. I had
agreed to defer the general settlement of his claims for the
duration of the treaty, but I could not agree to prejudice the
British claim in regard to that settlement by admitting in any
way whatsoever a position which His Highness had obtained by-
force and in the face of constant protest by His Majesty’s Govern
ment. ihe most that I could do was to report this difficulty to
<Ais Majesty’s Government and to make the whole treaty subject
10 their ratification, thus leaving open the door for a possible
removal by friendly arrangement of what was at present a bar
to the conclusion of a treaty. I was only able to do this, how
ever, if His Highness was prepared to meet me on all other
points and also to give proof of a spirit of accommodation
in regard to the question of evacuation. 1 had studied his
list of those territories regarding which he maintained that
evacuation was impossible, and it contained a number of dis
tricts which 1 was unable to admit as falling within the category
of districts in which he had established a regular administration.
I quoted particularly the Radfan tribes (which include the Kutaibi,
the Ahl Murra, the Mahalai, the Hajaili, the Dairi and the Bakri),
the Alawi and also the Subeihi country in which he had en
croached on various villages v/hich lay on the Aden side of the
frontier. The Imam maintained that he could not evacuate ap
portions of those tribal districts of which he was now in occu
pation, and he laid a special stress on the villages of the Subaihi
district, in reference to which he stated that he could not recog
nise the frontier in any cases where that frontier included within
the Protectorate villages or districts which he held to be under
his jurisdiction. ' In other words, he endeavoured once more to
substitute for ihe demarcated frontier which he had already im
plicitly accepted a tribal boundary defined—to use his own words
—as “ the well-known boundary recognised by tribal usage be
tween the Subeihi tribes and our own province of Mokha.”
35. I had now gone as far as was possible towards meeting the
Imam’s point of view, and from his whole attitude during the
course of this interview I saw that he was still trying to evade
recognition of the demarcated frontier. He had, throughout,
endeavoured to secure my agreement to a vague boundary based
on tribal areas in place of the frontier demarcated in 1903, 1904
and 1905, but I had as consistently opposed any such suggestion
as being contrary to my instructions and unsatisfactory in
practice.
Break-off of Negotiations.
36. I now realised that further discussion would only confuse
the main issues, and I informed His Highness that, much to mv
regret, I had come to the conclusion that agreement was impos
sible without one party or the other giving way on questions of
principle which they were determined to maintain. I was there
fore forced to the decision to break off our conversations and
return to London to report to my Government. The Imam ac
cepted this statement without any attempt to dissuade me from
my decision, from which I gathered that he shared my opinion.
He expressed deep regret at our inability to reach an understand-
About this item
- 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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- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Coll 1/12 'Policy in the Protectorate: treaty with the Upper Yafai Chiefs, and other Chiefs in the Protectorate' [163r] (325/376), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/1450, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100029535657.0x00007e> [accessed 26 April 2024]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/1450
- Title
- Coll 1/12 'Policy in the Protectorate: treaty with the Upper Yafai Chiefs, and other Chiefs in the Protectorate'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:2v, 7r:16v, 24r:45v, 47r:63v, 66r:83v, 87r:118v, 121r:187v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence