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Coll 1/12 'Policy in the Protectorate: treaty with the Upper Yafai Chiefs, and other Chiefs in the Protectorate' [164v] (328/376)
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.
i6
44. It is clear that the Imam is determined to maintain two
definite points (if principle, namely, he will not put his name to
any document which he considers can be interpreted as a renun
ciation of any of what he terms “ his historical claims to
suzerainty over the whole of the Yemen,” including the Aden
Protectorate and the Hadramaut; he will not accept any clause
which may be taken as in any way infringing his complete in
dependence and liberty of action.
45. I do not consider, however, that either of these two points
of principle need necessarily present an insuperable obstacle to
the conclusion of a treaty in the future, and the lines on which
the provisional draft,* to which he implicitly agreed, is framed,
are an indication of the manner in which the difficulty might be
surmounted.
46. A more serious complication is caused by the Imam’s defi
nite refusal to withdraw from the Aden Protectorate. If he is
allowed to remain undisturbed in territory which he has occupied
in tiie face of British protests, he will be convinced of the efficacy
of a policy of gradual encroachment and will doubtless continue
to follow it; the reactionary and anti-foreign party in the Yemen
will gain strength; the Imam and his people will lose a large
measure of respect for Great Britain; British prestige in the Aden
hinterland and throughout south-east Arabia will suffer greatly.
On the other hand, the Imam has shown what I believe to be
a genuine desire for friendly relations with Great Britain, and I
incline to the opinion that he would not offer very obstinate re
sistance to measures for his forcible expulsion, provided he were
convinced that His Majesty’s Government were determined to
carry the matter through and had provided the means wherewith
to do so. Forcible action combined with the clear announcement
of an objective strictly limited to the re-establishment of the
Protectorate boundary would not, I think, surprise or render him
permanently hostile, especially if he were assured of a willingness
to enter subsequently into friendly relations on generous lines;
tiie influence of the party in the Yemen which is insistent against
any foreign connexions would be weakened, and the way would
be paved for a future treaty by promoting a feeling of healthy
respect for Great Britain as a Power which, though tolerant up
to the furthest possible point, does not hesitate to maintain its
rights when the limit has been passed.
47. I realise, however, that for various reasons His Majesty’s
Government may find it impossible to undertake military opera
tions on the scale which would be required for the immediate
expulsion of the Imam from the whole of the Aden Protectorate.
If this be the case, I can only suggest as a not very satisfactory
compromise that the military resources at the disposal of the
General Officer Commanding, Aden, be increased, especially in
regard to suitable aircraft, to an extent which will enable him
to repel promptly and with energy any further encroachment by
the Imam’s forces and by steady and continuous pressure to
secure their retirement from those districts of which they are
* Annexure 10.
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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Coll 1/12 'Policy in the Protectorate: treaty with the Upper Yafai Chiefs, and other Chiefs in the Protectorate' [164v] (328/376), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/1450, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100029535657.0x000081> [accessed 24 April 2024]
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- 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