File 600/1905 Pt 3 'Aden Hinterland: Situation; Withdrawal of Political Agent from Dthala; Treaties with Haushabi, Kotaibi and Alawi chiefs' [‎27v] (50/508)

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2. Shortly afterwards, on ray arrival at Fort Saleik, there was a difference
of opinion between the Alawi and Kotaibi as to the priority of the demolition
of their respective forts, each insisting that the other’s building should be the
first to go down.
3. On my way down from D’thala on evacuation, on the 28th September,
I had Fort Suleik and the Hardaba Blockhouse dismantled by the 81st Pioneers
while I persuaded the Kotaibi to pull down Dar Taiz, and sent up men of the
81st Pioneers with some Aden Troopers to ensure the work being done
completely. This programme was acceptable to both parties. With the question
of priority thus arranged, I ascended the hill on which Dar-al-Kabtan stands
in company with the demolition party of the 81st Pioneers.
4. On the hill I met with considerable opposition. Sheikh Ali Nasir,
the Alawi, refused to give me the necessary permission unless I paid the
Rs. 500 into his hands. I reminded him that the receipt of the amount was
contingent on his demolishing the Dar and building another elsewhere; that I
had, however, come up the hill at his own special invitation to effect the demo
lition ; that the “ priority objection ” had not been previously raised at Lahej,
but the point had been ceded by the Kotaibi in the interest of peace and good
will, and that this further objection now raised was not only ridiculous but
obstructive and unfriendly.
5. At this juncture, the Alawi contingent on the hill, comprising over 50
or 60 armed men, and made up of Alawis, Dthambaris and Hajailis, began to
show signs of hostility and to threaten severe measure if the demolition of the
Dar were effected without the Alawi’s permission which was to be accorded
only if the Rs. 500 were forthwith produced and paid in. A Dthambari with
whom I expostulated drew a bead on me with his loaded carbine and had he
not been seized by his people, the situation would have become distinctly
awkward.
6. The Kotaibi, on the opposite hill at Dar Taiz, seeing the night coming
on and Dar-al-Kabtan still standing, feared I had gone back on my word and
sent me a message that, until I completed the demolition, our sepoys 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. would
remain in their hands as hostages.
7. Sheikh Ali Nashir now decamped in a rage, leaving 30 men on the hill
and refusing me the necessary permission to demolish his Dar. I was therefore
constrained to cede to the Sheikh’s request because—
(1) I should have placed the Pioneer’s demolition party in an awkward
predicament had the Dar been demolished forcibly, and because
(2) The Kotaibi’s treatment of our hostages depended on the rasin° of
the Alawi Dar.
I could not, with Dar-al-Kabtan standing, leave the country which would
then have become a veritable Pandemonium. It was now pitch-dark. I
paid the Rs. 500 and blew up the Dar. I then proceeded to the Kotaibi Camp
and released the detenus. F
8. The Kotaibi Chief promised to sign the agreement the following day at
Al-Millah but, instead of coming, he wrote to say that the crowds of Kotaibis,
who had now poured in, prevented his coming in just then. Were he to come
without their permission, they would believe he had taken the monetary present
himself for his’own use and they would at once create discord. That he must
therefore perforce postpone a while his appearance.
9. There may he a momentary hitch in these proceedings owing to the
proximity of Ramzan observances, but I feel sure that Mahomed Saleh has
every inducement to come in and sign his agreement and that he will come.
10. I am not so sanguine of Sheikh Airs movement. He was entirely
responsible for the contre temps on the hill and has broken the solemn TderW®
given at the Lahej conference. ^ °
11. The Haushabi Sultan should have signed his agreement at Nobat
Dakim but wrote to say that some minor internal dissensions in his country
would necessitate his deferring his arrival. I am inclined to believe that pre^.