File 600/1905 Pt 3 'Aden Hinterland: Situation; Withdrawal of Political Agent from Dthala; Treaties with Haushabi, Kotaibi and Alawi chiefs' [‎224v] (444/508)

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sanctioning provisionally the retention of 300 of the 81st Pioneers as an
escort for the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , D’tiiala, and calling upon me to report:
on the nature of the posts to be held in the Hinterland, and their
supply;
(ii) on the period within which it would be possible to collect supplies
^ ^ and transport in Aden for the relief of the escort should such a
ste3p become nece>sary.
2 I have not yet been consult ‘d in regard to the advisability of retaining
the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. at D’thala as a temporary measure, after the withdrawal o
the garrison. As it is impossible satisfactorily to compress wilbn the limits of
a teleoram the reasons which led me to despatch my secret t-legram dated 10th
December I take this opportunity of expressing my opinion on the matter so
that the Government of India may be under no misapprehension as to what I
believe to be the real state of the ease. ,
3. Whatever we may wish to believe there is, I think, no doubt that the
rule of the Amir of D’thala is, by reason of his weakness^and avarice, unpopular
with a large number of the tribesmen over whom he claims control.
And in consequence lie holds his position mainly by reason of the support
afforded to him by British bayonets.
The Arabs of the Hinterland do not w< r >nt us there, and the Amir of > tnala
only tolerates our presence jTo long as he requires our support against tne lurks
or against his recalcitrant tribesmen. Were he in a position to stand alone he
would welcome our departure to-morrow. He has personally and plainly given
me to understand this. By the other Chiefs and Sheikhs our presence is
tolerated in consideration of the blackmadjwM them to levy from
us. The Abdali Sultan alone appears to me to appreciate m some measure the
blessings of the Britannica and this is largely due^ to the fact that his
subjects are not sufficiently warlike to hold their own against their neighbours.
4 No purely temporary retention of the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. in D thala will
remove the causes of the Amir’s unpopularity, nor can the former hope, m the
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course of a few months, to do what we have undoubtedly _ failed to accomplish
during the past three years, viz., to consolidate the Amir’s power and render
effective the control he claims over certain se ctions of his tribesmen such as the
Shairis, Kotaibis and Jihafis The most that the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. can hope to
effect is by the offer of good advice to render the Amir more cautions, forbear
ing and moderate than he might otherwise be, and possibly his tribesmen
might be induced to the less refractory for the moment. Such loss ot prestige
as undoubtedly attaches to our withdrawal from the Hinterland will not, m my
opinion, be lessened by a merely temporary stay of our 1 olitical cer a
I)'thala. On the other hand I regard the retention of a small body o roops
(which will not greatly exceed 100 effective bayonets) in H thala n b
altog ethe r free from objection on military grounds. Even though not ac ivey
emfiloyedTnHhe support of the ' Amir’s authority, we cannot permit n a
fighting close to our c imp. It will therefore he impossible in practice or e
Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. to avoid acting as mediator and he will be obliged personally to
intervene to stop or prevent the outbreak of hostilities In such ciicum
stances it is quite conceivable that the escort might be called upon to de en
itself either against the tribes or the Amir s troops.
5. Assuming however that Government decide on retaining the
Agent temporarily in D’thala with the escort I proposed in my telegram a
10th December 1906 I consider the dis ribution should be as follows :
In D'thala. —135 bayonets, 2 Maxims, 20 Sabres Aden Troop.
In Dthubaiyat . —15 bayonets all ranks.
In Suleik. —75 bayonets all ranks.
In Nobat Hakim. —75 bayonets all ranks.
Owing to the difficulty of maintaining heliographic communication with Aden
and in order to control the line of communication and keep the road °P e b y
patrolling with Mounted Infantry as now, also to avoid the necessity for sending
up a strong escort with the regular supply and treasure convoys, I consi er i
necessary to continue to hold Nobat Dakim and Suleik. Our abandonmen o