File 600/1905 Pt 2 'Aden Hinterland: Future Policy' [‎341v] (170/226)

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His gun was taken by Am TJzeebee-Hasan ba Bajeh. It was then bought
by one of the Ahl-al-Ban. I do not know what happened to his dagger. I
cannot say who has his gun now. We have not. Some one of the A1 Hadad
may have it.
I on my oath do not know who’killed the son of Bajeh Mohsin. Ahmed
Abdul Wahid did not, and has never been one of those who claimed to have
done so. There were many people engaged in that fight.
Similarly, I do not know who killed Ahmed ba Saleh, the Attifi, and Ali ba
Saad, the Yusufi. That was a similar fight. And it was not even known at the
time that they had been killed. There were none of the Ahl-al-Ban in that
particular expedition.
Honestly relations between us and the Attifi
recent incident at Sheikh Othman.
have been good until the
Before me,
(Signed) E. de B. Hancock, Capt.,
Acting Eirst Assistant Resident, Aden.
Aden 9th February 1906.
Letter No. 415, dated the 24th January 1906.
From — Major-General H. M. Mason, Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. , Aden;
To— Sultan Sir Ahmed Padthl, K. 0. S. I., the Abdali.
We have, Oh friend, received your two letters dated 21st A1 Kida 1323
(16th January 1906) concering the murder of the lad Maja’ali and your later
letter dated 23rd A1 Kida on the same subject. We have written in the
matter to the Sheikhs of the Attifis and Yusufis to demand the return of the
mail bags and the surrender of the offenders and we await their reply.
We also await further information from you and we expect to hear in a
day or two the result of Sheikh Awadth bin Salim’s endeavour to recover
the mail bags.
We notice that in your first letter of the 21st A1 Kida you refer to
hostilities existing between you and the Yusufi. It was, Oh friend, on the
19th August, 18th Jomad Akhar last, that you informed us that you had made
a truce with the Attifis, and Colonel Scallon wrote to you on the 24th of that
month expressing his satisfaction at the same, and also the hope that the truce
would continue permanent and that the peace of the country would not
again be disturbed.
You informed us when the truce was made, and you should clearly, Oh
friend, have also informed us at once when the truce was broken and the
hostilities which you refer to began to again exist.
We have, of course, reason to believe that the recent outrage about which
we write was mainly the result of such hostilities and no doubt also connected
with the death of Sheikh Ahmed bin Saleh ba Raj eh which your troops caused
last May. J ^ *
As you are aware, Oh friend, hostilities amongst our friends and stipendia
ries are not pleasing to us. And from the present case the inconvenient
consequences also appear.
In future we trust that you will first take our advice before entering upon
them, and you should, of course, inform us when hostilities commence again
after a truce of which you have formerly told us.