File 600/1905 Pt 1 'Aden Hinterland: Treaty with Dthala' [‎430r] (121/174)

,ti 6 , 0 ."“Sw Jol'KSi,”«»-%»w ~
notice of any attempt on the mV “f ^ v Watch ‘ b ?„ b ? rdei ' and gire
Mr. ritzmaurice is perhaps right when he^avs thaWh^'r lS l l - S1 i de m e . n ° roaoh -
not encroach on the demarcated line but he admi^ ‘ S 1 °n C - la 4 8 - WlU
and it appears to me that intrigue will be followefl W nff ^ Wl11 lntri » ue »
on the part of their adherents, in some form or othe^ eneroacllm ? nt
mg section, discontented with its chief may deel a r« ^ °^ tly "
body, as people on the Haushabi border have done not J t lG Tur r p S m a
early and truthful intimation of such occurrences, also to reportperiodicaUv
that the boundary pillars are intact, and that the line is being adhered to where
it runs through cultivated land, would be the primary buduess of the Tevv
n P 1 ,1° ^pl°y^ent of i°cal tribesmen in a levy would enable us to
get a better hold of the tribes, and to acquire an influence which will be much
more necessary to us m the future than it has been in the past;
v, 11 ‘ finally, that there is no resemblance whatever
between the boundary now being demarcated and the Afghan boundaries
either m the Turkoman desert, or on the Pamirs. In those eases the line runs
almost entirely through an inhabited country, and the ruling power for
whom we acted is the sovereign of a considerable State. Having once carried
out the demarcation, therefore, the Amir of Afghanistan has been left to main
tain his frontier. Here, on the other hand, the country on the border is for
the most part well populated, and it is the British Government which is the
paramount power. There is also no comparison between the petty chiefs alono-
the border line and the Amir of Kabul. Prom an administrative point of view
the conditions obtaming on the Aden frontier much more nearly resemble those
°* tl , le ^orth-Western Frontier of India than those of the'border between
Afghanistan and the dominions of Russia in Asia, and the measures to
he taken for maintaining the Aden boundary will have, it seems to me, to be
similar in character to those which experience has shown to be necessary in
the Punjab. J
12. The treaty with the Amir of Dthala will he dealt with in a separate
letter. • r
No 23, Secret, Dated Sanawi, the 19th March 1904.
From—COLONEL R. A. Wahab, C.I.E , Commissioner, Aden Boundary Commission,
To—The Secretary to the Government of India, Foreign Department.
With reference to paragraph 4 of your letter No. 464-E. A., to the
Government of Bombay From c. 1668-1858, the East India Company’s administration in the city of Bombay [Mumbai] and western India. From 1858-1947, a subdivision of the British Raj. It was responsible for British relations with the Gulf and Red Sea regions. , I have the honour to submit the following remarks.
2. It is admitted that the delimitation of the protectorate will involve the I
assumption of a certain increase of responsibility for the good behaviour of the |
tribes; at the same time it is desirable, to adhere as long as possible to the*
principle of tribal responsibility, and to postpone any measures which would
commit Government to more direct interference in internal affairs until the
capacity of the tribes to adequately protect the caravan routes has been found
wanting.
3. The security of the routes depends so much on the relations of the
tribes among themselves, that it is impossible to allot the responsibility for any
specific outrage without a more intimate knowledge of intertribal matters than
is obtainable under the present system. It seems, therefore, essential that the
Resident should have an Assistant in a position to obtain this knowledge, and
this can only he gained by an officer in constant touch with the tribes and who
should be permanently stationed, or at any rate spend the greater part of the
year on tour in the interior.
4. The proposals in General Maitland’s letter No. 333, dated 18th Feb
ruary 1903, apply more particularly to Dthala territory, but as noticed in your
letter under reply arrangements must also be made for the control of the
Haushabi and Subaihi borders through which the most important trade routes