‘Military report on the British Protectorate of Aden and the Amir of Dala’s territories, with special reports on certain other tribes and adjoining border districts’ [19r] (42/490)
The record is made up of 1 volume (243 folios). It was created in 1905-1908. 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.
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Su'tan : they pay tribute an.l may be considered an integral portion of the
a Sultan* Mohsin bin AH is a weak and ill-balanced ruler as far
f^^and WU v t ,a^
a )0 ung man of an amiable, but not very bright disposition.
I he dasses of society represented in Haushabi territory are the Savids
Whose prmc,pal cobny is the shrine of Shabwa, in the north-west corner
Dubiyat/ reoftheSuhan br anch and connected with the Sayids of
The tribesmen, who form the bulk of the population. Those inhabitincr
the unhealthy Tiban and Warezan vaHeys are much affected by malaria 2
and T ° infenor P h y si( l ue - The ’ Asakir, of whom there are about 100,
Suffan S aVeS ' Wh ° ar6 re P resented b y the personal retainers of the
Th ^i P an ^ ar b the , m< ? st southerly of the Radfan tribes, a turbulent
and predatory tribe numbering several hundreds of fighting men are
nominally under the Haushabi Sultan, but in point of fact are q g uite indepen-
THE SlJBfiHI.
The Subehi are a wild and independent tribe numbering in all perhaos
wfcT g m . en » and with the exception of the sections settled in the
Wadi
A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows.
Ma din, and a few other valleys, mainly nomadic. They have no
ve U rv a fitfl° r h , ead Shek b ^nd are divided into a number of sub-Uibes with
very little cohesion and frequently blood-feuds between them, and for this
reason, and on account of their being thinly distributed over wide areas
combination on a general scale is unlikely. ’
J ar, *° US j t? b ; trib / S are ~ in the north-east corner the Humedi,
Ba sus, Juberi and Matarafi, nomad clans of 40 to 100 fighting men owning
herds of sheep and goats and inhabiting a very barren, rocky and
Materless country. The first three named are notorious raiders and are
entirely nomads without any habitations. The Matarafi own t or 4 towers
and a little cultivation m
Wadi
A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows.
Mulehia, but are practically nomafls.
J he same description applies to the Makhdumi to their west The
^ n TtZ' T are K- S - lg Jl tly u? 10 " e vt Se > t J tled * Tte Dubeni still more to the west,
and the Jurabun the Warn Ma din, are far more prosperous tribes, living
j ages ^ell-built stone towers, with a good deal of cultivation
1 he last-named 4 tribes have about 300 fighting men each. The Jurabi
and Dubem, though very prosperous, are no less warlike than their intract-
able, and wilder, eastern neighbours, continual blood feuds prevailing
• Noth.—N ow succeeded by Ali Mana.
About this item
- Content
The volume, a military report compiled in the Intelligence Branch of the QMG’s [Quartermaster General’s] Department and published at the Government Central Printing Office, Simla, is comprised of several sections, as follows:
- section I, a Military Report on the British Protectorate of Aden , prepared by Captain Ernest Arthur Frederick Redl (ff 10-52), and including chapters on: geography; ethnography, with details of the different tribes living in the Protectorate; climate and health; natural resources; harbours and anchorages; communications; fortresses; history; native inhabitants’ administration; the military organisation and strength of native inhabitants; and political relations. A handwritten note is included in the report (f 49), and concerns the entitlements of Protectorate Chiefs to salutes, and issue to them of arms and ammunition, 1906;
- section II, a Report on the Amir of Dala’s [Ad Dali’] Territories , prepared by Major J K Tod (ff 54-118), and including chapters on: geography; ethnography; climate and health; resources; communications; forts and fortified posts; history; administration, and military. Following the report is a gazetteer providing greater detail of the sixteen districts in Dala, including: topography; ruling families and allegiances; villages and population figures, including numbers of fighting men; water resources; agricultural and industrial activities;
- section III, Reports on Haushabi, Subehi and Yafa’i Tribes, Turkish and North Western Border Districts and the River Tiban , divided into chapters, all prepared by Captain Redl unless otherwise specified, on: 1) the Haushabi [al-Ḥawshabī] (ff 120-130), and including a handwritten note, dated December 1905 (f 122), noting that the Sultan of Haushabi has agreed to abide by an agreement of 1895; 2) the Subehi tribes near the Turkish border (ff 130-144); 3) the districts of Turkish Yemen adjoining the British boundary (ff 144-165); 4) Tribes of the north-west frontier Region of British India bordering Afghanistan. (ff 165-172); 5) a memorandum of the Yafa’i [Yāfi‘] tribe, prepared by Captain Gonville W Warneford (ff 172-183); 6) The Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Tiban (ff 184-185);
- section IV, Routes (ff 186-228), detailing numerous routes between key points in Aden province, noting: distances; stages; nature of the terrain and its suitability for different modes of transport; available resources en route; territories crossed. A (duplicated) confidential memorandum, written by Captain G A F Sanders of the Aden Brigade, dated 24 August 1905, containing additional information for stages 5 and 6 of route 5 has been added to the volume (ff 195-198);
- appendix I, a brief statement on inland trade between Aden and the Arabian mainland, 1903 (ff 229-230).
The volume is extensively illustrated throughout with fold-out maps, plans and illustrations, prepared by the Intelligence Branch (I.B.) and all of which describe the topography and terrain of the region. There are three maps included in a pocket at the end of the volume: a map of the Aden Protectorate (f 242); a view from the ruined village of Lakmat Magharam about one-and-a-half miles west of Sanah [Ṣanʻā'] (f 240); and a road sketch from Khalla through Awabil [‘Awābil] to the upper plateau of the Rubiatein [Ar Rubay‘atayn] tribe (f 241).
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (243 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume is arranged in four sections (numbered I-IV), with a single appendix. Sections I-III are arranged in numbered chapters while section IV is arranged in twenty-three numbered routes. The volume’s contents page (ff 6-8) lists the sections and their respective chapters/routes, with page numbers referring to the volume’s printed pagination system. A general index (ff 231-238) lists placenames referred to in the volume in alphabetically ascending order, also with page numbers referring to the volume’s printed pagination.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the back cover with 243; 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.
Pagination: the file contains an original printed pagination sequence.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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‘Military report on the British Protectorate of Aden and the Amir of Dala’s territories, with special reports on certain other tribes and adjoining border districts’ [19r] (42/490), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/59, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100034845247.0x00002b> [accessed 7 July 2026]
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- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/20/59
- Title
- ‘Military report on the British Protectorate of Aden and the Amir of Dala’s territories, with special reports on certain other tribes and adjoining border districts’
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:11v, 13r:14v, 16r:28v, 30r:30v, 32r:35r, 36r:36v, 38r:56v, 58r:67r, 68r:69r, 70r:79r, 80r:85v, 87r:88r, 89r:89v, 91r:95v, 97r:98v, 100r:101r, 102r:105v, 107r:108r, 109r:113r, 114r:116v, 118r:120v, 122r:124v, 126r:126v, 128r:130v, 132r:132v, 134r:135r, 136r:136v, 138r:157v, 159r:161v, 163r:163v, 165r:165v, 167r:182v, 184r:188v, 190r:190v, 192r:239v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence
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