File 756/1917 Pt 2-3 ‘ARAB BULLETIN Nos 66-114’ [‎331v] (671/834)

— 76 —
Turkish subjects. I he K.iiti, on the other hand, had consistently
supported the British cause, and this support was founded on
cordial agreement and treaties.
During the war, Said Ali Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. ou more than one occasion
vainly attempted to overawe the Kaiti Sultan into sending troops
and providing supplies for the Turkish forces investing Lahej.
Turkish envoys also reached the Kathiri in Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Hadhramaut,
and it is a matter of some certainty that help of various kinds did
reach the Turks from Kathiri sources. In these circumstances,
and* bearing in mind the truculent attitude assumed- by the
Kathiri, the Kaiti Sultan—Sir Ghalib ibn Awad ibn Omer,
K.C.I.E.—sought for and obtained material aid in guns, rifles,
and specie from His Majesty’s Government. Im a fight Outside
the walls of Shibam the Kaiti proved victorious, and this defeat,
coupled with the action of the British Government in withholding
the usual money remittances sent by Kathiri emigrants in the
Straits Settlements and Dutch East Indies to Saiwun, Qifl, Teris
and Terim, induced the Kathiri leaders to make a change of policy,
which, though no doubt merely skin deep, was none the less
indicative of a possibility of better things.
In these circumstances the two Kathiri Sultans—Mansur
and Muhsin—ultimately signed a treaty, the main tenor of
which was to the effect that the Kathiri, while preserving their
independence, acknowledged the British as paramount protective
power ; agreed to communicate with Aden only through the Kaiti
Sultan ; deprecated further hostilities; and admitted the Kaiti’s
claim to Mokalla, Shehr, the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Do c an line, and Shibam. The
Kaiti Sultan, on his side, agreed not to tax Kathiri imports and
exports more heavily than similar Kaiti commodities, denied any
intention of further aggression, and aspired to a prosperous
Hadhramaut with British beneficent arbitration should cases for
such arise (c/. pp. 233, 272, 341 of volume 1918).
Thus the local surface appeared unruffled. But troubles
were arising and continuing in the external matters of emigration
and remittances.
It was rightly felt that in view of the past' actions and of
the known character of Kathiri policy, any immediate relaxation
of the embargo on remittances might prove disastrous to the
continuance of peace unless and until the Kathiri Sultans or
their deputies should have accompanied the Kaiti Sultan to Aden,
where both sides could discuss the whole question, past, present,
and future, with our 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. .
In the matter of emigrants, the difficulties were greater.
I o compress the point to the narrowest limits, it may be said
that in Java, where the Arab (i.e. the Kathiri) element exercises
a profound influence over the teeming millions of Moslem
population, His Majesty’s Government, for various reasons, had
desired to win over Moslem sentiment to the British side, not as
against Dutch rule, but as opposed to the Germano-Turkish-
Arab actixities which assumed so large an importance during the