File 3939/1926 Pt 3 'Publications: Revision of Aitchison's Treaties: Aden and Arabia Sections.' [‎54r] (101/410)

ADEN —Shehr and MokaVa.
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ference of the British Government on behalf of the rightful Chief of
Shehr. Government, however, declined to intefere or to allow an armed
expedition to be fitted out by Arabs from the Indian coast.
In April 1867, Awadth (Awaz) bin Omar, better known by his
Hyderabad title of Sultan Nawaz Jang, a brother of the Haiti Chief
Abdulla, after establishing a blockade on the sea-cofct, landed near Shehr,
attacked and put to flight Sultan Ghalib bin Mohsin, and established
the authority of his brother as Jemadar of Shehr. An attempt was
made by the Kathiri Chief in December of the same year to retake the
place, but he was repulsed by the Haiti, who have since remained in
unmolested possession of the port and district. Application was made
by the Kathiri Chief to the British Government for permission to recover
Shehr by force, but it was considered undesirable to interfere. At the
same time the Nizam’s Minister declared his readiness to prohibit any
interference on the part of Hyderabad subjects in the affairs of
Hadthramaut.
Saleh bin Muhammad died in 1873 shortly after the conclusion of
a Treaty (No. LXVIII) with him, by which he engaged for himself,
his heirs and successors, to prohibit the import oil export of slaves to or
from Mokalla and its dependencies. He was succeeded as Nakib by his
son, Omar bin Saleh, who accepted an offer by the Haiti Jemadar of
Shehr to aid him in reducing the refractory Shaikh of Dawan. Taking
advantage of his admission with 600 followers into the* fort of Mokalla,
the Haiti Chief demanded payment of a debt alleged to have been due
to him by the late Nakib. Finding himself powerless to resist this
demand, the Nakib consented to a treaty* under which he agreed to cede
one-half of Mokalla, of Bandar Burum, and of the district of Al-
Harshiyyat in return for a payment of 2| lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees of dollars, from which,
however, the debt due to the Haiti Chief was to be deducted. But
hostilities continued: the Nakib entered into an alliance with the
Kathiri, and the Haiti, with the aid of their relatives at Hyderabad,
purchased a vessel and despatched her to Aden. There She was
detained under the provisions of the Foreign Enlistment Act of 1870,
and not released until the Haiti Chief had bound himself under a heavy
penalty to send her at once to Bombay without touching at, or under
taking any operations against, any of the ports of Hadthramaut. This
Chief further attempted to establish a blockade of Mokalla and boarded
native craft suspected of being bound for that port. For the plunder
of three such vessels he was compelled to pay an indemnity of Rs. 6,142,
and warned of the consequences of such interference with commerce in
the future.
* See Appendix No. II.