The revenue of the tribe, exclusive of the stipend from the British. Government, is estimated at 10,000 dollars per annum. The population amounts to about 25,000, and the Sultan can muster about 6,800 fighting

men.

(4) The Akrabi.

The Akrabi tribe are a subdivision of the Abdali, who, under Shaikh Mahdi, threw off allegiance to Abdul Karim of Lahej and became independent about the year 1770. The only town, or rather village, is that of Bir Ahmed. An Engagement (No. LV) was concluded in 1839 with their Chief, Shaikh Haidara Mahdi, after the capture of Aden, and it was adhered to until the date of the third attack upon the fortress in July 1840. Thenceforward for many years their attitude was one of hostility. In 1850 they murdered a seaman of the Auckland. This necessitated the blockade of the port of Bir Ahmed, which continued for several years, and friendly relations with the tribe were not resumed till 1857, when the Chief of the Akrabi tribe renewed (No. LVI) his professions of peace and good-will. In 1863 an Agreement (No. LVII) was made with him, by which he engaged not to sell, mortgage, or give for occupation, save to the British Government, any portion of the peninsula of Little Aden. In return he was to receive an immediate payment of 3,000 dollars, and a monthly stipend of 30 dollars.

These terms were not considered entirely satisfactory by Her Majesty's Government, and the Resident was instructed to treat for the complete and unreserved acquisition of the peninsula. After tedious negotiations, which were further protracted by the necessity of investigating the claims of other tribes to this territory, the purchase was concluded (No. LVIII) on the 2nd April 1869 for a sum of 30,000 dollars, the stipend of the Chief being at the same time raised to 40 dollars per mensem.

in

The animosity, always latent, between the Abdali and Akrabi, took overt form in 1887, and in August of that year the Abdali besieged Bir Ahmed a desultory fashion. Eventually, as the British limits at Hiswa were disturbed, the Resident intervened; the Abdali evacuated Akrabi territory, and peace was restored on the 6th September.

Negotiations were commenced in 1887 for the acquisition of a strip of foreshore to connect the British limits at Al-Hiswa and Bandar Fukum. They were brought to a satisfactory conclusion by an Agreement (No. LIX), dated the 15th July 1888, the Akrabi Shaikh disposing of his title for an immediate payment of Rupees 2,000.

In 1888 a Protectorate Treaty was concluded (No. LX) with the Akrabi, similar to that arranged with several other tribes, and was ratified on the 26th February 1890.

The Akrabi inhabit the coast-line from Bir Ahmed to Ras Imran; inland their territory extends to an undefined point between Bir Ahmed and Wahat. They can muster about 250 fighting men. The present Chief, Abdulla bin Haidara Mahdi, succeeded to the Chiefship in 1858 on his father's resignation. His revenue in favourable years amounts to about 600 dollars per annum exclusive of his stipend, but in ordinary seasons it is probably not much more than 200 dollars.

(5) The Upper Aulaki.

sections, the Upper and the Lower The Upper Aulaki are again subSultan Abdulla bin Awadth, who

The Aulaki tribe is divided into two Aulaki, each under an independent Chief. divided, part being under the rule of resides at Nusab, and part governed by Shaikh Am Rasas bin Farid, who is nearly as powerful as the Sultan and lives at Yeshbum.

The Aulaki inhabit the tract of country stretching from the Fadthli boundaries on the west to those of the Dhuyaibi on the east; but the ports of Irka and Lower Haura on this coast are held by independent Shaikhs of whom some account is given below.

The Sultan's revenues are roughly estimated at Rupees 16,000, and those of the Yeshbum Shaikh at Rupees 6,000.

There is no agreement or treaty with the Upper Aulaki Sultan or Shaikh.

(6) The Lower Aulaki.

In October 1855 the Resident at Aden entered into an Engagement (No. LXI) with Sultan Munassar bin Bubakr, Mahdi of the Lower Aulaki tribe, by which the latter bound himself to prohibit the importation of slaves into the country from Africa. He was murdered together with his son Abdulla in July 1863, and was succeeded by his cousin, Bubakr bin Abdulla, who has lately (1892) resigned the Chieftainship in favour of Salik bin Ali, a distant relative. The Government has sanctioned this arrangement and continued the stipend enjoyed by Bubakr bin Abdulla to his successor. The authority of the Lower Aulaki Chief over his tribe is somewhat limited. The late Chief was not always able to prevent the plunder of vessels wrecked on his coast. In 1871, however, he bound himself by an engagement to use

his best endeavours to prevent such outrages in future, and to protect and, if possible, convey to Aden any shipwrecked seamen who might stand in need of his assistance.

In 1883 dissensions broke out between the Fadthli and Lower Aulaki, leading to a raid on the Fadthli territory. The Lower Aulaki were defeated with considerable loss, as detailed in the account of the Fadthli (vide supra). Since 1888 the Lower Aulaki Chief, whose principal residence is at Ahwar, has received a stipend of 360 dollars per annum. A Protectorate Treaty (No. LXII) was concluded with him in 1888, and was ratified on the 26th day of February 1890. His annual income is estimated at about Rupees 10,000.

(7) Irka.

annum.

Since 1888 the Shaikh of Irka has received a stipend of 80 dollars per A Protectorate Treaty (No. LXIII) was concluded with him in that year, and was ratified on the 26th February 1890. The present Shaikh (1892) is Awadth bin Muhammad ba Das.

(8) Lower Haura.

The Shaikhs reside at Lower Haura, a seaport about 12 miles from Irka. Since 1888 an annual stipend of 50 dollars has been paid to them, and a Protectorate Treaty (No. LXIV) was concluded with them in that year, and was ratified on the 26th February 1890. The representative Chief at present (1892) is Shaikh Abdulla bin Muhammad ba Shahid.

(9) The Yafii.

This tribe is divided into two sections, the Lower and Upper Yafii. Their territory inland is very extensive, but the maritime districts east of Aden, which formerly belonged to the tribe and extended to the frontiers. of Hadthramaut, were wrested from them by the Fadthli shortly before the capture of Aden. The British Government has had but little communication with the Upper Yafii, whose present Chief is Sultan Muhammad bin Ali, and no agreement or treaty has ever been made with them.

Soon after the capture of Aden an Engagement (No. LXV) was entered iuto in 1839 with Sultan Ali bin Ghalib, Chief of the Lower Yafii, similar to that concluded with the Abdali and Fadthli Chiefs, and has been loyally adhered to.

Sultan Ali bin Ghalib died in 1841 at a great age, and was succeeded by his son Ahmad bin Ali. He died in September 1873, and was succeeded by his son Ali bin Ahmad, who was succeeded by his brother Mohsin bin Ahmad in May 1885. He died on the 19th July 1891, and his nephew Sultan Ahmad bin Ali was elected as his successor to the Chieftainship. The Government of India sanctioned the continuance to him, with effect from the 20th July 1891, of the annual stipend of 250 dollars enjoyed by the late Sultan.

Hostilities broke out between the Yafii and the Fadthli in the year 1873, in consequence of the Yafii Chief having repudiated an engagement concluded on his behalf by his son and in the presence of the Resident at Aden, whereby he had consented to accept a royalty of 25 dollars per annum from the Fadthli Sultan for the use of water for irrigation. For this breach of faith the stipend of the Yafii Chiefs was temporarily withheld.

The Yafii are said to number 35,000 souls: their supposed gross revenues amount to Rupees 20,000 per annum, and are derived principally from a tax of 10 per cent. on produce. Neither of the Yafii Sultans levies transit duties on goods passing through his territories.

(10) The Haushabi.

On the 14th June 1839 an Engagement (No. LXVI) was entered into with Sultan Mani bin Salam of this tribe, of the same tenor as those with the Abdali, the Fadthii, and the Yafii. In the previous January a Treaty (No. LXVII) of friendship and peace had been signed by two other Chiefs of the Haushabi tribe with the British representative. Sultan Mani bin Salam, though more than once invited by the Abdali and Fadthli Chiefs to join them in their attacks upon Aden, steadily declined their overtures. He died in June 1858, and was succeeded by his nephew Obaid bin Yahya, during whose rule friendly relations were uninterruptedly maintained with the Haushabi. Obaid bin Yahya died in 1863, and was succeeded by his cousin Ali bin Mani. The relations of Sultan Ali bin Mani with the neighbouring Chiefs and the British Government were for a long time the reverse of cordial. In 1868 he cut off the supply of water from a rivulet which irrigates the Lahej territory, and destroyed the crops on lands belonging to the Sultan of Labej, who accordingly marched against him. An action ensued in which the Haushabi Chief was defeated. In payment of the loss suffered by the Sultan of Lahej, Sultan Ali bin Mani ceded to him the town of Zaida and its lands which

had formerly belonged to Lahej, and the dispute was temporarily settled by the friendly intervention of the Resident. In October 1869 the Haushabi Chief's stipend was stopped in consequence of the outrages committed by him on the Aden road; the proximate cause of this misconduct was the tenure of Zaida by the Sultan of Lahej, who was therefore induced to make over to his rival a small portion of that district. The Haushabi Chief was not satisfied, and in 1873 commenced intriguing with the Turkish authorities at Taizz in the hope of thereby regaining possession of Zaida. Supported by Turkish troops he held for some little time a part of Zaida, but on their withdrawal from the neighbourhood of Lahej he was compelled to retire.

The Sultan of Lahej was induced by the Resident to renew his offers of a portion of Zaida to the Haushabi Chief, but as the latter insisted on receiving the fort of Shakaa, which commands the rivulet and consequently the supply of water to Lahej, the negotiations failed for the time. They were, however, renewed with success in 1881 when, as recorded above in the account of the Abdali, an Agreement (No. XL) was signed by both Chiefs. In 1886 this agreement was modified by the action of the Haushabi Chief in selling his lands at Zaida to the Abdali.

Sultan Ali bin Mani died in May 1886, and was succeeded by his son Mohsin bin Ali.

The Haushabi tribe numbers about 7,000 souls and 2,000 fighting men; there is also an independent section of the tribe known as Hawashib-al-Harur, who live on the confines of the Yafii territory, and muster about 1,000 fighting men. The annual revenue amounts to about 5,500 dollars.

(11) The Alawi.

The district occupied by the Alawi tribe is situated to the north-west of the Haushabi country. No separate engagement was entered into with this tribe after the capture of Aden, but the Chief's stipend was secured through the intervention of Sultan Mani bin Salam of the Haushabi tribe.

In 1873 a body of Turkish troops marched through the Alawi country and compelled the Chief, Shaikh Saif bin Saif, who had refused to tender allegiance to the Turkish authorities at Taizz, to submit, and to surrender his son as a hostage. The latter was eventually released in consequence of the remonstrances of Her Majesty's Ambassador at Constantinople.

Shaikh Saif bin Saif died in March 1875, and was succeeded by his