10/14/2016 Aden History ﺃﺳﺭﺓ ﺍﻟﺗﺣﺭﻳﺭ Editors: ﺍﻟﺩﻛﺗﻭﺭ ﻋﺑﺩﷲ ﺍﻟﺳﻳﺎﺭﻱ Dr. A. Al Sayyari (Saudi Arabia) Dr. Shihab Ghanem ﺍﻟﺩﻛﺗﻭﺭ ﺷﻬﺎﺏ ﻏﺎﻧﻡ (UAE) ﺃﻻﻣﺎﺭﺍﺕ ﺍﻟﻣﺗﺣﺩﺓ) Dhow symbol which Ashraf Girgrah was incorporated (Canada) ﺃﺷﺭﻑ ﺟﺭﺟﺭﻩ into the Union Jack to form Aden Colony flag. Design : Ashraf Girgrah ﺃﺷﺭﻑ ﺟﺭﺟﺭﻩ ﺍﻟﺗﺣﺩﻳﺙ ﺍﻻﺧﻳﺭ ﻓﻲ Last update Oct. 2016 Search Query ﻋﻧﻭﺍﻥ ﺍﻻﺗﺻﺎﻝ Contact address: [email protected] Search European Time A short history of Aden Colony 1839­1967 The first European to give a first hand description on Aden at the beginning of the 16th century, was the Italian Ludovico di Varthema. He writes: "Aden is such mighty and powerful that I have hardly seen another city of its might during my life . all big ships anchor at the port coming from India Ethiopia or Sira Isalnd harbour in 1512. Persia".(1) www.philipsharpegallery.com Copper line engraving showing the earliest view of Aden first published by Braun and Hogenberg in Cologne 1572. An ancient trade center, the city of Aden was under Egyptian control British Navy squadron from the 3rd century BC until it became a Roman colony in 24 BC. It invading Aden in 1839. fell successively under Ethiopian and Persian control and became associated with Yemen about the 7th century AD. It fell to the Turks in Captain Haines, first 1538 and was incorporated into the Sultanate of Lahej in 1728. Under British Agent the rule of the Sultan of Lahej, Aden had declined to a small fishing appointee after invading village with only 600 inhabitants.(2) Aden on January In 1838, Sultan Muhsin bin Fadl ceded 75 square miles 194 (sq. kms), 16th,,1839. including Aden, to the British. On January 19, 1839, the British East India Company landed Royal Marines at Aden to occupy the territory. From 1839 until 1937, Aden was ruled as part of the Bombay Presidency of British India and was known as Aden Settlement. Its original territory was enlarged in 1857 by the island of Perim, in 1868 by the Khuriya Muriya Islands, and in 1915 by the island of Kamaran. British regiment headquarters along Al Rizmaith off The first years of occupation of the British Settlement did not pass Sira,,1839. without tribal opposition and resistance. The British colonial policy was to buy the allegiance of the leaders of the tribes by payment of annual salaries and gifts, signing treaties under the threat of force and the policy of playing one tribe against the other. Haines had also used Jewish spies against the tribes. The Jews prepared their reports in Yiddish which was difficult to decipher by the tribes.(3) The Colony of Aden was a British Crown Colony from 1937 to 1963, and Official residence of Captain consisted of the port city of Aden and its immediate surroundings (an Hained n Crater after the invasion of Aden. area of 192 km²), (75 sq. miles).(4) Within a few years of its occupation, the population of Aden increased from 600 inhabitants in 1839 to some 25,000 inhabitants in 1842. Aden was declared a free port by Act X in 1850, according to which no customs duty was payable on any goods carried by sea or land to or from Aden. (5) This Act left the door of immigration wide open to the new Settlement. Aden port as it was sketched by Arrival of foreign labour and expatriates continued to pour unabated the traveller Dr. Jose Rizal until the 60s . from the Philippines in 1887. http://adencollege.net/html/body_aden_history.html 1/3 10/14/2016 Aden History Population of Aden Colony 1955 Arabs Somalis Jews Indians Europeans Other Total 103879 10611 831 15817 4484 2608 138441 Administration “The town of Aden was tied much more closely into the fabric of the Aden Tawahi port in 1800s. British Empire and developed more rapidly than its surrounding Hogg’s clock is in the rear. hinterland”. The fundamental law for the Crown Colony of Aden is the Order of Council September 28 1936. Which follows the usual lines of basic legislation for British colonies . Aden was notable in that Sharia law was not used in the Colony. “All suits, including those dealing with personal status and inheritance of Muslims are entertained in the ordinary secular courts of the colony”. The absence of Sharia courts is the cause of some dissatisfaction in the The Royal Yacht Serapis in Aden colony. in 1875 carrying the Prince of Wales. Within the Aden Colony there were three local government bodies. The Aden municipality, which covered the town, Tawahi , Maalla and Crater , the Township authority of Sheikh Othman and finally Little Aden had been established in recent years as a separate body, covering the oil refinery and the workers settlement. All of these bodies were under the overall control of the Executive council, which in turn was kept in check by the Governor. Busy Al Maalla loading and unloading dhows dock (Dakka). Until the 1st of December 1955, the executive council was entirely unelected. The situation only improved slightly after this date as four members were elected. Judicial administration was also entirely in British hands. “Compared with other British possessions, the development towards self­government and greater local participation has been rather slow". Education was provided for all children, both boys and girls, until at The water embankment path least intermediate level. Higher education was available on a selective through Crater which diverts basis through scholarships to study abroad. Primary and Intermediate water flooding to the sea. education was conducted in Arabic while Secondary and independent Unfortunately, Crater was not saved from a water flood schools conducted their lessons in Arabic, English, Urdu , Hebrew from the tanks of Tawila in and Gujarati . There were also for those who wished, 1846 and 1859. unrecognized Koranic schools for both boys and girls. The British government had protective treaties with it and subsidized traditional leaders of sheikhdoms from the Strait of Bab­El­Mandeb to Muscat territory at Ras Dharbat.(6) Two small, unfortified islands in the Red Sea, Perim (area 13 sq km/5 sq mi; population 300) and Kamara'n (area 57 sq km/22 sq mi; population 2,200), were under the administration of the high commissioner in Aden. Garrisn Church was built in 1867. In 1950s it became the seat of the Legislative Council. In order to stabilize Aden and the surrounding Aden Protectorate from attacks by North Yemen, the British decided to unite the several states of the region in preparation for eventual independence. On January 18, 1963, Aden Colony was incorporated into the Federation of Arab Emirates of the South as the State of Aden and the Federation was renamed the Federation of South Arabia . In 1964, Britain announced its intention to grant independence to the Federation of South Arabia in 1968, but increasing violence prompted Britain to speed up the process.(7) A recent photo in 2006 of Little In 1967, the British abandoned Aden and South Arabia. There was no Aden where the Refinery is official hand over of independence. The fate of many aspects of life in located. The land was bought by the British in 1860 from the the country, the people, institutions and establishments were destined leader of Al Aqrabi tribe. for the unknown. Foot notes1 1) Courtesy of Webmaster: Peter Pickering. Historian: Ingleby Jefferson Copyright © 2008 web site www.adenhistory.com . 2) History of the Colony of Aden http://wapedia.mobi/en/ColonyofAden In 1879 the British paid the Sultan 3) Kings of the Arabia, by Harold F. Jacob, Chapter 3,First published in 1923, of Lahej 20,000 Rupees for the examines the history of Yemen from the 17th century to the aftermath purchase of Sheikh Othman. of the First World War. http://adencollege.net/html/body_aden_history.html 2/3 10/14/2016 Aden History 4) History of the Colony of Aden http://wapedia.mobi/en/ColonyofAden 5) The History of Aden 1839 – 1872, by Zaka Hannah Kour, Chapter 6, pg72 Chapter 3, Published in 1981 in the UK by Frank CASS and Company Ltd. 6) History of the Colony of Aden http://wapedia.mobi/en/ColonyofAden 7) History of the Colony of Aden http://wapedia.mobi/en/ColonyofAden Tawahi port in 1909. Notice that cars were not introduced to Aden until 1920s. Hogg’s clock in the rear. 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