British Intelligence on Yemen.
Collection guide written by:
Finding aid prepared by Penelope Tuson, Former Curator of Middle East Archives, Oriental & India Office Collections, British LibraryDigital version:
Finding aid prepared by Penelope Tuson, Former Curator of Middle East Archives, Oriental & India Office Collections, British Library. Encoded and processed by: Peter VerhaarDescriptive Summary
Creator: India Office Library and Records.
Dates (inclusive): c. 1940-1967
Extent: 188 microfiches or 19 microfilm reels
Language(s): Predominantly English, with a few items in other (also local) languages.
Abstract: Collection containing reports and handbooks from the Aden Archives, which provides information on the international involvement and British policies and aspirations in Yemen and on the internal political, social and commercial development of the region.
Order no.: BID-1 - BID-2
Publisher: IDC Publishers
Location of Originals
the Aden Records (R/20) are kept as part of the India Office Records (IOR) which form part of the Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections at the British Library.
Researchers should note that an integrated finding aid for the British Intelligence collections is also available:
History Note
Within the India Office Records the Aden Records (R/20) are the archives of the successive British administrations in Aden between 1839 and 1967. These papers were created, maintained and preserved in Aden and returned to London in the late 1960s after Independence.
Since the unification of the Yemen Arab Republic and the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen in 1990, the Republic of Yemen has occupied an important position in the geopolitical landscape of the Arabian Peninsula region and in the wider context of Middle Eastern and international relations. Half a century ago, however, in the same region, "Two Yemens" co-existed uneasily side by side, separated by uncertain boundaries and widely different administrations and political aspirations. The British were determined to extend their influence into the outlying areas of the Aden hinterland. British rule was consolidated when Aden became a British Colony in 1937 and it was further extended by the development of a specific Protectorate administration, with its Secretariat in Aden and with British Protectorate officials in local posts in the Western and Eastern Aden Protectorates. Anglo-Yemeni relations had been consolidated in the 1930s, after long and tortuous negotiations, with the conclusion of the Treaty of San"a in 1934. Formal British relations with Yemen were established in 1839 with the construction of a coaling station at Aden, on the route to India. A British Political Residency, under the administration of the British Government in India, was opened at the same time. From the outbreak of the Second World War, however, the British became increasingly concerned by the influence in Yemen of other European powers, notably Italy. In 1963 a High Commission took over the British administrative role in the newly-created South Arabian Federation. On independence in 1967 the British ceded power to the People’s Republic of South Yemen (later the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen).
Scope and Content
The papers in the Aden Records consist of over 12,000 volumes and files as well as maps and printed material. They are now catalogued in seven groups under the references R/20/A-G. Material in this IDC Publishers' set is drawn from R/20/B (Records of the Secretariat, Government and Colony of Aden, 1937-1962), R/20/C (Files of the Aden Protectorate, 1928-1962), R/20/D (Files of the High Commission for Aden, 1962-1967) and R/20/G (Aden Library, c. 1860-1967). The material complements the files in the companion set of IDC Publishers, "British Intelligence on Yemen, c. 1880-1948", and takes the story up to the end of British colonial rule in Aden in 1967.
The Aden Archives within the India Office Records collections cover a period extending well beyond the end of the British Empire in India. The material is detailed and extensive although much of it is very fragile. Because of this, some files have not survived in their entirety and there are occasional gaps in the sequence of reports.
The archives of the British Administrations in Aden provide information not only on international involvement in the area but also on the internal political, social and commercial development of the entire region. The material in this collection consists of printed and typescript reports and handbooks, maps, memoranda and intelligence reports covering this important period in Yemeni history. Handbooks, reports and intelligence summaries reproduced in this collection were almost all classified as Secret, Top Secret, Confidential, or ‘For Official Use Only’.
The reports and handbooks offer a wide-ranging coverage of economic, political and social developments in southern Arabia, from the British attempts to gather information on the political situation in the north Yemen capital, San"a, in the 1940s to the development of the oil industry in the Aden Protectorates in the 1950s and the consequent diplomatic disputes over unresolved boundary issues. Many of the reports include maps and photographs.
Some highlights include:
- A medical survey of the Western Aden Protectorate, 1939-1940
- Impressions of a visit to Yemen: report by W.H.Ingrams, August 1941, Most Secret
- Political development in the Hadhramaut: printed paper by Harold Ingrams, April 1945
- Brief Notes on the history of the tribes now residing in the Eastern Aden Protectorate, and their present area and divisions, 1955
- General Handbook of the Aden Colony and Protectorate, Aden: Intelligence Branch, Headquarters, British Forces, January 1959
- Report on the fisheries of the Eastern Aden Protectorate, 1960
- Basic Paper on Boundary Problems in the Eastern Aden Protectorate, compiled by A.F.Watts, Mukalla, May 1962
- An Economic Survey of the South Arabian Federation, 1962
The intelligence summaries are detailed and regular (usually monthly) accounts of activities in Aden and the two Aden Protectorates from the 1940s onwards, as well as Local Intelligence Committee and Aden High Commission reports from the 1960s. Their contents are arranged under sub-headings which include sections on local tribal and state developments (for example, the Qu‘aiti State of Shihr and Mukalla) and sections on frontier areas, security forces and oil negotiations. In a wider political context they record the impact of international events (for example the 1956 Suez crisis) on local politics; and from the late 1950s onwards they examine and report in unique detail on the growing and increasingly radical independence movements, the National Liberation Front (NLF), the Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen (FLOSY) and on labour relations in Aden and the Aden Trades Union Congress as well as on their relations with, and support from, other states in the region and internationally.
Organization and Arrangement
For the present publication, the material has been arranged in two groups. The first group (BID-1) comprises printed and typescript reports and handbooks on wide-ranging subjects covering the period 1939-1967. Some of these were preserved for reference in the Aden Library (R/20/G) and some were kept on office files, either in the Aden Secretariat (R/20/B) or in local offices in the Protectorates, such as the Residency office at Mukalla (R/20/C). The second group (BID-2) comprises intelligence summaries collected from the entire region and forwarded to the Colonial Office and Cabinet in London. Copies were also preserved in Aden in several different and sometimes overlapping series.
Selected Search Terms
Geographic Areas
Great Britain--History.Middle East
Saudi Arabia--History.
Yemen (Republic) --History.
Topics
ProtectoratesIntelligence service--Great Britain
Container List
BID-1 Reports and Handbooks, 1939-1967
Contents: Brief Notes on the history of the tribes now residing in the Eastern Aden Protectorate, and their present area and divisions, as at October 1st, 1952 (corrected to 1st July 1955)
Provenance: Maj I.E.Snell, Political Officer, with two appendices by Cpt J.N.Ellis
Form: ii, 28pp, typ
Microfiche number: Fiche 11-12
Microfiche number: Reel 2
Specification contents: Appendix A: Notes on MahraAppendix B: Notes on Manahil
Contents: Report on the geological reconnaissance in northern Hadhramaut, 1953-1954 season
Provenance: Z.R.Beydoun and E.M.Melville, Petroleum Concessions Limited, Geological Department, London
Form: 129pp, typ, maps, photographs
Microfiche number: Fiche 12-15
Microfiche number: Reel 2
Specification contents: includes:97 photographs including Wadi Hadhramaut and Rub' al-Khali region tracks, dunes, rocks and wadis, forts at Manwakh and al-'Abr, Sanau well, Thamud camp, Manahil tribesmenAlso includes:Geological & topographical maps of Hadhramaut; sketch map of South Arabia showing tribal and administrative provinces
Contents: Geological observations in northern Hadhramaut and Mahra, 1954-1955 season
Provenance: Z.R.Beydoun and E.K.Elliot, Petroleum Concessions Limited, Geological Department, London
Form: 56pp, typ, 6 maps, 54 photographs
Microfiche number: Fiche 15-18
Microfiche number: Reel 2
Specification contents: Includes:Photographs of Mukalla, Shibam, Habarut including Wadi Hadhramaut and Rub' al-Khali region tracks, dunes, rocks and wadis, forts at Manwakh and al-'Abr, Sanau well, Thamud camp, Manahil tribesmenAlso includes:Geological maps of Hadhramaut
Contents: A Review of Progress: memorandum on administrative and agricultural development in Eastern Aden Protectorate, August 1949-September 1958
Provenance: Col Hugh Boustead, Resident Adviser and British Agent, Mukalla
Dates: 1 September 1958
Form: viii, 106pp, sketch map, typ, Confidential
Microfiche number: Fiche 22-25
Microfiche number: Reel 3
Contents: A Handbook of the Sultanate of Lahej, with notes on the Aqrabi and Alawi Sheikhdoms and the Haushabi Sultanate
Dates: January 1955
Form: 80pp, sketch maps, typ
Microfiche number: Fiche 28-30
Microfiche number: Reel 3
Specification contents: Includes: sketch maps showing wadi system, tracks and tribes, genealogical chart of 'Abdali sultans of Lahej
Contents: Information transmitted to the Secretary-General of the United Nations by Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. In accordance with the provisions of Article 73 (e) of the United Nations Charter, concerning the territory of Aden Colony and Protectorate for the year 1957
Form: 93pp, typ
Microfiche number: Fiche 31-33
Microfiche number: Reel 4
Contents: Report on a visit to the Federation of South Arabia and the Eastern Aden Protectorate
Provenance: D.S.Ferguson, Adviser on Land Drainage and Irrigation to the Secretary of State [for the Colonies], Department of Technical Co-operation, Aden
Dates: February 1963
Form: 37pp, chart
Microfiche number: Fiche 41-42
Microfiche number: Reel 5
Contents: British Intelligence Survey: routes in Aden and the Protectorate, 1962
Form: 24pp, map
Microfiche number: Fiche 48
Microfiche number: Reel 5
Specification contents: Includes: Intelligence Briefing Memorandum on Aden Colony and the Protectorates, July 1962Also includes: British Intelligence Survey, Aden Colony and Protectorates.Part V: Transportation, Ministry of Defence, Joint Intelligence Bureau, April 1962