Partial view of Dhala in 1937, with the main mosque in the foreground. Atop the hill is the castle where the hereditary Amir of Dhala resided. Dhala, 65 miles north of Aden, lies 4,800 feet (1450 m) above sea level. It was then one of the states of the Aden Protectorate, strategically located near the border of the Protectorate and what was then the Imamate (Kingdom) of Yemen.