page_title: Mahra Sultanate
section_title: British protectorate
hierarchical_section_title: Mahra Sultanate / British protectorate
caption_attribution_description: English: The Sultan of Qishn and Socotra with British explorer et colonial administrator W. H. Ingrams (far right). The Sultan's attire reveals the strong links the ruling and other prominent families of the Hadhramaut long had with the Dutch East Indies and the Malay states, where they owned considerable property. Photo from the second half of the 1930s. Photo's caption: The Sultan of Qishn, accompanied by three Bedouin councilors, is attired in a turban and wears a curved dagger in his belt. Mr. W. H. Ingrams is at the extreme right. Note the Bedouins' well formed features and general attire, especially the sarong, which has been introduced by Hadhrami emigrants returning from the Malay States.
context_page_description: The Mahra Sultanate, known in its later years as the Mahra State of Qishn and Socotra or sometimes the Mahra Sultanate of Ghayda and Socotra was a sultanate that included the historical region of Mahra and the Guardafui Channel island of Socotra in what is now eastern Yemen. It was ruled by the Banu Afrar dynasty for most of its history.
  In 1886, the Sultanate became a British protectorate and later joined the Aden Protectorate. The Sultanate was abolished in 1967 upon the founding of the People's Republic of South Yemen and is now part of the Republic of Yemen.
  The Sultanate was inhabited by the Mahri people who spoke the Mahri language, a modern South Arabian language. The Mehri share, with their regional neighbours on the island of Socotra and in Dhofar in Oman, blood lineage ties in Somalia with the Darood tribe, cultural traditions like a modern South Arabian language, Arabic incursions, and frankincense agriculture. The region benefits from a coastal climate, distinct from the surrounding desert climate, with seasons dominated by the khareef or monsoon.
context_section_description: In 1862, the Mahra Sultanate signed a protectorate treaty with Great Britain after negotiating with the British government, and later Al-Mahra state became part of the Aden Protectorate. The Aden Protectorate was the British government's effort to secure the trade route to British India. Bringing the area under British control protected a strategically important naval route against the Ottoman Empire. The main point of the treaty was that the rulers retained jurisdiction over their land, and in exchange for British protection, the Al-Mahra sultanate agreed not to enter agreements with, or cede territory to, any other foreign government. Since 1866 the Aden Protectorate meant that nine regions along the Gulf of Aden became vassal states of Great Britain.
  In the 1940s Al-Mahra and its neighbouring regions along the Gulf were forced to sign Advisory Treaties, and those who refused were subjected to deadly airstrikes delivered by the British Royal Air force. The Advisory Treaty meant that the local leadership no longer had jurisdiction over their internal affairs, and the treaty gave the British government complete control over the nation's internal affairs and the order of succession. The Advisory Treaties caused resentment against British rule and the spread of Arab Nationalism in Al-Mahra and the rest of the Arabian Peninsula.
caption: The Sultan of Qishn (in a turban), late 1930s
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