IOR/L/PS/10/604

The volume comprises correspondence and other papers relating to the financial and military support Britain gave to tribes in South Arabia (present-day Yemen) during the First World War. Subjects covered include: in 1914, a declaration by the ‘Abdali Sultan of Lahej [Laḩij] of his longstanding friendship and allegiance to Britain; the sale of arms to the ‘Abdali Sultanate; the maintenance of the Sultan and his followers at Aden, after they had fled from Lahej when it was seized by Ottoman forces; a grant of £10,000 given to the Sultan of Lahej in 1919, to enable him to ‘restart his regime’; arrangements made in 1919 for the sale of two mountain (also referred to as Maxim) guns and ammunition to the ‘Abdali Sultanate; continued arrangements for the sale of arms to the ‘Abdali Sultanate, including high explosive and shrapnel shells. The volume’s principal correspondents are: the Foreign Office; the Foreign and Political Department of the Government of India; and the Political Resident at Aden.

The volume includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.