IOR/L/PS/12/1461

Papers and correspondence regarding the boundaries of the Aden Protectorate, and the inclusion of the Hadramawt in its definition. Hadramawt is spelt variously as Hadramut, Hadhramaut and Hadramaut throughout the file. The principal correspondents are the Aden Resident; the Foreign Office; the Colonial Office; and the India Office Political Department.

The discussion was initiated by a Foreign Office circular Travel Documents for Persons proceeding to, and for Natives of, certain British Protectorates and certain Arab States,1932 (folios 35-36), and the definition of Hadramawt favoured by the Foreign Office, "a coastal area of Southern Arabia lying between the Aden Protectorate and the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman".

The correspondence concerns the suggestion of the Aden Resident that the Aden Protectorate should be regarded as including the Hadramawt, and as extending eastwards to the western limits of the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman. It is agreed that no particular legal instrument would be needed for the Foreign Office to adopt the definition, but that care should be taken to avoid giving the impression that the British were pursuing a forward policy in southern Arabia, and tightening their control in the region.

At the back of the file is a copy of India Office publication B. 424 [P. Z. 1471/31], Aden and its Administration, (folios 37-48).

The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the end of the correspondence (folio 1).