Aden Protectorate in the context of "Yemen"

⭐ In the context of Yemen, the establishment of the Aden Protectorate in the 19th century primarily represents what kind of historical development?

Ad spacer

⭐ Core Definition: Aden Protectorate

The Aden Protectorate (Arabic: محمية عدن Maḥmiyyat ‘Adan) was a British protectorate in southern Arabia. The protectorate evolved in the hinterland of the port of Aden and in the Hadhramaut after the conquest of Aden by the Bombay Presidency of British India in January 1839, and which continued until the 1960s. In 1940, it was divided for administrative purposes into the Western Protectorate and the Eastern Protectorate. The territory now forms part of the Republic of Yemen.

The rulers of the Aden Protectorate, as generally with the other British protectorates and protected states, retained a large degree of autonomy: their flags still flew over their government buildings, government was still performed by them or in their names, and their states maintained a distinct 'international personality' in terms of international law, in contrast to states possessed directly by the British Empire, such as Colony of Aden, where the British monarch was the sovereign.

↓ Menu

>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<

👉 Aden Protectorate in the context of Yemen

Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Including the Socotra Archipelago, mainland Yemen is located in southern Arabia; bordering Saudi Arabia to the north, Oman to the northeast, the south-eastern part of the Arabian Sea to the east, the Gulf of Aden to the south, and the Red Sea to the west, sharing maritime borders with Djibouti, Eritrea, and Somalia across the Horn of Africa. Covering roughly 455,503 square kilometres (175,871 square miles), with a coastline of approximately 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles), Yemen is the second largest country on the Arabian Peninsula. Sanaa is its constitutional capital and largest city. Yemen's estimated population is 34.7 million, mostly Arab Muslims. It is a member of the Arab League, the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

Owing to its geographic location, Yemen has been at the crossroads of many civilisations for over 7,000 years. The Sabaeans formed a thriving commercial kingdom that influenced parts of modern Ethiopia and Eritrea. In 275 CE, it was succeeded by the Himyarite Kingdom, which spanned much of Yemen's present-day territory and was heavily influenced by Judaism. Christianity arrived in the fourth century, followed by the rapid spread of Islam in the seventh century. From its conversion to Islam, Yemen became a center of Islamic learning, and Yemenite troops played a crucial role in early Islamic conquests. Much of Yemen's architecture survived until modern times. For centuries, it was a primary producer of coffee, exported through the port of Mocha. Various dynasties emerged between the 9th and 16th centuries. During the 19th century, the country was divided between the Ottoman and British empires. After World War I, the Kingdom of Yemen was established, which in 1962 became the Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen) following a civil war. In 1967, the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (South Yemen) gained its independence from the British Aden Protectorate, becoming the first and only communist state in the Middle East and the Arab world. In 1990, the two Yemeni states united to form the modern Republic of Yemen, with Ali Abdullah Saleh serving as the first president until his resignation in 2012 in the wake of the Arab Spring.

↓ Explore More Topics
In this Dossier

Aden Protectorate in the context of Kingdom of Yemen

The Kingdom of Yemen (Arabic: المملكة اليمنية, romanizedal-Mamlakah al-Yamanīyah), officially the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen (Arabic: المملكة المتوكلية اليمنية, romanizedal-Mamlakah al-Mutawakkilīyah al-Yamanīyah) and also known simply as Yemen or, retrospectively, as North Yemen, was a state that existed between 1918 and 1970 in the northwestern part of the modern country of Yemen. Located in the Middle East, the Kingdom of Yemen had an area of 195,000 km. The country was bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Aden Protectorate to the south, and the Red Sea to the west. Its capital was Sanaa from 1918 to 1948, then Taiz from 1948 to 1962. Yemen was admitted to the United Nations on 30 September 1947. A republican coup was launched against the government in 1962, leading to the North Yemen Civil War. The royalist government only controlled the northern portions of the country from 1962 to 1970, until a peace deal in 1970 saw it largely dissolved.

Three days after the Ottoman Empire's decision to withdraw from Yemen following the 1918 Armistice of Mudros, Imam Yahya, the religious leader of the region, entered Sana'a and declared himself the ruler of Yemen. After declaring his rule, he launched attacks on Aden, which was under the auspices of the British Empire, but the British repelled the attacks. He then suppressed the rebellions of the tribes in Southern Tihama, advanced towards the Emirate of Asir, and increased his legitimacy by making agreements with the Kingdom of Italy and the Soviet Union. In 1927, he again attacked the countries under the auspices of the British Empire, and these attacks also failed. In 1934, he signed a friendship treaty with the United Kingdom, promising not to attack Aden in exchange for border negotiations. The Saudi-Yemeni war broke out because he did not accept to surrender the Emir of Asir, who was loyal to Saudi Arabia at that time and rebelled. Four months later, Yemen made peace by giving Jizan, Najran, and Asir to Saudi Arabia. After this war, the Kingdom of Yemen began to pursue an isolationist policy.

↑ Return to Menu

Aden Protectorate in the context of South Yemen

South Yemen, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY), abbreviated to Democratic Yemen, was a country in South Arabia that existed in what is now southeast Yemen from 1967 until its unification with the Yemen Arab Republic in 1990. The sole communist state in the Middle East and the Arab world, it comprised the southern and eastern governorates of the present-day Republic of Yemen, including the islands of Perim, Kamaran, and the Socotra Archipelago. It bordered the Yemen Arab Republic to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the north, Oman to the east, the Arabian Sea to the southeast, and the Gulf of Aden to the south. Its capital and largest city was Aden.

South Yemen's origins can be traced to 1874 with the creation of the British Colony of Aden and the Aden Protectorate, which consisted of two-thirds of present-day Yemen. Prior to 1937, what was to become the Colony of Aden had been governed as a part of British India, originally as the Aden Settlement subordinate to the Bombay Presidency and then as a Chief Commissioner's province. After the establishments of the Protectorate and Federation of South Arabia amidst rising Pan-Arab and anti-colonial sentiment, an armed rebellion began in 1963 that was led by the National Liberation Front (NLF) and the Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen (FLOSY) against British colonial rule. The Federation and Protectorate of South Arabia were overthrown to become the People's Republic of Southern Yemen (PRSY) on 30 November 1967.

↑ Return to Menu

Aden Protectorate in the context of Chief Commissioner's Province of Aden

The Chief Commissioner's Province of Aden was the administrative status under which the former Aden Settlement (1839–1932) was placed from 1932 to 1937. Under that new status, the Viceroy of India assumed direct control over Aden, which had hitherto been administered by the government of the Bombay Presidency. The Aden Protectorate remained unaffected by this change.

↑ Return to Menu

Aden Protectorate in the context of Aden Colony

Aden Colony (Arabic: مُسْتْعَمَرَةْ عَدَنْ, romanizedMusta'marat 'Adan) was a crown colony of the United Kingdom from 1937 to 1963 located in the southern part of modern-day Yemen. It consisted of the port city of Aden and also included the outlying islands of Kamaran, Perim and the Khuria Muria archipelago with a total area of 192 km (74 sq mi). Initially a key port for the British East India Company, it was annexed by the British in 1839 to secure maritime routes and prevent piracy in the Arabian Sea. Its strategic position at the entrance to the Red Sea made it a vital stopover for ships traveling between Europe, India, and the Far East, especially after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. Aden quickly became a major coaling station and transit hub for British shipping, and its significance to the British Empire grew throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Prior to 1937, Aden had been governed as part of British India (originally as the Aden Settlement subordinate to the Bombay Presidency, and then as a Chief Commissioner's province). In 1 April 1937, Aden was separated from British India to become a Crown colony under the Government of India Act 1935, consisting of the city of Aden and its surrounding areas. The colony experienced rapid development due to its thriving port, but it was also marked by growing civil unrest. Economic inequality, labor strikes, and the rise of Arab nationalism contributed to increasing tensions, which were intensified by the anti-colonial sentiment in the Middle East. During this period, Aden became important for British military and commercial purposes in the region, as well as a base for the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. The colony's surrounding hinterland, was governed separately as the Aden Protectorate.

↑ Return to Menu

Aden Protectorate in the context of Bombay Presidency

The Bombay Presidency, officially called the Presidency of Bombay until 1937, later the Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainland territory was acquired in the Konkan region with the Treaty of Bassein. Poona was the summer capital.

The Bombay Province has its beginnings in the city of Bombay that was leased in fee tail to the East India Company, via the Royal Charter of 27 March 1668 by King Charles II of England, who had in turn acquired Bombay on 11 May 1661, through the dowry by way of his marriage treaty with princess Catherine De Braganza, daughter of John IV of Portugal. The English East India Company transferred its Western India headquarters from Surat in the Gulf of Cambay after it was sacked, to the relatively safe Bombay Harbour in 1687. The province was brought under direct rule along with other parts of British India through Pitt's India Act, after the nationalisation of the East India Company. Major territorial acquisitions were made by the company after Anglo-Maratha Wars when the whole of the Peshwa's dominions and much of the Gaekwad's sphere of influence were annexed to the Bombay Presidency in stages up until 1818. Aden including Socotra were placed under Bombay in 1839, Sind was annexed by the company in 1843 after defeating the Talpur dynasty in the Battle of Hyderabad.

↑ Return to Menu