Kathiri State of Seiyun السلطنة الكثيرية (Arabic) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1395–1967 | |||||||||||||
 Flag ![Coat of Arms[1] of Kathiri](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aEmblem_of_the_Kathiri_State.svg) Coat of Arms[1] | |||||||||||||
.png) Map of South Arabia in 1914 | |||||||||||||
| Capital | Seiyun 17°10′N50°15′E / 17.167°N 50.250°E /17.167; 50.250 | ||||||||||||
| Government | Sultanate | ||||||||||||
| HRH Sultan | |||||||||||||
• 1395-c. 1430 | Badr as-Sahab ibn al-Habrali Bu Tuwairik (first) | ||||||||||||
• 1948–1967 | al-Muhsin bin ‘Ali bin al-Mansur (last) | ||||||||||||
| Establishment | 1395 | ||||||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages toCold War | ||||||||||||
• First Kathiri state established | 1395 | ||||||||||||
• Fall of the first Kathiri state | 1730 | ||||||||||||
• Second Kathiri state established | 1803 | ||||||||||||
• Fall of the second Kathiri state | 1858 | ||||||||||||
• Third Kathiri state established | 1840s | ||||||||||||
• Informal protection treaty with the British signed | 1888 | ||||||||||||
| 1918 | |||||||||||||
• Incorporation intoSouth Yemen | 30 November 1967 | ||||||||||||
• Established | 1395 | ||||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1967 | ||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||
• 1952 | 60,000[2] | ||||||||||||
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| Today part of | |||||||||||||
| Part ofa series on the |
| History of Yemen |
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 Yemen portal |
Kathiri, also known as theKathiri sultanate (Arabic:السلطنة الكثيرية,romanized: al-Saltanah al-Kathīrīyah), and officially as theKathiri State of Seiyun, was asultanate in theHadhramaut region of the southernArabian Peninsula, in what is now part ofYemen and theDhofar Governorate ofOman. It was established in 1379 and ruled Hadhramaut fromDhofar in the east toSharura in the Empty Quarter in the north andAin Bamabd in the south.
Throughout its history, the Kathiri state ruled a large area of Hadhramaut, but it lost much of its power in the 19th century in favor of its rival, theQu'aiti, and lost its eastern regions to theOmani Empire and theMahra Sultanate, eventually limiting the authority of the Kathiri state to northern Hadhramaut.
In 1414, Sultan Ali bin Omar bin Jaafar bin Badr al-Kathiri decided to seizeDhofar, which was supported by all Hadramawt scholars at that time, and seized it. In the mid-1950s, the Kathiri state was forced to join the BritishProtectorate of South Arabia, and remained in it until 1967, when the14 October Revolution took place, expelling the colonizers and unifying the rest of the sultanates into one state, thePeople's Republic of South Yemen.
The Kathiri state was established in 1395 by Badr as-Sahab ibn al-Habrali Bu Tuwairik, who ruled untilc. 1430.[3] The Kathiri conqueredAsh-Shihr in the 1460s.[4]
The country inhabited by this tribe was formerly extensive, reaching from the Aulaqi districts on the west to the Maliri tribe on the east, and including the seaports ofMukalla and Shihr. Civil wars led to the interference of theYafai, and much of the Kathiri territory came under the sway of the Kasadi and Qu'aiti.[5]
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The Kathiris were eventually restricted to a small inland portion of Hadhramaut with their capital at Seiyun (Say'un), where theSeiyun Palace was located.[6]
At the end of 1883, Sultan Abdulla bin Salih, one of the Kathiri Shaikhs, visited the Resident at Aden. His principal object was to ascertain what attitude the British Government would maintain in the event of the Kathiri attacking the Qu'aiti with a view to repossessing themselves of the ports of Shihr and Mukalla. Abdulla bin Salih also visited Zanzibar with intent to intrigue with the ex-Naqib of Mukalla, from whom however, he failed to obtain any material assistance.[5]
The Government of India in March 1884 directed that the Kathiri be warned that an attack upon Shihr and Mukalla would be viewed with grave displeasure, and that, if necessary, a gun-boat would be sent to support the Qu'aiti ruler. The Jamadar of Shihr and Mukalla was subsequently assured in the most public manner that the Government would support him in the event of any attack on his ports.[5]
In 1895, the Kathiri captured the port at Dhufar, driving out the Governor, who retired to Mirbat. In 1897 the port was recaptured.[5] In 1918, a long standing Qu'aiti-Kathiri quarrel was settled, with the assistance of the Aden Residency, by the conclusion of an agreement between the parties, by which the Kathiri agreed to accept as binding upon them the treaty of 1888 between the Qu'aiti and the British Government and also accepted the arbitration of the British Government in the settlement of future disputes.[5]
Sultan Mansur bin Ghalib died at Mecca in May 1929 and was succeeded by his son Ali bin Mansur.[5]
The Kathiri State declined to join theFederation of South Arabia, but remained under British protection as part of theProtectorate of South Arabia. By the end of the Sultanate's existence, its two principal cities of Say'un andTarim were almost entirely financially dependent on Kathiri holdings in Jakarta and Singapore. Al-Husayn ibn Ali, Kathiri sultan since 1949, was overthrown in October 1967, and the following month the former sultanate became part of newly independent South Yemen.[7]
The firstprime minister in the history ofEast Timor,Mar'ī al-Kathīrī, is a third generation descendant of immigrants from Kathiri, part of a significant migration ofHadhramis to Southeast Asia in the 19th and 20th centuries. This is reflected in his name 'Alkatiri'. The Indonesian human rights activistMunir Said Thalib is also a descendant of immigrants from the Kathiris.[citation needed]
A system of social stratification defined Kathiri society. Membership in these groups was acquired at birth and dictated a person's marriage prospects, occupation, and political role. The structure is generally divided into four major categories:[8]
Beneath the primary tiers resided several groups categorized as "weak" (dhu‘afa’) because they did not bear arms:[9]
The inhabitants were almost exclusivelySunni Muslims adhering to theShafi'i school of law. Religious life was heavily influenced bySufism, particularly theBa 'Alawi tradition, which centered on the veneration of saints and ritual visits (ziyara) to tombs, such as that of the Prophet Hud inQabr Hud.[10]
Arabic was the primary language; however, due to extensive migration,Malay was frequently the court language in Seiyun and the common tongue among the educated classes.[11]
| Sultan's name | Reign |
|---|---|
| Ghalib bin Muhsin bin Ahmad | 1865–1870 |
| al-Mansur bin Ghalib bin Muhsin | 1870–1929 |
| ‘Ali bin al-Mansur bin Ghalib | 1929–1938 |
| Ja‘far bin al-Mansur bin Ghalib | 1938–1948 |
| al-Muhsin bin ‘Ali bin al-Mansur | 1948–1967 |
| Source:[12] | |
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.Smith, R. H. (1953)."Notes on the Kathiri State of Hadhramaut".Middle East Journal.7 (4):499–503.ISSN 0026-3141.
