
Map of the Protectorate of South Arabia
'Qu'aiti' ( []), officially the 'Qu'aiti State in Hadhramaut' (Arabic: السلطنة القعيطية في حضرموت) or the 'Qu'aiti State of Shihr and Mukalla' (Arabic: السلطنة القعيطية في الشحر و المكلا []), was a
sultanate in the
Hadhramaut region of the southern
Arabian Peninsula, in what is now
Yemen. Its capital was
Al Mukalla and it was divided into six provinces including Al Mukalla,
Ash Shihr,
Shibam,
Du'an,
Hawra, and
Al Hajr.
History
The Qu'aitis, sons of
Umar bin Awadh al Qu'aiti, who became a
jemadar in the forces of the
Nizam of
Hyderabad State (now in
India), first took the town of
Shibam from the rival
Kathiris in
1858. They later conquered
Ash Shihr in
1866 and Al Mukalla in
1881, largely replacing the Kathiris to control most of the Hadhramaut coast on the
Gulf of Aden. They entered into treaty relations with the
British in
1888 and created a unified sultanate in
1902 that would become a part of the
Aden Protectorate.
As Great Britain planned for the eventual independence of
South Arabia in the
1960s, Qu’aiti declined to join the British-sponsored
Federation of South Arabia but remained under British protection as part of the
Protectorate of South Arabia. On
17 September 1967, the sultanate was abolished and, in November of that year, Qu’aiti became part of newly independent
South Yemen which united with
North Yemen in
1990 to become the Republic of
Yemen.
Qu'aiti Sultans
★ Awadh I bin Umar Al Quaiti - 1902-1909
★ Ghalib I bin Awadh Al Quaiti - 1909-1922
★ Umar bin Awadh Al Quaiti - 1922-1936
★ Saleh bin Ghalib Al Quaiti, Sultan of Shihr and Mukalla - 1936-1956
★ Awadh II bin Saleh Al Quaiti - 1956-1966
★ Ghalib II bin Awadh bin Saleh Al Quaiti - 10 October 1966 - 17 September 1967