Al-Bu`si, Busi, Bo'sī, ( ''Bu`sī''), or the Bu`si Sheikhdom ( ''Mashyakhat al-Bu`sī''), was a small state in the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Aden Protectorate The Aden Protectorate ( ar, محمية عدن ') was a British protectorate in South Arabia which evolved in the hinterland of the port of Aden and in the Hadhramaut following the conquest of Aden by the Bombay Presidency of British India ...

. It was one of the states of

Upper Yafa Upper Yafa or Upper Yafa'i ( ar, يافع العليا ''),'' officially State of Upper Yafa ( ar, دولة يافع العليا '')'', was a military alliance in the British Aden Protectorate and the Protectorate of South Arabia. It was rul ...

History

Busi was established around the 18th century. Protectorate treaties were signed with the other states of Upper Yafa in 1903, but Busi was excluded and remained independent. Between 1903 and 1954, two different sheikhs of Busi, father and son, attempted to obtain a protectorate treaties, but Britain denied their applications on the ground that it was undesirable to multiply the number of treaty chiefs, among other reasons. Although Busi was not allowed to enter into the British protectorate, the Sheikhs were still entitled to an annual visit to Aden. The Sheikh of Busi was one of the rulers of South Arabian states attending the second

Lahej Lahij or Lahej ( ar, لحج, Laḥj, links=no), also called al-Hawtah, is a city and an area located between Ta'izz and Aden in Yemen. From the 18th to the 20th century, its rulers were of the Abdali branch of the Al-Sallami tribe who trace th ...

conference in 1930. In August 1954, a request for a protectorate treaty by the Sheikh of Busi was forwarded by Tom Hickinbotham, the Governor of Aden, to Alan Lennox-Boyd, the Secretary of State for the Colonies. In that year, Busi became the last of the Yemeni polities to enter into a protectorate treaty with Britain. In ''A History of Modern Yemen'' (2000), Paul Dresch notes that this treaty was virtually identical to the ones Britain had signed with Busi's neighbours 50 years earlier. Busi did not join the

Federation of South Arabia The Federation of South Arabia ( ar, اتحاد الجنوب العربي ') was a federal state under British protection in what would become South Yemen. Its capital was Aden. It was formed on 4 April 1962 from the 15 protected states of ...

in 1962, but was nominally part of the

Protectorate of South Arabia The Protectorate of South Arabia consisted of various states located at the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula under treaties of protection with Britain. The area of the former protectorate became part of South Yemen after the Radfan upri ...

. Its last sheikh was deposed in 1967 upon the founding of the

People's Republic of South Yemen South Yemen ( ar, اليمن الجنوبي, al-Yaman al-Janubiyy), officially the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (, ), also referred to as Democratic Yemen (, ) or Yemen (Aden) (, ), was a communist state that existed from 1967 to 19 ...

and the area is now part of the Republic of

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

.Paul Dresch. ''A History of Modern Yemen.'' Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2000

Geography

The Busi country was a flat plain intersected by small valleys, the principal of which was the Wādī-ul-Ab'us. Busi was bordered by Al-Dubi in the west and Hadrami in the north. Busi had no border with the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen.

Demographics

Busi was inhabited by a single tribe of the same name. In 1917, it was estimated to have a population of around 2000. The plurality of the Busi, about 900 of them, resided in the settlement of Hazar-ul-Abu's, while the rest of them were spread out over 18 other villages in the vicinity.

Military

As of 1917, Busi had around 500 fighting men.

References

External links