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. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Aden Protectorate The Aden Protectorate ( ') 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 ...

. It was one of the states of

Upper Yafa Upper Yafa or Upper Yafa'i ( ''),'' officially the State of Upper Yafa ( '')'', was a military alliance in the British Aden Protectorate and the Protectorate of South Arabia. It was ruled by the Harharah dynasty and its capital was Mahjaba, ...

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 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 (FSA; ') was a federal state under British protectorate, British protection in what would become South Yemen. Its capital was Aden. History Originally formed on April 4, 1962 from 15 states of the Federation ...

in 1962, but was nominally part of the

Protectorate of South Arabia The Protectorate of South Arabia (), also known as the Eastern Aden Protectorate, 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 bec ...

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

People's Republic of South Yemen South Yemen, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, 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 199 ...

and the area is now part of the Republic of

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

.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 The Kingdom of Yemen (), officially the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen () 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 ...

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