Aden

Aden
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Presidency: Bombay
Coordinates:	12.772440°N 45.039271°E
Altitude:	6 m (20 ft)
Present Day Details
Place Name:	 Aden
State/Province:
Country:	Yemen
Transport links

Aden, a port city in Yemen, was part of British India from 1838. It was originally governed by Bombay Presidency then became a Chief Commissioner's province. After the Government of India Act (1935) Aden became a separate colony in 1937 and remained under British control until 1963.

There was a cantonment there.

Records

Ecclesiastical Returns: Baptisms, Marriages and Burials at the British Library. Aden 1840-1948, IOR N/13; most of the Aden entries also appear in the Bombay returns. These records are included in the digitised records available on the commercial site findmypast

History

Military

• Seizure of Aden 1839
• Occupation of Lahej 1871
• Battle of Aden 1890

British Somaliland

See British Somaliland.
British Somaliland (or more fully, British Somaliland Protectorate) was a British protectorate in present-day northwestern Somalia' established in 1888. Between 1888 and 1898, it was administered by India, through an Indian Political Officer at Aden called “The Political Resident for the Somali Coast”, assisted by residents at Zaila, Bulhar and Berbera. Troops from Aden were garrisoned there. It appears that even prior to 1888, the Indian Government had representatives in Somaliland.
British Somaliland was then administered by the British Foreign Office until 1905 and afterwards by the Colonial Office. It appears however, that at least some officers from the Indian Army , and to a lesser extent Indian Army soldiers, continued to be posted there.

External Links

• Aden Wikipedia
• Aden in Days of Empire, now archived, (second archived version, probably more internal links) includes
  • Infantry Battalions in Aden 1883-1908 (category Army)
  • Troopships and the trooping season between India and the United Kingdom.(category Navy). This lasted for about seven months each year, with the full programme being published some months in advance. The five-month gap (April- August) was the same each year – to avoid the worst of the heat in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
  • Religion: Churches with further subcategories.
• Christ Church, Aden, built 1863
• "Aden 1901-04: Fighting in the Aden Hinterland. Delineating an international boundary" by Harry Fecitt from Harry’s Sideshows. kaiserscross.com. The force included men from the 5th Bombay Light Infantry (soon to be re-titled the 105th Mahratta Light Infantry) the 4th Company, Bombay Sappers and Miners and subsequently men from the 102nd King Edward’s Own Grenadiers.
• "The British Campaign in Aden, 1914-1918" by Mark Connelly Journal of the Centre for First World War Studies Vol. 1, No. 3, 2005. pages 65-96. Now an archived page. Includes brief mention of 26/ King George's Own Light Cavalry, 7/Rajputs, 9/Gurkhas, 23/Sikh Pioneers, 51/Sikhs, 62/Punjabis, 75/Carnatics, 108/Infantry, 109/(Indian) Infantry , 126/Baluchistans. Also mentions the British Army Territorial Force regiment 4/South Wales Borderers (Brecknockshire battalion) where there were deaths from heatstroke.
• "Military Operations in Aden 1914-1915" by Harry Fecitt, from Harry’s Sideshows kaiserscross.com. Includes mention of the 26th (King George’s Own) Light Cavalry, 14th (KGO) Sikhs, 51st Sikhs (Frontier Force), the 53rd Sikhs (Frontier Force), the 56th Punjabi Rifles (Frontier Force), the 62nd Punjabis Rifles (Frontier Force), 109th Infantry and the 126th Baluchistan Infantry.
• "The Malay States Guides in action at Hatum, Aden, 12th January 1916" by Harry Fecitt from Harry’s Sideshows kaiserscross.com. This regiment belonged to the Sultans of the Federated Malay States and was similar to an Indian Imperial Service unit.
  • "Nand Singh and Jangnamah Europe: Subaltern insights on the wars of Empire" by Raman Singh Chhina. lse.ac.uk. Havildar Nand Singh was a Sergeant in the Malay State Guides and also an Indian poet who wrote using a genre of Punjabi historical poetic writing. He composed the Janganamah Europe giving an empirical account of the First World War. On September 26 1915 the regiment left Taiping to join the Aden Field Force.

Historical books online

• Selections from the Records of the Bombay Government No XLIX New Series: A History: Arabia Felix Or Yemen, From The Commencement Of The Christian Era To The Present Time; Including An Account Of The British Settlement Of Aden 1859 Google Books
• The cantonment at Aden, page 280 Army Medical Department: Report for the Year 1862 Google Books
• "Aden" page 475 Report of the Commissioners Appointed to Inquire into the Sanitary State of the Army in India : with Abstract of Evidence, and of Reports Received from Indian Military Stations 1864 Archive.org. At this time, Aden cantonment was part of the Bombay Army structure.
• "Aden", page 260 Frontier and Overseas Expeditions from India Volume VI Expeditions Overseas by Intelligence Branch, Army Headquarters India 1911 Archive.org
• The Empire at War edited for the Royal Colonial Institute by Sir Charles Lucas, in five volumes, with a catalogue contents description. (Volume 1 British Library Digital file) Volume 5, 1926, covers WW1 The Mediterranean colonies ; Egypt and Palestine ; Aden ; India ; Ceylon ; Malaya ; China. Volume 5, British Library Digital file, Contents. Also available as a pdf download from the Digital Library of India Vol-vth, Archive.org version.

Maps

• Aden and Surroundings Imperial Gazetteer of India Volume 26 1909