{"product_id":"map-sheikh-othman-havildar-niyaz-muhammad-khan-18th-kvm8rkhz","title":"Map of Sheikh Othman by Havildar Niyaz Muhammad Khan 18th Infantry.","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA seemingly unrecorded map of Sheikh Othman and vicinity, the planned modern urban district that for decades served as the commercial centre and army HQ of the British Aden Protectorate, in Southern Yemen. It would have been printed in only a handful of examples for restricted use by senior Indian Army officers and colonial officials which accounts for its low survival rate.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBased on a scientific survey conducted by the Islamic cartographer Havildar [Sergeant] Niyaz Muhammad Khan of the 18th Infantry of the Indian Army, in 1913. Two years later, Sheikh Othman played a key role in the British efforts to repel an Ottman attack upon Aden, which not only threatened Britain’s control of South Yemen, but its access to the vital Suez Canal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAden’s natural harbour, from which it guards the main shipping lanes across the Arabian Sea towards India, and the entrances to the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, had historically been controlled by a variety of powers. During the mid-eighteenth century, Aden came under the rule of the newly formed Sultanate of Lahij, a powerful and wealthy state that dominated most of southern Yemen.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the late eighteenth century, the British East India Company (EIC) coveted Aden as a naval base for trade in the Indian Ocean and to suppress the Arab pirates that plagued their shipping. In 1839, the EIC mounted a successful naval expedition to that seize Aden and its vicinity from the Sultanate of Lahij. From that point, the strip of territory around the harbour of Aden became the “Aden Settlement” (later known as the Aden Protectorate) and was politically a part of British India. \u003cstrong\u003eWith the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, Aden assumed outsized importance as a base for reprovisioning along what became the main sea route from Europe to India and Far Fast. The city’s diverse population and economy boomed and Aden became the most important Royal Navy base in the Middle East.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNonetheless, the British found that the old city of Aden, comprised of dense warrens of narrow streets riding up steep hills, was too crowded and chaotic. As such, they decided to build a “New Aden” on flat land nearby. In 1880, the British purchased at large tract of land from the Sultanate of Lahij around the site of “Sheikh Othman” (named for a shrine to the Muslim saint, Sheikh Othman Al-Zubairi Al-Wahki) so adding this territory to the Aden Protectorate. The site was located about 2 miles inland from the harbour, about 6 miles north of Aden city, and 16 miles southeast of Lahij city.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA planned neighbourhood on a grid, it was among the most modern urban area in the Middle East of its time. It was the commercial and residential district for the British community, as well as others who were close to the colonial regime. It boasted paved streets and the most modern amenities and buildings, including stores, hospitals, schools, markets, mosques, churches and theatres. Sheikh Othman also serves as the headquarters of the British Army in Yemen.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe map shows massive Salt Works located to the immediate southeast of Sheikh Othman, while beyond is Khor Maksar (home of the Indian Army’s ‘Cavalry Lines’) on the isthmus of the Aden Peninsula. In the far south-west, is Hiswar (home to a ‘Police Outpost’), on the shores of the harbour, while in the northeast is the “Aram Shrine.” The Aden Protectorate-Sultanate of Lahij boundary is marked by the dashed-dotted line the run across the map, just beyond Sheikh Othman (Lahij city is labelled as being 16 miles to the northwest). Throughout the map, all major roads and topographical and man-made landmarks are carefully depicted. Specifically labelled are the lands of the Infantry Guard (the Army HQ) and the hospital, while a telegraph line is shown to run into town, up the main road from Aden city.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEarly in World War One, Britain’s armed forces in Aden were depleted, having sent troops to fight mainly in Egypt and Iraq. In June 1915, the Ottomans mounted an attack upon southern Yemen from their bases in Ottoman northern Yemen. At the Battle of Ad-Dakim (June to July 5, 1915), they seized and sacked Lahij city (the Sultanate of Lahij was then a British ally).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Ottomans then advanced into the Aden Protectorate, forcing the outmatched British to withdraw to Aden city. The Ottomans marched into Shiekh Othman unopposed and seized the entire hinterland of the protectorate. If Britain lost Aden, then so with it would go her secure access to the Suez Canal, and endanger its best link with India and East Asia.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt was at this point that reinforcements flooded into Aden from India, led by Major General Sir Gorge Younghusband, who took charge of the “Aden Column.” On July 20, 1915, a detachment of the column, led by the seasoned frontier warrior Lieutenant Colonel A.M.S. Esmie, attacked and routed the Ottomans at Sheikh Othman. Over the next two months, the Aden Column, forced the Ottomans out of southern Yemen altogether, such that Aden was henceforth safe from any threat of enemy action.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSheikh Othman quickly recovered in the wake of the brief Ottoman occupation and, in 1916, received a boost upon the completion of the Aden State Railway, being a 29-mile line which connected the district to Aden city and heartland of Lahij. In 1936, Sheikh Othman became home to RAF Sheikh Othman, a major air force base that played an important role in World War II.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eVery rare: we locate no copies on OCLC, Libraryhub, or at auction. The map is so rare there are no traces of it on broad internet searches.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n","brand":"Maggs Bros.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67609231130933,"sku":"258956","price":2500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/store.maggs.com\/products\/map-sheikh-othman-havildar-niyaz-muhammad-khan-18th-kvm8rkhz","provider":"Maggs Bros.","version":"1.0","type":"link"}