Upper Yafa

State of Upper Yafa يافع العليا Yāfi‘ al-‘Ulyā
State of the Protectorate of South Arabia
ca. 1800–1967 →
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Map of the Federation of South Arabia
Capital		Mahjaba
Government		Sultanate
HRH Sultan		Muhammad ibn Salih ibn `Umar Al Harhara
Historical era		20th century
•	Established	ca. 1800
•	Disestablished	29 November 1967

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Upper Yafa or Upper Yafa'i (Arabic: يافع العليا ‎‎ Yāfi‘ al-‘Ulyā), officially State of Upper Yafa (Arabic: دولة يافع العليا‎‎ Daulat Yāfiʿ al-ʿUlyā), was a state in the British Aden Protectorate and the Protectorate of South Arabia. It was ruled by the Harharah dynasty and its capital was Mahjaba, a small town on a hill located by road 621, about 50 km northeast of Habilayn.

The Yafa'i tribe has traditionally inhabited the mountainous hinterland of the Aden area. In the 19th century it was formed by two sultanates, Lower and Upper Yafa. Upper Yafa included the five sheikhdoms of Al-Busi, Al-Dhubi, Al-Hadrami, Al-Muflihi, and Al-Mausata that were unified by the Harharah dynasty around 1800. A treaty of Protection was signed between the British and the Sultan of Upper Yafa in 1903.

The area of Upper Yafa had not been visited by Europeans before Colonel M.C. Lake of the British Indian Army explored it in order to gather intelligence and to find suitable sites for landing grounds. In 1925 Lake built a small army of tribal warriors that would be able to assist the British Aden Protectorate in eventual territorial scuffles with the Imam of Yemen.

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