Sultanate of Lahej

Lahej, also called the Abdali Sultanate, was a state in southern Arabia centred on the town of Lahij, north of Aden. The Abdali dynasty became self-ruling in 1728, when the Zaidi state of northern Yemen fragmented, and its sultan achieved full independence around 1740. Lahej controlled the approaches to Aden and the trade routes of the interior, and its rulers profited from the passage of goods and people toward the port. In 1839 the British occupied Aden, and the sultanate became part of the Aden Protectorate while the Abdali sultan retained nominal authority over his own territory. The opening of the Suez Canal increased the strategic value of the region, and Lahej's relationship with Britain was tested by border disputes and by Ottoman intervention during the First World War. After the war the British regained control, and in 1963 Lahej was absorbed into the Federation of South Arabia. The dynasty was abolished in 1967 with the creation of the People's Republic of South Yemen, and the sultanate disappeared from the political map.