From 1874, these protection arrangements existed with the tacit acceptance of the Ottoman Empire that maintained suzerainty of Yemen to the north, and the polities became known collectively as the "Nine Tribes" or the "Nine Cantons."British protection came to be considered by some to be an impediment to progress, especially by promoters of Arab nationalism as reinforced by news from the outside received by newly available transistor radios.He feared that a successful federation in the Shafi'i Sunnite protectorates would serve to encourage discontented Shafi'ites who inhabited the coastal regions of Yemen.To counter the threat, Ahmad increased Yemeni efforts to decrease British control and, during the mid-1950s, Yemen assisted a number of revolts by disgruntled tribes against protectorate states.The Emergency was caused largely by Arab nationalism spreading to the Arabian Peninsula, encouraged especially by the Socialist and pan-Arabist doctrines of the Egyptian president Gamel Abdel Nasser.The Battle of Crater brought Lt-Col Colin Campbell Mitchell (AKA "Mad Mitch") to prominence.Order was restored by the British, due mainly to the efforts of the 1st Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, commanded by Lt-Col Mitchell.
Lahej, Western Protectorate c. 1910
Postage stamp of the Kathiri state of Sai'yun with portrait of Sultan Jafar bin Mansur
Aerial view of Mukalla, Eastern Protectorate, 1932
Postage stamp from the Qu'aiti state of Shihr and Mukalla with portrait of Sultan Salib bin Ghalib.
1940 cover of British controlled Aden protectorate passport.