Emirate of Dhala

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Dhala (Arabic: الضالع‎ [Aḍ-Ḍāliʿ]), Amiri (Arabic: الأميري‎ [Al-ʿAmīrī]), or the Emirate of Dhala (Arabic: إمارة الضالع‎ [Imārat aḍ-Ḍāliʿ]) was a state in the British Aden Protectorate, the Federation of Arab Emirates of the South, and its successor, the Federation of South Arabia. Its capital was Dhala (Ad Dali').

[edit] History

Previously under the suzerainty of the Zaidi imams of Yemen, emirs of Dhala of the Amiri dynasty came under British protection in the early 20th century, eventually forming part of the Aden Protectorate. The Emirate was a founding member of the Federation of Arab Emirates of the South from 1959 and the Federation of South Arabia from 1963. The Radfan Hills, nominally under control of the Amiris of Dhala, were the scene of fierce fighting between British forces and the local Qutaibis during the Aden Emergency in the mid-1960s. The last emir, Shafaul ibn Ali Shaif Al Amiri, was deposed and the state was abolished in 1967 upon the founding of the People's Republic of South Yemen and the area is now part of the Republic of Yemen.