Colony of Aden - History

History

On 19 January 1839, the British East India Company landed Royal Marines at Aden to occupy the territory and stop attacks by pirates against British shipping to India. British influence then began to extend inland, both west and east, with the establishment of Aden protectorate. The Western Aden Protectorate was a nearby territory of 75 sq miles that was ceded to Britain by Sultan Muhsin bin Fadl, while the Eastern Aden Protectorate composed of the Arab sheikdoms of Hadhramaut and the island of Socotra. Aden then became an important transit port for trade between British India and the Red Sea, and when the Suez Canal was opened in 1869, it came an important coaling station.

In 1937, Aden became separated from the British Indian Empire and became a colony in its own right. The Colony of Aden was a British Crown colony from 1937 to 1963, and consisted of the port city of Aden and its immediate surroundings (an area of 192 km²). (75 sq. miles).

Prior to 1937, Aden had been governed as part of British India (originally as the Aden Settlement under the Bombay Presidency, and then as a "Chief Commissioner's province). Under the Government of India Act 1935 the territory was detached from British India, and was re-organised as a separate Crown Colony of the United Kingdom; this separation took effect on 1 April 1937.

Through the latter years of its existence the Colony of Aden was plagued by civil unrest.

Population of Aden Colony 1955