sultanate · Arabia and the Gulf
Qu'aiti Sultanate
Origins
The Qu'aiti were a Yafa'i family whose head, Umar ibn Awad al-Qu'aiti, rose to high rank as a commander in the army of the Nizam of Hyderabad. With Indian wealth they bought land and influence in Hadramawt, taking Shibam and the port of Shihr from around 1858, then Mukalla from the Kasadi Sultanate in 1881.
Rule and society
Mukalla became the capital, with a palace, customs house and modern administration; the sultans long spent much time in Hyderabad. Treaties with Britain from 1882 made the state part of the Aden Protectorate, later the Eastern Aden Protectorate, and the Kathiri-Qu'aiti agreement of 1918 settled relations with the Kathiri Sultanate. Remittances from Southeast Asia and the Hadhrami Bedouin Legion sustained the state.
Decline and legacy
In September 1967 the National Liberation Front seized Mukalla while the young sultan Ghalib ibn Awad al-Qu'aiti was abroad, and the sultanate was abolished within South Yemen.
Lineage
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (2)
- Kasadi Sultanate was conquered by Qu'aiti Sultanate1881 CE
- Qu'aiti Sultanate was part of Aden Protectorate1888 CE – 1967 CE
More states of Arabia and the Gulf →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Qu'aiti Sultanate. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/quaiti-sultanate
- MLA
- “Qu'aiti Sultanate.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/quaiti-sultanate. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Qu'aiti Sultanate.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/quaiti-sultanate.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Qu'aiti Sultanate’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/quaiti-sultanate (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻