Tag: Yemen stamp

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State of Mahra 1968, The Sultan is gone, the communists are here, want to buy a fake stamp for the Winter Olympics

The Mahra Sultinnate occupied the eastern portion of South Yemen and Socotra Island for 700 years prior to falling in 1967. Where does that leave this stamp from 1968? In the state of being fake, though tolerated by the new South Yemen government. Don’t try to mail them. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The Philatelist obviously has no problem with stamps that celebrate the Olympics. This one is just silly and a missed opportunity. The new government was allowing the old Sultanates to continue fake stamp issues. Obviously they were doing this for the money by why not use the stamp issues to show what was going on in Mahra? Some things were changing, some things they hoped to change, and others were staying the same. A license to chronical that with fake but illuminating stamps would attract this collector. Instead we have a fallen Sultanate famous for it’s camels showing you a generic luge team.

Todays stamp was not for postage so has no catalog value. I checked on eBay and they had a 10 stamp issue from this period and were asking $50. Steep.

The Mahra Sultanate had  been ruled by the Banu Afrar dynasty since the 1400s. They also controlled the island of Socotra that attracted more than their share of Europeans. The Portuguese were the first to conquer it as a replenishment stop for it’s ships on the India trade. Once there, they found it less useful than hoped and abandoned it. Prior to getting the nearby colony of Aden up and operating, the British East India company leased a coaling station on Socotra but found the Sultan untrustworthy so again the area was lightly used.

Map of area in period

On the mainland, the region became most famous for mehri camels, who are fast, agile, and tough. Mahri tribesmen on their famous camels played a big part in the capture if the Middle East and North Africa in the name of Islam. Later in a somewhat different cause the French Army prized the mehri camels for their Sahara adventures. This history was remembered by Citroen in 1968 when their jeep version of the 2CV was named Mehari. It lasted 20 years in production and yes many were bought by the French Army.

Citroen Mehari Jeep

When Aden was abandoned by the British in 1967 that was the end of the Federation of South Arabia that included Mahra and all the area Sultans. Initially they did not resist the occupation by pan Arabist from Aden. The Sultans scattered to Saudi Arabia, London, and Switzerland. Those pan Arabist who were hoping for an end to European intrusion were to be disappointed. Starting in 1971, Socotra was open as a replenishment stop not for the Portuguese or the British, but the Soviet Navy. As happened in previous times the Soviets found the island surplus of requirements and abandoned it in 1985.

The island of Socotra is again appearing useful in the civil war in modern Yemen. The United Arab Emirates landed at the airport allegedly to help train the Yemeni army unit on the island. Instead the unit announced to UAE’s approval that they support a separation from Yemen. The current pretender to the Banu Afrar Dynasty has now also arrived on Socotra, he says at the invitation of local tribal chiefs. I humbly suggest that he just rents his old palace instead of buying it. He did bring with him a big supply of the old style flags. Can more fake stamps be far behind?

Current Mahra Sultan pretender Abdulla al Afra greets his subjects? after arriving in Socotra

Well my drink is empty. Come again soon for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2020.

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Quaiti State in Hadhramait 1969, The what state in where

The stamp topical guys have found another important country with which to show off western art. Where do you guess this is? Thee choices; the United Arab Emirates, Somaliland, or the Yemen. Those who guessed Yemen were correct. I guessed UAE knowing Finbar Kenny sought out some pretty small villages looking for Emirs and mythic post offices. This actually was a semi autonomous Sultanate affiliated with the British colony at Aden to the north. By the time of this issue however. communists had overrun the area and incorporated it into South Yemen. They let not good for postal use stamp issues continue though notice it is a state now not a Sultanate. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The quite nice painting on this stamp was painted by Thomas Gainsborough R. A. late in his career in 1785. It was painted of a young couple of 21 years, the future Mr. and Mrs. Hallett and their Pomeranian sheepdog. It was a period when British artists like Gainsborough were getting more recognized with the help of the then new Royal Academy and the fancy people could buy their art locally. Over the fullness of time, the particulars of the people on the painting became less important and the painting acquired the title “The morning walk” that it did not have in period. The painting is in the collection of the British National Gallery.

Sorry value seekers, this is a fake stamp so there is no catalog value.

Forces under Sultan Quaiti conquered this area in southern Yemen in 1881. The Sultan than entered into a treaty relationship with the British in 1890 and the area became a protectorate of the British Colony in Aden. In the early 1960s, the British intended to leave the area and they created a Federation of South Arabia as a hoped for successor state. The Quaiti Sultanate refused to join the Federation.

Map of area in period

The British had bigger problems in the area. Pan Arabist communists were receiving much support from Egypt’s Nasser and Britain had to declare a state of emergency in Aden. Over a short period there was a bomb attack on the colonial governor, an Air Aden airliner was shot down with no survivors, and most shockingly the Aden police mutinied and ambushed and killed 23 British soldiers. The British understandably lost interest in South Arabia and just left in November 1968.

Remember though the Quaiti Sultanate was not a part of South Arabia. They hoped for a UN referendum on the areas future. Instead that November the Yemen marched in unopposed and that was the end of the Sultanate. If you think of the relative position of Aden verses Dubai back in the protectorate days and think of Aden now. It would not be difficult to conclude that a still British influenced South Arabia under the Sultans might have been a better outcome. Neither Aden nor Dubai itself have much oil.

Well my drink is empty and one wonders what it must be like in modern Aden. When people think of how some of the old international trading cities thrived post Britain and others just sunk  into hell holes do you blame the British, do you blame Nasser, or do you look in the mirror. The last must be the hardest. Come again soon for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2020.

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The Kathiri State of Seiyun 1954, The state of being a real stamp, your author is as surprised as you are

Throughout the Arabian desert there were small Sultanates that usually had some self rule but were vassals to a more powerful King or in this case British era Aden. The small, landlocked Kathiri State refused to join the Federation of Southern Arabia though it was still under it’s protection from earlier treaties. Therefore the stamps are legitimate, so much so they could even be used in Aden itself. That sounds pretty generous from naughty colonials until you realize that the protection meant preventing Seiyun from retaking ports on the coast that might have made it more viable. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

This stamp has a nice look to it. A minaret in Tarim, local, makes you feel you are there. Looking at you from the top right corner is our friend Sultan Hussein, who had been Sultan since 1949 and would continue his rule for another 13 years. Notice though the mention of Aden to remind of big brother

Flag of the Kathiri State of Seiyun

Todays stamp is issue A11, a 25 cent, Rupies were gone by then, stamp issued by the Kathiri State of Seiyun on January 15th, 1954. It was originally a 10 stamp issue with many interesting views of a pretty obscure place. In 1964, three more stamps were issued in new denominations showing new views. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.

The Kathiri tribe first established their Sultanate in 1395 and got a lot bigger around 1460 when they conquered the port of Shiri. There territory was mainly in modern eastern Yemen but a little of western Oman also. The capital city of Seiyun, current population 135,000, is older than that. It is first mentioned around 400 AD as a resting place for travelers. The legend is that there was a well remembered barmaid named Seiyun for whom the place is named.

After a war with the Yafai tribe, the Kathiri state became much smaller and landlocked. The former prosperity of grape cultivation had also been complicated by climate change. Interaction with the coastal ports had seen many Kathiri tribesmen seeking new lives  in far off places like Indonesia and East Timor. East Timor’s current Prime Minister is of Kathiri ancestry.

In the 1880s the Sultan met with the British Resident of Aden and the Sultan of Zanzibar to try to get their support for his taking back a few of the small ports including Shiri. It did not go well and he was formally warned by India that gunboats would be sent to prop up the current government of the ports. The Sultan then waited 10 years but then attacked and took the ports he wanted. He was able to hold them for two years and disputes went on till 1918 until the Resident of Aden imposed a treaty on the tribes of Kathiri and Q’ati.

Map of the just before independence South Yemen showing landlocked Kathiri

The end for the Sutanate came in 1967 when the Socialists, pan Arabists of South Yemen overthrew Sultan Hussein. The area is still part of a united, well except for that pesky civil war, Yemen. Seiyun is no longer even a provincial capital.

The Sultan may be gone but his Palace in Seiyun remains.

Well my drink is empty and I think Seiyun  has already declared last call for alcohol. Come again soon for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Fake Yemen stamp 1966, deposed King Badr studies grave choices of John F Kennedy

North Yemen’s Rassids Royal House was forced out in 1962 and the Mutawakalite Kingdom abolished. On the other side of the world in 1963, American President John F Kennedy was assassinated. It is kind of strange then that a Mutawakalite postal authority would issue a stamp on JFK’s memorial opening in Virginia in 1967. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The story of how this stamp came to be begins with an American child stamp collector named Bruce Conde. He wrote a letter to then North Yemeni King Ahmad hoping to be sent real Yemeni stamps. He got a letter back from then young Prince Badr who was also a stamp collector. The two became pen pals and eventually Conde was invited to North Yemen. He converted to Shia Islam and was decreed a Yemeni citizen. In 1962, King Ahmad died of natural causes and Badr became King. Before the stamps of North Yemen could reflect having a philatelist King, Nasser’s Egypt funded a coup by the Royal guard that forced King Badr and Bruce Conde out of the capital Sana. From mountainous areas of the country, King Badr, with the support of Saudi Arabia was able to maintain an insurgency. Bruce Conde was authorized to issue stamps to raise funds for the insurgency. Eventually the Saudis tired of the lack of success and made peace with the recognized Egyptian backed government. King Badr went into exile in London where he died in 1996. Bruce Conde was left without a country as he renounced USA citizenship and North Yemen renounced him and his stamps. He moved to Morocco.

King Badr in 1962 during his short time on the Throne

Since this stamp is fake, there is no catalog value.

What to do about a grave memorial for President Kennedy was an area of discussion after his death. The family initially intended to have him interred in the family cemetery in Brookline, Massachusetts. His died soon after childbirth child Patrick had been buried there a few months before. The widow Jaqueline Kennedy however had other ideas. She wanted him buried in a valley at Arlington National Cemetary that Kennedy had found peaceful during visits there. She also insisted on an eternal flame. This was inspired by two things. An eternal flame for France’s fallen soldiers at the Arc de Triumph she had seen on her Paris trip. Also the T. H. White book Candle in the Wind that was the basis for the play Camelot, a family favorite. Many thought the eternal flame tacky, but thought it would be wrong to go against the widow’s wishes.

Jacqueline Kennedy contracted family friend and landscape architect John Warneche. There was a simple New England style black granite  headstone flat to the ground of grass with the body facing the Washington monument and in the shadow of Arlington House, the former home of General Robert E Lee. When the three acre site was ready in early 1967, John F Kennedy and two children died in infancy were interred. Later they were joined by Senator Robert Kennedy after his own assassination and later by the widow Jacqueline upon her natural death in 1996 and Senator Edward Kennedy in 2009.

The grave stone and eternal flame at Arlington National Cemetery. Robert E Lee’s former family home is in the background.

The Eternal Flame went out briefly twice. Once when a group of Catholic schoolchildren sprinkled holy water on it. Later during an exeptionally heavy rain the electric gas igniter was flooded and shorted out. In 2012, the igniter system of unique design started clicking loudly and was replaced while keeping the flame going.

A real American stamp honoring President Kennedy’s eternal flame

Well my drink is empty. I think I will have another since a nice story was found from even a fake stamp. Come again next Monday for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. Next week’s won’t be fake, I promise.

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Yemen Arab Republic 1967, Egypt pulls out, so it is time for conciliation

At the time of this stamp both North and South Yemen had rival entities claiming the future. In the North that even meant rival stamp issues. With the Egyptian pullout, perhaps it was time to see if the sides had more in common, like needing a new patron. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

When two sides in a civil war are putting out stamps, The Philatelist did a Royalist one here, https://the-philatelist.com/2019/06/20/fake-north-yemen-stamp-remembers-the-barefoot-bazooka-guy-freedom-fighter/   , you can bet the issues are more to raise revenue than for actual postage. So here we get an elaborate oversized issue on Flemish painting masters. Bizarre thing for socialists of North Yemen to be spending time on. Anyway the painting is “The Peasant Wedding” by Pieter Brueger and is from the 16th century. Brueger is noted for finding the nobility in his images of peasants. There is a mystery as to who the groom is in this wedding celebration. There is an old Dutch proverb that says it is a poor man that cannot be at his own wedding so this may be a take on that. Though Brueger mainly operated out of Antwerp, the painting today hangs at a museum in Vienna.

This stamp is issue A60 a 1/4th Bogaches stamp issued by the Yemen Arab Republic in October 1967. It was 15 stamps on Flemish painting masters issued in three groups of five. The higher denominations were airmail issues. According to the Scott catalog, these were real stamps as this force was holding Sana the capitol and the post office. They put the value at 25 cents whether unused like this one or cancelled to order.

In 1967, Egypt pulled out it’s military presence from North Yemen as they were needed at home after the 1967 Sinai war with Israel. The socialists that they supported still held the capital of Sana and the Saudi Arabian backed rebels the highlands. After an unsuccessful siege on Sana in 1968, the Royalists were nearly spent. So however were the socialists without Egypt.

It was time for Abdul Rahman to make his move. He was the son of a judge but at different times he was put in prison by the King and by Nasser in Egypt. Rumors persisted around Rahman that he was a secret Jew named Hadad that was adopted by his important Muslim family. He says Hadad was his stepbrother. In any case in 1970 he was able to form a government of conciliation that included socialists and royalists. This government had the backing of  Saudi Arabia, which is so important with Saudi Arabia so rich and Yemen so poor.

North Yemen President Rahman

In 1972, forces of the old South Arabia tried to make a comeback in South Yemen with backing from the Saudis and North Yemen under Rahman. What a change from being a part of the free Yemeni  movement against middle eastern royals. The war was not successful but the two Yemens agreed in principle to join into one Yemen. It took 18 years for that to happen.

Their coming for you, South Yemeni Pan Arab socialist. Slowly..

That area or the world is not known to be forgiving of losers. In 1974 Rahman was couped out of office under a program, pogrom?, of correcting the revolution and getting rid of the legacy of decadence. Easier said than done. He lived the rest of his life in exile in Damascus.

Well my drink is empty and I will confine my toasting to the wedding couple on the stamp’s painting. Hope they were able to track down the groom. Come again tomorrow when there will be another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Fake North Yemen stamp remembers the barefoot bazooka guy/ freedom fighter

I was pretty sure this stamp was fake. It looked to modern and well done for the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of North Yemen which ended in 1962. But as with this Indonesian Republic stamp from when it was still Dutch, see https://the-philatelist.com/2017/11/24/well-we-think-we-are-independant-we-have-a-constitution-a-flag-and-austrian-stamps/    , sometimes outsourcing  can make for a high quality, interesting if fake stamp. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

This fake stamp was put together by the Royalist side of the North Yemen Civil War. The one from 1962-1970. Not the one from 2011-today. The 60s one saw Egypt sending thousands of troops, arms and aircraft to defend the Socialist Republic declared by the former head of the palace guard. The Royals escaped to the mountains were they received arms and money from Saudi Arabia and Jordan. The fact that the guy on the stamp is barefoot shows how backward this all was. Shame on the lot of them for handing out advanced weapons. It would probably be the 25th century before one of these tribesman could figure out how to build a bazooka. Let them settle their differences with spears.

This is not a real stamp as the Royalist forces did not control the capital or the postal system. The Yemen Arab Republic issues of the same period are considered real. The story of how the Royalist got stamps is interesting. An American stamp collecting boy named Bruce Conde wrote to King Ahmad asking for Yemeni stamps for his collection. He received a letter back from child Prince Badr. They became pen pals and eventually Conde was invited to Yemen. He converted to Islam and became a Yemeni citizen. He supervised the Royalist sides stamp issues and wrote articles for Linn’s stamp news. When the Royalists lost, Conde was left stateless in exile in Morocco. He had renounced the USA and Yemen had renounced him.

King Ahmad ruled North Yemen from 1948 through his death in 1962. He faced many coup attempts. Once in 1956 his palace was surrounded and he came charging out leading the palace guards while wearing a devils mask. He killed 2 rebels personally with his scimitar. He then went to the roof of the palace and shot rebels one by one till they surrendered. The rebel leader was beheaded. In 1961 he was severely injured in another coup attempt and his son Prince Badr took unofficial control. Soon after Ahmad’s death in 1962, the head of the palace guard with the support of Egypt shelled the palace and now King Badr fled. A socialist republic was declared and thousands of Egyptian soldiers deployed to Sana.

From 1962 through 1970 the Royalist forces held the mountainous north  and the socialist government held the capital. In 1967, Egypt was defeated by Israel in the Sinai desert and decided to pull their troops out of Yemen. The Royalist made one last attempt to take the capital but when they failed, Saudi Arabia cut off support to the Royalist side. Saudi Arabia began paying the socialist government for influence and King Badr was left out in the cold. He moved to London and most of his troops were given amnesty.

Well my drink is empty and I am not predisposed to label the barefoot bazooka guy on the stamp a freedom fighter as this fake stamp suggests. His grandson is probably fighting the current civil war where Iran is playing Egypt’s old part. The weapons have gotten more advanced than bazookas, but there is still debate whether shoes have been acquired. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

 

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When caliphate was old hat and pan-arab socialism the future

Welcome readers to todays offering from The Philatelist. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. We have a story about  a ruler that managed to be both 60 years too late and 60 years too early.

The stamp today is 58 years old but surprisingly modern. Being from the late 50s, it shows the last gasp of the old ways in the Middle East. A Yemeni stamp from 10 years later would look completely different as it would have taken on the look of the socialist, pan-Arab movement. Yemen was a part of that, especially when the kingdom was deposed. The sad state of modern Yemen might look more like this stamp, as civil war as brought the old ways back to the present.

The stamp today is issue A19, a 6 Bogaches stamp issued in 1958 to honor the Arab Universal Postal Union. The stamp is part of a three stamp issue and according to the Scott catalog is worth $1.40 in it’s mint condition.

The stamp comes from the later years of the rule of King Ahmad and from what westerners might think of as North Yemen. North Yemen was separate from what was then the British protectorate of Aden. The King had ambitions to rule a greater Yemen including Aden and very much resented the British presence in the area. To further this goal, North Yemen joined with Egypt and Syria in the short lived and never fully integrated United Arab Republic. As a royal, King Ahmad was an odd man out in this, but he hoped to use it to further his anti British aspirations. These aspirations went unfulfilled. When the British left Aden a Peoples Republic of South Yemen was declared and North Yemen was a separate socialist republic. The two Yemens did not join together until the early 1990s and still is not a true country as it is beset with interference from Iran, Saudi Arabia and various militant groups.

Lets go back to the rule of King Ahmad, who ruled from 1948-1962 with a few short gaps during the frequent uprisings. Perhaps we should start with his title. His Majesty al-Nasir-li-Dinullah Ahmad bin al Mutawakki Allahla Yahi, Immam and Commander of the Faithfull and King of the Mutawakki Kingdom of the Yemen. From this you can probably gather that he was the religious leader as well as the head of state. To a great extent, King Ahmad concentrated all decision making in Yemen to himself. At the time there were pan Arab young socialist in Aden trying to get control of the country away from the British. I can see why they would not view the kingdom to the north as the way forward. King Ahmad’s royal line might have lasted longer if it had been able to come to an arraignment with Britain. They were after all more comfortable dealing with royals from the east.

The King’s rule has been criticized for being cruel and inward looking. The King did get most of his weapons from the Eastern Bloc and Nasser era Egyptians were brought in to help modernize. King Ahmad died in his sleep in 1962. The King had been weakened by an assassination attempt the previous year and much of the power had passed to his son Mohammed. King Mohammed only lasted on the throne a week before the head of the palace guard shelled the palace in Sana and ended the kingdom by declaring himself the President of the Yemen Arab Republic.

Well my drink is empty and so it is time to open the discussion in the below comment section. Some have reappraised upward the Socialist leaders in the Middle East when comparing them to what came before and afterword. Others think of them as just another group of outsiders colonizing. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting