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THE
HAINES CENSUS OF 1849
My statement that Playfair’s census of 1856 was Aden’s
first (see 1856 Census)
has been proved to be incorrect - Captain Haines
engineered one in 1849, “with great care”. The word
‘engineered’ is used advisably as he tried to move as
many pilgrim ships as possible away from Aden over the
period of his census in order to make the total as
accurate as possible. More questionable was his decision
to try to remove “all idle and dissolute persons without
employment”.
The 1849 equivalent of ‘Polish plumbers’ were Indian
labourers in the building trade. This influx had reduced
the ratio of Arabs to Indians quite considerably. But
there were still about 1,200 Arabs employed as labourers
building their own houses. The Engineer Department
employed another 357 Arabs and the Coal Department 247
more. Haines also commented that a number of Parsees and
other Indians were absent, being at Bombay purchasing
goods for the season. There had been an increase in the
Jewish population “but the dislike (founded on religious
scruple) that they entertain of numbering their people,
renders it difficult to obtain an exact estimate.” He
also feared that the Arab Moslem population did not give
the correct number of their females.
His final comment in his covering letter concerned the
Somalis. It would have been highly advantageous if he
could have reduced their number as at times they “were
very troublesome”, but on the other hand “prudence
prevents it, as the greater part of our supplies in
cattle is brought over by them”. He listed about 2,300
Somalis as being resident – the majority being from
three tribes, with another 475 on board boats and
shipping “in both bays”, plus another 400 in the daily
kafila (in this instance presumably not meaning those
arriving in the daily overland caravans, but arriving by
sea for a very temporary visit.) Other than the Somalis,
there were another 549 from Africa, including 281
Seedees and 22 Dankalis (all male).
The overall total for Aden (and remember that Little
Aden and Sheikh Othman were not yet part of ‘Aden’) was
19,024 which included the garrison. Including their
offspring, there were 15 more original inhabitants of
Aden than Playfair was to record seven years later. The
total was 980 and as in 1856 there were many wore women
(499) than men (269). This latter figure was in fact one
fewer than in 1856, an indication that those dying more
or less equalled those maturing from ‘children’. Haines
lists there being 193 boys but a disproportionate number
of girls, only 19.
Arabs from elsewhere in Arabia numbered 3,865, of whom
1,660 (all male) were listed as ‘Jebelis’ – presumably
those from the hinterland. The next biggest number were
those from Mocha, over 1,100, some 40% being female – an
indication that they were firmly resident. Those from
what would become Saudi Arabia, the remainder of the
Yemen and the Mukalla area each provided around 270 to
the overall total.
60 were listed together as “persians, turks & moguls”.
In spite of Haines’ best efforts there were still some
300 pilgrims in transit. Those of mixed race were very
few – only some 30 anglo- or portugese-indian males
(with eight wives and three children). The majority
would have been portugese-indians. Other minority groups
were 55 Parsees (including six wives and five children),
15 Madras Christians (10 were men). Hindus were 280 (152
men), with the remaining Indians being Moslem. Jews were
listed as 597 males and 553 females.
The return for the garrison was submitted by the
commander of the ‘Aden Field Force’, Brigadier D
Cuninghame. Several totals stand out as being worthy of
comment. The European military numbered 678, plus 52
wives and 61 children. 491 of the men were in the Wing
(half battalion) of what was described as the 2nd
Regiment European Light Infantry. Indian soldiers
totalled 1525, over 1,000 being in the 20th
Regiment from Madras. There were also over 250 Sappers &
Miners, a seemingly large number, but not so when one
remembers the work in progress on the fortifications and
the infrastructure of the garrison. It is in the figures
for the Engineer Department that one appreciates the
extent of this work: it is listed as having over 3,000
followers (the ‘polish plumbers’) plus their families –
another 700.
All groups had their followers – both those paid for by
the authorities and those paid for by individuals as
extra servants. There were over 700 other male followers
apart from those working for the Engineer Department,
including a fair number with their families. All would
have been from the Indian sub-continent, which further
added to the number of non-Arabs in Aden. Arabs were in
the distinct minority – less than a quarter of the total
population.
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