Aden Sultan Ghalib I bin Awadh al-Qu'aiti Signed Royal Letter Mogadishu Royalty

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Aden Sultan Ghalib I bin Awadh al-Qu'aiti Signed Royal Letter Mogadishu Royalty:
$2500.00

For your consideration is an exceptionally rare and historically important royal travel authorization issued by the Quaiti Sultanate of Shihr and Mukalla, handwritten and signed by Sultan Ghalib I bin Awadh al-Quaiti, K.G.I.E., ruler of the Quaiti State from 1909 to 1922, dated 7 March 1916 / 1334 AH at Mukalla, the Sultanates capital. Executed on official Al-Caiti Government stationery bearing the printed state emblem, this compact but highly evocative document authorizes named Quaiti subjects, identified as merchants and traders, to travel from Hadhramaut to Mogadishu in East Africa. Measuring approximately 5 x 8 inches, the document functioned as a royal safe-conduct, certificate of identity, and governmental letter of introduction for use across the maritime commercial networks of the western Indian Ocean.

The document is especially significant for its direct connection to the Hadhrami mercantile diaspora, whose commercial communities maintained important presences in Mogadishu, Zanzibar, Mombasa, India, and other ports linked to the Arabian Sea and British imperial trade routes. By confirming the bearers as subjects of the Quaiti Sultanate and requesting that they be permitted to proceed without hindrance, the pass records the practical exercise of Arabian state authority beyond the borders of Hadhramaut. It is at once a royal autograph, a travel document, a commercial credential, and a primary-source witness to migration and trade between southern Arabia and East Africa during the First World War era.

Of particular importance is the personal endorsement of Sultan Ghalib bin Awadh al-Quaiti, styled with his British imperial distinction as Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire. The combination of official government stationery, named recipients, explicit international travel authorization, and the Sultans own signature elevates the piece well beyond routine administration. Surviving Quaiti state papers of this period are seldom encountered on the market, and examples relating specifically to overseas travel and Hadhrami commercial movement are especially scarce. A museum-worthy survival from one of southern Arabias most fascinating and least commonly documented royal states.

Condition: original folds and expected age wear; otherwise well preserved for a working travel document of this period.