Qu'aiti

The Qu'aiti Sultanate of Shihr and Mukalla (Arabic: سلطنة القعيطي الحضرمية‎, romanized: Salṭanat al-Quʿayṭī al-Ḥaḍramiyyah) was a sultanate in the Hadhramaut region of what is now Yemen. It was ruled by the Qu'aiti dynasty, which traced its lineage back to the Bani Qu'ait of the Yafi tribe.

The Sultanate was established in 1858 when 'Umar bin Awadh al-Qu'aiti, a Yafi tribesman, seized Al-Shihr from the Kathiri Sultanate. 'Umar and his successors gradually expanded their territory, eventually encompassing most of the Hadhramaut coastline and becoming the dominant power in the region. Mukalla served as the capital. The Qu'aiti Sultans enjoyed treaty relations and protection from the British Empire, becoming part of the Aden Protectorate.

The Sultanate was internally autonomous but relied on British support for defense and foreign policy. It was one of the more modernized and stable states in the Aden Protectorate.

In 1967, the Qu'aiti Sultanate was abolished with the collapse of the British Aden Protectorate and the establishment of the People's Republic of South Yemen. The last Qu'aiti Sultan, Ghalib II bin Awadh Al Qu'aiti, was deposed, and the territory became part of South Yemen, which later unified with North Yemen to form the Republic of Yemen in 1990. The Qu'aiti dynasty survives in exile to this day.