evidence: Under British rule, Aden was governed as the ‘Aden Settlement’ after occupation. It was placed under the Bombay Presidency and all foreign affairs were conducted through the Indian Political Service (IPS), being treated in practice as if it was a province of British India. The Aden Settlement consisted of the port city of Aden and its immediate surroundings. The original 75-square mile territory of the settlement was enlarged in 1857 by the annexation of the 13 -km² outlying island of Perim, in 1868 by the 73-km² Khuriya Muriya Islands, and in 1915 by the island of Kamaran, a quarantine station for Muslims on the pilgrimage to Mecca that was under Ottoman rule. The British captured Kamaran in 1915 and, since they could not come to an agreement with the Imam of Yemen who claimed the island, they became the de facto rulers continuing to occupy the 42 square miles (108 km²) island without a clear title to it. [...] Beginning with a formal treaty of protection with the Mahra Sultanate of Qishn and Socotra in 1886, Britain embarked on a slow formalization of protection arrangements that included over 30 major treaties of protection with the last signed only in 1954. In exchange for British protection, the rulers of the constituent territories of the Protectorate agreed not to enter into treaties with or cede territory to any other foreign power. The boundaries between the polities and even their number fluctuated over time. Some such as the Mahra Sultanate barely had any functioning administration. Not included in the Protectorate were Aden Colony and the insular areas of Perim, Kamaran, and Khuriya Muriya that accrued to it.