Upper Yafa

State of Upper Yafa يافع العليا Yāfi‘ al-‘Ulyā
State of the Protectorate of South Arabia
1680–1967
Flag Emblem
Upper Yafa in its region
Upper Yafa is the western exclave of the Protectorate of South Arabia (red) between the Federation of South Arabia (blue) and the Yemen Arab Republic (green) in this map of the region in the 1960s
Capital	Mahjaba
Area
• 1967 est.	1,600 km2 (620 sq mi)
Population
• 1967 est.	35,000
Government
• Type	Confederal Sultanate
• Motto	إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأمُرُ بِالعَدلِ وَالإِحسَانِ 'Inn Alllah yamur bialeadl wal'iihsan "Indeed, Allah commands justice and grace"
Historical era	20th century
• Established	1680
• Disestablished	29 November 1967
Succeeded by South Yemen

Upper Yafa or Upper Yafa'i (Arabic: يافع العليا Yāfi‘ al-‘Ulyā), officially the State of Upper Yafa (Arabic: دولة يافع العليا Daulat Yāfiʿ al-ʿUlyā), was a military alliance in the British Aden Protectorate and the Protectorate of South Arabia. It was ruled by the Harharah dynasty and its capital was Mahjaba, a small town on a hill located about 50 km northeast of Habilayn.^[1] Upper Yafa was one part of Yafa'a, the other part being Lower Yafa.

The sultan of Upper Yafa had very little control over Upper Yafa's constituent sheikdoms,^[2] which had separate protectorate treaties with the British,^[3] and were free to disassociate from the policies of the Upper Yafa sheikh.^[2] The only time that the Upper Yafa sheikh held influence was during a crisis that threatened the independence of Upper Yafa's states, during which they would unite under the sultan. This meant that Upper Yafa was more akin to a military alliance than a genuine state.^[2]