Page 317 - UAE Truncal States
P. 317

Chapter Eight

                   This agreement, which was signed by the Rulers of Sharjah, Ra’s
                 al Khaimah, 'Ajman, Umm al Qaiwain and Abu Dhabi in 1079, can be
                 seen as another significant step towards moulding the shaikhdoms
                 on the Arab coast of the lower Gulf into one political frame which
                 separated them from the other littoral shaikhdoms, Bahrain, Qatar
                 and Kuwait. The agreement provided for an arbitration council to be
                 convened on behalf of the Trucial Rulers to hear cases concerning
                 disputes over debts. The agreement also demonstrates that for the
                 sake of peace and economic prosperity the shaikhdoms had accepted
                 a considerable measure of British tutelage. Not only did the
                 agreement stipulate the imposition of fines, 50 dollars to be paid by a
                 Ruler who did not deliver up a runaway debtor, and 100 dollars if a
                 Ruler allowed such a person to proceed to the pearl banks or take up
                 his business in the shaikhdom,39 but it also established the British
                 Government’s authority in this matter of debtors, although this was
                 understood at the time to be only the function of an arbiter: "These
                 fines are only to be enforced when Her Britannic Majesty’s Resident
                 in the Persian Gulf has satisfied himself that the Chief complained
                 against is really in fault and fairly liable.’’*10

                 Intervention in internal matters
                 Even after the agreement was signed, many a dispute arose over
                 debtors between the shaikhdoms of the coast. The above-quoted
                 clause obliged the Resident in Bushire to keep a closer watch on
                 affairs in the shaikhdoms all the time. It also furnished a good pretext
                 for intervention if a Ruler seemed to be preparing to break out of the
                 British-enforced peace arrangements.
                   In practice, control was exercised by the Residency Agent living in
                 Sharjah. He communicated with the Rulers on many day-to-day
                 matters, sent reports back to Bushire and received instructions on
                 how to handle each particular problem. In important matters the
                 Resident in Bushire addressed a letter to the shaikh himself, but such
                 direct correspondence was also routed through the Agency at
                 Sharjah. Whenever there was any sign of disturbance of the peace at
                 sea, and in later years even if there was a strictly internal dispute,
                 such as over succession, the Resident or his deputy used to come in
                 the Residency cruiser, styled "man-of-war’’, to the troubled shaikh­
                 dom; he stood off on the roadstead and sent word that the culprit or
                 the disputants should come aboard.
                   On many occasions when an infringement of an agreement  was

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