Page 317 - UAE Truncal States

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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