Page 522 - PERSIAN 1 1873_1879 Admin Report1_Neat

6 ADMINISTRATION REPORT OF THE PERSIAN GULF POLITICAL

South,—Wddi-Sabey, Wddi-Shahrdn, Wddi-cl-Dowdsir.
31. At tlio zenith of the "Wahhabi's power the political corresponded
in extent with the geographical Nejd, but it need not be said that at
present the representative o£ the Amirs may claim at most to be tlio
ruler of the town Itiadh.
32. The Turkish Government having occupied El-Hasd and the
seaports of El-Katif and 'Ojair,'Alxlallah-ibu-Fcysal is completely cut
off from the Persian Gulf, and the sect of "Wahhabis, with the temporal
rule, is fast on the wane; the tales of their fierce doings have become
stereotyped history of the past.
33. The reported negotiations between ;Abdallah and the Turkish
Authorities mentioned in the last Annual lie port came to nothing, llis
nephews, however, the sons of Sa'ood-bin-Feysal, * uleavoured to raise
a rebellion against the Turks, or were induced to leud their names to it,
and Katif was closely invested by Bcuotfin bands, by land and sea, and
owed its relief, primarily, to the appearance of Her Majesty’s Ship
Vulture cruising against pirates. Later large rc-inforccmcnts were sent
from Baghdad and Busrah, and the insurrection was quelled.
34. Sa'ced Pasha has been appointed to the vacant post of “ Mutascr-
rif '' or Governor of El-IIasd, which now forms a province of the Yalayct
of Busrah. He is reported an officer of some intelligence and activity,
hut, in common with so many high oQicials of his nationality, has been
the subject of insinuations somewhat depreciatory of his earlier career
and the services which gained him patronage.
35. The Mutaserrif of El-IInsa has control of the entire sphere of
Turkish jurisdiction in this quarter, the Deputy Governors of Katif and
Ojair being subordinate to him. llis residence and seat of Government
is usually at El-Hasa some 50 miles inland. The word “ Hasa” means
water found by digging through sand, and the plural form is Ahsa.
Both forms are used in designating the district, El-Ahsa being most
used locally.
3G. The seaports El-Katif and 'Ojair or 'Okair, forming, as they do,
the natural outlets, are under the existing regime by force of circum­
stances included in the province of El-Hasa. But it may be interesting
to note that, according to Arabian winters, the name Bahrain, now re­
stricted only to the islands so called, once extended to a tract of mainland
including El-Katif and El-Katr.*
37. The disturbances which occurred during the summer in the
vicinity of El-Katif were accompanied and followed by a renewal of piracy
on a serious scale all along the coast from Katif to El-Bidaa. The
principal offenders were, as usual, the irrepressible Beni-Hdjir Bedonuis.
These freebooters, who, as stated in the previous report, had been dis­
turbed from their former place of resort, 'Odeyd, transferred their opera­
tions to the neighbourhood of Kateef in Turkish territory and operated
with much boldness and success from Dhabran, Dareyn, &c. The most
danng of their exploits was conducted by their best-known leader
Kdcod-bin-Moliammed, who crossed the Gulf in a captured vessel from
• The following passage is from BelAdaori : —
“ H is said the apodJe of God removed 'OU from office and placed Abb£n*bin*5-id
bin-Aui bin-()mejab over KLBshrtin. Others saj *OIA vras over that part of Bahrain
which is Kl Katif, and Abbao orer that in which U El-Kstr; but the flrat account tf
mors probable."