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country. There are post and telegraph offices in Dubai, the British Bank of the
Middle East and Messrs. Gray Mackenzie and Co. and African and Eastern (Near
East) Ltd. have branches there, and the Local Representative of Petroleum
Development (Trucial Coast) Ltd., resides there.
19. A portion of the boundary between Dubai and Abu Dhabi was defined
by the Political Agent Bahrain in 1949 (paragraph 13 above) and accepted by Sa’id,
and in 1953 negotiations were in progress for determining the boundary between
Dubai and Sharjah. The boundary inland towards the south-east is uncertain, but
it seems probable that the Shaikhdom does not extend more than about 40 miles
in this direction. No nomad tribes owe allegiance to Sa’id. He owns some gardens
in Ras al Khaimah territory and the village of Hatla, or according to Lorimer,
Hajarain.O in the Wadi Hatta on the borders of, or perhaps inside, Muscat
territory.
20. In 1929, 1934, 1938, 1939 and 1940 there were insurrections against Sa’id’s
rule led by his cousins. In 1938 he was forced to rule through a Majlis or Council;
but in 1939 he gained the upper hand again and killed or expelled his cousins. The
Majlis was reconstituted but ceased to exercise any authority and was soon
abolished. The cousins who were expelled were harboured by Sharjah and the
Political Agent Bahrain had to intervene to prevent a war between the two States
which would endanger the safety of Imperial Airways and other aircraft (paragraph
125 below). He persuaded the Ruler of Sharjah to send most of the refugees away
but early the following year they returned and attacked Dubai and on being
defeated again took refuge with Sharjah. On this occasion Dubai declared war on
Sharjah. Before any serious hostilities took place the Ruler of Ras al Khaimah
intervened and effected a truce which in due course led to a final settlement. Since
then there have been no further dynastic troubles apart from an alleged plot to
murder Sa’id’s son Rashid in 1951. The story of the 1945-48 war with Abu Dhabi
has already been told (paragraph 14 above). In 1949 a launch belonging to Sa’id
called the Joker which had been involved in the slave-traffic was seized at Bahrain
and confiscated. It was not believed that Sa’id himself was concerned with the use
to which the launch had been put but rather his brother Juma and other relations.
In 1953 the Levies just failed to prevent the departure from the coast of a Dubai
launch loaded with a cargo of slaves. Sa’id agreed to exile his cousin Khalifah
bin Majid who had been concerned in this transaction.
21. The attitude of Sa’id and his son Rashid since the arrival of Turki in
Buraimi has been outwardly correct and they have ostensibly complied
with requests made to them by the political authorities. They are believed,
however, to have considerable sympathy with the Saudis and to have connived at,
if not organised, the supply of money and foodstuffs to Turki in defiance of the
blockade (paragraph 102 below). They have nothing to lose as a result of the
Saudi aggression and after Turki’s arrival in Buraimi Sa’id with Rashid and Juma
after performing the pilgrimage visited the late King Ibn Saud at Riyadh. There has
also been much sympathy with the Saudis amongst the people of Dubai, to some
extent because of the profit to be made from trade with them, and all the four
qadhis of the town visited Turki one of them remaining with him in an official
capacity. The latter was arrested by the Levies when he returned to Dubai and
exiled by the Ruler.
(c) Sharjah (with Kalba)
22. The Ruler until 1951 was Shaikh Sultan bin Saqr. When his father who
was Ruler died in 1914 he was a minor and the succession passed to his cousin
Khalid bin Ahmad. In 1924 there was a rising against the latter as a result of which
Sultan became Ruler. He was pompous and negligent of the interests of his people,
and his chief merit so far as Her Majesty’s Government is concerned is that in
1932 of his own accord he offered them air facilities when the other Rulers had
apparently conspired to refuse them. Early in 1949 he became seriously ill and
was flown to Bombay. From there in due course he was sent for treatment to
London where he died in 1951. During his illness he appointed his brother
Muhammad to act for him, and when he died Muhammad proclaimed himself
Ruler. This action was not approved by the late Ruler’s son Saqr and the senior
member of the Qasimi family were called in to adjudicate. After a few weeks of
negotiation, during which the Political Officer correctly refused to support either
party, Saqr suggested an appeal to the local populace. On this Muhammad
withdrew. His Majesty’s Government’s recognition was conveyed to Saqr by the
(4) p. 454, Lorimer, Vol. II.