Page 166 - Gulf Precis (VII)_Neat

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lo. About 78 years ago Sultan bin Syfe Gaarubi was Imam of Maskat and the
Province of Omaun; he made himself very unpopular by his tyranny, and was removed
from the Government by the general voice of the people, he went and sought the aid
of Nadir Shah, then sovereign of Persia, to reinstate him in his Government; Nadir Shah
complied with his request, and sent an army back with him to restore him to influence
and to power. This army landed at Ras sul-Khyma, and after much hard fighting they
succeeded in marching through the country as far as Maskat which place alone seems then
to have been retained by the adherents of Sultan bin Syfe, while all the Province of
Omaun remained unsubdued.
The independent Arabs now advanced and surrounded Maskat,* and the Persian Army
was reduced to considerable difficulties. About this time intelligence of the death of
Nadir Shah reached them ; the Persians made certain proposals to the Arabs, which were
finally agreed to, and the Persian Army returned back to Bunder Abbascc without effect­
ing the object of their coming.
11. In this state of affairs Ahmed bin Saed the grandfather of the present Imam of
Maskat, and then.a chieftain commanding at Sohar, assumed the Government of Omaun
and was proclaimed Imam.
12. The claims of Persia therefore to tho islands of Kishm, Ormuz, etc., seem to rest
entirely upon their being considered as dependencies of Bunder Abbasee. This point I
have not yet been able to ascertain, but it is quite evident that the Imam is not disposed
to acknowledge the right of Persia to the islands in question, and it is, I believe, the
universal law of nations to claim as a right that which they have obtained by the sword.
Persia with equal presumption claims the island of Bahrein because it was once tributary
to it, though it has thrown off the yoke, and paid no tribute for these 30 years. Persia
may with equal justice lay claim to Dehli at the present day because Nadir Shah once
conquered and plundered it.
13. In my discussions therefore with the Persian Ministers I think I shall be able, in
point of right, to support all the measures the British Government have adopted in occupy­
ing the island of Kishm. When I consider, however, the very heavy expense of supporting
the establishment, the impossibility of employing the troops on any active service in the
Gulf for four months in the year on account of the excessive heat, the sickness that has
prevailed there ever since the hot weather commenced, and the inefficiency of the force
arising from’thatcause alone, I confess I feel more doubts than I have heretofore done, as to
the expediency and utility of the measure ; but as I am aware that different sentiments have
been and probably still are entertained by those who are far more competent to decide
than I am, I beg to offer such a hint with extreme diffidence and with the most perfect
conviction of the fallibility of my own judgment.”
85. It appears from our contemporary records that the island of Khism was
occupied by the Bini Maainee Arabs under their leader Sheikh Abdullah during the
reign of Nadir Shah, while the famous Mulla Ali Shaw was the admiral of the
Persian fleet with his head-quarters at Gombroon. We have got no contemporary
account to show whether it was seized by force by these Arabs from Mulla Ali
Shaw But it is improbable that they could have held it independently of the
central authority during the reign of Nadir Shah, whose conquests extended
as far as even as Maskat.
86. From the Selection oj State Papers regarding the Persian Gulf,
1600-1800 (Nos. Cl I, CV, CXI, CXXI), it appears that the Bini Maainee Arabs
always acted in opposition to Mulla Ali Shaw, while the latter called in aid
against them the Julfar (Joasmi) Arabs. Nasir Khan, the chieftain of Fars,
once the rival of Karim Khan and latterly almost an independent Governor
nominally acknowledging the Vakil’s authority, befriended the Bini Maainee Arabs.
87. During Karim Khan’s reign Sheikh Abdulla, the chief of the Bini
Maainee Arabs, made himself quite independent, in their possessions the islands of
Kishm and Ormuz, of the Persian authorities on the coast, however friendly he
was with Nasir Khan, Governor of Fars, or with Sheikh Nasir, Governor of
•Bushire. He was believed to have shared the property plundered by certain Arabs
from the ship Islamabad, and to punish him for this crime and to make him
disgorge this plunder, an expedition was despatched by the Resident of Basrah
(Henry Moore), which ended disastrously in the explosion of one of the British
ships off the Kishm island. What is important to note in this connection is that
the expedition was undertaken with the avowed purpose of bringing Sheikh
Abdullah under the authority of Karim Khan (Selections from State Papers
regarding the Persian Gulf 1600-1800, Nos. CLXX and CLXXI).
88. The Maainee Arabs farmed Bandar Abbas and its dependencies from the
Persian Government. It is not clear whether these dependencies included tne
islands of Ormuz and Kishm, nor does it appear from our contemporary recor s
when the farm was taken. If as Dr. Juke’s account goes to show that it was