Page 167 - Gulf Precis (VII)_Neat

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Nadir Shah that gave the lease, then their subsequent tenure of Bandar Abbas
must have been very precarious, as MCilia Ali Shaw was practically supreme
at Gombroon until he was seized by Nasir Khan in 185a (No LXII in my
Selections, 1600-1S00). We find him at liberty soon after, and his power at
Gombroon was so great that he could have left little room to his enemies the
Bini Maainec Arabs.
89. Sheikh Abdullah Maainec exercised however at the same time supreme
power in Kishm island at least for a time. In 1753 Abdul Sheikh, Governor
of Kishm, as he is called by the Resident, proposed to sell a Persian ship to
the Siddee at Maskat. This Nasir Khan was anxious to prevent by all means,
which he however was powerless to do, and it was only the despatch of two
British ships by the Resident at the urgent solicitations of Nasir Khan that
saved the vessel from being taken to Maskat (Selections, No. LXV).
90. It is very improbable that Sheikh Abdullah could have got a farm of
Bandar Abbas and its dependencies before the removel of the British factory
from Gombroon in 1763, since if this was a fact.it Would have been referred to in
the Gombroon diaries of the time. For many years after this Sheikh Abdullah,
as we have seen, adopted such an independent and hostile attitude against
Karim Khan that it was unlikely that until the latter’s death in 1779 any tribute
was paid by Sheikh Abdullah to the Persian authorities. After Karim Khan’s
death there reigned so much confusion in Persia until Aga Mahomecj finally
established his power over the ruins of the Zand dynasty in 7/5. that
the Bini Maaince Arabs increased their hold in the islands of Kishm and
Ormuz. Their fleet of ships was at a time a terror to the shipping in the Gulf.
It was probably during the period of confusion that followed the death of Karim
Khan that the Bini Maainec Arabs, obtained possession of Bandar Abbas and the
ports close to it, for which they must have later on begun to pay a rent to the
central authority in Persia, as it became consolidated.
91. In 1798 the islands of Kishm and Ormuz and Bandar Abbas and the
towns near it were taken by Saiyid Sultan, Imam of Maskat. The following
account is given in the “ Imams and Sniyids of Oman ” edited by Badger—
"Sultan went next to es-Sweaik, which was then in the hands of his brother, Said bin
el Imam, and captured it, and from him he also took el-Masnah His next conquest
was Shakhar (Chahar) of Mekran, after which he attacked el-Kasum (Kishm) and reduced
it. Then after a reconciliation was affected betwixt him and Bini Maainee, the people of
el-Kasum, he attacked it again ; he also attacked Harmuz, the port of which island belong­
ed to Mulla Hasan el-Mainy and took both places.”
92. No mention is made in this account of the Kishm Arabs having invited
Saiyid Sultan. Reference is made to his reconciliation with them and a second
a'ttaclc-of'the island.
93. Soon after this Saiyid Sultan farmed Bandar Abbas and its dependen­
cies, but from all.accounts it is clear that Kishm and Ormuz were not specifi-
cially mentioned in the grants. The presumption would be that a large island
like Kishm would have been specifically mentioned, had the grant included it in
addition to Bandar Abbas and its ‘ dependencies,’ which included the coast near
that town and perhaps the islands close by under the control of its Governor,
which was not the case in regard to the island of Kishm.
94. Soon after Saiyid Sultan had acquired these territories a treaty was
concluded with him by the British (12th October 1798), in which Bandar Abbas
is referred to as a port “ of this Sirkar,” that is the Imam of Maskat ; and there
occurs the following article:—
" In the port of Bandar Abbas (Gombroon), whenever the English shall be disposed
to establish a factory, making it as a fort, I have no objection to their fortifying the same
and mounting guns thereon as many as they list and to forty or fifty English gentlemen
residing there, with seven or eight hundred English sepoys ; and for the rest the rate of
duties on goods, on buying and selling, will be on the same footing as at Basrah and
Abusheher.”*
95. On the death of Saiyid Sultan in 1S04, and during the troubles result­
ing from the succession being doubtful for a time, the Bini Maainee tribe recover-
ed their old possessions. Saiyid Bedr proceeded against Kishm and Bandar
Abbas in 1865 and regained all the lost possessions. The details of this
expedition in which the British co-operated are given in Section XIV (iV) of the
Persian Gulf Precis (/<?o/-/t?5j).
• As to why and how this article was inserted see Mrhdi Ali Khan’s lettor (Nc. CCLXV in the Selections
from thr Stitt Paper! regarding tht Persian Cut/, 1600-1800).