Page 476 - Arabian Gulf Intellegence

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WAIIABEE9.
23. It was under the influence of that ascendancy that the Joasmees
extended their cruises to India, and in the
A. D. 1808-09.
month of April 1808 they first made their ap­
pearance in these seas, to the northward of Bombay. The Wahabccs
had long contemplated that object. Saood had established a new
power, the Zahib Tribe, in the tract of country from Musseldom to
Ramsc, and had greatly added to his strength by taking from the
Joasmees the two strong forts of Feguera and Bithnay. Their Shaikh,
Hussein bin Ali, a Joasmee, who was the Chief of JRamse also,
was
called to Deriah.
24. Hussein bin Ali having been conciliated to the support of the
Wahabee, was appointed his vicegerent in the Seer principality, with
authority to compel the heads of the Joasmees residing at Lingah and
Ras-ool-Khyma to send their vessels to sea in conjunction with those from
Ramsc, and to cruise in the service of the Wahabee Shaikh against all
vessels, without exception, appearing in the Gulf, reserving one-fifth as
his share of the pirated property, the remainder being divided among
the captors. This systematic plan of piracy created such a degree of
fear of the power of the Wahabees among ali the tribes of Arabs within
the scope of it, that whatever might be their inclinations, they must
either join Hussein bin Ali or expose themselves to the cruelty and
vengeance of Saood. No dependence could under such circumstances
be in prudence placed on the assurances of a pacific disposition given
by any Arab inhabiting the shores of the Persian Gulf, for they were
no longer free agents, and the exertion of power on the part of the
British Government in India could alone give a full and effectual secu­
rity to vessels in future visiting the ports of Bushire and Bussora.
25. Nor could any dependence whatever be placed at this period in
the Government of Muskat, since, however much it was against the
interests of the Imaum, it was apprehended that he also would be
obliged to join in the general piracy, unless the British Government
relieved Muskat from the pressure of all that side of Arabia employed
by the Wahabees to reduce that seaport. Agents whom the Imaum had
deputed to Deriah, to claim the restitution of Shinas and other forts
taken from the Vali of Sohar, were ill received by Saood, and were de­
tained until the Imaum ordered his vessels against Bussora, or gave
proof of his attachment to the Mussulman cause by sending a predatory
expedition to India, and threatening to visit Muskat in person on his
return from a pilgrimage to Mecca.
26. The common danger that threatened Oman, and the oppressions
of the Wahabees, led to the manifestation of a disposition in the severa
Shaikhs to unite in a confederacy against Saood. They anxious y
looked, however, to the British Government for assistance, to enable

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