Page 67 - Arabian Gulf Intellegence

BAHREIN. 25

Kasim bin Jabir of Aseeloo came lo his aid, and enabled him to drive
I
Jabara from the island.
“At this time, however, as the public troubles of Persia were daily
increasing, Mahomed bin Jaber, of Aseeloo, and of the race of Haram,
brought the island under his own power, but was dispossessed of it by
the united powers of Mir Nasr of Bender Rig, and Shaikh Nasr of
Abooshahar. The first of these established a superiority over the second ;
and he was in turn driven out by the tribe Haram, who were themselves
obliged to yield at length to Shaikh Nasr of Abooshahar. This chief,
after many successive changes in the result of his military operations
against the tribes Beni Hul and Haram, finally succeeded in making
himself master of the island.” (a. d. 1765.)
With regard to this island, Justamond, in his History of the East and
West Indies, has this striking and remarkable passage:—
“This Company (the English East India) have never attempted to
establish themselves on the island of Bahrein, which we are at a loss to
account for. This island, which lies in the Persian Gulf, has often
changed its masters. It fell, with Ormus, under the dominion of the
Portuguese, and was governed by the same laws. These conquerors
were afterwards deprived of it, and it has since undergone a variety of
revolutions.
“Tahmasp Koly Khan restored it to Persia, to which it had belonged.
His death put a period to his vast designs, and the confusion into
which his empire was thrown afforded a fair opportunity to an
ambitious and enterprising Arab of taking possession of Bahrein,
where he still maintains his authority.
“ This island, famous for its pearl fishery, even at the time when pearls
were found at Ormus, Karel, Kishen, and other places in the Gulf, is
now become of much greater consequence, the other banks having been
exhausted, while those near it have suffered no sensible diminution.
The time of fishing begins in April, and ends in October. It is
confined to a tract of four or five leagues. The Arabs, who alone
follow this employment, pass their nights upon the island or the coast,
unless they are prevented by the wind from going on shore. They
formerly paid a toll, which was received by the galliots on that station.
Since the last changes, none but the inhabitants of this island pay this
acknowledgment to their chief, who is not in a condition to demand it
from others.
“ The pearls taken at Bahrein, though not so white as those of Ceylon
and Japan, are much larger than those of the former place, and of a
more regular shape than those of the latter. They are of a yellowish
cast, but have this recommendation, that they preserve their golden
hue ; whereas the whiter kind lose much of their lustre
by keeping,