Page 64 - PERSIAN 2 1879_1883

52 ADMINISTRATION REPORT OF THE PERSIAN GULF POLITICAL

'Abdul Railm£n-bin-Fcy eal, having been released in 1874, first
visited Bahrain, where he learned that
A.D. 1874.
disgusted with the efFete, cniel and
rapacious rule of Bizce'a, the inhabitants of Rl-IIas& and the neigh­
bouring districts were ripe for revolt, and only awaited a leader of the
Al-Su'ood family. Crossing to the mainland he was at once joined by
bands of the Al-Morrah, 'Ejman, and other tribes, at the head of whom
he marched on Ei-IIas6. The inhabitants welcomed him, and after a
number of the Turkish gendarmes had been slain, the rest with Shaikh
Bizce'a were besieged in the fort of Ilofhoof.
Nasir Pasha, who had pledged himself to the success of the plan of
appointing Bizee'a, was called on by Itedif Pasha to quell the insurrcc-
tion, and despatching 300 Arab horsemen by land proceeded himself by
sea with a battalion of regular infantry to El-Hasd. Discord had
broken out amongst the adherents of 'Abdul Rahman in El-Hasd owing
to the jealousies of the leading Shaikhs of the 'Ejman, and on the
approach of Ndsir Pasha's force they dispersed, and 'Abdul Rahindn
joined Su'ood at El-Riadh. The fort of Hofhoof, in which Bizee'a with
his garrison bad been shut up, having thus been relieved, the town was
by order of Ndsir Pasha given up to pillage, and for several days the
Turkish soldiers and the Arab auxiliaries indulged in the indiscriminate
massacre and plunder of the inhabitants; men, women, and children
were shot down, and wTomen openly treated with the brutality peculiar
to such occasions. It is said that the Turkish officers remonstrated with
the Pasha on permitting and even ordering such severities, but Nasir
Pasha replied that it was necessary to make an example to prevent
revolt in future.
. Nasir Pasha left his son Mazyid Pasha with 800 regular infantry
and one hundred cavalry to hold El-Hasa, and^bimself returned to Busrah.
Su'ood-bin-Feysal having died in 1874, bis brother 'Abdul Rahman
held Riadh for some time against 'Ab-
A.D. 1875.
dullah-bin-Feysal, but the latter gradu-
ally got the upper hand, and eventually the brothers came to an amicable
understanding, and have since resided together, 'Abdullah being regarded
as Amir and Abdul Rahman his Minister.
Such is the position at the present time. Negotiations which were
recently opened on the basis of 'Abdullah-bin Feysal becoming Governor
of Nejd as a Turkish nominee led to no result.
In El-Hasa, Sa'id Bey succeeded Mazyid Pasha as Governor on the
part of the Turkish Government, aad the subsequent Governors have
been Hussain Bey, Eneyetullah Effendi, and Sa'id Pasha. The latter
was, last autumn, on occasion of the appointment of a new Wali to
BuHrah, relieved by Sa'id Bey, who is thus for the second time Governor.
During the autumn of 1878 the two youthful sons of Sa'ood-bin-
Feysal were placed nominally at the
A.D. 1878.
head of an abortive insurrection around
El-Katecf, which necessitated the despatch of a reinforcement from
Busrah. Since then no event of any political importance ha* occurred
in Nejd or El-Hasd.