Page 23 - PERSIAN 5 1905_1911_Neat

RESIDENCY FOR THE YEAR 1006-1900. 18
pcaco off the Katar Coast and pearl banks. Having.received no encourage­
ment from us he had latterly been obliged to throw in hie lot a good deal with
the Turks.
More intimate acquaintance with Sheikh Jasim, the elder brother who
was supposed to have resigned all active dealings with the tribal politics or
Katar, proves that he is not by any means the weary dotard that he was
popularly supposed to be, hut that, on the contrary, while it suits him to
preserve the .fiction that he has retired from active participation in the affairs
of Government, nothing of importance is done in Katar without hia being
consulted, or exercising his influence directly or indirectly.
In this connection the action or rather inaction of the Turks in regard to
the selection of a successor to Sheikh Ahmed, to which Captain Prideaux
alludes, is of considerable interest.
The Political Agent has done valuable work during the year in the
direction of geographical research for the
Arcl:©ologic*l Research.
Gazetteer and has also received a
Commission from the Arch mol ogi cal Department of the Government of India to
investigate some of the Phoenician tumuli on Manama Island ; an interesting
project"which he had Dot time to put into execution before the year closed.
The appointment of a Political Agent in Koweit in August 1904 was x*~KoweIt-
sanctioned as a temporary measure vis-a-vis the Porte, but it is to be hoped
that the post may now be considered a permanency. Indeed its importance
to us must daily increase in view of the gradual tendency of the shadow of the
Baghdad Bailway to materialise on the political horizon.
The protracted struggle between the rivals in Central Arabia, Abdurahman
“bin Saood ” and Abdul Aziz “bin
,J a Bashid ” has been the chief topic of
interest and importance on the Koweit tide and is fully dealt with by the
Political Agent. Bin Rashid, whose strong points were rather those of the
Bedouin freebooter than the politician or man of affairs, met his death by
surprise at the hands of his rival a few days after the close of the year, and it
remains to be seen how long the temporary peace uhich reigns in the land
will endure, or what steps the Porte will take to re-ignitc the fixe from which
she hopes to pull the chestnuts.
The loyalty of Sheikh Mubarek’s attitude in the matter of his dealings
with us has on one or two occasions been
Sbeilib Mubtrck’a attitude.
laid under suspicion during the year, but
it is doubtful whether the impeachment is deserved exoept to an extent which
the dubious nature of our support of him renders a matter of necessity. The
limited measure of normal backing that we do give him no doubt stands him
in gOv>d stead, as on the one hand it must add to his importance and prestige
in the eyes of the Arab public, and it also obliges the Porte to adopt a more
cautious policy in regard to him than they otherwise would, but it has not
hitherto been active enough to make it worth the Sheikh’s while to compro­
mise himself hopelessly in his relations with the Turks, and for this reason the
caution with which his conduct no doubt requires to be regarded may well be
tempered with generosity, resting on the supposition that his loyalty to his
obligations will no doubt increase in thoroughness in direct proportion to the
infusion of that quality into the character of our own support of him.
In any case the fact cannot be got over that he does not seem inclined at
present to encourage any intrusion into his preserves except that of ourselves,
as has been evidenced during the past year by the short shrift which he gave
to such pioneers as Monsieur Hatinoglou of the Sponge Syndicate and the
representative of the German Pirm of Wonckhaus & Co.
The trade in arms to Koweit is without doubt conducted briskly sub rosa
^ Trmdt in spite of the Sheikh’s prohibition, and
to what extent Koweit might not become
an entrcp6t for the insinuation of arms into Baluchistan, if the import into
Maskat were slopped, it is difficult to say. Meanwhile there is, I think, no
reason to suppose that Koweit is used at all for that purpose. It is rather