Page 211 - UAE Truncal States_Neat

Chapter Five

Pearling by foreigners
As has been mentioned earlier, the pearl banks near the southern
shores of the Gulf were considered by all the Arabs as common
property; they did not belong to individual sheikhdoms. This
situation was respected by the pearling communities from the
Persian Coast, some of whom, by virtue of their also being of Arab
tribal origin, might have come to fish on the Arab pearling banks but
for the great distance from home.
When the demand and the price for pearls increased, complete
outsiders were not slow to come in with the intention of securing for
themselves a share of this obviously quite profitable industry. Many
individuals and companies who tried to gel a foothold in the pearling
industry in the Gulf reckoned that by using modern diving equip­
ment they would make the process of collecting the oysters from the
sea-bed faster and therefore more profitable. The first such attempt
was made in 1857 by two British people resident in Bombay: when an
enquiry about the possibility of their participating in the pearl diving
reached the British Political Resident in Bushire, his reaction was to
advise strongly against such an attempt because the Arab pearl-
diving community could not be expected to suffer such interference
with their prime source of income.10 Throughout the latter half of the
19th century several more such enquiries reached the Government of
India, whose policy remained unchanged, and in cases where boats
of Indian or foreign origin arrived on the pearl banks without first
contacting the Government’s representatives such intruders were
removed from the scene by a naval escort.
The question became more complicated when other foreign
powers were involved. In 1899/1900 the Turkish Government was
considering selling a concession for part of the pearl fisheries in the
Gulf, a step which, besides harming the economy of the littoral Arab
communities, would have seriously undermined the British position
in the Gulf and once again have set in motion the discussion over
the issue of declaring the Gulf a mare clausum for the purpose of
pearl diving. But ever since this formula had been first considered in
1862, the Government of India time and again decided against
such a formal announcement, because such a declaration would only
have drawn unnecessary attention from America and European
powers.
After various firms had made numerous attempts to enter into this

186