Page 304 - UAE Truncal States_Neat
P. 304

The External Influences

         death of the Amir 'Abdul 'Aziz and the fall of the capital Dara'iyah in
         1018, the Wahhabi forces under the new leader Turki bin 'Abdullah
         regained the whole empire, including the Gulf coast. The same
         sequence of defeat and victory followed again between 1835 and
         1840, when the Egyptian forces once more occupied al Hasa and
         Najd.17 The Wahhabi movement then entered a phase of spiritual
         consolidation, having lost much of its militant zeal, and direct
         Wahhabi influence over the seaboard tribes of the Gulf was also
         restricted by the activities of the British.




         2 Qawasim, Oman and Great Britain at the
              beginning of the 19th Century


          Early English trading interests in the Gulf
         The English traders were at first interested only in the Persian coast
          of the Gulf, in the same way as the Portuguese and the Dutch before
          them.
            The initial foothold in the Gulf was gained by traders who were
          partners of the British East India Company.10 Having obtained the
          lease for the establishment of a factory19 at Sural in India in 1613, the
          manager found that the market there could not absorb the quantities
          of cloth which had been ordered from England. Persia seemed the
          most promising alternative market, and eventually Shah 'Abbas,
          who was at the time at war with Turkey and was trying to expel the
          Portuguese (then under Spanish domination) from the ports of his
          empire, sought the help of the highest bidder among the European
          nations interested in the trade in silk and other goods. Expecting that
          the English would help him to achieve his objective he gave per­
          mission to the representative of the company to establish a factory at
          the fort of Jashk in 1616.
            It was soon realised in London that competition for such privileges
          was acute, with the Spanish and the Dutch still waiting in the wings.
          If the Government in London was expecting to reap benefits from
          English trade in the East it had to give official, royal, and prompt
          support to the pioneers who promoted this trade. If the Shah was to
          be requested to grant lasting monopolies to the English traders,
          correspondence with King James was a prerequisite. The privileges
                                                                 279
   299   300   301   302   303   304   305   306   307   308   309