Page 305 - UAE Truncal States_Neat

Chapter Eight

which were eventually granted to English traders in a firman of 1617
confirming the concession at Jashk thus already signalled the
political character of such agreements. It provided for the residence
of an English ambassador at the Persian court at Isphahan, spelled
out the jurisdiction of the latter over English subjects, and the
conditions under which disputes with a Persian subject came under
Persian jurisdiction. It also mentioned the right of the English to
practise their religion.
Thus from the very beginning the promotion and the protection of
the English trading interests in the Gulf inevitably involved the
Crown. Not only was the Crown a party to the negotiations with the
local potentates but also it inevitably became involved militarily.
This first happened when in 1621/2 the Persian army required the
assistance of the naval force of the Easl India Company at Surat to
expel the Portuguese from Hormuz.20 During subsequent decades the
Indian subcontinent proved itself to be the far more rewarding target
for commercial enterprise, while the unstable relations with Persia
never allowed complete British domination of its markets. The East
India Company’s governing body developed into the Government of
India, ruling from Bombay with full powers conferred on it by the
Crown. But just as English commercial enterprise in India could not
be successful, nor even survive for long, without political support
from London, it also required military might to protect both the trade
in neighbouring regions and the shipping to and from India. By the
end of the 18th century the British in India had become a regional
power, and as such were involved in various economic, political, and
military interactions with other regional powers including the
Persians and the Arabs. Britain was also locked in power struggles in
Europe notably with revolutionary and Napoleonic France which led
to the British endeavours to exclude such powers from Oman and the
Gulf.
Initial contacts with the Arabs of the southern shores of the Gulf
also began through the medium of trade. In about 1720 the Ruler of
Ra’s al Khaimah seized Basidu on the island of Qishim and estab­
lished a trading centre there. This new entrepot port seriously
affected the customs receipts which were previously shared between
the English and the Persians. In 1727 the East India Company’s agent
at Bandar 'Abbas led a naval expedition in company ships and
recovered the share of the customs dues which were estimated to
belong to the Company.
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