Page 76 - Records of Bahrain (1) (i)_Neat

66 Records of Bahrain

408 UTTOOBEES.

Shaikh Mahomed bin Khalcefa, slill continued, and every possible
plan was being resorted to by the refugee chief to induce the
Persian Government to espouse his cause. They, on their part,
had apparently entertained in a favourable light the proposals that were
made to them, and showed, by the pomp and ceremony with which
they received their visitor, on the occasion of his coming to Bushirc
in the early part of the year 1844, that there was at least a desire, if
not an intention, to lend him assistance. The proceedings of the
Persian authorities were studiously watched by the Resident, and their
every movement and expression represented by him to higher authority.
It was thought advisable to check, in the outset, this uncalled for offi­
ciousness on the part of Persia: instructions were accordingly issued
by Her Majesty’s Government to Colonel Sheil, begging him to acquaint
the Persian Ministers that unless the right of the Shah to take part
in the quarrels of rival claimants to the possession of Bahrein were
beyond dispute, the interference of His Majesty would be viewed
with much jealousy by the British Government in India, and might
possibly lead to serious discussions with England. Such an announce­
ment as this, coming as it did from Her Majesty’s Secretary of Stale for
Foreign Affairs, tended, no doubt, to damp the ardour of the brotherly
feeling shown by Persia to Abdoolla bin Ahmed, and must likewise
have blasted, for the present at least, all hopes that existed in the mind
of the latter of obtaining assistance from that quarter.
From this period the ex-chief commenced a roving style of life,—
first repairing with his Buleels to the neighbourhood of Bahrein, then
suddenly quilling the island in search of plunder, and, after perpetrating
all manner of mischief, returning to his place of asylum on the Persian
Coast. By the Resident, these proceedings were beheld with much
dissatisfaction, and eventually led to the issue of a positive order,
prohibiting him from a continuance of hostilities against the trade and
possessions of Bahrein, so long as he chose to reside, on the shores of
Persia. Fully, however, to comprehend the policy of the British Govern­
ment with regard to the continued quarrels of the rival chiefs, it is
necessary that we should watch the movements and doings of either
party, and also observe the line of conduct pursued by the British to­
wards them. Let us therefore proceed to consider a brief outline of
all that occurred during the protracted struggle for the sovereignty of the
Bahrein island.
Shaikh Abdoolla had not been long at Nabcnd ere lie set out on a
cruise with his Butcels in the direction of his lost possessions, and pro­
ceeded into the immediate vicinity of Bahrein. His unexpected arrival
in that quarter threw the pearl divers and others into a state of extreme
alarm and confusion, and it was not until the ex-chief assured them