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141. Commander J. Elliot Pringle of the Vulture cruised round the
Arab Coast in September 1879 with a viow to impress upon the Chiefs the
importance of acting loyally by the agreement. All the Chiefs recognized
the utility of the measuro. Only the (Jhiof of Dobai protested against having
to go to Shargah whon the delivery of absconding debtors of other tribes was
claimed from him. Ho wished that such claims should be settled at Debai.
Commander Pringle saw no objection to humouring this Chief by holding the
mixed Court when he was concerned at Debai, which was only 7 miles from
8hargah. It does not appear however that this proposal has ever been acted
upon.
142. The Government of India wished to be satisfied that if surrender was
absolutely enforceable, under the sanction or guarantee of Government, it
would not be used as an engine of oppression by the Chiefs against oppression.
143. Colonel Ross pointed out that oppression was rare under the patri­
archal system of rule obtaining among
Political A. January 19S0, Nos. 333-335.
the Arab tribes, and that surrender would
be demanded as a rule only in the case of really fraudulent debtors. The
arrangement would not moreover apply to a large body of a tribe seceding
from a Chief or emigrating. It is true that extradition of absconding debtors
was not the practice among civilized States, but on the Arab Coast the practice
of giving refuge to runaway defaulters was a source of constant feuds, which
threatened the maritime peace, and the agreement now signed by the Chiefs
would, it was expected, remove that source to a great extent.
144. In the Gulf Residency Administration Report for 1880-81 (Part I),
Colonel Ross reported that the arrangement, entered into in 1879 among the
Trucial Chiefs appeared to have had a pacifying influence and no evil etfeots
from the measure had been observed.
116. The Resident visited the Arab Coast in 1882, and reported that the
tranquillity of the past years was consider­
Political A, Juno 1882, No. 254.
ably due to more prompt settlement of
this class of disputes, and there was no sign of the working of tho arrangement
injuriously atfecting any honest members of tho communities; on the contrary,
it tended to their good. The various Chiefs had been fairly observant of their
agreement at the instance of the Native Agent.
146. The Chiefs of Shargah, Debai and Ejman, who had succeeded to their
Chiefships since the conclusion of the
External A, March 1893, Nos. 120-123.
agreement of 1879 between the Trucial
Chiefs regarding the rendition of absconding debtors, subscribed to it in 1892.
(iv) INFLUENCE OF THE SHEIKH OF ABU T1IABI IN THE HINTERLAND OF THE
PIRAH2 COAST.
147. In his letter No. 176, dated 28th June 1904, Major Cox drew our
attention to the preponderant influence
Secret E., September 1904, Noi. 53-54.
which the Sheikh of Abu Thabi has
been recently exercising in the Hinterland of the Pirate Coast. This Chief
had concluded agreements with the inland Bedouin tribes such as Beni
Katb, Gbofloh, Khavater, etc. When Major Cox travelled from the Pirate
Coast to Maskat in 1902—see account in Chapter XIII, post—he found that
Sheikh Zaid’s influence was much stronger than that of the Sultan of Maskat
throughout the Dhahireh district of Oman and was, as far as one could judge,
exercised in the interests of general peace.

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