Page 208 - Gulf Precis (V)_Neat

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tlieir object bc’ng to guard against tho occurrence of irregularities and Uio harbouring of
disorderly characters, nought else. This is an arrangement of which I quite approve on the part
of Hcsidouls. both those who have g->nc befuro, and those who comoafter, for thoro i9 an under­
standing between us nnd the British Government of 1**0 years duration for the security of
tradors and travellers passing on tho s^as. The coasts of Oman, however, nnd the territories
thereof appertain to tho Peninsula of Arabia under my control, aud acknowledging my
authority. Further tho people of tho district* iu the interior of Oman and at the scats of tho
Bedouin tribes or more powerful than, and have the command over the inhabitants of the coast
and could n-»t he restrained from preying upon and slaughtering them, hut that I maintain a
Lieutenant with a force in Oman, who holds th«m Lack from the people of the coast. These
last are well assured of his protection; otherwise, were they abandoned to their fate, they
could not subsist. Moreover, when owing to their negligence, dbaurooments, too long to bo
detailed, and bloodshed have arisen between some of the Chiofs of tho coasts aforesaid, there was
none who could chock them and restore order and good will among them, except the Lioutenanfc
in charge of Oman, whose office is among the things pleasing to God and his Prophet, as also
to tho Sultan of tho faithful—may God strengthen the faith by his means. Being a depen­
dant of the oxalted Turkish Government, I hold the confirmation cf the Sultan t*» my
continuance in authority over all tho Arabs. To exemplify this, when Mahomed Ali Pasha,
having projected his schemes against Basrah and Mohammorah and tho torritorv pertaining
thereto entertaining designs upon India, deputed his envoy to mp, proposing to hold me dearer
and more cherished than his own sons, to induce me to forward his views with respect to tho
ccast of Oman and elsewhere within the Peninsula of Arabia, and to offer no hindrance or
opposition—for of others, besides the Arabs, he took no account owing to his oxalted dignity—
I replied,' you know that I am a dependant of the Sultan of the Faithful from whom if you
possess orders to that effect let me be informed of them ; otherwise the tiling is impossible.’
Thereon war broke out between me nnd him, which lasted two years, and intelligence thereof
duly reached tho Suhlimo Porte and they (the Sukau’s Government) greatly rejoiced and
were much pleased with me and my influence and consideration with them increased
exceedingly. May God perpetuate their rule and the glory of their State ”
42. In writing in this strain Fey sal’s object apparently was twofold ; first
to put forward a general claim to lordship over the whole of Arabia; and
seoond, to try whether the affectation of being only the Viceregent of a Euro­
pean Power might serve to divert the British Government from interference
between himself and the maritime Arabs whom he ass-erted to bo his feudatories.
43. A letter of this period from the Resident is of some interest as showing
the designs upon Arabia then entertained by either the Ottoman Porte or, as
is more probable, Abbas Pasha, the half-crazy debauchee who succeeded
Mahpmed Ali in Egypt. Colonel Hennell speaks of tho probable acquisition of
Bahrein by the Wahabis as being tantamount to its acquisition by tho Porte,
and justifies this assertion by the following considerations:—the Amir pays
a regular tribute to the Turkish Government; there are accredited envoys from
Abbas Pasha in the Amir’s camp ; the Wahabi Agont at Kowcit (a Turkish
port) passes himself off as an envoy from the Pasha of Egypt; there are
Turkish emissaries along the Arabian Coast of the Persian Gulf ; and Turkish
Steamers are in course of equipment for service in the Gulf.
44. Mahomed-bin-Abdullah had, in 1843, been expelled from Bahrein,
the government of which he had seized tho previous year, and for several
years the ex-Chief had resided at Damaum
Troubles in Katif, A.D 1869.
under Wahabi protection ; until in the
year 1859 Feysal determined to support him in recovering the government of
the islands, and made preparations to give him active assistance. A demonstr­
ation was thereupon made by the British squadron which had the effect of
frustrating the scheme to the intense annoyance of the Wahabi Amir. On
the British Resident demanding tho expulsion of Mahommed-bin-Abdullah
from Damaum, Feysal replied in terms of bitter reproach, inveighing, against
the policy of the British Government in denying his right of suzerainty over
Bahrein and the Uttubis. The Amir was able to complain with truth that
the actual Chief of Bahrein, Mahomed-bin-Khalifah, had provoked his
resentment., and rendered himself justly liable to reprisals by inciting tho
tribes of El-Katar to acts of aggression against Wahabi subjects. In 1861 the
a. d. 1861. Bahrein Chief went bo far as to cruise
with six armed boats againt Damaum, a
proceeding which was disapproved and censured by the British Government.
Pressure was brought on Mahommed-bin-Kbalifah to force him to withdraw