Page 132 - Su'udi Relations with Eastern Arabi & Uman (1800-1870)

Qatar, to al-Bahrayn to work on an arrangement aimed at removing the
grievances and solving the present conflict. As soon as Qasim arrived in Qatar,
Muhammad b. Khallfah detained him and despatched a fleet which, with the
assistance of the shaykh of Abu ZabI and a contingent of his tribesmen,
launched a surprise attack on al-Dawhah and al-Wakran, totally destroying
them and reducing their population. The Qataris’ boats were captured, their
houses were torn down, and they themselves were forced to disperse to various
localities.
The Qataris took their case to Amir ‘Abd Allah, requesting that he put some
pressure on the ruler of al-Bahrayn to compensate for their losses. ‘Abd Allah
thus demanded that the latter return the booty he took from Qatar and restore
the victims’ homes, or else suffer retaliatory action from the Su‘udls. As it
turned out, however, the ruler of al-Bahrayn ignored the threat, and ‘Abd
Allah did nothing in response.1104
It was not until the following year that the Qataris retaliated by taking the
matter into their own hands. They engaged in a naval battle with the Bahraynl
fleet in a place called Damisah, on the coast of Qatar, but were seriously
defeated. Indeed, Muhammad b. Khallfah continued to pursue the defeated
party, and killed many of his opponents in Qatar itself.
Muhammad’s invasion of Qatar in the previous year had provoked critical
reaction on the part of the British authorities in the Gulf and in India. The
invasion was a violation of the agreement Muhammad had concluded with the
British in 1861, restricting him from hostile maritime activities and binding
him to appeal to the British Resident as arbitrator in such circumstances. 1105
In light of the terms of the agreement and Muhammad’s failure to observe
them, particularly now when Muhammad was leaning toward the Persian and
Turkish governments and flying their flags in his palace,1106 the British
decided to inflict an exemplary punishment upon him.1107 Accompanied by
British warships, Pelly thus proceeded to al-Bahrayn and demanded, under
the threat of force, the payment of a large amount of money and the surrender
of the armed ships employed in the invasion, 1108 Upon hearing of Pelly’s
proceedings, Muhammad fled to al-Kuwayt, while Pelly proceeded to destroy
his palace and burn his ships. 1109 This event led not only to the end of
Muhammad’s rule, but also to the elimination of Al Khallfah authority over
Qatar, making the latter an independent state legitimately ruled by Muhammad
b. Than!.1110
Amir ‘Abd Allah b. Faysal did not seem interested in these or subsequent
developments in al-Bahrayn, mainly because of his preoccupation with al-
Buraymi in ‘Uman, and probably also because the British were handling the
current problems on the island. Nevertheless, ‘Abd Allah permitted
Muhammad b. Khallfah to reside in al-Qatlf, where the latter managed to
recruit elements of the Banu Hajir tribe of al-Hasa, crossing with them into
al-Bahrayn and forcing a short-lived re-installation of his power there. This led
‘Isa b. ‘All, the future ruler of al-Bahrayn, to suspect that ‘Abd Allah was not
against the action. As a result, ‘Isa later provided Su‘ud b. Faysal with shelter
in al-Bahrayn and attempted to support him militarily in his war against his
brother, ‘Abd Allah.1111 With the decline and disappearance of Su‘udl
influence in both al-Bahrayn and ‘Uman, Su*udl authority became confined to
Najd and al-Hasa. However, the latter place was soon lost to the Ottomans, an
event that cut the Su‘udls completely off from eastern and southeastern Arabia

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