Page 75 - Su'udi Relations with Eastern Arabi & Uman (1800-1870)

This time Sa‘Id b. Sultan insisted on installing Sultan b. Saqr as shaykh of the
Qawasim at Ra’s al-Khaymah, a proposal which Amir ‘Abd Allah would never
consent to. Sa‘Id, nonetheless, blamed the wakil for not being seriously
interested in peace, accusing him of constantly seeking means to set up new
pretensions and making demands which, in Sard's view, were foreign to a state
of peace.529
The progress of the warfare in Arabia and the inability of the Su‘udl forces at
al-Zahirah to carry out any major operations against the government of Masqat
by land seem to have induced Sa‘id to once again assault the Qawasim at Ra’s
al-Khaymah, and to place Sultan b. Saqr at al-Shariqah. Although Sa‘Id b.
Sultan had not long ago been hardly capable of protecting himself, he was now
helping others to regain their former positions.530 This latest incident annoyed
Amir ‘Abd Allah and led him to withdraw his emissary. Although internal
problems preoccupied ‘Abd Allah and prevented him from engaging directly
against Masqat, he nonetheless continued to make occasional use of the
Qawasim to annoy Sa‘Id and his subjects by sea until the downfall of the Su‘udl
state a few years later.

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