Page 87 - The Arabian Gulf States_Neat

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Relations with the Trucial Sheikhdoms

ABU DHABI, DUBAI, SHARJAH, AJMAN, UMM
AL-QAIWAIN, RAS AL-KHAIMAH AND FUJAIRAH

Until the end of the eighteenth century, very little was known of the
international conditions of the region which now comprises these
States. However, it appears that in the past the influence of the
Qawasim (Jawasim) tribe predominated over the whole coast which
was then called the ‘Pirate Coast’. The present seven Trucial States
were then no more than small towns inhabited by various Arab
tribes acknowledging the lordship of the biggest tribe, al-Qawasim,
with their capital at Ras al-Khaimah.1
After the year 1800, the Qawasim Arabs were known to have
succumbed to the influence of the Wahhabi Arabs of the mainland of
Arabia. During this period the Qawasim were in the habit of carrying
out piratical raids against British ships in the Arabian Gulf. Late in
1805, the British Government in India sent an expedition to the
Arabian Gulf in order to put an end to the Qawasim’s raids. As a
result, an agreement was concluded on 6 February 1806 between
Sultan ibn Saqr, Shaikh of the Qawasim, and the East India Com­
pany.2
The agreement dealt generally with measures concerning the
restoration of peace in the waters of the Gulf and the protection of
British vessels and property in the ports of the Qawasim. Two points
call for special mention. First, the two parties reciprocally agreed to
respect the flag and property of the subjects of each other ‘wherever
and in whatever it may be’, thus placing no restrictions upon the
Qawasim in their relations with non-British subjects (Art. 1). Secondly,
the Qawasim were given the right to disregard the agreement if they
were compelled to do so by the Islamic rite of ‘Jihad’, provided that
they gave ‘three months previous notice in all places’ to the British
authorities.
Nevertheless, the Qawasim failed to comply with the agreement, and
in 1809 and 1819, the East India Company was obliged to dispatch
two more expeditions. The expedition of 1809 failed to produce useful
results. However, that of 1819 inflicted severe damage to the stronghold

1 Lorimer, p. 631; Saldanha, A Precis of Correspondence Regarding the Trucial
Chiefs (1906); Aitchison, pp. 196-8.
3 Aitchison, pp. 197-8, 239-40.
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