Page 149 - The Pirate Coast (By Sir Charles Belgrave)

of Muscat, Sultan bin Ahmed, seized some Bahrain ships in Muscat
harbour on the pretext that they had not paid dues to him, then,
with some encouragement from Persia, he declared war on Bah­
rain. The Khalifah, deciding that discretion was the better part
of valour, knowing that they would receive no support from the
aboriginal inhabitants of Bahrain, who were unlikely to help
their latest conquerors to repel yet another wave of conquerors,
retired to Zabara, their refuge in times of trouble.
The Sultan occupied Bahrain without opposition. He built a
fort at Arad, on Muharraq island, and left there his young son
Salim, with a small garrison. Soon afterwards, the Sultan was
killed in an engagement with pirates, on his way back to Muscat
from Basra. The Muscat occupation only lasted for a few months.
The Khalifah sought help from the Wahabis, and the Wahabi
Amir, welcoming the chance to get a foothold in Bahrain, sent a
force under Ibrahaim Faisan to Zabara, which supported the
Khalifah when they landed in Bahrain, and without much diffi­
culty, expelled the small Muscat garrison. But the Wahabi chief,
who had come ostensibly to help the Khalifah, remained in Bah­
rain as their master. They found it almost impossible to dislodge
their powerful ally, so once again, they returned to Zabara, leaving
the unfortunate people of Bahrain to be savagely persecuted by
the Wahabis, who regarded the Shias as worse than infidels.
By 18 io, the power of the Wahabis was on the decline; owing
to the need to defend their country against the Egyptians, who
were advancing from the west, they reduced the garrison in
Bahrain. Again, the political pattern of the Gulf changed. The
Khalifah secretly sent an envoy to the Sultan of Muscat, asking
him to help them to dislodge the Wahabis. The Sultan was
engaged in hostilities with the Wahabis, and was unable to pro­
vide any men or ships, but he gave the Khalifah money, and
presented the Shaikh with a sword, whose name is ‘Salmuni’.
Among the Arabs, swords of historical interest arc given names,
and arc regarded as heirlooms. Finally, the Khalifah were able to
expel the Wahabis, and Faisan and his men joined Rahmah on
the Qatar coast, and became his partner in piracy, seizing many
Bahrain ships, and putting the crews to death. About this time,
the Khalifah, seeking new allies, appealed without success to the
British for support in maintaining their rule in Bahrain.
Finally, the Khalifah took the offensive against Ramah. One
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