Page 181 - The Pirate Coast (By Sir Charles Belgrave)

the necessity of putting an cncl to the possibilities of the pirates
ever becoming an object of terror in the Persian Gulph. It was
for this reason that pirate vessels, wherever they had taken shelter,
must be destroyed.’ The existence of this secret room in which
the conversation was held, under the fortress ofRafaa, is unknown
to anyone today, the entrance was probably blocked up many
years ago and there arc now no signs of it on the face of the cliff.
The Bahrain Shaikhs would have had even more cause for
suspicion and anxiety had they known what was being discussed
in Bombay about the fate of Bahrain. The Sultan of Muscat,
who some years before, was regarded as a ‘mauvais sujet’ by the
Bombay Government, because he came to power by the assassin­
ation of his relative, was now high in the estimation of the English
who appreciated his valuable co-operation, and admired his
courageous opposition to the Joasmi pirates. Without the Sul­
tan’s help, it would have been very difficult to overcome them.
The Sultan was now the most powerful ruler in the Gulf, and it
was his ambition to dominate the other Gulf states, but he had
failed in his attempts to take Bahrain. There were people in the
Bombay Government who advocated sacrificing Bahrain to Mus­ M
cat. Sir Evan Napean, the Governor of Bombay, favoured the
policy of handing Bahrain over to Muscat, with some arrange­
ment by which Muscat would pay for a British garrison to be
stationed at Kishm, in order to prevent a recurrence of piracy.
Other members of the Council did not approve of this scheme,
the principal opposition coming from Francis Warden, the First
Secretary. He opposed the betrayal of the Khalifah who had
fought so hard to maintain their independence; eventually
Napean’s plan was abandoned, greatly due to Warden’s argument.
The Shaikhs appeared to be satisfied with the explanations
which were given to them about the reason for the visit, and
perhaps in order that the British ships should not tarry in Bahrain,
they consented to send officers to point out the pirate ships in the
harbour. The party then returned, through the passage in the
rock, and made their way back, up the cliff, to the gate of the fort,
where they sat down again on the bench. ‘Soon afterwards, a
most beautiful horse was driven across in front of where we were
sitting, returning again at full speed, it was then caught, mounted,
and put through its paces. Of course, it was not possible to avoid
expressing my feelings of admiration. The Shaikh then turned
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