Page 219 - The Origins of the United Arab Emirates_Neat

The Trucial States in 1939: The Dawn of a Sew Age ■ 85

Sa'ud. In 1930, at the height of the crisis over the placement
of an RAF petrol barge at Ras al-Khaimah, Sultan warned Isa
that

. . . he and his people were Wahabis, that the Head of the
Wahabis is I bn Saud and that if the British Government persisted
in forcing their policy upon him, he would place himself under
the protection of I bn Saud who would deal with the matter
direct with the British Government. So far as he was concerned
there the matter ended, he would appeal to Ibn Saud and end
the friendly Treaty with Great Britain.2'

His animosity to the British authorities was by then well established,
and his refusal to pay his respects to visiting British dignitaries
was such a common occurrence that it is astonishing to note the
surprise with which these rebuffs were reported. He was the only
ruler on the Coast who refused to attend the festivities accompanying
the durbar of 1933, despite the presence of the Officiating Political
Resident, the Senior Naval Officer and nine destroyers.
He also deliberately courted any country that he thought might
conceivably join him in an anti-British alliance. In 1934, for example,
strong rumours circulated that he was negotiating privately with
Iranian officials for the sale of the Tunb islands. The next year,
he approached the commander of the French sloop Bougainville
when it stopped at Ras al-Khaimah on its way to Bahrain; he
sought a secret agreement with the French admiral, thinking that
France and Britain were enemies, but when he realised the situation
he merely asked for arms.22
Sultan had to learn the hard way the disadvantages of defying
Britain. In early 1938 he was censured for delaying the conclusion
of an oil concession agreement; he was rude to the Senior Naval
Officer and refused to apologise, so he and his people were denied
travelling papers. He procrastinated for so long over the matter
of the concession that in the end Petroleum Concessions obtained
only a permit of exploration; Sultan thus lost the financial advantages,
however small, that his fellow rulers had obtained upon granting
concessions. It is doubtful whether he carefully considered the out­
come of his attitudes before assuming them. He was an independent
ruler, and wished always to be treated like one; the fact that
he was powerless to resist the stronger forces with which he was
confronted did not seem to count. The only strong influence on
him was that of his qadi, Muhammad Ghubash, and he was only
rarely supported by his fellow rulers, who regarded his unpredictable
behaviour with mixed feelings: