Page 56 - The Origins of the United Arab Emirates_Neat

3» The Origins of the United Arab Emirates

I» mas' Fo\rl VV'l,ing j° licar a” t,1e cosl °r the new appointment,
importance<nTH' l° C°'1VinCC thc Forcig" Office of the
was sanctioneHd,TI "S 1C CXpcnscs with India> and ">e appointment
and an | 13 SamC ycar a dlsPensary was opened in Dubai,
and an Indian doctor was placed in charge.57

The Political Agent in Muscat

rhe Political Agent in Muscat, like thc Political Resident in Bushire,
had two functions: he was Political Agent and British Consul.
As Political Agent, he was directly responsible to the Resident
in Bushire, and was concerned with Oman, not de facto under
the jurisdiction of the Sultan, and those areas of the Trucial Coast
that were on Gulf of Oman (i.e. Kalba and Fujairah). His
title of British Consul was in deference to the fact that technically
Muscat was independent.

The Senior Naval Officer, Persian Gulf Division

In the early years of the twentieth century, Europeans (i.e. mainly
the British) were generally distrusted and disliked on thc Trucial
Coast, and the Hyacinth incident of 1910 exacerbated this animosity.
In subsequent years, however, there occurred a marked improvement
in the attitude towards the British, and this was largely owing
to the naval officers who visited the Coast—until the 1930s, when
the visits of the Political Resident became more frequent—almost
the only Europeans to call there.
The Senior Naval Officer performed the practical duties of a
Political Agent until 1932, when the Agent in Bahrain assumed
charge of the Coast, and he was well acquainted with the rulers
and problems of the area. His effectiveness, however, was limited
by the size of the area he had to cover, from Ras al-Hadd in
Muscat to Basrah, which made it difficult for him to concentrate
his abilities on one particular area. His efficiency was further curtailed
by the shortness of his term of office—just two years—which made
the acquisition of any extensive knowledge of the language and
customs virtually impossible.
The role of the Senior Naval Officer was of great importance,
for he represented the instrument of British power that c<™tro1 e
the Gulf,Pand had to oversee the policing of its waters. He kept
in close touch with the Resident and Agents in the Gulf, and
was largely responsible for the constant interchange of ^telhgence
was large > F co-ordinate policy with the Admiralty,
I!" G^tlen, onn<li. .nd ,l,c Office. On. Senior Nov„