Page 75 - The Origins of the United Arab Emirates_Neat

The Challenge to Power: Brother, Nephew and Son 51

World War, British recognition of Ras al-Khaimah was not immedi-
atcly forthcoming. In December 1919, Trevor, the Political Resident,
visited Ras al-Khaimah and decided that Sultan bin Salim was
a young and ignorant man whose position, owing to a strong
internal faction favouring Muhammad, was insecure. Trevor did
not think it wise, therefore, to recommend any form of recognition,
but, when he revisited Ras al-Khaimah the next year, he acknow­
ledged that Sultan had proved his ability to govern: he had consoli­
dated his power, although he was still ‘rather headstrong and
inclined to have disputes with the Shaikh of Umm al-Qawain ,52
and he had removed all traces of opposition to his rule, a fact
attested by Muhammad’s disinterest in politics and total involvement
in his career as a pearl merchant. Before Trevor could recommend
recognition, he wanted to make sure that Sharjah had no serious
claims on Ras al-Khaimah. Khalid bin Ahmad, who had become
ruler of Sharjah in 1914, had been in close touch with his cousin
in Ras al-Khaimah, but did not ‘appear to claim any authority
over him’.53 Once he was satisfied that all the previous objections
no longer existed, Trevor recommended that the Government of
India recognise Ras al-Khaimah as an independent shaykhdom.54
The Government of India accepted the recommendation, and Trevor
officially conveyed the news to Sultan bin Salim on 7 June 1921,
thus making Sultan the sixth Trucial shaykh.55
The new shaykhdom was the northernmost of the Trucial States,
extending along the Arabian Gulf coast for about forty miles, and
bordering Muscat territory (the Musandam peninsula) on the north.
Within the shaykhdom lay Sha‘am, a village about seventeen miles
north of Ras al-Khaimah town; Rams, a large village built on
a creek, about eight miles north of Ras al-Khaimah town; and
Jazirat al-Hamra, an island lying parallel to the coast and about
twelve miles south of Ras al-Khaimah town. Ras al-Khaimah town,
the capital, lies nearly fifty miles north of Sharjah town and was
described by Sir Percy Cox as ‘built on a large narrow spit of
sand running parallel to the coast and enclosing between it and
the mainland a wide lagoon which provides a very convenient
and sheltered anchorage’.56 The inland boundary of the shaykhdom
ran, approximately, from Jazirat al-Hamra to the southern extremity
of the Jirri plain and then to Wadi al-Qawr (about 100 miles
south of Ras al-Khaimah town), where it pierced Sharjah territory.
The main occupations in the coastal villages were fishing and pearling,
and the hilly and mountainous inland areas ot the shaykhdom
practised agriculture. Furthermore, Ras al-Khaimah claimed the
islands of Tunb and Little Tunb as dependencies some time after
1921.