Page 74 - The Postal Agencies in Eastern Arabia

DUBAI

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Following the expulsion of the Portuguese from Bahrain in
1602, and the lack of any maritime authority in the Gulf, the
Jawasmi — a term used to designate the tribes inhabiting the Arabian
coast line from the base of the Qatar Peninsula to Ras Musandam —
adopted piracy as a principal way of life. Confining themselves
initially to attacks on local craft, they gradually gained mastery of the
Southern end of the Gulf and, by 1797, were able to make their first
capture of a British Vessel, the “Bassein”.
During the latter part of the eighteenth century a new force, the
fanatic Wahhabi sect, was rapidly gaining strength in Arabia, and, in
the early years of the nineteenth century, finally established
supremacy over the Jawasmi. With the consequent alliance of
fanaticism and piracy the Jawasmi extended their activities and en­
hanced their reputation to such extent that Captain (afterwards, Sir)
John Malcolm wrote of them “Their occupation is piracy and their
delight murder; and to make it worse, they give you the most pious
reasons for every villainy they commit... If you are their captive, and
offer all you possess to save your life, they say ‘No! it is written in the
Koran that it is unlawful to plunder the living, but we are not pro­
hibited in that sacred work from stripping the dead’; so saying, they
knock you on the head”.
By 1809 the pirate fleet was assessed at 63 large and 800 small
vessels, manned by 19,000 men; and despite a Treaty in 1806 by which
they had undertaken to “respect the flag and property of the Honorable
East India Company and their subjects” they attacked with impunity
all shipping passing through these waters.
In 1809 the Bombay Government were obliged to take action,
and despatched a large naval and military force which subdued Ras al
Khaimah and other ports on the Pirate Coast. The Wahhabi influence
was by now at its zenith of power, and even this setback did not upset
their prestige; and by 1812 attacks on British ships began again.

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