"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎١‎٩‎٥] (١٧٨٢/٣٣٨)

195
Dowlut, ;; with a wholly Indian complement, was captured by Ilas-al-
Khaimah corsairs near Dwarka, and the bulk of hev people were either
slain 01 wounded; and in the same month a considerable Qasimi
squadron engaged the Company's cruiser "Aurora" while convoying
a treasure vessel for the Sultan of ; Omau in the Persian Gulf, but
suffered defeat and heavy loss. Attacks which were next made by
Qasimi pirates upon the American ship "Persia, " the " Macaulay," and
the " Cintra were unsuccessful; but a French schooner, on her way
fiom Mauritius to Basrah "under convoy of a French ship, was
daringly plundered. Among the victims of Arab lawlessness, which
now followed one another in rapid succession, was a ship of unknown
name under British colours, which was never seen again and of whose
crew none survived; also the Company's armed boat " Turrarow."
Later in the year three native Surat merchantmen were taken by
Qawasim in the Eed Sea, this affair involving a loss to the owners
of about twelve lakhs of rupees, besides which almost the entire crews
were massacred.
The above list of outrages is probably not exhaustive even in regard
to British and Indian vessels, and it takes almost no account of the
depredations upon ordinary Arab and Persian shipping, which the British
authorities did not at this time regard as a matter affecting themselves.
The spectacle of the offences committed by the Qawasim with profit and
impunity did not fail to demoralise a number of the Arab Shaikhs upon
the Persian Coast opposite, and the Bahrain Islands became a great
market and distributing centre in the Gulf for the stolen property which
the Qawasim acquired by their violence.
An expedition by the Sultan of 'Oman against Bahrain provided, Attack by the
in the summer of 1816, an interlude in the harrowing'drama of Qasimi Fulton cf
. . . Oman upon
outrages. In 1811 Saiyid Sa'rd had taken action in Bahrain as the Bahrain and
friend of the 'Atbi ruling family and their helper against the Wahhabis; th^BrHmh 0f
but now, on their denying the political allegiance which he claimed from
them as his due, he appeared once more on the scene as the ally of Persia therewith,
and of their mortal enemy, the pirate Rahmah-bin-Jabir, while they on
their part sought the aid of their former oppressors the Wahhabis and of
the piratical Qawasim. The Sultan encouraged the idea that his action
was countenanced^ and would even be supported, by the British Govern
ment ; but the Resident in the Persian Gulf, who visited Bahrain while
the 'Omani attack was impending, found means to convince the Shaikh
of Bahrain, though not without the execution of an unauthorised agree
ment, that the attitude of the British towards him was one of benevolent
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