"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎٧‎٢‎٣] (١٧٨٢/٨٦٦)

723
belonging to the port in tow. In the result the compensation, amounting
to $810, was disgorged within 48 hours, and subsequently an additional
punitive fine of ?500 was levied under the orders o£ the Bombay Govern-
ment.
In 1866 the Political Resident, Colonel Lewis Pelly, submitted for the 1866-68,
information of Government a number of specimen cases illustrative of the
petty irregularities which still frequently occurred in the Gulf. It appears
that Colonel Pelly felt himself precluded under recent orders from resort
ing to coercive measures, or even to the imposition of fines, without the
previous sanction of Government; and that the abolition of the Indian
Navy, whose ships, always at the disposal of the Resident, had been
replaced by those of the Royal Navy with more extensive duties to per
form. had increased the difficulties of the Resident's position. The
reply to this important reference, in which the Resident clearly implied
that more freedom oi action should be allowed him and a greater material
force placed at his disposal, is unfortunately not traceable.
From this time onwards the maintenance of the peace in Gulf waters
seems to have become almost a matter of routine, and recourse to excep
tional measures was seldom required. In September 1868, however, in con
fection with a great raid by the Shaikhs of Bahrain and 'Abu Dhabi upon
the coast of Qatar, described in the history of Bahrain, Colonel Pelly
found it necessary under the orders of Government to proceed to Abu Dhabi
with the a Vigilant a Sind " and " Hngh Rose'", and a satisfactory
settlement was obtained, but not without actual preparations for a bombard
ment. The terms enforced included the surrender of a Mashuwah and
two Arab mares and the payment, partly by instalments, of compensa
tion to the amount of $25,000 ; but of this large sum, it would appear,
only Rs. 3,740 was ever actually realised. The Shaikh was obliged by
Colonel Pelly to give up his only three guns, which were however returned
to him, as their removal might have exposed the town of Abu Dhabi to
Bedouin attacks.
Considerable alarm was caused in Trucial 'Oman by the Turkish 1871.
expedition which annexed Ilasa in 1871, for the avowed object of the
Turks was the subjugation of " Najd/' and it appeared that by " Najd "
they understood all countries which had at any time paid tribute to the
Wahhabi Amirs; the statement even appeared in an official journal at
Baghdad that Sharjah, Dibai and Abu Dhabi were places in " Najd."
The British Government, however, were ultimately successful, as related
in the histories of Hasa and Bahrain, in inducing the Turks to confine
their proceedings to Hasa and Qatar; and meanwhile, in June 1871,
they instructed the Resident in the Persian Gulf to prevent the Trucial
55 a