'Extracts from Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia by J G Lorimer CIE, Indian Civil Service' [‎14v] (33/180)

18
Relations of
Shaikh Sul-
tan-bin-Saqar
with Persia,
1814.
Preliminary
agreement
between the
Resident at
Bushehr and
a Qasimi
plenipoten
tiary. Octo
ber 1814.
Immediate
break-down
of the
arrangement.
Saiyid Sa'id, before sailing against Ras-ai-Khaimah in 1814, had attempted
to enlist the active co-operation of the Bombay Government by claiming the
benefits of an offensive and defensive alliance; but this interpretation of existing
Anglo-'Omani treaties was at once repudiated by the British authorities.
Lieutenant Bruce, however, who had been instructed to proceed to Ras-al-Khaimah
in any case and to demand satisfaction for recent injuries by the Qawasim One of the ruling families of the United Arab Emirates; also used to refer to a confederation of seafaring Arabs led by the Qāsimī tribe from Ras al Khaima. , besides
obtaining, if possible, a fresh treaty with the tribe, was authorised to accompany
the expedition; but it would seem that either the course of events or the line of
policy followed by his associate was such as did not permit of his intervening
in the negotiations. , , o • j , ,
In the accommodation which was arranged the Saiyid appears to have
concentrated his attention on obtaining advantages lor himself, and even to have
obliged Shaikh Sultan-bin-Saqar to relinquish in his favour all claims to Ras-al-
Khaimah; but it was agreed that the Shaikh should be placed in possession of
Sharjah, at which place and at Lingeh he for some time afterwards continued to
reside.
In August 1814 Sultan -bin-Saqar, who was then at Lingeh and was supposed
to be well disposed towards the British Government, sent an agent ol his own to
the Court of Shiraz, on a mission of which the nature did not transpire, the only
visible result was that, three months later, the Shaiivh received a dress of honour
from the Shah of Persia and was requested to co-operate with the Persians in tne
reduction of Bahrain. . ,
The Resident at Bushehr had for some time been in correspondence with
Hasan-bin-Rahmah, de facto Shaikh of Ras-al-Khaimah, in regaid to depredations
committed by the Qawasim One of the ruling families of the United Arab Emirates; also used to refer to a confederation of seafaring Arabs led by the Qāsimī tribe from Ras al Khaima. on the coast of India; and in the meanwhile the ship
"Ahmad Shah." apparently containing remounts for the East India Company,
had been taken by the Shaikh of Charak near the island of Qais, whence a part
of the booty had been carried off to Ras-al-Khaimah in a Qasimi boat. Hasan-
bin-Rahmah did not immediately reply to the Resident's first letter but proceeded
to Dara'lyah to confer, perhaps on the subject thereof, with Abdullah-bin-Sa ud,
the Wahhabi Amir. On his way back to Ras-al-Khaimah Hasan-bin-Ranman
despatched from Hasa a certain Hasan-bin -Muhammad-bin-Ghaith with letters
from the Shaikh himself and from the Wahhabi Amir for Lieutenant Bruce , this
emissary arrived at Bushehr on the 2nd of October 1814. In their epistles the
Amir and the Shaikh both denied the commission of offences by the Qawasim One of the ruling families of the United Arab Emirates; also used to refer to a confederation of seafaring Arabs led by the Qāsimī tribe from Ras al Khaima.
against the British flag, but promised the restitution of any property the taking
of which could be proved; both requested that the distinction between British
subjects and others might be made more plain; and a request was added by the
Shaikh that Hasan-bin-Muhammad might be treated as a plenipotentiary
empowered on his part to renew the treaty of 1806, and that the past might be
regarded with a lenient eye. To increase the attractiveness of these proposals a
hope was held out that an Agent would shortly be deputed by Hasan-bin-Rahmah
to Bombay for the purpose of negotiating a regular treaty; and, by way ol
mollifying the resentment of the British Government, it was verbally explained
by the envoy that the incessant naval warfare in which the Qawasim One of the ruling families of the United Arab Emirates; also used to refer to a confederation of seafaring Arabs led by the Qāsimī tribe from Ras al Khaima. engaged was
necessary for the maintenance of their position in the Gulf, and that without it
they could not live in safety from their enemies. Lieutenant Bruce and the emissary
accordingly signed a preliminary agreement by which it was provided that, in
consideration of the Qawasim One of the ruling families of the United Arab Emirates; also used to refer to a confederation of seafaring Arabs led by the Qāsimī tribe from Ras al Khaima. 's respecting British vessels in future, flying a special
flag to distinguish them from other maritime Arabs, restoring the Company's
property taken from the " Ahmad Shah," and fulfilling certain other conditions,
the misdeeds of the past should be overlooked and the tribe should be at liberty
to visit the ports of British India. On the Resident's part this agreement was
entered into subject to the approbation of the Government of Bombay From c. 1668-1858, the East India Company’s administration in the city of Bombay [Mumbai] and western India. From 1858-1947, a subdivision of the British Raj. It was responsible for British relations with the Gulf and Red Sea regions. , to whom
it was immediately referred.
The hollowness of the arrangement was, however, very shortly demonstrated
by the seizure, in Ras-al-Khaimah harbour, of a boat in which Lieutenant Bruce,
under the orders of Government, had sent friendly letters to the chief and to his
envoy, Hasan -bin-Muhammad, regarding the capture off Porbandar in the
preceding month of August of some boats under British colours. According to
one authority* the wretched envoy himself had, on his return from Bushehr to
Ras-al-Khaimah, been subjected to the most degrading treatment because of his
concessions to the infidel.
* Vide Buckingham, pages 424-425.