'Extracts from Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia by J G Lorimer CIE, Indian Civil Service' [‎27v] (59/180)

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Dibai, of two Baqarahs owned by Bani Yas and containing pearls of high value,
nor did the Shaikh of Dibai at once comply with the demand of the British
authorities, that Bin-'Askar should be handed over to his own Snaik .
The ruler of Dibai also became liable about this time for compensation on
account of an Abu Dhabi boat, which some of his subjects, moving by water and
not by land, had discovered in a creek and there broken up in reprisal tor a land
raid by the Shaikh of Abu Dhabi. . ^ ■
1841. In 1841 as the Dibai Shaikh persisted in his refusal to satisfy the claims
outstanding against him, some of which arose from the petty disputes on the pearl
banks already mentioned, a British squadron including the steam frigate
" Sesostris," Commodore Brucks, was sent against ms town. After two shells
from the 8-inch guns of the Sesostris ' had been fired over the place, he consented
to pay $400 as compensation, and to surrender the Baqarahs brought by
Bin-'Askar from Abu Dhabi, with their fittings. In the same year a boat belonging
to a respectable member of the 'Amair of Hasa was plundered by pirates while
stranded between Zakhnuniyah Island and Bahrain, one of the crew being killed
and others wounded; and, as the criminals were shown to be Manasir and Bam
Yas of the Hawamil section, a demand was made on the Snaikh ot Abu Uhabi
for redress. He at once took personal action by sea and other vigorous action
bv land against the offending communities, with the result that, notwitnstandmg
the remoteness of their habitat, one of their boats was destroyea and five ol their
bad characters were captured together with their families and 50 camels.
1844. In 1844 a Qasimi subject having seized a person Oi the Ka ab tribe trom a
Dibai boat on the pearl banks, as related further on, some men of Dibai ventured
to retaliate by plundering a Baqarah of Sharjah; but the Shaikh of Dibai,
Maktum-bin-Butai, who had profited by experience and was now a thorough-going
supporter of British policy, repudiated the act, restored the property taken, and,
after punishing the perpetrators, obliged them to lodge security for their future
aood behaviour with the British Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. Agent at Sharjah. The Ka ab case
abovementioned and some others which had occurred at the pearl fishery ma e i^
necessary for the Resident, Colonel Hennell, to enforce respect for the Ten Years
Maritime Truce, then recently concluded, by demanding reparation and security
for the future from the aggressors, who were subjects of Sharjah; and, with the
ready concurrence of Shaikh Sultan-bin-Saqar, these were immediately altorded.
Meanwhile a fresh claim against Sharjah had arisen through the conduct ot an
infuriated pearl diver of that port, who, after firing his matchlock on an Amjan
boat boarded it and did some execution among the crew with a spear and an iron
mace; but the further requisition on the Shaikh ot Sharjah which this mciaent
necessitated was satisfied with the same alacrity as the former. In both cases the
demands of the Resident were conveyed to Sharjah by a ship of war.
1845. At the beginning of 1845 an affair occurred which illustrated in a remarkable
manner the growth of a more orderly spirit, in matters maritime, among the Shaik s
of Trucial 'Oman. Two vessels with rice, bound from Lingeh to Sharjah,
attempted to make the 'Ajman creek in a storm; one was wrecked at the entrance,
but the other succeeded, with the loss of a part ot her cargo, in reaching the inner
harbour. Here she would certainly have been plundered but for the exertions
of the Shaikh 'Abdul 'Aziz, and his brother, who, hastening to the beach and
drawing their swords, swore to cut down the first man who should tamper wit
the vessel or her cargo. For his spirited conduct on this occasion the Shaik
received through the Resident the special thanks and commendations o
Government. . , ,
1849-50 1849 and 1850 a number of claims relating to the seizure and counter-
seizure of slaves from boats at sea arose between the people of Abu Dhabi and
Dibai; but, with the assistance of the Resident, they were all satisfactorily adjusted.
In the'autumn of 1850, however, a case of a gravity now unusual occurred in the
capture of a Hamriyah boat and the murder of two of her crew by subjects ol Abu
Dhabi. The "Tigris," Lieutenant Manners, and the "Euphrates," Lieutenant
Tronson, were at once despatched to Abu Dhabi town and intimidated the Shaikh
by approaching within effective range of the shore, an operation hitherto
unattempted at Abu Dhabi; and, perhaps in consequence of this manoeuvre, they
had no difficulty in obtaining satisfaction of the claim that they brought, which was
for $600 as blood-money and the restoration of the boat and property taken.
1852 In the spring of 1852 a piracy was committed in Zanzibar waters, upon a
Zanzibar craft, by a Baghlah Large trading vessel. of which the owner resided at Ras-al-Khaimah; but
the slowness of communication in those days between Bushehr and East Africa