'Extracts from Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia by J G Lorimer CIE, Indian Civil Service' [‎47v] (99/180)

84
Third
secession of
the Qubaisat
to 'Odaid,
1869-80.
1869.
1871.
1872.
1873.
1874-75.
1876-77.
force the invaders were immediately discomfited: Sa'id-bin-Tahnun himself was
among the slain. As mentioned in the history of Trucial 'Oman, the damage done
at Abu Dhabi on this occasion was partially made good out of a large fine of
$25,000, imposed on the Shaikh of Sharjah because of the complicity of some of
his subjects in the raid.
In nothing does the essential Bedouin character of the subjects of the Abu
Dhabi Shaikh appear more distinctly than in the readiness with which, on slight
provocation, they abandon their homes_and settle elsewhere. We have already
noticed the permanent hiving-off of the A1 Bu Falasah in 1833 and the temporary
secession of the Qubaisat in 1835-37 and 1849, and mention must now be made
of a sustained effort on the part of the Qubaisat to free themselves by removal to
a distance, from the control of the Shaikh of Abu Dhabi.
In 1869, for reasons not ascertained and therefore probably of slight
importance, a body of the Qubaisat under the leadership of Buti-bin-Khadin once
more forsook Abu Dhabi and established themselves in the remote creek of 'Odaid.
In 1871, in consequence of complaints by Shaikh Zaid that the prosperity
of Abu Dhabi was diminished by the competition of the 'Odaid settlement and
that the latter had become a city of refuge for fraudulently absconding debtors,
Colonel Pelly, the British Resident in the Gulf, made careful enquiries both
personally and through his Assistant, Major Smith, regarding the ownership of
'Odaid; the result was to show that 'Odaid itself, to which at this time no Shaikh
of Qatar so much as laid claim, was undoubtedly situated within the jurisdiction
of the Shaikh of Abu Dhabi. The 'Odaid colonists, however, claimed to form
a state entirely independent of Abu Dhabi; they asserted that their territory
extended half way from 'Odaid to Wakrah on the side of Qatar, and in the other
direction as far as the island of Yas, and that it included Dalmah and other
adjacent islands formerly considered to belong to Abu Dhabi; moreover, while
they expressed a wish to continue under the Trucial flag, they hinted not obscurely
that, if their pretensions were not admitted, they would place themselves under the
protection of the Turks, who had now arrived in Qatar. Colonel Pelly asked that
he might be given instructions for dealing with the matter, inasmuch as the Shaikh
of Abu Dhabi, relying on the Perpetual Treaty of Peace of 1853, had claimed his
intervention as an arbitrator.
The orders of the Government of India, communicated in May 1872, were
to the effect that no action by the Resident v/as called for under the Maritime
Truce, no attack having been made by sea upon the Shaikh of Abu Dhabi, and
that Colonel Pelly should not interfere unless he apprehended a breach of the peace
at sea between the parties; but that he should report at once any overt action
indicating an intention on the part of the 1 urks to establish their supremacy at
'Odaid.
The position remained unchanged until 1873, when Colonel Ross, who had
meanwhile succeeded Colonel Pelly in charge of the Gulf 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. , reported an
application by the Shaikh of Abu Dhabi for leave to take naval action against
the Odaid rebels; it was explained that an expedition by land was impracticable
on account of physical obstacles. Colonel Ross was inclined to think that refusal
of sanction might throw the Shaikh himself into the arms of the Porte; but the
Government of India in reply directed him to avoid, if possible, giving any answer
to Za id s request, and, in the opposite case, to inform him that the Government
of India could not countenance, and would even prevent, the proposed naval
expedition.
In 1874 the Shaikh, having repeated his request in regard to an expedition
by sea, was informed of the prohibition of the Government of India; and in 1875
he stated that he had received letters from the Turks, ordering him to abstain from
interference with Odaid. At this time it was reported that the 'Odaid settlement
possessed both a Trucial and a Turkish flag, and that either was flown as the
circumstances of the moment happened to dictate.
In 1876—77, various piracies having been committed by Bedouins belonging
to the neighbourhood of Odaio, a strict enquiry was made into the behaviour and
circumstances of the colonists. It was stated that some Turks had previously
visited Odaid, and that a small annual tribute of $40 or 50 was now paid
by the inhabitants to the Turkish Government. In regard to the piracies,
it was shown that the offenders were A1 Morrah, who had made use of creeks and
anchorages and even of vessels belonging to 'Odaid,—proceedings which the
headman of Odaid was not in a position to prevent. In consequence of this last
discovery the case took a new departure; and, in May 1877, the Government of