'Extracts from Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia by J G Lorimer CIE, Indian Civil Service' [‎51v] (107/180)

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Bushehr, in the end apparently persuaded him to agree to the arbitration of the
Shaikh of Ras-al-Khaimah; and this the people of Fujairah also were ready to
accept. The dispute seems to have been ultimately settled in this manner, on a basis
of submission by the chief of Fujairah to the chief of Sharjah as his suzerain,
together with continued payment of customary tribute; and a written agreement
was executed by Hamad-bin-'Abdullah, apparently in 1881, in which he admitted
his dependence on the Shaikh of Sharjah. It was the opinion of Colonel Ross that
the complete independence of Fujairah, which in the past had always been subject
either to Sharjah or to Masqat, was an object that, in the general interest, ought not
to be promoted.
Shamailiyah under Shaikh Saqar-bin-Khalid, after 1883.
Practical
independence
of Fujairah,
1884.
Shamailiyah
still coveted
by the Sultan
of 'Oman,
1886.
Petty dis
turbances in
Shamailiyah,
1893-96.
Fresh revolt
at Fujairah,
1900-01.
At his accession to the Sharjah Shaikhdom in 1883 Saqar-bin-Khalid found
the Shamailiyah district divided into two tiefs, one of which, adjoining Dibah, had
been conferred by Shaikh Salim on his brother Ahmad, and the other, embracing
Khor Fakkan, on his brother Majid: this arrangement Shaikh Saqar made no
direct effort to change.
But Shaikh Saqar, while he did not himself attempt to displace his kinsmen
from their possessions, seems to have instigated that turbulent character, Hamad-
bm-'Abdullah of Fujairah, to seize not only Gharaifah on the coast, but also the
important hill fort of Bithnah in Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Ham, which commands the only direct
route between Shamailiyah and the coast of Trucial 'Oman. The Fujairah headman
waited for no second invitation, but attacked and took both places, besides
plundering Zubarah 18th-century town located 105 km from Doha. , the inhabitants of which village had gone to the assistance
of those of Bithnah. Instead, however, of holding these acquisitions at Shaikh
Saqar's disposal, Hamad-bin-'Abdullah made overtures for protection to the Shaikh
of Ras-al-Khaimah; and the Shaikh of Sharjah, unwilling to offend that personage,
who was his own near relation, remained quiescent.
In June 1886 the Wali of Sohar reported to his master, Saiyid Turki of Masqat,
that the people of Khor Fakkan, Dibah and the neighbourhood were anxious to
be taken under the protection of the 'Oman Sultanate; and the Sultan requested the
advice of Colonel Miles, formerly Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. at Masqat, who was now Acting
Resident in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. . Colonel Miles replied that interference in
Shamailiyah was inadvisable as it might lead to a conflict with the Qasimi Shaikh,
with whom the Sultan was then at peace, and that it would probably in the end
prove injurious to the interests of the Sultan himself. This answer, which was
approved by the Government of India, was sufficient to convince Saiyid Turki of the
desirability of abstention, and instructions in accordance with it were given by
him to the Wali of Sohar.
In 1893, at the instigation as was supposed of the Shaikh of Abu Dhabi, an
attack was made by some of the Shihuh on the village of Hair in Shamailiyah, where
they killed a number of the inhabitants and destroyed the fort. In the following
year the Shaikhs of Sharjah and Ras-al-Khaimah would have rebuilt Hair; but the
Shihuh interposed, and their obstruction was for the time successful. In 1896-97
a Qasimi was murdered at Fujairah, and the Shaikhs of Sharjah and Ras-al-
Khaimah undertook an expedition against the place, which resulted in the payment
of blood-money.
At length in 1900 the Shaikh of Ras-al-Khaimah died, and that place and its
dependencies were re-absorbed in the Shaikhdom of Sharjah, governed by Saqar-
bin-Khalid. Shamailiyah was still held in two fiefs, a northern and a southern,
by Rashid-bin-Ahmad and Hamad-bin-Majid, the sons of the original grantees,
of whom the latter derived a revenue worth about $2,000 per annum from Fujairah,
including 150 skins of dates, 12 cwt. of wheat and $10 in cash.
About the beginning of 1901 the Shaikh of Sharjah sent Hamad-bin-'Abdullah,
the headman of Fujairan, to treat, as his representative, with the Shihuh in regard
to a murder which had occurred at Dibah; but Hamad apparently profited by the
occasion to form a private understanding with the Shihuh, and shortly afterwards
he showed signs of disaffection. Negotiations followed, in which the Shaikh of
Dibai took part; but they were inconclusive; and Ahmad-bin-Majid at Ghallah,
distrusted by the headman of Fujairah and cut off from the assistance of his
relation the Shaikh of Sharjah by the hill fort of Bithnah, was placed in a
dangerous predicament.