'Administration Report of the Persian Gulf Political Residency for the Years 1911-1914' [‎122r] (248/488)

6 Hoi|, ■ F0 ■ R, TH:E yea;r 1912^, 105
Ne .11 Th 1 t Cla T S T S ^ 0rt i B ^ 000 or . fi 7,000 The latter and his crew then fled
ule ^ o : -Baliram abandoning the dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. which was in an unseaworthy condition.
Kilita" Ecferenee was made to Shaikh Jaslm bin Thani asking him to attach the
eargo and send it oyer to Bahrain where any claims of Nasir for salvage dues
j Y,,, t jould be enquired into. Shaikh Jasim wrote in August that Nasir proposed to
I; come over to Bahrain which he eventually did in November.
th* ^ Ballr ^ i ' 1 ' Nasir, of course, strongly denied having ill-treated
■tesi? the Isakhoda and crew of the boat; he said he had in fact protected them at
considerabe risk from the Bedouin. The complaining Somalis had by that time
tae place, and it was impossible to arrive at any settlement. Nasir gave a
surety that he would attend at Bahrain if called upon to do so, if and when the
fcomalis returned.
and the This is the second case of the kind which has occurred at Fuwairat in recent
y 1 f arS ' as 18 impossible to arrive at any satisfactory settlement without a
Mtyk ch at th n e present .time is not expedient. Shaikh
i' ' ■ Kasir w ill think that he can commit such acts with impunity, and the result
will probably be that it will become unsafe for Foreign boats to visit the Katr
ir
JS Information was suddenly received on the 7th April that this man who is
of shirt. Arrest of Zair An bin Ewm Rustam. the perpetrator of the piracy committed
:: - i • , 3lear Debai in 1911, and who was himself
wanted in connection with the Arms Traffic, was in Bahrain. Steps were quick-
gnouttlie ji V and secretlj taken to detect and arrest him and were successfully carried out
of tie I ty the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. staff and friends in the town. ^
igfcfc Zair Ali was detained in the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. till June when he was handed over
ar, to the K I. M. S. " Lawrence."
t regarfe; His arrest evoked a number of semi-threatening letters from his friends to
Linaintiibi; f 1 ^ sa w ^ lor "; ^ e y threw into a great state of perturbation. He was alarmed
;iies of tfe: f;t the prospect of reprisals being attempted on the pearling fleet, and expressed
atof ast his disapproval of the action of the 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. in having arrested the man
that is pit; 2? au ^ or ity,. action which he would not himself have sanctioned. The
tat the {jC onaikh s tone was objectionable as well as foolish, and this and his further mis-
impm S?., uct f} 11 . e A n 1 t ® r1 ^?. i ?- to direct correspondence with Muhammad Ali Eais of
JJilwar, Zair Ah s Chief, earned him a rebuke from the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. .
■rom BaW Considerable attention was paid to the question of the Arms Traffic in the
ion ofeflS Arms Traffic. first ^ of the year. The result of en-
iBedoniiiffe ^ , quines tended to show that there is little
H! nf Katiri I I landing of arms in Bahrain, though probably several of the local
i • ]\.: z merc ^ants are interested in the business. It is also extremely probable that
M not mhe^nentlj brought into the harbour by vessels from Maskat
af v 5 ! 1 ^ ? an f re transMpped to Tangistani boats which take them over to
Maskat i the Persian coast chiefly between Bushire and Lingah.
What was made abundantly clear is that Doha in Katr is now a great
D! to es®; centre for the distribution of arms. The arms appear to be brought across
^estlirof trom Maskat to some point on the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. and there shipped to Doha
by native boats which hug the coast keeping in shallow water. A brisk
kofM business ^ done in Doha with Persians and Nejdi dealers. It is reported
oca I* lat 5 L1 d ^ ls . charged on rifles of value up to Es. 75, and Es. 10 on rifles
ZM exceedingtiiat v™*-
One or two searches for arms were carried out locally but without
4: rms lm ? 0 ? ed J by s i eamer passengers without permits were on
tween^'^ Departmenf 118 confiscated with the co-operation of the Customs
fiiieJ* xr ^ I1 ^ nliec ticn no doubt with the Arms Traffic operations, the Senior
r o e , 0 ; r t«;;, Jjaval Officer raised the question of taking measures to limit and determine
^vairat^ the armaments carried by pearling dhows.
mil The papers were received from the Eesidency in October, and in accordance
stove ii 1 , with instructions received, the 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. attempted to sound Shaikh Isa
id ° n the sul yect. His view was that the quantity of arms carried which varied
ir assis^J, from say 2 to 15 rifles, was settled by old established custom, anv interference
terto^F