'Administration Report of the Persian Gulf Political Residency for the Years 1911-1914' [‎197v] (399/488)

128
PERSIAN GTJLF ADMINISTRATION REPORT
The town continues to be thoroughly well governed under the strong
rule of Shaikh Mubarak and with fKp
Law and Crime. ,. p x • -i ,
exception ot the two incidents noted
below, no serious crime, disturbances or robberies have taken place during
the year under report.
A disturbance took place in the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. premises on the night of the 9th
Eebruary, three strange drunken Arabs causing a fight. They were tied up
and handed over to the Shaikh, who imprisoned them for a short sentence after
administering a severe beating.
An Arab, by name Khalid bin Khamis, who was formerly a pilot in the
British India steamers, murdered one of his male slaves on the night of the
17th March. Khalid, it appears, was drunk at the time and, on his slave
endeavouring to prevent him from going out of the house became annoyed,
took a revolver and shot the slave, whose body was then thrown into an under
ground latrine in the house: In the morniag the slave's wife, who was living
in the same house, reported the crime to Shaikh Jabir. The latter arrested and
imprisoned the murderer, confiscated all his property and subsequently ex
pelled him from Kuwait.
The caravan roads to Nejd were particularly safe throughout the year and
caravans have been leaving regularly for
and arriving from Zilfi, Buraidah, Anaizah,
Hail, Shaqrah, etc.
Capture of JELasa by Bin Saud. —The most important event in Nejd affairs
this year has been the ejectment of the Turks from the Hasa and Katif province
by Abdul Aziz bin Abclur Bahman " Bin Saud ", the Amir of Nejd, news of
his occupafr'on of the above places reaching Kuwait from Bahrain, on the 15tli
May. In July it was reported that he had also occupied Kasr-as-Subaih and
that he had appointed one Bin Mandil as his deputy find governor there. The
Customs duties, it was said, had been fixed at 4 per cent, on goods imported
by sea. It was also stated that the Customs receipts at Katif had been farmed
by him to one Bin Earis of that place for $50,000, for the remaining period of
the current Arabic year.
Bin Saud remained at Hasa for about two and a half months to consoli
date his position and then left for Biyadh.
Bumours were current in Kuwait that the Sharif of Mecca and Ibn Rashid,
at the instigation of the Turks, were contemplating an attack on Bin Saud, but
subsequent reliable information proved that Ibn Sabhan, the guardian of Ibn
Bashid and dp, facto Buler of Hail, was on excellent terms with Bin Saud. As
regards the Sharif, negotiations between him and Bin Saud to re-open the
Haji Boute from Nejd (closed for the last two years), were successful and there
was every prospect of the Sharif and Bin Saud coming to an agreement of
mutual benefit. No advance or overt action has hitherto b«en taken by the
Sharif or his family, while frequent messages of good-will and presents have
been exchanged.
One result of Bin Saud's assumption of authority in the Hasa and Katif
districts has been to bring him within the sphere of Gulf politics immediately
affecting British interests. A meeting between him and the Besident haying
failed to take place owing to Bin Saud's distance from the coast at the time,
another was arranged and took place on the 15th and 16th December at Ojair,
when 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. , Bahrain, accompanied by 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. ,
Kuwait, represented the Besident - Various matters were discussed and Bin
Saud showed himself to be exceedingly friendly and anxious to do all that he
could to meet British suggestions.
Bin Saud's Baids. —In March it was reported that Bin Saud had raided
the Shair section of the A jrnan tribe, east of Biyadh, and that he had with him
at least a thousand of the townsmen from Nejd" villages, as w r ell as Bedouin
of the Kahtan, Sabai, Mutair, and some sections of the Ajman tribes. Alter
having successfully raided the Al-Morrah tribe in April, to the south-west
Hasa, he rested his force of some 600 to 700 men at Khafs (50 miles north o
Riyadh), with the intention, it was stated, of raiding northwards against