'Historical Summary of Events in the Persian Gulf Shaikhdoms and the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, 1928-1953' [‎77v] (159/222)

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t.i ~u in Dubai the British Bank of the
country. There are post and telegraph omces African and Eastern (Near
Middle Fast and Messrs Gray Mackenzie and Co. and Atncan ana ^asiern uNear
llstf ud have ^rfnches there, and , the Local Representat .ve of Petroleum
Development ( Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. ) Ltd., resides there. , A u u- ^ &
19. A portion of the boundary between Du ^\ a " d ac^Dted bvSaTd
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. Bahrain in 1949 (paragraph 13 i n p hnl ^5 arv h y etw '^
and in 1953 negotiations were in progress for determining
Dubai and Sharjah. The boundary inland towards the south-east is uncerlain, but
it seems probable that the Shaikhdom does not exte "f,.f or u 55°^ 0
in this direction. No nomad tribes owe allegiance to Sa id. He own , g ■ °
in Ras al Khaimah territory and the village of Hatta, or according to Lor mer
Hajarain,( 5 ) in the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Hatta on the borders of, or perhaps inside. Muscat
territory.
20. In 1929 1934, 1938, 1939 and 1940 there were insurrections against Sa'id's
rule led by his cousins. In 1938 he was forced to rule through a Majlis or Council,
but in 1939 he gained the upper hand again and killed or expelled his cousins. The
Majlis was reconstituted but ceased to exercise any authority and was so o n
abolished. The cousins who were expelled were harbourec by Sharjah and 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 had to intervene to prevent a war between the two States
which would endanger the safety of Imperial Airways and other aircraft (paragraph
125 below). He persuaded the Ruler of Sharjah to send most of the refugees away
but early the following year they returned and attacked Dubai and on being
defeated again took refuge with Sharjah. On this occasion Dubai declared war on
Sharjah. Before any serious hostilities took place the Ruler of Ras al Khaimah
intervened and effected a truce which in due course led to a final settlement. Since
then there have been no further dynastic troubles apart from an alleged plot to
murder Sa'id's son Rashid in 1951. The story of the 1945-48 war with Abu Dhabi
has already been told (paragraph 14 above). In 1949 a launch belonging to Sa'id
called the Joker which had been involved in the slave-traffic was seized at Bahrain
and confiscated. It was not believed that Sa'id himself was concerned with the use
to which the launch had been put but rather his brother Juma and other relations.
In 1953 the Levies just failed to prevent the departure from the coast of a Dubai
launch loaded with a cargo of slaves. Sa'id agreed to exile his cousin Khalifah
bin Majid who had been concerned in this transaction.
21. The attitude of Sa'id and his son Rashid since the arrival of Turki in
Buraimi has been outwardly correct and they have ostensibly complied
with requests made to them by the political authorities. They are believed,
however, to have considerable sympathy with the Saudis and to have connived at,
if not organised, the supply of money and foodstuffs to Turki in defiance of the
blockade (paragraph 102 below). They have nothing to lose as a result of the
Saudi aggression and after Turki's arrival in Buraimi Sa'id with Rashid and Juma
after performing the pilgrimage visited the late King Ibn Saud at Riyadh. There has
also been much sympathy with the Saudis amongst the people of Dubai, to some
extent because of the profit to be made from trade with them, and all the four
qadhis of the town visited Turki one of them remaining with him in an official
capacity. The latter was arrested by the Levies when he returned to Dubai and
exiled by the Ruler.
(c) Sharjah (with Kalba)
22. The Ruler until 1951 was Shaikh Sultan bin Saqr. When his father who
1T i r i^ W i as a minor . a nd the succession passed to his cousin
Khahd bin Ahmad. In 1924 there was a rising against the latter as a result of which
Sultan became u er. He was pompous and negligent of the interests of his people,
hl s chief merit so far as Her Majesty's Government is concerned is that in
1932 of his own accord he oltered them air facilities when the other Rulers had
apparently conspired to refuse them. Early in 1949 he became seriously ill and
was flown to Bombay From here in due course he was sent for treatment to
London where he died m 195 L During his illness he appointed his brother
Muhammad to act for him, and when he died Muhammad orocl aimed himself
Ruler This action was not approved by the late Ruler" Saqr and the enfor
member of the Qasimi family were called in to adjudicate After a few weeks of
oamlaar sSs^ refused to support either
w^hrlVpw ^ ^ .Populace. On this Muhammad
withdrew. His Majesty s Government s recognition was conveyed to Saqr bv the
( 5 ) p. 454, Lorimer, Vol. II.