![‘Persian Gulf gazetteer. Part 1. Historical and political materials. Précis of Katar [Qatar] affairs, 1873-1904.’ [‎14v] (28/92)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000884.0x0001c9/IOR_L_PS_20_C243_0029.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "‘Persian Gulf gazetteer. Part 1. Historical and political materials. Précis of Katar [Qatar] affairs, 1873-1904.’ [‎14v] (28/92)")
‘Persian Gulf gazetteer. Part 1. Historical and political materials. Précis of Katar [Qatar] affairs, 1873-1904.’ [14v] (28/92)
The record is made up of 1 volume (46 folios). It was created in 1904. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
18
but promised to forward them when found. It seemed to Colonel Ross probable
that the Sheikh of Odeid, feariag aa attack from Abuthabi, might have
had recourse to the Turkish authorities, and that the letters referred to by the
Chief of Abuthabi might have been the result.
62. The Government of India approved Colonel Ross' proceedings, and
decided to await a further report in regard to the written . of Protec
tion alleged to have been made by the Turks to the Sheikh of Odeid.
63. On 20th March 1875, Colonel Ross recurred to the subject of these
letters to the Chief of Abuthabi. Zaid
Political a ., May 1876, No. 844. declared that he could not find the letters ;
their purport, however, was that be should abstain from interference with
Odeid. Colonel Ross also sent translations of letters which had^ passed between
the Sheikh of Odeid and himself, on the subject of the Sheikh s apprehensions
of being attacked by Abuthabi. It appeared that the Sheikh possessed both a
Turkish flag and the Arab Trucial flag.
History of Odoid 1870—1878. and that he used the one or the other as
occasion required.
6i. In 1873-77, various piracies were perpetrated from Odeid territory.
To Secretary of .tate. No. 78 p., dated loth Maj and the tribe of Boni Hajir were at first
1877, (political a , may 1877, no. soi}. supposed to have been the offenders. In
the course of inquiring into these outrages, it was ascertained by Captain
Guthrie, of the May JPrere, that the Sheikh of Odeid paid an annual tribute to
the amount of 40 or 50 dollars to the Turks through the chief of El Bidaa.
Nevertheless, during the whole of Captain Guthrie's visit the Sheikh continued
to fly the Arab Trucial flag and not the Turkish flag. Two or three years pre
viously four Turks had come to Odeid by steamer and settled terms, but had
never remained there any time.
65. Subsequently, it appeared that the piracies under investigation had
been perpetrated by the Al Morra, and not by the Beni Haiir ; that the Sheikh
of Odeid was not implicated, but that he was too weak to prevent his ports being
made use of. Captain Prideaux, who was then acting as Resident in Colonel
Ross' absence, wrote :—
,f Althouffli the previous accounts of these outrages were exagorerated, there is sufficient
evidence to show that since the relaxation of British vigilance upon the Guttur (El-Katarj coast,
consequent on the assumption of authority in that quarter by the Porte, the wild and lawless
tribes of the mainland have more frequent opportunities than formerly of indulging their pira
tical propensities. I do not tbink the Chief of Odeid can justly be held accountable for these
specific acts of violence ; but it is quite clear that he is unable to restrain the Bedouin tribes
who find in his ports a convenient shelter from reprisals and punishment. The Agent on the
Arab Coast, whom 1 have summoned to Bashire, will endeavour to effect a reconciliation be
tween the Chief of Abuthabi and Odeid ; but if his efforts should prove unsuccessful, it might
be worthy of consideration whether the authority of the British Government should not be
exercised in restoring the former Chiet to his leifiliimate position at Odeid, and coercing, if
necessary, the seceders from his tribe. No acts of piracy are ever reported from the districts
rulnd by the Chiefs under treaty obligations to us ; and it seems anomalous that the civilizing
policy of Government should be neutralized by an even 1 : which, as I have shown in my memo-
Accompaniment to letter No. 211, dated 16th randu'n on Odeid, is not a novel occurrence. Al-
September 1876. ' though the Chief is said to have a Turkish flag in
his possession, it would be scarcely probable that the Porte would advance any pretensions to
Odeid, which, until the last few years, was indisputably an integral portion of Abuthabi
territory/'
" The Government of India concurred in this view, and empowered the Resident to use his beet
endeavours to promote a reunion between thecolo-
Poreign Department No. 974 P., dated yth May nists at Odeid and the main body of the Beni-
Yas tribe of Abuthabi,and further authorized him
" to afford assistance, if necessary, to the Trucial Chief of Abuthabi in coercing the seceders."
^ .w, ^ ™ I n reporting the papers to the
Despatch No. 78 P., dated 10th May 1877. 0 ^ ^
Secretary of State, the Government of
India wrote as follows : —
" * 3. From the present letter from the Officiating
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.
, and from the pre
vious correspondence on the subject, the following facts appear to be established
"'(1.) That the acts of piracy complained of were committed by members of the Al
Morra tribe, a tribe nominally dependent on the Turkish Government.
" ' (2 ) That the pirates proceeded on their expedition from ports belonging to the Chief
of Odeid.
About this item
- Content
The volume, stamped ‘Confidential’ on the front cover, is part 1 (historical and political materials) of a précis of Qatar (spelt Katar throughout) affairs for the years 1873 to 1904. It was prepared by Judge Jerome Antony Saldanha of the Bombay Provincial Civil Service, and published in 1904 by the Government of India Foreign Department, Simla, India.
The main subjects of the précis, which is comprised chiefly of extracts from Government correspondence, run as follows:
- Turkish movements in Qatar, 1873; Chief of Bahrain (spelt Bahrein throughout) advised to keep aloof from complications in Qatar, 1873;
- British intervention refused to Chief of Debai [Dubai] in case robberies committed against vessels of his subjects on Qatar coast, 1873;
- Threatened attack on Bahrain and Qatar (Zobarah [Zubara]) by the Bedouin tribes of Beni Hajir, 1874;
- Complaints of Turkey about Chief of Bahrain’s encroachments in Qatar, 1874;
- The Beni Hajir attack Zubara and commit piracies, 1875;
- Aggressive policy of the Turks and establishment of a new Turkish province on the Arabian littoral of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ;
- Plunder of a Bahrain boat by the Beni Hajir and an excessive contribution levied by the Chief of Bidaa [Al-Bidda] on British Indian traders residing there;
- Claims preferred by the Government of Basrah [Basra] on behalf of the inhabitants of Qatar against certain residents of Bahrain, 1876;
- Alleged ill-treatment of British Indian subjects, 1879;
- Piracies at Zubara – destruction of Zubara by Shaikh Jasim [Jāsim bin Muḥammad Āl Thānī], 1878;
- Ill-treatment of Indian traders, 1879;
- Question of suppression of piracies on the Arab coast. Claims of the Turks to Odeid [’Odaid] (1871-81); previous history of ’Odaid, 1837-76;
- History of ’Odaid continued, question of Turkish jurisdiction on the Qatar coast, and suppression of piracies, 1878-81;
- Removal of section of the Al-bu-Kowareh tribe from Al-Bidda to Foweyrat [Fujairat], 1879;
- Threatened attack on Bahrain by Nasir-bin-Mobarik [Nasir bin Mubarak] and Shaikh Jāsim of Al-Bidda, 1881;
- Shaikh Jāsim’s desire to occupy ’Odaid, 1881;
- Policy as to the relations to be maintained with Shaikh Jāsim and the Turkish Government in Qatar, 1881;
- Ill-treatment of British subjects by Shaikh Jāsim and exaction of a fine from him, 1880-82;
- Protest of the Porte against British proceedings at Al-Bidda. British disclaimer of Turkish jurisdiction in Qatar, 1883;
- Shaikh Jāsim’s projected expedition against a branch of the Beji Hajirs in 1884;
- Fight between the Ejman [Ajman] and allied tribes on one side and Morah and Monasir tribes on the other, 1884;
- Disputes between Shaikh Jāsim and the Chief of Abuthabi [Abu Dhabi], Jāsim’s intentions to occupy ’Odaid and the ill-treatment of Bedouins at Al-Bidda, 1885-86;
- Outrages against Indian subjects under Jāsim’s instigation, and Shaikh Jāsim made to pay a fine, 1887;
- Protests of the Porte against British Government proceedings, 1888;
- Question of withdrawal of the Turkish garrison from Al-Bidda;
- Turkish expansion along the Arab coast and the policy of the British Government, 1888;
- Hostilities between Shaikh Jāsim and Shaikh Zaid [Zayed bin Khalifa] of Abu Dhabi, reported movements of the Chief of Jabal Shamer Ibn Rashid towards Oman in order to aid Shaikh Jāsim, 1888-89;
- Jāsim carrying munitions of war by sea, 1889;
- Turkish project of rebuilding Zubara, 1888;
- Turkish measures for establishing their jurisdiction on a firmer basis on the Arab coast. Increase of Turkish forces in Qatar, 1888;
- Intrigues of Jāsim against Abu Dhabi, 1889-90;
- Turkish projects for rebuilding Zubara and ’Odaid, 1890-91;
- Hostilities between Shaikh Jāsim and the Turks, 1891-93;
- British policy towards Jāsim during the hostilities. Chief of Bahrain and Abu Dhabi, 1893;
- Question of Turkish jurisdiction in Qatar, 1893;
- Removal by Turkish authorities of the British flag from a boat at Al-Bidda, 1897;
- Occupation of Zubara by the Al-bin-Ali tribe with the support of the Turks and Shaikh Jāsim. Threatened attack of Bahrain, and the energetic measures taken to expel the settlement, 1895;
- Arab rising against the Turks in Qatar;
- Disturbances off the Qatar coast between the Amamera and Al-bin-Ali tribes, 1900;
- Piracies committed by the Beni Hajir off the Qatar coast, 1900;
- Reconsideration of our general policy on the Arab side of the Gulf;
- (1) Proposed British protectorate over the Chief of Qatar; (2) Aggressive action of the Porte in attempted to establish mudirates at ’Odaid, Wakra and Zubara, 1902-04.
The appendices are as follows:
- A. Memorandum on the causes of the hostility between Shaikh Zayed of Abu Dhabi and Shaikh Jāsim;
- B. Extract from Captain Daly’s draft letter to the address of 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. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , submitted for approval on 14 January 1901, relating to Qatar;
- C. Memorandum by Mr EC Block, dated 11 March 1903, about the Turkish claim over Qatar.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (46 folios)
- Arrangement
The contents of the précis are arranged in rough chronological order, and organised under a number of subheadings, with each paragraph numbered from 1 to 229. Three appendicies follow the main précis. There is a contents page at the front of the volume (f 5) which lists the subheadings with their corresponding paragraph numbers. The appendices are referenced using the volume’s pagination system.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the front cover and terminates at the inside back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.
Pagination: The volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence, with page numbers located top and centre of each page.
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- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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‘Persian Gulf gazetteer. Part 1. Historical and political materials. Précis of Katar [Qatar] affairs, 1873-1904.’ [14v] (28/92), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/C243, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023526379.0x00001e> [accessed 23 April 2024]
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- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/20/C243
- Title
- ‘Persian Gulf gazetteer. Part 1. Historical and political materials. Précis of Katar [Qatar] affairs, 1873-1904.’
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:17r, 18r:45v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence