‘Report on the administration of the Persian Gulf Political Agency and Muscat Political Agency for the year 1883-84.’ [‎43r] (25/166)

RESIDENCY An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. AND MUSCAT POLITICAL AGENCY An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. FOR 1883-84.
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one not having been found satisfactory, and M. Dallons was sent to Muscat as Consular Agent.
Two years later, however. Bourbon and Mauritius capitulated : English influence became
again firmly and finally re-established, and the Indian Ocean remained from that date to the
peace of 1815 a mare clausum to the French.
By this time the audacity and power of the piratical Kowasim had increased to such an
extent that they had become as great a scourge to ^Oman by sea as the Wahabees were by
land and the trade of Muscat was seriously interrupted. With the object of checking them
in some degree, Sa'eed, in concert with his uncle Kais, undertook an expedition against Khor
Fahan, where the Kowasim had formed a piratical station. In May 1808 Sa'eed sailed with a
flotilla for that fort, where he was joined by Kais, and, after a sharp conflict the fort was
carried by assault and the garrison put to the sword. News of Sa'eed's arrival, however, had
been rapidly carried to Ras -el-Khaimah, and Shaikh Sultan hastened to the relief of the place,
where he arrived after the massacre of the garrison. He had but a small force with him, yet
be easily vanquished Sa'eed's troops and compelled them to fly. Kais was killed in the fight.
The troubles of Sa'eed were now gathering thick upon him. Young and inexperienced as he
was for he was now only in his 19th year, he would have succumbed before the prospect of
carrying on the struggle with such formidable enemies as now surrounded him, had he not been
sustained by an indomitable spirit of self-reliance. The Wahabees had now arrived at the
plenitude of their power. The Amir Saood had determined upon completing the conquest of
'Oman and had announced his intention of personally leading an army to Muscat. The system
hitherto pursued by him in 'Oman was one of terrorism. He maintained a 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 Muscat and a strong garrison at Bereymee, the frontier town of "'Oman towards Nejd, and
it was from this point that his expedition started when hostilities arose. These excursions were
invariably attended by ruthless massacres and barbarities, and the dread they inspired was
sufficient usually to keep the whole country in a state of abject prostration. In this plight the
cup of humiliation for the 'Omanis was, therefore, nearly full, but they were now threatened
with yet greater evils, viz., the direct administration and occupation of the land, and the
effacement of the Ibodhi doctrines in favour of those of their oppressors. The 'Oman tribes,
however, Sa'eed well knew, had no intention of tamely abandoning their religion, and were
ready to respond to any call he might make on them.
At this time an episode occurred which enraged Sa'eed's enemies and gave the Wahabee
Ameer the pretext he sought for re-opening hostilities. Shaikh Mohammed-bin-Nasir El Jabri,
whom Sa'eed had denounced to Saood as the murderer of Bedr, and who was now in possession
of Semail, was lured to Muscat and treacherously imprisoned. Sa'eed's object in this was the
recovery of the forts of Semail and Bidbid, which he wrested from Mohammed as the price of
his liberty. Bitterly resenting this treatment, Mohammed Nasir, who was now as full of
animosity towards Sa'eed as he had formerly been full of loyalty and devotion, made his way to
El Derayeh, where he sought the aid and protection of Saood. The latter had already, as we
have seen, contemplated leading a force to act against Muscat, and now, adopting Mohammed
Nasir's cause with alacrity, he despatched his best General, Mutlah El Mutairy, with the advance
of his army to 'Oman. In the meantime Sa'eed had undertaken an expedition against the
Kowasim pirates, and in April 1809 had set out with a fleet to Ras-el-Khaimah to act in con
junction with a force from Bushire. Sa'eed's allies in the Gulf, however, failed to co-operate;
his fleet became dispersed, and he was at one time in a critical situation. The Coniwaliss and
another frigate, sent from India to support him, swept the Gulf and captured a number of
pirates, who were taken to Bombay, only, however, to be immediately released. Sa'eed returned
to Muscat, unable to boast of any satisfactory achievement.
The depredations of the Kowasim upon British and Indian commerce in the Gulf had
long attracted the attention of the Indian Government, and the necessity had at length been
impressed on them of suppressing these piracies. A further consideration that appears to have
influenced Government was the defenceless condition of 'Oman in regard to the expected
Wahabee invasion, the success of which was anticipated to be injurious to British interests.
An opinion prevailed that the Kowasim were urged on in their maritime outrages by the
Wahabees, and it was argued that the suppression of the pirates would act as a check on their
fanatical instigators. The expedition sailed from Bombay in September 1809, and was com
manded by Colonel Smith. It rendezvoused at Muscat to procure the co-operation of Sa'eed,
and then proceeded to Ras -el-Khaimah, which was captured and burnt, and all its war vessels
destroyed. On the return of the expedition to Muscat, Sa'eed solicited the aid of Colonel
Smith against Shinas and Khor Fakan, and a joint expedition sailed for the Batineh coast,
where the troops landed, stormed and captured Shinas after a desperate resistance on the 4ih