File 395/1908 Pt 2 'Persian Gulf: Katif; Disturbances in 1908' [‎42r] (79/146)

No. 241^ dated Bushire, the gth (received 17th) August 1908.
Fr ° m-C “ A ‘ P ' TREV0R) '• A -’ FirSt Assistant in charge current
T0 ~ S ' H ' Foreign Depanmeni; StaTa!^ t0 the Government of I“dia in the
I have the honour to forward, for the information of the Government of
India, a memorandum on the recent events at Katif, based on the information
received from 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. , Bahrein. miormation
Memorandum.
^ Iast 10 da y s the iU-feeling between the townspeople in Katif and
the Bedouin has grown very acute h appears that the quarrel created by the
affair reported in paragraph 1330 of this 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. Diary No. 27, for the week
ending 5th July .908 was only nominally patched up (hrougl/the medium of
the Qaimmaqam and Haj, Mansur Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , and the parties have been only
waiting for a favourable opportunity to renew hostilities. This ill-feelinn has
been stimulated by some trouble which arose recently between the Katif people
and the Subai and Amair coastal _ Bedouin in consequence of the former
refusing to allow the Subai and ’Amair to enter the tribal date groves for the
collection of their supplies of the date fruits. These Subai ’ and ’Amair have
1 nl'i ed t h rf n< i| S Wlth a h \ Bed0U - ln of n-^ e lntenor and a large combined force has
collected all around the oasis. They commenced by making inroads into the
date-gardens and killing Bahrams (Shias of Katif) by twos and threes. The
latter joined in resistance but were several times beaten back, losing, it is said
50 to 50 men killed each time. The losses on the other side had been com’
paratively small. The Bahranis then lost heart, and the Turkish soldiers
stationed in Amk have attempted a demonstration by marching into the desert
without producing the desired effect. The situation has since become critical.
1 he oasis is overrun with Bedouin tvho are committing all sorts of outrages.
Hundreds of Katifis are said to have been killed, thousands of date-trees to
have been stripped of their fruit and cut down, and 28 villages to have been
looted and burpt down. About 800 refugees, men, women and children,
mostly ot the pearl-fishing class, came over to Sanabis in Bahrain on the 20th
July 1908, and dispersed about the village, many of them occupying houses
vacated at this period of the year by their owners in favour of more airy
habitations along the sea-shore. y
The Bedouin are said to have got hold of all the places in the oasis with the
exception of the Amk^ and Katif forts. The seriousness of the situation is
enhanced by the Bedouin taking to the sea to plunder and kill the Katifi pearl-
divers there. A boat containing 23 Katifis is said to have been surprised near
Darin by the Bedouin and slaughtered to a man. P
Merchants in Bahrain, British subjects and foreigners, who have large
interests at stake in Katif have memorialized 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. begging that a
gun-boat be despatched in their interests to Katif to relieve the situation
ihe Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. launch was therefore despatched by Lieutenant Commander
ouldsmith, R. N., on the 30th July under the command of Lieutenant Prideaux-
Brune, R. N., of H. M. S. Lapwing to get correct and up-to-date news from
the yaimmaqam of Katif. She returned on 1st August with information which
i e K^ru7 1 ^u ,C u t ?) th 1 attheSunnire ? idents of Darin ’ the home of Muhammad
Abdul Wahhab Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. are either willingly or unwillingly, in co-operation with
he Bedoum and disregardful of the authority of the Qaimmaqam. It is alleo- e d
that the piratical Bedouin are making free use of the Darin boats in their
operations against the villagers and townspeople of oasis. It is also said that a
number of Koweit boats are said to be drawn up at Darin and that the boatmen
^sittmgmacnve upon the island. The Qaimmaqam is apprehensive lest they
join the other Arabs in an assault against the fort. ^