'Historical Memorandum on the Relations of the Wahabi Amirs and Ibn Saud with Eastern Arabia and the British Government, 1800-1934' [‎13r] (25/64)

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a f lSe 1 n i 36 ween s °nie of the Chiefs of the coasts aforesaid, there was none could
c leek them and restore order and goodwill among them except the Lieutenant in
c aige ot Oman whose office is among the things pleasing to God and his Prophet,
as also to the Sultan of the Faithful.” ^ ^ n >
Lor. I, 1118,
Nejd Precis,
§61.
Further Correspondence with Amir, 1859.
it i!° 6 ' ln /^ 59 ’^ e 1 ^ 7 1 ahabi Amir ^'edtening to support the Bahreini pretender,
Muhammad bin Abdulla, against the de facto chief, the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Squadron
was despatched to Bahrein, with the result that the Wahabi Governor of Qatif
abandoned his designs and begged for pardon. The Amir, however, after iustifyino-
is proceedings on the ground that the Sheikh of Bahrein was one of his feudatories T . T 007
whom he had a perfect right to chastise for various misdeeds, strongly protested NeidPrecis
against British interference and added that “ between the W 7 ahabi Amir and the §63.
i ritish Government treaties have been made by the several authorities, authority
alter authority and, in accordance with treaties between the Wahabi Amir and the
011 tan Abdul Mejid, there are matters which everyone is precluded from meddling
with, unless on special grounds.” The Resident replied that the British Government
recognised Bahrein as an independent Sheikhdom and was prepared to onpose all
foreign agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , including that of H.H. the Amir, by every means in its power,
fie added mat the Amir’s claim to be a dependant of Turkey was inconsistent
with the piracies which were at the same time being committed by his Lieutenant
at Qatii on vessels bearing the Turkish fla^r.
Bombardment of JDamman, 1861. •
107. In Tune 1861 the Amir w r as required to eject the Bahreini pretender from
Lamman in Qatar, and was advised to enter into a peaceful convention with the
ruling Sheikh, ho answer having been returned, the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Squadron
forcibly compelled the Pretender to flee from Damman in November 1861 The
Wahabi garrisons took no steps to molest the Squadron
Turkish Protest and British Reply, 1862.
108. A Lurldsh protest against the bombardment of Damman—a place which
as lying within the territory of “ Feisul Beg, the Kaimakham of Nejd,” “ was part of
the hereditary dominions of the Sultan was received from the Turkish Wali
of Bagdad at the end of 1861. The British Consul-General at Bagdad replied that
n.M. Government had hitherto c£ alwa t ys maintained direct relations with Amir
Feisul as well as with all the chiefs and principalities situated on the shores of the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. . In the prosecution of our pacific policy in the Gulf, which was
well known, we ‘ have never acknowledged the authority or jurisdiction of any
other State an authority and jurisdiction, moreover, which assuredly the Porte
neither does exercise nor has ever exercised in that quarter.” The Consul-General
in reporting the correspondence to the Ambassador at Constantinople, remarked :
1 be denied that since the Egyptian invasion of Nejd in
.1.9 f Ami! Feisul has remained tributary to the Turkish authorities of Mecca
his tribute being regarded probably as an offering to the head of the religion it is
certain that the Porte lias never exercised any jurisdiction or attemptedlo extend
its authority over that country. ... In point of fact the Porte has not the power
to punish 01 coeice As tnbutary ; not a single lurkish functionary exists in the
country, and to judge from my own experience of the duties of the British Resident
m the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , I feel assured that, were the relations of that officer with the
Amir of Nejd to be disturbed in a manner to withdraw the Wahabi coast from his
immediate supervision, the effect must be highly prejudicial to the policy which
has hitherto obtained under the orders and sanction of Her Majesty’s Indian
Government in that quarter.”
Nejd Precis,
§67.
Bagdad to
Const.,
1.1.62.
Resident authorised to mediate between Muscat and the Wahabis, 1864.
109. Towards the end of 1864, serious difficulties having arisen between the
Sultan of Muscat and the Y\ nimbi Amir consequent on the endeavours of the
Wahabi Agent at Baraimi to secure a substantial increase in the amount of zakat at u —
paid by Muscat to the Wahabis, Colonel Pelly, then 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. was PreCTa
requested to report fully and to employ his good offices if mediation were of any
use, buk ” to let the Sultan clearly understand that the British Government had
no intention of interfering in the differences between the powers on the shores
«of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. by aiding one party to coerce the other.”