'A Précis of the Relations of the British Government with the Tribes and Shaikhs of 'Arabistan By Lieutenant A T Wilson, Acting Consul for Arabistan' [‎28r] (60/143)

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CHAPTER VII.
Piracies within and at the mouth of the Shatt-al-’Arab by Arabs of the
Shatt-al-’Arab, 1891—1900.
The dangers to which the British Indian sailing craft and the craft of
re effectively than the Turkish officials and it seems that the successive
or le^ aSXr ’n ^ ai ‘ d Khaz ’ al ' ^rZT^e
oooo?-/ It -v u T t ?. ln thls dlrectlo n- The salute of one gun which is fired
opposite Faihyeh by all steamers of the British India Steam Navigation Pom
pany owes its origin to the gratitude of the CompanytrHajrjaMrKha”’
nl87f when'at r irh enn f R Sh S E tolen , b ^ pirateS f?om the S - S- ‘‘Cashmere ”
72, when at anchor at Basrah, and is a reminder of the days when niraev
on the river affected even large ships. y piracy
hrion 1 ??,T 1 ™"® 1 - Admin j 3trati °n Reports of the Bushire 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. record
n PlraC i!? S u in the rlver from 1874 onwards and it is plain that
c difficulties which now prevent the effective policing of the Shatt-al-’Arah
slta e tdeTnoeffe 6 r nC ° Untered by Haj j Jablr - Th " Ar ^s on the Turkish
to Persian Irke, e ® ec lve ti su P < ; rvlslo n and though in many cases they belong
it useless to a b sk J 6310113 / of ext ernal influence has hitherto made
t useless to ask them to surrender even known criminals. Turkish and
ersian authorities, moreover, mutually seek to fix responsibility for piracies
upon the inhabitants of the opposite bank while the Arab population on
either bank have frequent intercourse and have no doubt shared in many
piracies. *
Two cases of piracies were reported in 1889 and all attempts to trace the
ReporTs^ 01,8 * ai e ^’ •^ rom to 1894 no cases are reported in the Annual
+1 o/ 1 num ber of piracies were committed at the mouth of and within
e k.natt-al- Arab and also off the mouth of the Bahmanshlr- The victims
were I ersian and Arab as well as British Indian vessels and some of the
attacks were of the most savage and murderous character, in one case a derelict
boat being found with only one corpse on board. One of the most serious cases
was that of the British Indian sailing vessel “ Haripasa ” from Kathiawar in
v iich four men were killed, three wounded and a large sum of money
plundered. In none of these cases was any satisfaction or reparation ob
tained. This outbreak of piracy stirred the British Consuls at Basrah and
Mohammerah to energetic action and in 1896 the Persian and Turkish author
ities agreed to adopt preventive measures by appointing posts along the river
where vessels should anchor for protection at night and by arranging for
nightly patrolling of the river by armed boats. H. M. S. “ Lapwing ” was
stationed in the Shatt-al-’Arab during the autumn. In consequence of these
measures no piracies took place that year in the river. A bold piracy, how
ever, was committed near the bar on a Kuwait boom, the Nakhuda being
killed, two traders wounded and R3,000 in goods and cash looted.
In 1897, three piracies on Kuwait boats took place at the mouth of the
Shatt-al-’Arab, in one case R5,500 was taken and one man killed.
In September of this year when the R. I. M. S. “ Lawrence ” was in the
Shatt-al-’Arab information that an act of piracy had been committed on the
high seas was received. The pirates were captured and made over to the
Persian authorities all being Persian subjects. The pirates received 6 months’
imprisonment and their boats and effects were sold for the benefit of the
persons they had injured-