File 756/1917 Pt 1 ‘ARAB BULLETIN Nos 1 to 65’ [‎437v] (879/1240)

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r* Ur Pnlifiral Ao'ent at Koweit, who
H. I. Shakespear, f°™ erl ] m g he ha(1 reached the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ,
was then m England, by t none the less desired to
war had already been decked, bat it w to ^ h . m tQ move
maintain touch with Ib !' ^ Captain Shakespear accordingly
up towards Iraq in our intereste. oap^ [ba Sau d with
proceeded from K .°" elt the Shammar country to attack Ibn
a large force moving to S n C cess. His force included a
Rashid, and very con ^ redoub |. ab ie ) though at the same
contingent of the Aj the Hasa district which had long
time disreputable, t 1 , d but was st ;n under his suzerainty
been estranged bom t ^ ^ ^ union o£ f orC e S . The
and obeyed the o t ^ e circumstances it
Muteir too were on iar y ^ bound to defeat his
was believed m the d^ ttta ibn ban ^ q£ h . g
traditional elie “ 1 > ’ , ’. , , • tb ee or f 0U r Turkish mountain
is one factor in any Arab
Lht which is outside prophecy and that is treachery.
° It is believed that there could have been no doubt of the result,
had it not been (according to the tales of the Bedoum) or the
treachery of the Ajnian They are -,d to h^e t U rn^ upon
their own side at a critical stage of the conflict, killed large
bers, confused the rest, and made off with a large booty of
camels. .
Adherents of either side naturally give very different
versions of what occurred, but there is no doubt that while both
parties suffered severely from the shock of the encounter ami
from the depredations of the Ajtnan and other marauders aftet
it Ibn Saud was the hardest hit and was for the time crippled.
It was in the course of this action that Captain Shakespear, who
insisted on being present as an interested spectator, though
pressed by his friend and host to remain at a distance, met
his lamented and untimely end. No two accounts give the same
version of the precise circumstances of his death, and until the
clouds of war have passed over and reliable sources from both
sides can be reached under conditions of peace, it is hardly
possible that they can be ascertained with certainty.
But to return to the fight. The Muteir were some distance
away when the fight began. W hen they drew near and heard
the sound of shots, they worked round the fight to the south and
finally came up right behind the Shammar to where they
had left their camels. These they seized and made off with and
secured large booty. They then returned to their own country
and to the defeated Ibn Saud said : u Why did you fly ? See,
we have captured the very dhelui of Ibn Rashid himself.
As indeed they had. But nothing could compensate for the
reversal of fortune caused by the treachery of the Ajman. And
to this day Ibn Saud cherishes the hope of wiping them out to a
man. Only their repute as fighting men—and it is often said
there are no Arabs their equals—has preserved them from
extinction. For they have many enemies and no friends.