"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎٤‎٢‎٢] (١٧٨٢/٥٦٥)

422
lease of Bandar ^ Abbas and its dependencies, which then included Minab
and the islands of Qishm, Hormuz and Hanjam, from the Shaikh of the
Bani Ma'in to the ruler of 'Oman. The yearly rental was probably not
more at first than $ t,000, the amount at which it still stood in 1821; but
a surety for payment seems to have been required by the Persian Govern
ment from the Saiyid, and to have been furnished by him in the person of
a Persian merchant and banker named " Haji Khelat/"'
Friction with Persia and Turkey, and war with the Qawasim,
1794-1800.
The sudden appearance in the Gulf of a power so aggressive as
'Oman was under its new ruler seems to have caused widespread anxiety.
In 1797 a rupture took place between 'Oman and Persia, and the
Shaikh of Bushehr was directed by the Persian authorities to prepare
a land force to be embarked against M asqat; but he was not, apparently,
able to givfi effect to his instructions.
In 1798 Saiyid Sultan, who seems, to havo maintained that he had a pecu
niary claim against the Baghdad Government in consequence of the services
rendered by his father during the siege of Basrah, made peace with his
constant enemy the Shaikh of Ras-al-Khaimah and seemed about to pro
secute his demands upon the Pasha of Baghdad by force. His attitude so
disturbed the Turks that they at one time sought the good offices of the
British Resident at Basrah ; but in the end the matter was amicably ad
justed, without British intervention, between the Mutasallim of Basrah
and the commodore of the Masqat coffee fleet, then at Bushehr.*
After the settlement of this dispute. Sultan, ever energetic, seems to
have reopened hostilities with the Qawasim : he had been at war with
them previously during the whole of 1797. A naval attack which he
made on Dibah was repelled by the Sharqiyin and Naqbiyin tribes, but
not without severe loss to themselves. At the beginning of 1800 Sultan
was still at war with the Shaikh of Kas-al-Khaimah.
Attempted subjugation of Bahrain, 1799-1802.
The reduction of the Bahrain islands was, from this time onwards,
the chief object of Saiyid Sultan's endeavours; but the Wahhabi
difficulty, which we shall presently describe, now hampered all move-
* At. the suggestion of Mr. Manesty, the British Resident at Basrah, Capfain
Malcolm was anthcrised in 1799 to advise the Saiyid to maintain friendly relatknb
with the Turks, who were in close amity with the British Government, but it does not
appear what action he took in this respect.
\