"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎٦‎٤‎٣] (١٧٨٢/٧٨٦)

6i3
an hour. At length the Aral* squadron took to fiig'ht, pursued by the
" Nautilus/' who plied them with her shot as long as they were
within range.
Second Britisk expedition against the Qawasim, 1809-10.
The insolence of the Qawasim and their power for mischief had now
reached such a point that they could no longer be ignored; and the spirit
of the tribe was clearly shown in a demand, made by the Shaikh of Ras-
al-Khaimah about this time, that the Government of Bombay should pay
tribute for the privilege, which he would accord to their ships, of naviga
ting the Persian Gulf in safety. The Qasimi sailing craft were
eetimated to amount to 63 large and 813 smaller vessels, and the crews
to aggregate nearly 19,000 men.
The outbreak of piracy in 180S was attributed, like the same pheno
menon in 1805, to Wahhabi influence ; but the indications of this, though
more substantial than on the former occasion, could still hardly be called
conclusive, Husain-bin-'Ali of Rams had, it is true, visited the capital of
the Wahhabis before becoming their representative in the Qasimi
country ; and there were rumours of an engagement on his part that
one-fifth of the proceeds of piracies should be paid to the Wahhabi
Amir in accordance with Wahhabi practice in such matters. The
piracies on the Indian coast were considered by Captain Seton to be due
to Wahhabi instigation; and, whether his belief were well-founded or no,
it was undeniable that the recent outrages coincided very closely in time
with the supersession of the hereditary Shaikh of the Qawasim by a
Wahhabi officer. In 1809 the deposed Qasimi Shaikh, Sultan-bin-Saqar,
was decoyed by the Wahhabis to their capital, Dara'iyah, and there
detained; but he eventually escaped, by way of Yaman and the port of
Mokha, to Masqat, where he was kindly received by Saiyid Sa'id, the
ruler. Meanwhile a demand had been addressed to the Qawasim by the
Wahhabi Amir, that they should join the ^Utub in a naval expedition
against Kuwait and Basrah ; and with this requisition they seem to ha\ e
complied, or at least to have professed their willingness to comply.
On the coast of Persia, in 1809, the Qawasim sustained a check,
being driven out of Lingeh and Charak by a Persian force fiom Lai and
compelled to retire to Basidu on Qishm Island ; it is probable, however,
that this reverse was of very short duration, for a British aimament a
£>0 a
Temerity and
strength of
the Qawasim,
The Wahhab
Government
and the
Qawasim.
Events,
immediately
preceding the
British
expedition
of 1809.