"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎٦‎٥‎٢] (١٧٨٢/٧٩٥)

652
later, the Shaikh received a drepp of honour from the Shah of Persia and
was requested to eo-operate with the Persians in the reduction nf
Bahrain.
Preliminarj ^ ^ ^ ^siilentjat Bushehr had for some time been in correspondence with
KeT'th. aean-bin-Rahmah, de facto Shaikh of Rfe-al-Khaimah, in regarf to
Resident at depredations committed by the Qawasim on the coast of India • and '
fSmi "' d tllc the Bhip " Ahmad Shah," apparently eontaining remounfa
plenipoten- for the East India Company, had been taken by the Shaikh of Charak
October near the I6land of whence a part of the booty had been carried
18U. off to Ras-al-Khaimah in a Qasimi boat. Hasan-bin-Rahmah did not
immediately reply to the Resident's first letter, but proceeded to
Dara'iyah to confer, perhaps on the subject thereof, with 'Abdullah-bin-
Sa 'ud, the Wahhabi Amir. On his way back to Ras -al-Khaimah
lasan-bm-Rahmah despatched from Hasa a certain Hasan-bin-
Muhammad-bin-Ghaith with letters from the Shaikh himself and from
the Wahhabi Amir for Lieutenant Bruce: this emissary arrived at
Buehehr on the 2nd of October 1814. In their epistles the Amir and
the Shaikh both denied the commission of offences by the Qawasim
against the British flag, but promised the restitution of any property
the taking of which could be proved; both requested that the distinc
tion between British subjects and others might be made more plain;
and a request was added by the Shaikh that Hasan-bin-Muhammad
might be treated as a plenipotentiary empowered on his part to renew
the treaty of 1806, and that the past might be regarded with a lenient
eye. To increase the attractiveness of these proposals a hope was held
out that an Agent would shortly be deputed by Hasan-bin-Rahmah to
Bombay for the purpose of negotiating a regular treaty; and, by way
of mollifying the resentment of the British Government, it was verbally
explained by the envoy that the incessant naval warfare in which
e Qawasim engaged was necessary for the maintenance of their
| 11 u Gulf, and that without it they could not live in safety from
eir enemies. Lieutenant Bruce and the emissary accordingly signed
a preliminary agreement by which it was provided that, in consider-
ation of the Qawasim's respecting British vessels in future, flying a
special flag to distinguish them from other maritime Arabs, restoring
tie ompany's property taken from the "Ahmad Shah/' and fulfilling
certain other conditions, the misdeeds of the past should be overlooked
an the tribe should be at liberty to visit the ports of British India.
On the Resident's part this agreement was entered into subject to the
approbation of the Government of Bombay, to whom it was immediately