"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎١‎٣‎٩] (١٧٨٢/٢٨٢)

139
saw clearly that without the aid of a naval power it would be difficult to
bring the tribes ot the Persian Coast into thorough subjection ; and he
theiefoie granted them, almost with alacrity, various commercial privi
leges in Persia and permission to open a Factory at Bushehr, which they
desired. He took advantage of the opportunity afforded by this grant in
1768 to intimate that he would be glad to pay for the services of British
ships in helping him to reduce Mir Mahanna of Rig, a predatory chief
on the coast to the north of Bushehr, who would not submit to his
authority ; and in 1764 he made a distinct request for the co-operation
of one oi two British \essels agaiust the same rebel, at the same time
offering to subsidise one or two British cruisers for permanent police
duty in the Gulf, and even volunteering to hand the town of Hig over
to the East India Company. The Government of Bombay do not seem
to have regarded these proposals as in the least attractive; but they
authorised the occasional loan of the services of a British vessel to
the Vakil, provided that it were so managed as to be advantage
ous to the Company and not to upset the general arrangements for
trade.
In 1765 Karim Khan, who was still engaged in consolidating the Persian
kingdom by incorporating its more loosely attached dependencies, marched
in person against the Ka'ab tribe of 'Arabistan, in subduing whom the
Turks had promised him their assistance ; and about the same time he
asked that British ships might be sent to support, along with the
Bushehr fleet, some operations that his general Amir Kuhneh Khan was
about to undertake against Mir Mahanna b}- land. The Vakil's applica
tion was addressed to Mr. Jervis.. the British Resident at Bushehr, by
whom it was forwarded to Basrah with a suggestion that the " Tartar/'
then at Basrah, might be lent under the authority already granted bv the
Bombay Government. Mr. Wrench, the Agent at Basrah, and his
Council complied with Mr. Jervis's request; but, whether from jealousy
of him or for other reasons, they did so most reluctantly ; and, in their
unwillingness to act as required upon this occasion, there may perhaps be
traced the first germs of a prejudice against Karim Khan that afterwards
caused much mischief. Various attacks upon the island of Khargu, to which
Mir Mahanna retired directly that danger began to threaten him at
Rig, and upon his fleet, were made by the " Tartar " and the Bushehr
vessels during the month of June 1765 ; but the crews of the Persian
vessels showed extreme caution, or even cowardice. The " Tartar " alone
was unable to carry the matter through, and in July the expedition against
Mir Mahanna was abandoned. Meanwhile Karim Khan had destroyed
for naval
assistance,
1763-64.
Unsuccessful
Anglo-
Persian attack
upon Mir
Mabanna of
Rig., 1765.