"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎٢‎٠‎١] (١٧٨٢/٣٤٤)

201
A small but serious and unnecessary war ,vhicli took place in 1820- Two British
21 served to illustrate one of the dangers attendant on the presence of a a'ain!"the
moveable British force in the Gulf under the orders of a political officer 1 ^ tni Bu ' Ali
with large discretionary powers. The Bani Bu 'Ali of the Ja'alan 'Om^n 0f ^
district in 'Oman, who were at the time in rebellion against the Sultan,
having murdered a messenger sent by Captain Thompson, the British
political representative and military commander on Qishm, to interview
them in regard to a case of piracy, that officer was induced to make
common cause with Saiyid Sa'id, and joined him, with a force of about
400 Indian sepoys, in an attack upon the Bani Bu 'Ali capital, situated
in the interior behind the port of Sur. The result was a grave disaster
in which the small British force was practically destroyed, along with
its oiiicers, and the Sultan's levies were either dispersed or cut up, and
from which Captain Thompson himself and Saiyid Sa'id were fortunate
in escaping with their lives.
The Government of Bombay, as soon as they became aware of the
facts, removed Captain Thompson from his appointment; but at the same
time, thinking it necessary to vindicate the military reputation of
Britain in 'Oman, they despatched an expedition to Sur under
General L. Smith, who had had previous experience of Arab warfare at
Bas-al-Khaimah in 1809-10. The military force, which consisted of
about 1,300 Europeans, drawn from the Bombay Artillery, His Majesty's
65th Foot, and the Bombay European Regiment, and of over 1,500
native sepoys, arrived in "Oman at the end of January 1 821 and advanced
in February on the head-quarters of the Bani Bu 'Ali, where, on the 2nd
March, a bloody engagement was fought upon the very scene of the
previous encounter. The British casualties in killed and wounded were
nearly 200, but the loss of the enemy amounted to considerably more
than that number in killed alone; and the result was the complete
submission of the tribe, a number of whom were temporarily deported to
India.
While the British were thus engaged, in the lower Persian Gulf and Kupture of
Gulf of 'Oman, in making secure the pacificatory results of the expedi- ^on^with^'he
tion of 1819-20, a crisis occurred in Turkish 'Iraq which, but for the Pasha of
Baghdad,
personal influence of Mr. Rich, the Resident at Baghdad, might have had 1820-22.
serious consequences. The cause was the arrogant behaviour of the
Pasha of Baghdad, who persisted in disregarding the treaty rights and
privileges of British subjects in the Pashaliq, and who ultimately
presumed so far as to levy double the legitimate duties upon British trade.
In 1820, in consequence of his arbitrary proceedings, the British Factory