"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎٧‎٨‎١] (١٧٨٢/٩٣٦)

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781
should be allowed by the British Government to operate by land, that
he should be supported before Fujairah by a British man-of-war, and
that the Sultan of 'Oman should be restrained from countenancing
Hamad-bin-'Abdullah j but the Political Resident, Colonel Ross, whom the
Shaikh visited at Bushehr, in the end apparently persuaded him to agree to
the arbitration of the Shaikh of Ras -al-Khaimah ; and this the people ot
Fuiairah also were ready to accept The dispute seems to have been ulti
mately settled in this manner, on a basis of submission by the chiet ot
Fuiairah to the chief of Sharjah as his suzerain, together with continued
payment of customary tribute ; and a written agreement was executed
by Hamad-bin-'Abdullah, apparently in 1881, in which he admitted Ins
dependence on the Shaikh of Sharjah. It was the opinion of Colonel
Ross that the complete independence of lujairah, which m the past
had always been subject either to Sharjah or to Masqat, was an object
that, in the general interest, ought not to be promoted.
Shamailiyah under Shaikh Saqar -bin-Khalid, atter 1883.
At his accession to the Sharjah Shaikhdom in 1883 Saqar-bin-
Khalid found the Shamailiyah district divided into two fiefs, one ot
which, adjoining Dibah, had been conferred by Shaikh Salim on his
brother Ahmad, and the other, embracing Khor Faki<an, on his brother
Majid : this arrangement Shaikh Saqar made no direct effort to change.
But Shaikh Saqar, while he did not himself attempt to displace his
kinsmen from their ] ossessions, seems to have instigated that turbulent
character, Hamad-bin- 'Abdullah of Fujairah, to seize not only Cxharaitah
on the coast, but also the important hill fort of Hithnah in Wadi Ham,
which commands the only direct route between Shamailiyah and the
coast of Trucial 'Oman. The Fujairah headman waited for no second
invitation, but attacked and took both places, besides plundering Zubarah,
the inhabitants of which village had gone to the assistance of those or
Bithnah. Instead, however, of holding these acquisitions at Shaikh
Saqar's disposal, Hamad -bin-'Abdullah made overtures for protection to
the Shaikh of Ras -al-Khaimah ; and the Shaikh of Sharjah, unwilling to
offend that personage, who was his own near relation, remained quiescent.
In June 1886 the Wali of Sohar reported to his master, Saiyid Turki
of Masqat, that the people of Khor Fakkan, Dibah and the neighbour
hood were anxious to be taken under the protection of the _ Oman Sul
tanate ; and the Sultan requested the advice of Colonel Miles, formerly
Political Agent at Masqat, who was now Acting Resident in the Persian
Gulf. Colonel Miles replied that interference in Shamailiyah was inad
visable as it might lead to a conflict with the Qasimi Shaikh, with whom
the Sultan was then at peace, and that it would probably m the end
prove injurious to the interests of the Sultan himself. This answer,
which was approved by the Government of India, was sufBcient to con
vince Saiyid Turki of the desirability of abstention, and instructions in
accordance with it were given by him to the Wall of Sohar.
Practical
independence
of Fujairab,
1884.
Shainailiyah
still coveted
by the Sultftn
of 'Oman,
1886.