"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎٨‎٥‎٧] (١٧٨٢/١٠١٢)

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857
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unfriendly conduct in locating Bashir-bin-B/ahmah on Tarut Island
opposite to the town of Qatif, where he was joined by a majority of the
Al Bu Samait, the constant allies of his father and the inveterate
foes of the "'Atbi rulers of Bahrain.
In 1833 Shaikh ''Abdullah of Bahrain was encouraged by the depar
ture to Masqat of Bashir-bin-Rahmah, who soon found his position on
Tarut untenable in consequence of the enmity of the people of Qatif, to
throw off his allegiance to the Wahhabis. As the Shaikh had been
careful, before venturing on a complete rupture of relations, to assure
himself of the neutrality of the Saiyid of 'Oman, and as he was
supported by the Arab tribes of the mainland, especially the 'Amair
section of the Bani Khalid who immediately began at his instigation to
harrass the Wahhabis in Hasa, the ruler of the Riyadh was unable to
make any effective rejoinder. In 1834 Shaikh ^Abdullah assumed the
offensive and blockaded the Wahhabi ports of Qatif and ■'Oqair. The
assassination of the Wahhabi Amir a little later, by his nephew Mashari,
was generally attributed to the machinations of the Bahrain Shaikh, who
celebrated the event with firing of guns and other demonstrations of joy,
and who immediately profited by it to obtain possession, not without
some expenditure in bribes, of the Island of Tarut opposite to the town of
Qatif. In 1835, on the failure of an attempt by the new Amir, Faisal-
bin-Turki, to recover Tarut, Shaikh 'Abdullah resumed the blockade of
Qatif and 'Oqair, which he had suspended, and began to plunder the
shipping of both places.
In 1833, at the time of his breach with the Wahhabis, Shaikh
'Abdullah with his sons Mubarak and Nasir had for some time been
residing in Qatar to watch the proceedings of the enemy; but he
seems thereafter to have returned to Bahrain. By the death of
his nephew and colleague Shaikh Khalifah-bin-Salman, which
occurred on the 31st of May 1834, Shaikh 'Abdullah soon afterwards
became sole ruler of Bahrain ; but so headstrong and impatient of his
authority did his near relations, including his sons, now become, and so
corrupt was his partiality, so undue his leniency and so excessive his
general misgovernment when left to himself, that the internal affairs of
the Shaikhdom soon began to wear a most serious aspect.
In 1835 the people of Huwailah in Qatar revolted against him and
entered into a correspondence with the VVahhabis ; one of his sons rebelled
in concert with the Huwailah insurgents and began, with the assistance
of some hundreds of Wahhabis, to commit depredations upon the
sea-borne commerce of Bahrain ; and another son named Ahmad, after
Supremacy of
the Wahhabi
Amir repu
diated by the
Shaikh of
Bahrain,
1833—1835.
Donoestic
affairs of the
Al K hallfah
family, 1833-
1835'
Rebellion in
Qatar, 1836.