'Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf. Vol I. Historical. Part IA & IB. J G Lorimer. 1915' [‎953] (1108/1782)

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'Atbi fleet; and it continued till Rahmah, who was now totally Mind,
aware that his vessel must in the end be boarded and captured by
superior numbers and that no quarter was to be expected, gave orders
to grapple with the enemy. Taking his youngest son—a boy eight yeais
of age—with him, he caused himself to be guided to the powder
magazine, blew up the vessel with his own hand, and so perished along
with all his companions. The explosion set fire to the attacking vessel,
which also blew up, but not until after those on board had been rescued
by their friends.*
In his appearance, vividly depicted by Buckingham in 1816, Rahmah
seems to have been nothing short of repulsive. His clothing was
squalid in the extreme. His face, "naturally ferocious and ugly," was
disfigured by scars and by the loss of an eye, his " figure presented a
" meagre trunk, with four lank members, all of them cat and hac k d,
"and pierced with wounds of sabres, spears, and bullets, in e\eiy pait,
" to the number perhaps of more than twenty different wounds. The
bone between the shoulder and the elbow of his right arm was
completely wanting, in consequence of a wound, but he could still grasp a
dagger in his right hand and make sbift to use it with the help of his
left. His spirit was truculent and revengeful; but he boie calamity
with a fortitude not less remarkable than the callousness that he showed
in inflicting suffering. Among his own followers, many of whom were
slaves, he was said to maintain discipline by free recourse to the death
penalty ; and none ventured to disobey his orders. He showed his
prudence in avoiding, throughout his life, direct collision with the
British Government ; and, from the friendliness of his personal relations
with some of the British officers at the Bushehr Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. , it may be
inferred that he possessed redeeming qualities. Nevertheless his death
was felt as a relief throughout the Gulf.t
Reconquest of Hasa by the Wahhabis, 1«24-31.
The Bani Khalid Shaikhs, replaced in authority over Hasa by the indecisive
Egyptians, succeeded in maintaining their position for so me years; but,
* This is tlie generally received accouut of the affair ; but if, as appears to be
state I, there were no Burvivors of Kahmah's crew, it is difficult to understand how the
circumstances of the explosion ever became known. . , , • - d ,
t The only description of Rahmah by one who had seen hitn will be found in Buck
ingham's Travels in Assyria, etc., pages 356 to 358. That censorious and somewhat
Pharisaical writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. evidently failed to appreciate the old sea -wolf.
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