'Extracts from Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia by J G Lorimer CIE, Indian Civil Service' [‎19v] (43/180)

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progress. On the 17th of January 1820, a garrison of 800 sepoys Term used in English to refer to an Indian infantryman. Carries some derogatory connotations as sometimes used as a means of othering and emphasising race, colour, origins, or rank. with some artillery
being left at Ras-al-Khaimah, the expedition proceeded against the remaining
piratical harbours upon the coast. Jazirat-al-Hamra was found deserted; but at
Umm-al-Qaiwain, reached on the 18th of January, and at Ajman, Fasht, Sharjah,
Abu Hail and Dibai, the fortifications and larger vessels v/ere destroyed. The fate
of the shipping of Ras-al-Khaimah itself is not clear; Sir W. Grant Keir was
evidently averse to its total destruction, and, for a time at least, spared a portion
under plea of employing it in the service of the fleet.* On the receipt of the report
that ten piratical vessels had taken refuge in Bahrain, which was now clearly shown
to be a constant resort of the pirates and the principal market in which they
disposed of their plunder, a naval force was detached to obtain their surrender;
and, having been handed over, they were duly destroyed. In February some of
the war-vessels and transports, carrying the bulk of the force, crossed over to
the island of Qais, where they watered; and thence, the expedition being declared
at an end, they returned to Bombay. Some boats were taken and destroyed at
the Persian ports of Lingeh, Mughu, 'Asalu and Kangun. Prize money with
interest, aggregating Rs. 2,66,625, was distributed seven years later under the orders
of the East India Company: it was chiefly on account of vessels taken or destroyed.
General Treaty of Peace, 1820.
Negotiations
with the
Qawasim One of the ruling families of the United Arab Emirates; also used to refer to a confederation of seafaring Arabs led by the Qāsimī tribe from Ras al Khaima. .
Preliminary
agreements.
Having followed the course of military events to the end, we may now revert
to the political negotiations which commenced upon the fall of Ras-al-Khaimah.
During the siege terms had been offered to such of the garrison as might surrender,
but none of them had taken advantage of the offer; on the town passing into the
possession of the British, however, Qadhib-bin-Ahmad, Shaikh of Jazirat-al-
Hamra, came in upon an assurance of safety and was allowed to remain at large.
Encouraged by his example, Hasan-bin-Rahmah also gave himself up on a promise
of 41 Aman "; this was a condition by no means implying freedom from personal
restraint, but, as his confinement along with his suite appeared to excite general
distrust, he was again set at liberty, and confidence was re-established. Numbers
of Arabs then flocked in for the purpose of buying back the dates and rice which
they had abandoned in the town; Sultan-bin-Saqar, Shaikh of Sharjah, soon after
appeared to tender his unconditional submission; and he was followed by
Muhammad-bin-Hazza', the nine-year old chief of Dibai, sent in by his father's
widow, who was in charge of the government of that principality. On the 15th
of January 1820 Shaikh Husain-bin-'Ali of Rams and his followers were released,
partly in order to facilitate the negotiations, and partly because there was sickness
among the prisoners and it seemed not unlikely that a number of them might die
in custody.
As the first step towards a general settlement, each principal Shaikh of the
Pirate Coast was required to sign a preliminary agreement; and not until he had
done so, and had fully discharged its obligations, was he allowed to become a
party to the General Treaty of Peace, which was the principal result achieved by
the expedition. The objects of the preliminary agreements were, generally, the
surrender of the vessels, towers and guns of piratical places, under a promise that
pearling and fishing craft should be restored, and the release of Indian prisoners;
but no two of the agreements were precisely similar, and that signed at a late
stage in the proceedings by an envoy of the Shaikhs of Bahrain bore reference
chiefly to commercial dealings between Bahrain subjects and the pirates of 'Oman.
By Hasan-bin-Rahmah, now described as Shaikh of Khatt and Falaiyah only, it
was agreed that Ras-al-Khaimah, with Maharah on the further side of the harbour,
should remain in possession of the British Government. In the case of the Shaikh
of Sharjah who had shown from the first a lively anxiety to submit, and of the
Shaikh of Dibai, who was but little to blame and for whom the ruler of Masqat
had interceded, an undertaking was given that the British troops should not enter
or lay waste their towns. 'Ajman and Umm-al-Qaiwain as well as Sharjah were
disposed of in the preliminary agreement made with Shaikh Sultan-bin-Saqar. The
dates of execution of these documents, giving a rough clue to the progress of the
* That the Bombay Government, some time later, had reason to doubt whether the orders
for the total destruction of piratical craft had been carried out as ordered appears from paragraph 6
of their letter No. 37 of the 16th February 1820. In the Regimental Records of the 65th Foot
it is stated that 218 vessels in all were taken or destroyed by the expedition.