'Extracts from Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia by J G Lorimer CIE, Indian Civil Service' [‎22v] (49/180)

34
1828.
Serious
piracy on a
Sohar boat,
1828.
Case of the
" Sunbury,"
1829.
Further petty
piracies.
1831-34.
1832.
1832-33.
to the British authorities and nearly declared war against the Shaikh of Bahrain,
any action was taken by the Resident; but in 1827 the Shaikh ot Sharjah was
induced to imprison one Adwi of Ajman who had committed piratical acts against
boats belonging to Dibai. . . , . , ,
In 1828 some Bani Yas pirates, who in July of that year had captured two
Bahrain Baqarahs and a Kuwait Batil not far trom Dohah, succeeded in escaping
to the interior; but the boats taken were recovered and restored to the owners.
In September 1828 a vessel manned chiefly by subjects of Abu Dhabi, a
cruise upon the Persian Coast of their captain at one place where they toucned,
returned to the Arabian side, plundering on their homeward way four boats
belonging to 'Asalu which they found in the neighbourhood of Yas Island; but the
Shaikh ol Abu Dhabi, on both parties appearing before him, caused the sufferers
to be fully compensated.
In 1828 the atrocities of earlier days were recalled to mind by an attack made
upon a boat from Sohar by a Batil under the command of one Muslim-bin-Rashid
of Ras-al-Khaimah; in this affair the whole cargo of the Sohar boat was plundered,
the crew numbering 14 persons were tied to a grapnel and thrown overboard, and
the vessel itself was scuttled and sunk. Shaikh Sultan-bin-Saoar, alarmed at the
view of the case taken by the British authorities, despatched a Baghlah Large trading vessel. in pursuit
of the pirate Batil, which was eventually torced on shore near Lingv.h, the majority
of the buccaneers were captured and taken to Ras-al-Khaimah, where they were
imprisoned for several months; and the Batil and the stolen property recovered
were delivered up to the Saiyid of 'Oman. Muslin-bin-Rashid seems to have been
subsequently strangled by order of Sultan-bin-Saqar, whom, it rumour may be
trusted, he accused of being himself the instigator oi the crime.
In 1929 the British merchant ship " Sunbury " was somewhat unceremoniously-
handled at Sharjah in consequence of a belief, not unfounded, that she carried
supplies for the hostile port of Abu Dhabi. The cargo for Abu Dhabi having been
resold by the agent of the owner to the Shaikh of Sharjah without the knowledge
of the captain of the ship, several boatluls of men boarded the Sunbury in a
verv insolent manner to take delivery; an attempt was made to haul down the
British flag; and the mate, in resisting it, was struck with some violence by one
of the Arabs. The incident was quickly terminated on the arrival of the
" Amherst " sloop-of-war. Shaikh Sultan, after protesting his ignorance of the
affair, caused the first boat that had boarded the " Sunbury " to be burnt, while
the chief aggressor in the matter of the colours was tied up and flogged by his
orders. , , i u •
In 1831 a number of places on the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. having been deserted by their
inhabitants in consequence of the plague then raging, some 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. on their way
home from Basrah seized the opportunity to plunder Dllam and Rig, which were
among the number; and further down the coast they took possession of a boat
returning from Kangun to Bushehr. r
These excesses appear to have been ignored; but when the Shaikh of Ajman,
being openly at war with the people of Sohar as a natural consequence of his
coalition with Saiyid Sa'id against them in 1831, extended his depredations to
the shipping and commerce of the 'Oman Sultanate to which Sohar had now ceased
to belong, steps were immediately taken to call him to account: this, however,
was not done until his captures at sea amounted to more than a dozen vessels
with their cargoes. Sultan-bin-Saqar having found it convenient to deny that he
any longer possessed authority over Ajman or Umm-al-Qaiwain, an ultimatum
was conveyed direct to Shaikh Rashid of 'Ajman by two British vessels of war;
and his efforts at evasion being cut short by a refusal to allow him more than
24 hours' grace, the Shaikh, after the value of one 'Ajman Batil seized in reprisal
by the people of Masqat had been deducted, made good the balance of the claim
by handing over boats, money, jewels and other property to the required amount.
These events took place in 1832.
In May 1832 a boat belonging to a British subject was taken by pirates oil
the Persian Coast; and subsequently three of the principal offenders, who belonged
to the village of Khan in the Sharjah pricipality, absconded from that place and
took refuge with the Shaikh of Abu Dhabi. The settlement of this case was delayed
by other more pressing demands on the services of the British cruisers in the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; but in 1833 the chief of Abu Dhabi, on whom the first demand was
served, paid up a fine of $1,500 rather than surrender the criminals. Shaikh Sultan,
from whom $2,000 fell to be recovered, was at first recalcitrant; but a few shots
fired into a Sharjah Batil lying near 'Ajman quickly brought him to his senses.