'Extracts from Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia by J G Lorimer CIE, Indian Civil Service' [‎37r] (78/180)

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these proceedings, however, verged upon a breach of the maritime peace, and
the Shaikh of Umm-al-Qaiwain was accordingly reprimanded by the British
Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. and compelled to pay a fine. Fighting on land ensued, in which the
Shaikh of Umm-al-Qaiwain was assisted by the Shaikh of 'Ajman and the Shaikh
of Ras-al-Khaimah by his own brother, the Shaikh of Sharjah, and by a part of
the Na'im tribe. At length, in January 1883, a reconciliation between the parties
was arranged by the Shaikh of Abu Dhabi, on the condition that all injuries should
be mutually condoned. The Shaikh of Dibai was at this time on good terms with
the Shaikhs of both Sharjah and Abu Dhabi.
The years 1883 and 1884 were uneventful. The chief of Abu Dhabi was now 1883-84.
regarded as the most powerful among the Trucial Shaikhs, the hegemony having
been lost by Sharjah chiefly through the incompetence of its ruler, Saqar-bin-
Khalid, who succeeded to the Shaikhship in 1883. Presents were exchanged
between the Shaikh of Abu Dhabi and the Sultan of 'Oman, and between the
Shaikh of Umm-al-Qaiwain and the Sultan of Zanzibar; but they had apparently
no political significance, at least of a local character.
As usual in Trucial 'Oman, after a short interval of peace there was a sudden 1885.
renewal of disturbances. In May 1885 the son of Ahmad-bin-'Abdullah, Shaikh
of Umm-al-Qaiwain, quarrelled with his father and took refuge with Rashid-bin-
Hamaid, Shaikh of 'Ajman, who refused to give him up; and the Shaikh of
Sharjah, Saqar-bin-Khalid, joined the Shaikh of Umm-al-Qaiwain for the purpose
of attacking 'Ajman. Shortly after this the Shaikh of Umm-al-Qaiwain sent to
sea two Baqarahs carrying 50 men, as also some munitions of war which were
landed partly at Hairah and partly at Sharjah,—an act for which it was necessary
to call him to account. In November, Mr. Robertson, on behalf of the Resident,
visited Umm-al-Qaiwain in H.M.S. " Reindeer ", but Ahmad-bin-'Abdullah evaded
a meeting; subsequently, however, his conduct seems to have been condoned on
his undertaking not to repeat the offence. Meanwhile raids were committed by
the inhabitants of Umm-al-Qaiwain and Hamrlyah upon one another; they were
suspended, but only for the brief space, after a reconciliation effected in August
by the 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. Agent at Sharjah. At the end of November the Shaikh of Dibai
united with the Shaikh of 'Ajman and began to foray the Shaikh of Sharjah's
territories.
On the 20th of January 1886 the Shaikhs of Dibai, 'Ajman and Hamrlyah 1886.
attacked the town of Sharjah with a force of about 1,000 men and a field-piece,
and a battle followed in which the people of Sharjah lost 40 men killed and 25
wounded, while the attacking force had only five fatal casualties. At the request
of Shaikh Saqar-bin-Khalid of Sharjah the British 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. Agent, who had in
the meanwhile informed the Shaikh of Dibai that he would be held responsible
for any loss suffered by British subjects in Sharjah, intervened between the parties
and succeeded in arranging a peace upon condition that the Shaikh of Sharjah
should renounce his alliance with the Shaikh of Umm-al-Qaiwain. After the
retirement of Sharjah from the conflict the campaign was continued by Dibai,
"Ajman and Hamrlyah against Umm-al-Qaiwain and Ras-al-Khaimah; but the
operations were now confined to petty raids, some of which were committed on
dependencies of Ras-al-Khaimah, at the instigation of Dibai, by the people of
Bakhah and Kumzar and by the Shihuh tribe generally. In April an attempt
at mediation on the part of the Shaikh of Abu Dhabi was foiled by the obstinacy
of the Shaikh of Umm-al-Qaiwain. In May a raid was made on Umm-al-Qaiwain
by the people of Hamrlyah, and shortly afterwards, in the absence of the men
of Hamrlyah at the pearl banks, a force from Umm-al-Qaiwain entered and
destroyed that place, killing several persons and carrying off with them 25 slaves
besides other booty: the headman of Hamriyah, however, defended himself in
his fort and escaped capture. To avenge this injury to his ally, the Shaikh of
Dibai mustered a force of 35 horsemen and 400 camel-riders and marched against
Umm-al-Qaiwain; but the excesses of the headman of Hamrlyah so displeased
him that he soon returned home. In September a dispute about divers arose
between Sharjah and 'Ajman, which, had the 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. Agent not mediated,
would probably have led to a renewal of hostilities between those two.
In 1887 several robberies were committed bv Bedouin Manaslr on boats 1887 '
anchored in creeks to the north of Abu Dhabi town, subjects of Sharjah and
Ras-al-Khaimah being among the sufferers. As the robbers had swum off from
the land these cases could not be treated as infractions of the maritime peace;
and, as it did not appear that the Shaikh of Abu Dhabi could fairly be held
responsible for the misdeeds of a lawless and wandering tribe, the British authorities