'Extracts from Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia by J G Lorimer CIE, Indian Civil Service' [‎37v] (79/180)

64
did not do more than appeal to his honour and sense of justice. In September
a band of Manasir marauders made a successful raid so far to the north as Sharjah,
from which place they carried off eight women and children and several camels
and horses.
1888-89. In 1888 a feud prevailed between the people of Ras-al-Khaimah and the
Shihiih tribe; several townsmen were murdered in outlying date plantations; and
200 palms were destroyed by Bedouins at the village of Khatt in Jiri.
A coalition, as already mentioned above in connection with Wahhabi affairs,
took place in 1888 between the Shaikhs of Abu Dhabi and Dibai, whom the
supposed Wahhabi danger had found bitterly at variance, and about the same
time the Shaikh of Dibai effected a reconciliation between the Shaikh of Sharjah
on the one hand and the Shaikh of Ajman and the headman of Hamriyah on
the other; his object appears to have been to set the people of 'Ajman Hamriyah
at liberty to assist Dibai in case that principality should be called upon to withstand
a Wahhabi attack. The coalition, however, between the Hinawi Shaikhs of Abu
Dhabi and Dibai soon provoked a counter-alliance between the Shaikhs of Sharjah
and Ras-al-Khaimah; and the Shaikhs of Umm-al-Qaiwain and 'Ajman, after
endeavouring for a time to hold aloof, threw in their lot with the northern
combination, which thus became a federation of all the Ghafiris.
1890. In February 1890 active trouble broke out between the principalities of
Sharjah and Dibai, in consequence of redress being refused for the mutilation of
some Dibai camels within Sharjah limits; friction had really begun in the summer
of 1889, when some raids were committed on Sharjah by Manasir Bedouins
nominally subject to the influence of Dibai and Abu Dhabi. A temporary under
standing was patched up by 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; but in March 1890 a
fresh rupture took place, and the Shaikh of Abu Dhabi moved a force in the
direction of Dibai to support his ally. A considerable amount of petty mischief
was done on both sides, after which negotiations for a general peace took place,
apparently at the instance of the Shaikhs of Ras-al-Khaimah and Umm-al-
Qaiwain; but they were inconclusive. A raid was made on Ras-al-Khaimah by
hostile Shihuh and was repelled with a loss to the raiders of 11 men killed. The
punishment of a raiding gang of 'Awamir and Na'im by the Shaikh of Abu Dhabi
led to threats against Abu Dhabi by the Na'im, but they were not fulfilled.
1891. The year 1891 passed quietly, in consequence partly of the balance of power
established by the Hinawi and Ghafiri combinations of 1889, which still endured,
and partly of the good offices of 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 in averting collisions
between Sharjah and Dibai. Certain differences occurred between the Shaikhs
of Umm-al-Qaiwain and Ras-al-Khaimah, but they were adjusted by the Shaikh
of Sharjah. The most important event of the year was probably the migration
en bloc of about 400 men of the Marar tribe from Dibai, where they considered
themselves ill-treated by the Shaikh, to Sharjah; the move was effected at the
end of the pearl season by simply returning from the banks to Sharjah instead of
Dibai. This affair gave rise to a number of pecuniary claims and counterclaims
of which the settlement, notwithstanding the constant mediation of 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, was attended by fighting on land and dragged on for nearly
three years.
Exclusive Agreement of the Trucial Shaikhs with Great Britain, March 1892.
In order to understand the genesis of an important Agreement by which the
position ot the 1 rucial Shaikhs with relerence to the British Government was in
1892 further defined, it is necessary to go back a few years and refer to certain
events by which the undisputed predominance of British influence in Trucial 'Oman
seemed to be threatened. These events indicated the entrance into Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
affairs ol new iorces which were shortly to bring about a general challenge of
the British position in the whole region of the Gulf.
An absurd but apparently serious attempt was made by Persian officials in
1887—88 to establish a footing in Trucial Oman A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. , the principal agent employed
being Sartip Haji Ahmad Khan, a former Deputy-Governor of Bushehr. ^ In
August 1887 this individual left for the coast of Trucial 'Oman on the Bombay
and Persia Steam Navigation Company s steamer "■ Calder ",—a proceeding so
extraordinary on his part, with reference to the season of the year and to other
circumstances, that the British Resident at Bushehr, Colonel E. C. Ross, caused
Persian in
trigues with
the Trucial
Shaikhs.
1887-88.