'Extracts from Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia by J G Lorimer CIE, Indian Civil Service' [‎44v] (93/180)

78
Pretended
resignation
of Shaikh
Salim, 1869.
Attack by
Shaikhs Salim
and Ibrahim
on Ras-al-
Khaimah
and inter
vention of
the British
Political
Resident,
May 1869.
Combination
of the Shaikh
of Ras-al-
Khaimah
and Shaikh
Salim against
Shaikh Ibra
him, 1871-73.
Secession of
Hamnyah
from Sharjah.
1875.
In April 1869 the agent of the Wahhabis at Baraimi came to Sharjah, and,
under cover of arbitrating in some disputes upon the coast, proceeded to plot the
imprisonment of Shaikh Salim, the establishment of his brother Shaikh Ibrahim at
Ras-al-Khaimah, and the transfer of Shaikh Hamaid-bin-'Abdullah from Ras-al-
Khaimah, to Sharjah. An affray however arose in the town; and the death of the
Wahhabi agent who was struck by a bullet, put an end to these designs^ Shaikh
Salim, apparently with a view to disarming the resentment ol the Wahhabi Amir,
then went through the form of resigning the chiefship in favour ol his brother
Ibrahim; but the two remained in close relations, and there was probably no real
transfer of authority. A few months later, the Wahhabis remaining inactive. Shaikh
Salim openly resumed his position as principal Shaikh.
Meanwhile, early in May 1869, Colonel Pelly, the Resident in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ,
while on his way to Masqat in the " Dalhousie," received intelligence at Lingeh
that a serious breach of the maritime peace was threatened by 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. in the
neighbourhood of Ras-al-Khaimah. Taking the gunboat " Hugh Rose " in tow, he
crossed the Gulf to Ras-al-Khaimah, and, arriving there on the J2th of May, found
that Shaikhs Salim and Ibrahim of Sharjah had in fact proceeded by sea to expel
Hamaid-bin-'Abdullah from Ras-al-Khaimah, near which town they had landed
1,500 men from boats and now occupied a position protected on the landward
side by a creek in which their fleet, amounting to 32 vessels, was hauled up. The
Shaikh of Umm-al-Qaiwain had sent some 500 men by sea to the assistance of
Hamaid-bin-'Abdullah; and fighting had already occured both at Jazirat-al-Hamra
and in front of Ras-al-Khaimah town. On the evening of his arrival Colonel Pelly
received on board his vessel the Shaikh of Ras-al-Khaimah, who assured him that
the sole object of the attack was to place Shaikh Ibrahim in possession of the town;
and on the 13th of May, after an interview with the leaders on the opposite side.
Colonel Pelly ordered Shaikhs Salim and Ibrahim to withdraw their fleet and forces
by sunset. The Resident remained on the spot until dark, by which time all the
vessels of the attacking force had defiled out of the creek; he then continued on
his way to Masqat, where his presence was urgently required. Colonel Pelly's
" prompt and judicious measures " on this occasion were subsequently approved
by the Government of India.
In 1871 dissensions apparently prevailed between Shaikhs Salim and Ibrahim
at Sharjah and the latter had possibly obtained a partial ascendancy in the town,
for, taking advantage of his temporary absence at Abu Dhabi, Shaikh Salim called
in his nephew Hamaid-bin-'Abdullah of Ras-al-Khaimah and the Shaikh of Umm-
al-Qaiwain, and with their assistance made himself undisputed master of Sharjah.
Soon after this affair Hamaid consolidated his position at Ras-al-Khaimah by
re-annexing Shalam, Rams and the Shimil village in Sir, which had at some time
separated themselves from his principality. In 1873 it was reported that Shaikh
Salim found difficulty in meeting certain financial liabilities which he had assumed
on behalf of his " predecessor a term which in this case was probably intended
to apply to Shaikh Ibrahim.
In 1873, as mentioned in the history of Trucial 'Oman, the headman of
Hamriyah, at this time Saif-bin-'Abdur Rahman, joined a general combination
of chiefs against his overlord the Shaikh of Sharjah. from which he again in 1874
withdrew; and in 1875 he was engaged, apparently as a neutral, in mediating a
peace among the remaining belligerents. Soon afterwards, in 1875 or 1876, he seems
to have seceded from Sharjah and proclaimed his independence, with the result
that a number of difficult claims and counter-claims, some of old standing, arose
between the two places.
Shaikh Saqar-bin-Khalid, 1883 to the present time.
Usurpation of At the end of March 1883, Shaikh Salim having gone for a change of air to
the Shaikh- Musa Island, where his horses were at grass, and his brother Ahmad having
bhvKhalid? ar proceeded on a journey to Ras-al-Khaimah, their nephew Saqar-bin-Khalid, a youth
March, 1883. of 20 years or less who had been left in charge of Sharjah, seized the opportunity
to proclaim himself ruler. He was shortly recognised as such by the Shaikhs of
Ras-al-Khaimah, Umm-al-Qaiwain, 'Ajman and Dibai; and he also obtained the
support of Muhammad-bin-'Ali, a chief of the Bedouin Na'im, and of
Mutawwa 'Khasuwani, the leader of a band of Bani Qitab freebooters. This