'Extracts from Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia by J G Lorimer CIE, Indian Civil Service' [‎50v] (105/180)

90
Occupation
by the Wah-
habis of
Fujairah.
Bithnah and
khor Fakkan.
1809-10.
Recovery by
the Saiyid of
Masqat of
Dibah and
Khor Fakkan
(date
uncertain).
Seizure of all
Shamailiyah
by the Qasimi
Shaikh, 1832.
Recovery of
central and
southern
Shamailiyah
by the ruler
of Masqat
(date
uncertain).
Final annex
ation of
Shamailiyah
to the Sharjah
Shaikhdom,
1850
In the following year, about the time that they brought the Pirate Coast and
its hinterland under their direct control, the Wahhabis appear to have occupied the
forts of Fujairah, Bithnah and Khor Fakkan in Shamailiyah with troops or
adherents of their own; and simultaneously they seized the adjacent town of Shinas
in Batinah, which belonged to Masqat. At the beginning of 1810 Shinas was
recaptured from the Wahhabis by a joint British and 'Omam expedition; but the
operation was so little profitable to Saiyid Sa id, for whose benefit it was
undertaken, that the reduction of Khor Fakkan, though previously resolved on, was
not attempted. The Wahhabis, therefore, presumably remained in full possession
of Shamailiyah. . . i. r i ^ ,
At some time after these events, possibly as an indirect result of the British
expedition to Ras-al-Khaimah and the humiliation of 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 1819-20, the
ruler of Masqat must have regained possession of the whole of Shamailiyah*; for
in 1831 we find the Qasimi Shaikh, Sultan-bin-Saqar, bargaining with Sa'id of
Masqat for the cession to himself, as the price of his co-operation with the Saiyid
in an attempt upon Sohar, of either Dibah or Khor Fakkan.
In the following year, 1832, Shaikh Sultan-bin-Saqar profited by the absence of
Saiyid Sa'id in East Africa and a consequent rising against his authority in 'Oman
to seize Dibah, Khor Fakkan and Ghallah and so to bring the whole of
Shamailiyah into subjection to himself; his success upon this occasion has
sometimes been wrongly described as the final annexation of Shamailiyah to the
Sharjah principality. In 1835 Shaikh Suitan -bin-Saqar proceeded with a Qasimi
fleet to Dibah and Khor Fakkan, and complaints of piratical outrages upon Masqati
and other vessels which soon began to reach the British authorities necessitated
action by the latter, as is related in another place.
Again, after an interval, Khor Fakkan and Ghallah, with—it may safely be
assumed—the coast between these two places, returned into the possession of the
Saiyid of Masqat; but nothing is ascertainable in regard to the time or manner of
this revolution. The Shaikh of Sharjah had not, however, abandoned his claim to
the whole district; and in 1849 he was only restrained by the advice of friends
from an expedition for its recovery.
The end of these alternations between "Omani and Qasimi ownership came
in 1850, when, on an invitation from Qais-bin-'Azzan of Sohar, Shaikh Sultan-bin-
Saqar hastened to his assistance, with the result that Shinas in Batinah as well as
Ghallah and Khor Fakkan in Shamailiyah fell into the hands of the allies and were
divided between them, the Qasimi Shaikh doubtless retaining the two Shamailiyah
ports In 1851, on the arrival of Saiyid Sa'id in person. Shaikh Sultan withdrew his
support from Saiyid Qais, whom Saiyid Sa'id then easily expelled not only from
Shinas but also from Sohar. The whole of Shamailiyah, however, remained m
possession of the Shaikh of Sharjah, whose neutrality, it seems not unnatural to
suppose, may have been secured by an undertaking on the part of Saiyid Sa'id to
maintain the status quo in this respect.
Shamailiyah under Shaikh Sultan-bin-Saqar, 1850-1866.
Rising of the The only event of importance which occurred in Shamailiyah between the final
Shi huh near annexation of that district to Sharjah and the death of Shaikh Sultan-bin-Saqar was
Dibah, 1855. a r j s j n g ; j n 0 f t he Shihuh in the neighbourhood of Dibah. Mashan, son ot
Shaikh Ibrahim of Ras-al-Khaimah and grandson of Shaikh Sultan himself, having
been appointed ruler over Dibah, immediately put forth his hand to oppress the
neighbouring Shihuh, probably those of Bai'ah, and was waylaid and murdered in
consequence by members of that tribe on a journey from Dibah to Ras -al-Khaimah.
This extreme step, which was not taken by the Shihuh until their appeals to Shaikns
Sultan and Ibrahim against Mashari had been rejected, led to a general war between
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. and the Shihhi tribe which is described in the history of Ruus-al-Jibal.
Shamailiyah under Shaikh Khalid-bin-Sultan, 1866-1868.
Revolt in On the death of Shaikh Sultan-bin-Saqar and the accession of his son Khahd
Shamailiyah, in 1866, the headman of the village of Fujairah in Shamailiyah, one Abdullali-nin-
1866. Khamis, ceased to pay tribute to Sharjah. There is reason to think that the wnoie
* It should be noted, however, that the troops of the Saiyid had intermediately been in
possession of Khor Fakkan and had been again ejected in 1817.