'Extracts from Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia by J G Lorimer CIE, Indian Civil Service' [‎54v] (113/180)

98
Action of the
Wahhabis in
Trucial
'Oman.
Action of the
Wahhabis in
the 'Oman
Sultanate.
1814 the influence of the Wahhabis in Bahrain affairs had ceased; but in Hasa,
where there was no strong local power to contest the field, it remained paramount.
The establishment of a Wahhabi post in the Baraimi Oasis in 1800 did not long
remain without effect on the affairs of the district known at the present day as
Trucial 'Oman, and in 1804 05 there was a marked increase of lawlessness on the
part of the piratical 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. ; but whether this was due to the direct incitement
of the Wahhabis, or was an indirect result of their interference in local politics,
must be considered a doubtful point. At the end of 1808 Shaikh Sultan-bin-Saqar,
the chief 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. , was deposed by the Wahhabis from his general authority
over the tribe; and in 1809 Husain-bin-'Ali, Shaikh of Rams, who had recently
visited Dara'iyah, was appointed governor, on behalf of the Wahhabis, over the
whole Pirate Coast. In 1808-09 a serious renewal of piracy took place and
symptons of fanaticism were perceptible, but conclusive proofs of Wahhabi
instigation were still wanting; it was stated, however, that Husain-bin-'Ali had
undertaken the usual obligation of a Wahhabi governor to forward to Dara'iyah
one-fifth of the spoils taken in war from k ' heretics " by those over whom he was
placed. In 1809 the Wahhabis consolidated their hold upon the 'Oman promontory
by occupying with Wahhabi garrisons the forts of Fujairah, Bithnah and Khor
Fakkan in Shamaillyah, and in the same year they succeeded in decoying Shaikh
Sultan-bin-Saqar to Dara'iyah, where he was detained under surveillance; but the
Shaikh before long escaped from their custody and made his way through Yaman
to the port of Mokha, whence he returned by sea to Masqat. At the end of the
year, when the piratical port of Ras-al-IChaimah was attacked by a British
armament, it was stated that Mutlaq. the Wahhabi leader at Baraimi, had moved
to the assistance 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. ; but, if he did, he arrived too late. In 1812 piracy
again revived upon the coast subject to 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. ; but the connection ot the
Wahhabis with the outbreak, if they had any, was not clear.
We have already averted to the interference of the Wahhabis in a dynastic
quarrel at Masqat in the year 1805. The result of the struggle there was favourable
to the Wahhabi protege Saiyid Badar, who obtained the chief power and ruled
Masqat from 1805 to 1807; but in the latter year he was assassinated by his cousin
Saiyid Sa'id, Wahhabi influence at Masqat received a severe check, and a garrison
which the Wahhabis had placed at Barkah fled from their post. The new sovereign,
Saiyid Sa'id, professed a favourable disposition towards Ibn-Sa'ud, who continued
to be represented at Masqat by a political agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. and some religious emissaries; but
the Wahhabis were perfectly well aware of the Saiyid s secret hostility to their
influence; and in 1809, after Sa'id had evaded compliance with an order to proceed
in the Wahhabi interest against Kuwait, the Wahhabi general Mutlaq-al-Mutain
was sent to Buraimi with orders to organise and conduct a campaign against him.
It was at this point that the British expedition against Ras-al-Khaimah took place,
designed partly for the chastisement of the Qasimi pirates and partly for the relief
of the ruler of Masqat from the Wahhabi danger; it ended early, in 1810, with the
recovery of the Saiyid's town of Shinas from the grasp of the Wahhabis, by whom
it had been seized; but the effect of the operations was temporary and in the end
probably unfavourable to the interest of Masqat. In 1811 Mutlaq, nothing daunted,
proceeded with his task of subjugating 'Oman; after an unsuccesslul blockade of
Barkah and Matrah, he made himself master of Hisn Samail in the heart of the
Saiyid's dominions; and, having placed a garrison in that fort, he withdrew again
to Buraimi. In 1812 the Saiyid's subjects, aided by a Persian contingent, retook
Hisn Samail; but this success was followed by a severe engagement in the
neighbourhood of Izki, in which the 'Omanis and their allies were completely
worsted. In the same year, or perhaps in 1813, the Wahhabis took a fearful revenge
on Saiyid Sa'id; their forces, accompainied by Turki and Faisal, two sons of the
Wahhabi Amir, devastated the districts of Masqat and Eastern Hajar; and they
encamped for a time in Ja'alan, which they made a base for their destructive raids,
and where they succeeded in permanently converting the Bani Bu 'Ali and the
Bani Rasib, two important local tribes, to Wahhabism. They then returned,
apparently without loss, to their principal post in the Baraimi Oasis.
Later in 1813, Saiyid Sa'id having opened a correspondence with Tusun Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
and undertaken to restore the displaced Shaikh 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. , the Wahhabi
general Mutlaq invaded Batinah in irresistable force and extorted from the ruler ot
Masqat a payment of $40,000. Mutlaq then proceeded to Najd; but, his successor
Ibn-'Azdakah having been murdered, he quickly returned to 'Oman—only however
to meet his death, in November 1813, at the hands of the Hajriyin. His place at
Baraimi was taken by one Ibn-Mazru'.