'Extracts from Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia by J G Lorimer CIE, Indian Civil Service' [‎56r] (116/180)

of Faisal and continued, until his death in 1867, to pay a yearly visit to Riyadh,
where he was accustomed to deliver his tribute of horses in person. About 1848,
however, Qaslm, which had hitherto been directly dependent upon the Wahhabi
Amir, appears to have obtained the protection of the Shammar chief as a sort
of intermediate overlord.
About 1851, as we have seen, the Amir Faisal maintained an agent at Kuwait; Relations
and it was ascertained that in 1863 his relations with that place were friendly,
although no tribute was paid him by the Shaikh. 1843-65.
When Faisal came to the throne of Najd, a contest between 'Abdullah and Relations
Muhammad, the two rival Shaikhs of Bahrain, was in progress. The Amir availed ®';j hrain
himself of their mutual opposition to assert his own authority; and, but for the 184J_65 -
opposition of the British Government, who had determined to confine Wahhabi
influence to the mainland, it is not improbable that he would have succeeded in
reducing the Bahrain Shaikh to a position of strict dependence on himself.
The Amir at first sided with the younger claimant, Muhammad-bin-Khallfah, 1843-44.
who had lately been driven out by 'Abdullah-bin-Ah mad; and, when the latter
was in his turn displaced, it was principally by a Wahhabi force that, early in 1844,
he was deprived of the fort of Dammam, his last remaining possession, of which
the Wahhabi Amir considered himself to be the rightful owner.
For some time after this the Wahhabis, having achieved their principal object 1845-47.
in the recovery of Dammam, remained quiescent; but in 1845, on Muhammad-
bin-Khalifah becoming intractable and refusing to pay an annual tribute with
arrears to which he had agreed on the fall of Dammam, 'Abdullah-bin-Sa'id, the
Wahhabi governor of Qatif, began to arrange an attack on Bahrain, and
Muhammad, anticipating his designs, placed the Wahhabi coast under blockade.
An invasion of Bahrain from Hasa by a stratagem was then planned by the ex-Shaikh
'Abdullah and the Wahhabi governor of Qatif; but it miscarried, when on the
point of execution, through the scheme of action becoming known in Bahrain. In
1846 two collisions between Wahhabi and Bahrain forces occurred on the mainland
and each side was able to boast of one victory. At length, in August 1847, the
Shaikh of Bahrain having been weakened by the desertion of some of the Bani
Khalid from his side, terms were arranged whereby the Wahhabi Amir undertook
to withdraw his active support from the ex-Shaikh, and the Shaikh in return
engaged to pay $4,000 a year to the Wahhabis as Zakat.
In 1850 relations between Shaikh Muhammad and the Amir Faisal again 1850-51.
became strained, in consequence of the punishment by the Wahhabi ruler of one
of his own envoys to whom the Shaikh had given a flattering welcome, and of a
cold reception which Muhammad had subsequently accorded to a son of Sa'ad-
bin-Mutlaq, the Wahhabi agent in Oman. In 1851 the Amir arrived in person
in the neighbourhood of Qatar, seduced the inhabitants of the principal places in
that promontory from their allegiance to Bahrain, and demanded an extravagant
increase in the Bahrain tribute, of which payment had probably been withheld
altogether. Muhammad thereupon blockaded the Hasa coast; but the prepara
tions of the Wahhabis, who were now joined by the sons of the late ex-Shaikh,
had assumed formidable proportions; and it is probable that the Shaikh was
only saved from destruction by the appearance of a British squadron which the
Resident sent for the protection of the islands. In July 1851 peace was again
arranged by the efforts of the Shaikh of Abu Dhabi; but secretly tension continued;
and the Wahhabi Amir established the sons of the late ex-Shaikh of Bahrain at
Dammam.
After these events, particularly in 1855-56, some correspondence in regard 1855-56.
to Bahrain took place between the Wahhabi Amir and the Bnshehr Political
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. ; the Amir claimed the right to chastise at pleasure his dependent, the
Shaikh of Bahrain; and the warning returned by the British representative under
the authority of the Government of India, that no interference with Bahrain would
be permitted, caused him intense irritation and dissatisfaction.
In 1859 the Amir, who alleged, and perhaps not without truth, that the Shaikh 1859.
of Bahrain was inciting the tribes of Hasa to hostile action against his subjects,
having disregarded the warnings of the Resident and the presence of a British
corvette off his coast, caused preparations to be made by his governor of Qatif,
assisted by a son of the late ex-Shaikh of Bahrain, for a serious invasion ot the
islands. A British squadron was then despatched to threaten Dammam; and, in
the result, the enterprise collapsed, and the Wahhabi official even apologised to
the British commander for his proceedings. This successful act of intervention
greatly increased the bitterness of Faisal against the British Government and their
representatives.
48533 p 2