'Extracts from Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia by J G Lorimer CIE, Indian Civil Service' [‎56v] (117/180)

102
1861.
Relations
with Trucial
'Oman,
1843-65.
1845.
1848.
1850-51
1852-53.
1854-55.
In 1861 the Shaikh of Bahrain assumed the offensive against the Wahhabi
Amir without first consulting the British Resident. He blockaded the Wahhabi
ports and sent six war vessels to cruise against Dammam; and only by most stringent
measures, amounting to compulsion, could he be induced by his British advisers
to discontinue his unwarrantable action. It was now clear, however, that
tranquillity in Bahrain waters could only be restored by the removal of the sons of
the late ex-Shaikh from Dammam; and this was accordingly effected, by British
naval action, in November 1861. The dislodgment of these disturbers of the peace
from their stronghold was reported to have been not altogether unpleasing to the
local Wahhabi officials in Qatif, who could not themselves have done what was
required without committing a breach of Arab hospitality.
Incidentally we may remark that, but for the vigilance with which the
independence of Bahrain was watched over by the British Government during this
period, the principality might have become attached to Hasa and afterwards have
passed with that province into the possession of the Turks.
In Trucial 'Oman, during the whole of this period, the Wahhabis were extremely
active. In July 1843 letters and messengers from the Amir reached the principal
Shaikhs of that region, informing them that at the end of the hot weather the
Wahhabi agent Sa'ad-bin-Mutlaq would arrive with troops to subdue the country;
and all the chiefs, except those of Dibai and the Baraimi Oasis, appear to have
professed in reply their satisfaction at the prospect.
Early in 1845 Sa'ad-bin-Mutlaq appeared in Baraimi with a small force. He
was, apparently, by no means confident of success; but the surrounding tribes at
first displayed considerable enthusiasm for the Wahhabi cause, and he was
encouraged to form designs of occupying Dhank and Dhaid, and even Zora upon
the coast. His arrogance and extortions, however, quickly alienated and disgusted
most of his supporters; and his direct communications with Najd were then cut,
his messengers beaten and insulted, and complaints against him made to the
Wahhabi Amir. At one time it appeared probable that Sa'ad would be visited
with his master's displeasure; but, by one means or another, he succeeded in
justifying his conduct and in retaining his post. A remittance of treasure which he
made by sea to Hasa no doubt contributed to restore him to favour.
In May 1848 the Baraimi forts were captured by the Shaikh of Abu Dhabi,
assisted by the ruler of the Sohar principality and by the Na'im and Dhawahir
tribes; and Sa'ad-bin-Mutlaq, who had been absent when the attack began, took
refuge with the Shaikh of Sharjah. Tribal jealousy then came into play, and the
Shaikhs of Trucial 'Oman as a whole turned against the Shaikh of Abu Dhabi; but
the latter defied the combination against him and continued to hold Baraimi until
February 1849, when he voluntarily restored it to the Wahhabis at the intercession
of an envoy sent by the Sharif of Makkah.
In March 1850 the Shaikh of Abu Dhabi, after communication with the regent
of the Oman Sultanate, again attacked the Wahhabis in Baraimi, but this time he
failed to make any impression; and an assault on the place, made in the following
November by a combination of the Bani Yas, Qawassim and Na'im, was equally
unsuccessful. In 1851 the Shaikhs of Abu Dhabi and Sharjah formed an alliance
against the Wahhabis; but nothing came of it.
At the end of 1852 'Abdullah, the son of the Wahhabi Amir, arrived in Baraimi;
but his proceedings there, as will be seen in the next section, had reference chiefly
to the 'Oman Sultanate. I he chiefs of Trucial 'Oman, however, except the Shaikh
of Dibai, who avoided waiting on him in person, and the Shaikh of Abu Dhabi, who
did his best to dissuade him from aggression to the eastwards, visited Baraimi and
fawned upon him in a servile manner.
A certain Ahmad-as-Sadairi was appointed about this time to the Wahhabi
agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. in Baraimi, in succession to Sa'ad-bin-Mutlaq. In 1854 this individual
appeared to be exerting himself to restrain the Shaikhs of Trucial 'Oman from
mutual aggressions and to curb the license of the Bedouins; but in 1855 his activities
took a mischievous turn, and it was found that he was scheming to obtain possession
of the seaboard village of Hamriyah. In 1865 the Wahhabis were represented at
Baraimi by 1 urki-bin-Ahmad, probably a son of Ahmad-as-Sadairi, but his
attention was directed chiefly to the affairs of the 'Oman Sultanate.
In 1855, in correspondence with the British Resident at Bushehr, the Amir
Faisal described his mission in Trucial 'Oman as that of a benefactor by whom the
savage tribes of the interior were restrained from preying upon and slaughtering
the helpless populations of the coast.