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'File 9/50 (B 16) The Debai Incident' [48r] (106/492)
The record is made up of 1 volume (238 folios). It was created in 25 Dec 1910-7 Aug 1912. It was written in English and Arabic. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
49
Under any circumstances it was only intended to demolish the fort and
then some of the outlying houses, sufficiently to demonstrate the power of
modern guns. Fire was only to he continued for ahout ten minutes and then
to cease for a period in order to give them every chance of coming in, our
whole object being to do as little damage as possible with the achievement of
autli the object in view. After a short time we anticipated that the populace
eapjin would get used to the presence of the British Agent, and he could then be left
with a strong guard which could gradually be reduced; the more quickly if
1 Sl) jj a wireless station be created.
oitlj 6. The Government of India consider an occasional vi
esanj Consul in one of His Majesty's Ships will he sufficient for the pr sent.
tain I shall be discussinsc the question of the need for a British Agent at Debai
on its general merits in a later paragraph, and beg to defer my remarks on
^1 this point until then.
mom, 7. A situation has been created
ithojij dangerous development', and the
tionj] hining has to be guarded against, —I do not think it is at all the
case in fact that a dangerous situation has been created on the coast
e j l generally. I have close personal acquaintance with all the Shaikhs indi
vidually. Shargah and Umm-el-Kawain displayed no more than a detached
,, interest in what had happened, accompanied by the expression of a some
i friendly regret that the Shaikh of Debai had fallen out with Government.
!I1 2J They both gave their effective co-operation. Bas-el-Khaima has been most
w friendly to His Majesty's ships as also has Umm-el-Kawain. Among them-
n p selves the Shaikhs' interests and tribes are quite distinct, and I do not at present
see the least grounds to apprehend any combination. On the contrary, I hope
that the action taken so far as the
Trucial Coast
A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates.
is concerned will have a
salutary effect. In this connection I may add that wireless reports from the
coast received up to date show that the position is quite satisfactory.
8. The Shaikhs and their peop
^ 51 Hfl 1
' have no intention of weakening their
ing arms for their own use —There is, I am confident, no misapprehension
among them on this score. The above facts were specifically reiterated
to the three Shaikhs above mentioned when present at Bebai. They
were well aware of them and gratefully acknowledged them. Up to
ml quite recently I have been dealing with applications from them for permits
ion if ; for the passage of a few arms for their own use, and they do not hesitate
ifem to make them or I to grant them in reason.
9. The object of our action on
ii-1 arms to Petsia in which course the British Government are "acting as
Agents to the Persian Government and at their request." —I venture with
eyitj the highest respect to ask the Government of India to consider whether
primi it is correct vis-a-vis the Trucial Shaikhs to say that we are acting as
aV es far as their coast is concerned as "Agents for the Persian Government"
point or at their request ?
jniifi We have no delegation from the Persian Government to act for them in
Jiattl the territorial waters of the Trucial Shaikhs. I submit that in those waters
we are acting as Agents of the Shaikhs themselves, in their interests
Sbatf and in our own, in order to prevent arms going through Persia
peaif to arm the tribesmen on both sides of our
North-West Frontier
Region of British India bordering Afghanistan.
,
tlie c As protecting Power we have decided to take their delegation of authority for
[ biitf granted and they fully recognise the position. So far as they know we are
^jjonii acting in defence of our own vital interests and it is on that understanding that
ia teft I have repeatedly impressed upon them their obligation to cooperate with us,
| 01fe [s and I consequently submit any communication to them in the sense of the
0( [ at concluding sentence of your telegram is in any case inexpedient and in fact
■jj-dft unnecessary.
roiii' What 1 have understood to be the position as above described was again
\\.0 impressed on the Shaikhs of Debai, Umm-el-Kawain and Shargah and at our
forcti recent interview with them at Debai, and I feel confident that they are under
majoii no misapprehension in regard thereto.
About this item
- Content
This file contains reports and correspondence relating to an attack on British soldiers by Arab inhabitants of Dubai. The reports and correspondence are mainly between Lieutenant-Colonel P.Z. Cox ( Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and His British Majesty's Consul General), The Secretary to the Government of India in the Foreign Department at Calcutta and Sheikh Butti-bin-Soheil (Chief of Dubai) and discuss the reparation terms demanded by the British.
The file includes a naval report of the landing at Dubai by armed British soldiers and seamen led by Major Heriot of the Royal Marines Light Infantry, dated 25 December 1910, together with two pencil sketch maps of Dubai drawn from memory, showing buildings, the shore line, military positions and direction of fire during the attack, dated 26 December 1910 (folios 18-25).
The file also includes several letters in Arabic, mainly from Sheikh Butti of Dubai to Colonel Cox, together with English translations. Among them is a witness statement containing an account of the incident, together with the signatures and seals of 83 principal residents of Dubai attesting to its veracity, dated 5 January 1911 (folio 60).
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (238 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers in the file are arranged chronologically. There is a rough handwritten subject index on the inside of the front cover.
- Physical characteristics
There are two different foliation sequences in the file.
Original foliation sequence: every folio in the file, except two folios at the start and end of the file, have been numbered sequentially in the top right hand corner, starting at the front of the file. Folios 1 to 115 are numbered in pencil, folios 116 to 197 in red crayon and folios 198 to 241 in blue crayon.
Second foliation sequence: every folio in the file has been numbered sequentially in pencil, in the top right hand corner, starting at the front of the file.
- Written in
- English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/1/235
- Title
- 'File 9/50 (B 16) The Debai Incident'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 1r:12v, 13v:34v, 36r:38v, 38av, 38bv, 39r:53v, 54v:66v, 68r:73r, 74v:83v, 84v:93v, 95v:107v, 108v:139v, 140v:164v, 166v:170v, 171v, 172v:178v, 179v:182v, 183v, 184v:194v, 196r:216v, 218r:238v, i-r:i-v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence