'Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf. Vol I. Historical. Part IA & IB. J G Lorimer. 1915' [‎624] (767/1782)

024
Middle period, 1864-1868.
History of
the British
telegraph
occupation,
February
1864 to
D^crmber
1868.
Discupsion*
as to the own
ership of the
Ruus-al-Jib5l
district,
1864.
At this juncture affairs in a part of Euus-al-Jibal were brought,
for a time, under the immediate notice of the British political authorities,
through the establishment by the Indo-European Telegraph Department
of a short land line across the isthmus of Maqlab, between the Malcolm
and Elphmstone Inlets, and of a telegraph station on an island in the
latter.
The telegraph cable, brought from Gwadar, was landed on the 9t^
of February 1861 on the Maqlab isthmus, where Colonel Disbrowe,
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. at Masqat, had spent a fortnight of the preceding
month in establishing relations with the people of the country. Much
trouble was experienced in dealing with the uncivilised Dhahuriyin,
especially of the two neighbouring villages of Habalain and Maqaqah;
quarrels arose among the indigenes themselves, and between them and the
workmen of the construction party; honest labour at a fair price was
not to be obtained; telegraph stores were pilfered; and finally an
intimidating, or more truly a begging letter was received from " all the
Bedouins/' of which the key-note was " Give us something, or your
abode is not safe." No material assistance was lent by the Sultan
of'Oman, though he asserted the country to be under his jurisdiction;
but the practical difficulties of the situation were eventually overcome
by the personal influence of the British officers. Although no actual
danger was apprehended. Colonel Disbrowe considered that the
presence of a vessel of war for two or three months would have a good
effect; and the gunboat " Hugh Rose" was accordingly sent from Bombay
to protect, for a time, the newly established telegraph station and its
occupants. The cable-laying ships and main part of the telegraph party
proceeded on their way to Bushehr about the middle of March.
For nearly four years, notwithstanding the drawbacks of the place,
the telegraph station in Elphinstone Inlet was maintained; but at length,
in December 1868, the office was transferred to .Tashk on the Persian
coast. The heat in Elphinstone Inlet was excessive; and the insolence
of the natives, notwithstanding the periodical gifts which their chiefs
received, had been frequently such as to make the presence of a gunboat
necessary.
In 1864, in connection with the operations, and with
regard particularly to control of the natives and protection of
the telegraph station, the question of the ownership of Ruus-al-Jibal
was raised, and was found to present considerable difficulties. In January
1864 Colonel Disbrowe, who had hitherto assumed that the district belonged
to the Oman Sultanate, was informed by Sulaiman, Shaikh of the
\illage, that the people of Habalain owned allegiance to the Qasimi
Shaikh of Sharjah; and the 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. , though the statement
was not satisfactorily corroborated and was on the contrary denied by a
Wali whom the Sultan then maintained at Khasab, considered the point to