'ملف رقم 19/12 البحرين، ملخص شؤون الزبارة لعام ١٨٩٥' [و‎‎٥‎٨] (٢٣٠/١٢١)

I am sending you Corporal Haji Abdullah, and my desire is that you
ghould inform me of your reasons and intentions. If you are desirous of
obtaining; replies, it is not necessary to come in a man-of-war and enter (the
waters of) Zobarah.
Zobarah is a part of Katr and is the property of the Turkish Government
and our Sultan Abdul Hamad Khan.
If you desire to seize Sultan-bin-Mohamed and take him on board, you
have no right to do so, and regarding your contention in that the Albin-Ali
are subjects"to Shaikh Esa-bin-Ali, I have true information that they are of
the inhabitants of Katr from ancient days, from grandfather to son.
Your vessel should not remain in the harbour of Zobarah .and, may it
please God, that on the receipt of my letter to you, you will depart.
I shall refer to my Government and you should refer to yours. You
have taken those vessels which were in the harbour, in some of which there
are (some) pearls, shells, etc. I do not understand your desires {i .e., actions),
and this is contrary to (all) laws and usages ; and if you have any reason for
the same, negotiate with me and receive my reply and prevent your commit
ting these injustices. If any of them {i.e.) boats) disappear and anything lost
therefrom, you are answerable.
At present Sultan is sick and is unable to send you a reply; let this be
your reply.
You have no right to act contrary to custom, and on your receiving this
letter you should inform me what are your intentions.
Dated Zobarah, the 8th July 1895.
p rom j. C. Gaskin , Esq, Extra Assistant to the Political Resident, in the
Persian Gulf,
To— Captain J. H. Pelly, R .N., H. M. S. Sphinx.
I have the honour to report that in compliance with your request I pro
ceeded to Zobarah, taking with me the Residency Agent of Bahrein and Abdul
Rahman -bin-Abdul Wahab, Vizier to the Chief of Bahrein, and beg to give, in
detail, all that took place on that occasion.
On our arrival at the town of Zobarah I ordered your Interpreter to go and
ascertain the locality of Shaikh Sultan-bin -Mahomed-bin-Salamah's residence,
and to inform Shaikh Sultan to the effect that I was the bearer of a letter from
you, which I desired to deliver to him personally.
When the Interpreter landed he was met by two Turkish soldiers, one of
whom is a Corporal in that service. They prevented the Interpreter to hold
any communication with the natives, and told him that Shaikh Sultan^was in
a state unfit to receive any one, and Shaikh Sultan s son, together ^ ith Khalifah
bin-Mubarak, one of the headmen of the Albm-Ali, were with the 1 urkish-
Mudir; he therefore must go to the Mudir's quarters if he desired to meet
them.
Anticipating that some unnecessary delay may be caused by the intrigue
of the Mudir, we landed and went direct to the hut in which Shaikh Sultan
receives visitors. On the way there we were met by the two soldiers, who
informed us that the Mudir desired us to go to him as we had no business to
interview any one prior to visiting him and informing him of the cause of our
presence in Zobarah. I requested the Corporal to convey my _ compliments to
the Mudir and inform him that as his presence in Zobarah is not recognised,
there was no necessity of my calling upon him I also ordered the Interpreter
to go to the Mudir's quarters and inform Shaikh Sultan's son that I desired
him to come to me.
The Interpreter, finding only Khalifab -bin-Muharak with the Mudir, con
veyed my message to him, with which message Khahfah -bin-Mubarak com-
plied. g