"دليل الخليج. الجزء الأول. المواد التاريخية والسياسية. ملخص عن التوسع التركي على السواحل العربية للخليج العربي وشؤون الأحساء والقطيف" [‎١‎١] (١٦٠/٢٣)

11
his vessels to his own waters, and he was bound by treaty, in 1861, to refrain
from such acts of aggression in future. By the action of the British squadron
towards Damaum the same year, the refugee Sheikh Mahommed- bin-Abdullah
was forced to quit that place.
45. These strong measures elicited a remonstrance from the Turkish Gov-
Turkish Protest against British pro- ernor (general of Baghdad. He wanted to
ceedings, I8e2. know by what right we had bombarded
Damau, a place which, as lying within the territory of " Feysal Beg, the
Kaunmakam of Nejd," was " part of the hereditary dominions of the Sultan."
To which Her Britannic Majesty's Consul-General at Baghdad replied that we
had hitherto " always maintained direct relations with Amir Eeysal as well as
witii all the Chiefs and Principalities situated on the shores of the, Per>ian Gulf";
that our pacific policy in the Gulf was well known, and that in the prosecution
of that policy we " had never acknowledged the authority or jurisdiction of
anv other State—an authority and jurisdiction moreover which assuredly the
Porte neither does exercise nor has ever exercised in that quarter " In report-
ino- this correspondence to Her Britannic Majesty's Ambassador at Constanti
nople the Consul-General wrote as follows :—
" Althouch it may not be denied that, since the Egyptian invasion of Nejd in 1839-40,
Amir Fey sal has remained tributary to the Turkish authorities of Mecca, his tribute being
r^arded probably as an offering to the head of the religion, it is certain that the Poite has
never exercised any jurisdiction, or attempted to extend its authority over that country.
Were it otherwi-e, w^re a Turkish administration established capable of cor.trolling the
i rovince, restraining the Wahabis and their dependants from the piratical practic3s for which
they were once so notorious, and fimlly of preventing or g ving satisfaction for any breach of
international law, such a etate of things might be as conducive to good order, as it would be
certainly less burdensome-to the British Government than the maritime surveillance, which,
in the interests of commerce, the British Government is now compelled to maintain in the
Persian Gulf. But in point of fact, the Porte has not the power In punish or coerce its tribu
tary ; not a single Turkish functionary exists in the country ; and to judge from my own
experience of the duties of the British Resident in the Persian Gulf, I feel assured that, were
the relations of that officer with the Amir of Nejd to be disturbed in a manner to withdraw
the Wahabi Coast from his immediate supervision, the effect must be highly prejudicial to the
policy which has hitherto obtained under the orders and sanction of Her Majesty's Indian ^
Government in that quarter."
46. In August of 1865 a combined force of Wahabis and Jenebah tribe
British war against Amir Fey sal, attacked and plundered the Oman port of
a. d. 1865. Soor, during which affair certain British
subject were sufferers. A remonstrance was accordingly addressed to the
Wahabi Amir, which failina to elicit satisfaction, a demonstration was made
by H. M. S. Highflyer off Katif and Demau. At the latter place the opera
tions were unsuccessful and unfavourable, but the forts of Soor were destroyed
and the Jenebah tribe punished. Before further measures could be taken, the
old Amir Peysal-bin-Turki died. Por some years before his death he had
been incapacitated for work by blindness and feebleness, and the power had
been virtually exercised by his son 'Abdullah, who now succeeded as Amir.
47. Abdullah-bin-Peysal lost no time in sending an agent named Mahom-
ed-bin-Abdullah-bin-Manah on a mis-
jD Xo6o •
sion to Bushire charged with friendly over
tures to the British representative, and to convey the assurances of the new
Amir to the British Government that he would pay due regard to British in
terests in future. The Amir engaged to abstain from attacking Arab States in
friendly alliance with the British Government, and to content himself with
receipt of the customary tribute from the Maskat State. These assurances
having been accepted by the British Government, no further action in reference
to past offences was taken.
48.-A. One of the grounds, on whicb the Porte based its claim to sovereignty
, , ^ over the Arabian Peninsula was ex-
Obsolete title of award of Arabia by , . , . , i „ +1 ^
an Abbaside Caliph to the Porte. plained m a memorandum drawn by the
Moore's Precis. Bev. Mr. Badger, of the conversation
secret E., August 1883, Nos. 221-225. which that gentleman had in Paris with
M. de Kemusat, the French Minister for Eoreign Affairs and Server Pasha, then