"دليل الخليج. الجزء الأول. المواد التاريخية والسياسية. ملخص عن شؤون قطر، ١٨٧٣-١٩٠٤." [و‎‎١‎٦] (٩٢/٣١)

all along been to be treated as an independent Chief, and admitted as swch into tbe circle of
Trueial Chiefs under British protection. This privilege could not, however, be conceded with
out setting aside the asserted right of the Abuthabi Chief over Odeid and its inhabitanti. The
latter being the hereditary tribesmen and subjects of Abuthabi, their complete independence
could not be recognized. Under the circumstances, and considering tbe geographical position
of the place, it does not appear to me that the Turkish Government would have the right to
accept the allegiance of aliens residing beyond their frontier, nor do I see how such a tender,
assuming it made, could confer right of jurisdiction in this instance.
In addition to the considerations of a negative description which I have touched on, the
positive claims of the Chiefs of Abuthabi in regard to Odeid must be considered. For more
than a generation the Chiefs ot Abuthabi have claimed, and occasionally exercised, authority
over the place and inhabitants, who according to Arab ideas and custom were the dependents
of the said Chiefs. The rights of the latter seem to have always been recognized by the
British officers in the Gulf, and the same view has, after many years of occasional correspond
ence, been practically approved by Government. It is probable that the Turkish pretensions
lately put forward, at the instance of the local
Txde No. 974 P., dated 7th May 18/7. Sheikhs, are based on ignorance of facts. I as
certained last year that the Governor of Busrah had never even heard the name of Odeid.
As a matter of right, it appears to me plain that the Turkish Government has no valid
claim to Odeid. Viewed as a question of policy, apart from the rights of Abuthabi, I consider
it would be prejudicial to British interests and influence in the Gulf to suffer Turkish rule to
extend to Odeid. The place would probably once more become a resort of pirates, for whose
purposes it is admirably adapted, and some of whom have, since the abandonment of the village,
transferred their base of operations to the vicinity of Katif. Further claims and pretensions
would ensue, extending probably to the adjacent islands, which might be regarded as
pertaining to Odeid, and disorders would multiply in those intricate waters which we should
be debarred from repressing, and which the Turkish local agents and proteges would regard
with indifference/
72. Despatch No. 29-S., dated 11th July 1878 from the Secretary of State
for India called for a report from the Gov-
1878 ' ernment of India in regard to the pro
ceedings of the Resident at Bushire, Captain Wodehouse of the Teazer, and
Zaid-bin-Khalifa, Chief of Abuthabi towards Odeid, a village of the Katar
Coast. Sir A. Layard, His Majesty's Ambassador at Constantinople, writing on
the 28th May, reported that Sadyk Pasha, the Ottoman Minister for Foreign
affairs, had read to him a telegram from the Wali of Basrah, complaining that
Zaid-bin-Kbalifa, with 70 boats and accompanied by an English war steamer
and the British Consul at Bushire, had attacked Odeid, which be described as a
dependency of the Turkish district of Castar (Katar). The inhabitants having
fled, the village was pillaged and destroyed, and all the boats carried off. The
Porte hoped that some explanation would be afforded of this descent upon
Turkish territory. Lord Cranbrook, to whom the papers were referred, declined
to give any detailed expression of opinion until he had consulted the Govern
ment of India, but in the meantime he drew the attention of the Foreign Office
to the correspondence of 1877, in which the India Office recommended that a
discussion with the Forte in regard to the status of Odeid should^ if possible,
be avoided. The reason why the Government of India had been as yet unable
to inform the Secretary of State of their views on this matter, was that Colonel
Boss' original report of the proceedings at Odeid miscarried, and by the time a
duplicate had been obtained, the other despatches from the Secretary of State,
were received. These raised the larger question of Turkish jurisdiction over
the entire Arab littoral, and necessitated further enquiries from the local
officers.
(1; History of Odeid continued- (2) Questions of Turkish jurisdiction
on Aatar coast and suppression of piracies 1878—1881.
73. In replying to the Secretary of State's despatch No. 29, dated the 11th
July 1878, the conclusion arrived at by Government of India in their despatch
No. 127, dated 22nd May 1879 was :—
u That Odeid belongs to the Chief of Abuthabi, with whom the British Government hag
maintained direct treaty relations for many ypars, and that the pretensions of Turkey to claim
the settlement as a dependency of a Turkish district, are vague and without foundation.
It may be true that Sheikh Buttye of Odeid has occasionally hoisted the Turkish flag, that he
has claimed Turkish protection, and that he has latterly paid a small tribute to Bidaa. But
the existence of a separate and independent chiefship at Odeid has never been recognized, and
the act of Sheikh Buttye in establishing a settlement there was an infraction of the prescriptive
territorial rights of Abuthabi, The declaration of the Odeid Sheikh and of his coloney, that