"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎٢‎١‎٠] (١٧٨٢/٣٥٣)

210
Attack by the
Sultan of
'Oman upon
Baliraiu anil
resulting
disturbances
at sea in the
Persian Gulf.
1828-29.
Rebellion in
Qatar
against the
authority of
the Shaikh
of Bahrain,
1835.
The first
Maritime
Truce, 1835,
and lleBtric-
In the autumn of 1828 the Sultan of 'Oman, unassisted on this occasion
oithor by the Wahhabis or by the Persians, but accompanied by a conting
ent of Bani Yas from A.bu Dhabi, made a serious attempt to reduce the
Shaikhs of Bahrain, who had long since repudiated the position of depend
ence on Masqat accepted by them iu ISiJO. The Al Khalifah, however,
presented a firm front to Saiyid Sard's attack and repulsed it with a loss to
the invaders, among- whom the Bani Yas were afterwards alleged to have
acted treacherously towards their allies, of two vessels and about
500 men.
The extent to which the powers of the Persian Gulf now depended
upon British protection against one another in maritime matters was
illustrated by a complaint which the senior Shaikh of Bahrain, as a party
to the General Treaty of Peace, immediately brought against the Shaikh
of Abu Dhabi, who was also a signatory, in respect of the Sultan of
'Oman's descent upon Bahrain. He was informed in reply that the incid
ent must be regarded as one of legitimate warfare and therefore as not com
ing within the scope of the Treaty ; and the result was the equipment by
him of a fleet for the purpose of making reprisals upon the Sultan of 'Oman.
As was common in such circumstances, whether from excitement or through
mistake, actions practically indistinguishable from piracy followed, the
principal being the plundering and sinking of a neutral Murbat vessel by
the 'Atbi squadron; and it became necessary for the Resident to enforce,
by means of armed demonstration, the payment of partial compensation by
the Shaikh of Bahrain to the sufferers in the case of the Murbat vessel.
In 1829, not without pressure applied to the Shaikhs of Bahrain by the
British Resident, a reconciliation took place between them and the Sultan
of 'Oman, of which a principal condition was the recognition by Saiyid
Sa'id of the independence of Bahrain.
Another event by which the security of the Gulf was considerably
endangered occurred in 1835, when the people of Huwailah in Qatar, then
a dependency of Bahrain, rebelled and joined with some disaffected mem
bers of the Bahrain ruling family and a number of Wahhabi subjects m
committing maritime irregularities. The immediate consequence was the
secession of a body of Al Bin -"Ali and Al Bii 'Ainain tribesmen, under a
daring and energetic leader named 'Isa-bin-Tarif, to Abu Dhabi
where they came for the time being, under the restrictions of the General
Treaty of Peace.
Ihe General Treaty of Peace of 1820, while it prohibited "plunder
and piracy'"' at sea, was no bar to regular naval hostilities and it was