"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎٨‎٠‎١] (١٧٨٢/٩٥٦)

801
need not therefore be mentioned in tliis place ; suffice it to say that the
towns of Dohah and Wakrah were, at the end of 1867^ temporarily
blotted out of existence, the houses being dismantled and the inhabitants
deported, and that the damage inflicted was estimated to amount to over
$2,00,000. In June 1868, after an unsuccessful appeal for redress to
the Wahhabi Amir, the Qatar tribes which had suffered embarked
on a retaliatory expedition against Bahrain; but they did not obtain
any decided success.
The intervention of the British political authorities in the Gulf,
though considerably delayed by circumstances over which they had no
control, in the end produced a strong effect, as is related in the history
of Bahrain. The results were most conspicuous in Bahrain, where one
Shaikh was deposed and another installed ; but they extended also to
Qatar, which Colonel Pelly, leaving Bahrain early in Septembei
1868, immediately visited with H.M.S. "Vigilant," the gunboat
u Hugh Rose^ and the steamer " Sind. " At Wakrah the principal
Shaikhs of Qatar had an interview with the Resident on board ship
and were informed that they had incurred the severe displeasure of
Government by their expedition against Bahrain ; their plea that the
expedition was merely retaliatory was accepted, however, in partial
extenuation of the irregularity committed ; and, as related elsewhere,*
a considerable amount of redress was ultimately obtained for them from
the Shaikhs of Bahrain and Abu Dhabi.
An Agreement, dated the 12th of September 1868, was then obtained
from Muhammad-bin-Thani of the Al Thani, the most influential man in
the whole promontory, whereby he undertook to return to Dohah, which
he had forsaken, and to reside peaceably there ; never to put to sea with
hostile intent, but instead to refer all his disputes with his neighbours
for settlement by the British Resident ; not to assist the ex-Shaikh
of Bahrain, but on the contrary to hand him over to the Resident, should
he fall into his power ; and, lastly, to maintain with the new Shaikh
of Bahrain the same relations as had existed between himself and the
former Shaikhs of those islands, submitting for decision by the Resident
any differences of opinion that might arise in regard to matters such as
tribute* The tribute mentioned may have been the sum which was
payable by the Shaikh of Bahrain on account of Qatar to the Wahhabi
Amir.
British in
tervention
and proceed
ings at Wak
rah, 1868.
Agreement
by the Al
Thfini Shaikh
of Qatar,
12th Septem
ber 1868.
* Vide page 891
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