"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎٨‎١‎٠] (١٧٨٢/٩٦٥)

810
political rela
tions with
the Shaikh of
Dohah. 1881-
82.
Prom ise by
Shaikh J asim
to adhere to
the Agree
ment of
1868.
later of projects on the part of Jasim himself to proceed by sea against
the ■'Ajman tribe near Qatif and the Qubaisat section of the Bani Yas,
a question arose as to the degree of interference which might still with
propriety be exercised by the British Government in such matters in
Qatar ; in each of the cases mentioned, it should be added, Shaikh Jasim
had been advised by the British authorities in the Gulf to refrain from
action and had complied with their advice. The Government of India,
recognising that the agreement made in 18G8 with Shaikh Jasim's
father, by which Shaikh Muhammad undertook not tu make war by sea,
could hardly, on account of its personal character and the subsequent
assumption by the Turks of authority at Dohah, be regarded as binding
on Shaikh Jasim, referred the point to Her Majesty's Government,
whose orders, issued early in 1882, were to the effect that the Shaikh,
though he had accepted the position of an Ottoman dependent on land,
should be encouraged to maintain close and direct relations with the
officers of the Government of India and to defer to them, as he appeared
inclined to do, in all matters affecting the peace of the seas. As regards
the course to be followed in event of the Shaikh of Dohah or any other
Shaikh similarly situated putting to sea with hostile intentions, either
without reference to or in disregard of I he warnings of the British
Resident, Her Majesty's Government were unable to give the Govern
ment of India any precise instructions; they held that it was for the Gov
ernment of India to decide, upon general considerations of expediency,
whether coercion should be employed in any individual case. It had been
intimated to the Porte in July 1881, at the conclusion of the discussions
mentioned in the last paragraph, that, as they declined to agree to a joint
police of the seas, Her Majesty's Government were obliged to under
take that duty single-handed " without reference to the claims of the
Sultan to territorial jurisdiction in those waters/' The commanders of
British cruisers in the Gulf were accordingly empowered to act as mi-ht
be necessary to prevent or punish disturbances of the peace at sea
avoiding, however, the raising of needless questions with Turkish authori
ties where such might exist, and unnecessary encroachment upon the
jurisdiction of the Sultan, wherever the same might be effectually estab
lished on the coast to the north of 'Odaid.
About the same time Colonel Ross, the British Political Resident
proposed that Shaikh Jasim, whose character and conduct were as un
satisfactory as ever, should be compelled to acknowledge in writing the
continued validity of the Agreement signed by his father in 186S^ bu
the Government of India, being of opinion that proceedings to this end