"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎٨‎٦‎٧] (١٧٨٢/١٠٢٢)

867
Bahrain j and this refusal was repeated by the British Resident on a
visit to Qais in May 1841. The technical ground of objection was the
violation which such hostilities would involve of the Restrictive Line
established in 1836. It is possible that the estrangement between the
British authorities and Shaikh ^ Abdullah reacted unfavourably upon the
position of the latter in his own Shaikhdom; and it may have even con
duced to the troubles that now began.
In 1840 ; on the retirement of the Egyptians from Hasa, the inhabi- ^reach^
tants of that province, or some of them, sent one Mushrif to Bahrain shaikh
to propose to Muhammad -bin-KhaUfah-bin-Salman, grand-nephew of the ^J^ 1 '
principal Shaikh of Bahrain, that he should himself assume the Govern- grandnephow
ment of Hasa and protect the people from Khalid, the usurping Amh of ^j u } iamraa( \ >
the Wahhabis. Objections entertained by Shaikh 'Abdullah to this 1840 1842.
proposal led to a violent difference of opinion between Shaikh Muham
mad and himself, which was temporarily smoothed over by a hollow
reconciliation; but a little later, after offering his seivices to the
British Government and soliciting their assistance against his grand-
uncle, Shaikh Muhammad left Bahrain for Qatar, where he ingratiated
himself with the inhabitants and set on foot a vexatious opposition to
his aged relation. The sons of Shaikh 'Abdullah, also, had now provided
themselves with retinues of 100 to 300 desperadoes each, and openly
defied their father's authority; anarchy and confusion had overspread
the whole Shaikhdom ; and the trade of Bahrain quickly declined to little
more than a half of what it had been only a few years before. In 1842,
when Khalid, the ex-Amir of the Wahhabis, paid a visit to Qatar and
Bahrain, Shaikh 'Abdullah and Shaikh Muhammad had apparently
exchanged places, for the former was then at Khor Hassan on the
mainland and the latter in Bahrain.
Such was the position of affairs when an open conflict was suddenly ^gkaijih
precipitated by an attempt on the part of Shaikh Muhammad to prevent Muhammad
the marriage of a young girl, belonging to Muharraq town, with Ahmad, 'Abdullah,
a son of Shaikh 'Abdullah. The old chief came over from Qatar to 1842.
arrange a settlement; but, having failed in his endeavours, he took up
the cause of his son. Both factions then began to enlist fighting men,
chieflv Bedouins who poured over from the mainland in the hope
of plunder. Muharraq was the headquarters of Shaikh Abdullah,
Manamah that of Shaikh Muhammad, and the possession of a superioi
marine force enabled Shaikh 'Abdullah to blockade effectually the har
bour of his antagonist. Indecisive skirmishes followed, in which Di'aij,
a brother of Shaikh Muhammad, was killed upon the one side, and
64 4.