"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎٨‎٩‎٣] (١٧٨٢/١٠٤٨)

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the imprisoned Bedouin ^nd the headmen of Qatar apologising to the
Shaikh for their behaviour; but on the part of the ruler of Bahrain
the proceedings^were merely a blind to cover preparations for revenge.
Jasim-bin-Muhammad, one of the Al Thani Shaikhs of Dohah
whose influence afterwards became paramount iv. Qatar, having been
invited to Bahrain for the purpose of making a perinanent arrangement
in regard to the administration of the promontory, was on his arrival
treacherously cast into prison ; and no sooner had this capture been
effected than Shaikh Muhammad despatched a fleet of 24 boats,
carrying 500 men, under the command of his brother 'All, and a land
force of 200 men under Shaikh Ahmad, his agent, to punish the people
of Dohah and Wakrah. At the same time he sought assistance from
the Shaikhs of Dibai and Abu Dhabi; and the latter, disregarding
the advice of the British Agent at Sharjah, sent about 2,000 armed
men in 70 boats to the Qatar coast; but the Shaikh of Dibai, with
greater prudence declined to join. The Abu Dhabi fleet was the first
to arrive on Qatar, and succeeded in pacifying the suspicions of the inhabit
ants until the arrival of the Bahrain armament, by which about
40 vessels belonging to Qatar had been captured on the way
over. The towns of Dohah and Wakrah were then sacked by the allied
forces, even the rafters and doors of the houses being removed; and
the inhabitants, who had been ordered to go forth and settle elsewhere,
were plundered, when they tried to obey, of such possessions as remained
to them. A number of the people were deported, and most of those
who were left then voluntarily dispersed and sought asylum at various
places on the coasts of Arabia and Persia. These events took place in
October 1867. The damage inflicted on the people of Qatar was
estimated at over §1200,000.
The victims of this treacherous outrage immediately appealed for
redress to the A\ahhabi Amir, who maintained a claim to authority over
Qatar, and it was soon reported that he had received their representa
tions sympathetically and had assured them that, " as his intentions
and those of the British Government coincided," no further harm should
befall them from the direction of the sea, A demand by the
Amir for the return of the spoil taken and for the repatriation of the
exiles was flouted, however, by the Shaikh of Bahrain, and led only to
the deportation afresh of certain Qatari families who had meanwhile
been allowed to return to their homes. Instructions were then issued
by the Wahhabi Amir to his representative in Hasa to prepare for an
attack on Bahrain ; but, beyond the plunder of some Bahrain subjects
by a tribe]of the Hasa coast, no visible results followed.