"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎٩‎٨‎٨] (١٧٨٢/١١٤٣)

18«7.
1888.
Discussions
regarding
Piracy
between the
British
Government
and the
Porte, 1883-
89.
988
feeling of insecurity wa? diffused along the coast. A Turkish gov*
ernment steamer was anchored at Qatif when these outrages occurred,
yet no attempt was made by the Turkish authorities to prevent them or
to punish the malefactors.
In 1887 there was a large crop of uffences. On the 1st of August a
Bahrain boat was taken by Bani Hajir and robbed to the amount of
Rs. 645 ; in July a Kuwait fishing boat was plundered off Ras Tanurah
of property worth $400, four of the crew being wounded ; in September
a boat belonging to a brother of the Shaikh of Bahrain was looted
by J30 Bedouins, in Qatif harbour, of every article of value ; on the 14tb
of September a Kuwait boat off Darin suffered loss, at the hands of a
large band of Bedouins, to the extent of Rs. 2,318; on the 16th of October
a Bahrain boat was pillaged off 'Anik by a gang of Bani Hajir ; on the
•22nd of October a Tarut boat was similarly treated, also by Bani Hijir ;
and on the 27th of October two vessels, one belonging to Kuwait and the
other to Bahrain, were attacked by Bani Hajir near ; Oqair, two sailors
and five passengers were wounded, and everything moveable on board of
either was carried off.
In April and May Is88 two or thne more cases of piracy occurred
in Qatif waters notwithstanding that Nafiz Pasha, Wali of Basrah,
had visited Qatif in the preceding February and taken security from
Muhammad-bin- Abdul \Vahhab of Darin for the prevention of piracy
in the neighbourhood.
In 1883, in connection with the piracy committed in that year, a
reference was made to the Porte by Her Majesty's Government ; but, in
consequence of redress having been afforded though incomplete, and
of the undesirability of raising the question of Turkish jurisdiction on the
eastern coa^t of Arabia, the proceedings were ultimately allowed to drop.
In 1887 and 1888 several remonstrances were addressed to the Turkish
Government on the subject of maritime disorders in the neighbourhood of
Qatif ; but the only result was the despatch of an additional Turkish
gunboat to the Hasa coast. This was a futile proceeding, for the Bani
Hajir, whom it was chiefly necessary to coerce, were not a maritime tribe
and only carried on their piratical practices by means of borrowed or
stolen boats, while the waters which they frequented were generally too
shallow for effective action by an armed steam vessel. An increase of
the 1 urkish na\ al force in the Persian Gulf, besides being useless, was
undesirable ; and an effort was therefore made to impress on the Porte
the ^reater need for action on land, with the result, apparently', that in
a military post foi the prevention of piracy was temporarily estab-