"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎١‎٠‎٠‎٧] (١٧٨٢/١١٦٢)

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1007
In 1S00 or 1801, in consequence of asylum having been afforded to Relations of
some of the 'Atbi leaders whom he had recently expelled from Bahrain, BaSto ^
ai yid Sa id oi Masqat appears to have visited Kuwait with a fleet by
way of naval demonstration, if not of attack ; and it is possible that on
this occasion he succeeded in obtaining from the Shaikh the homage which
he now apparently claimed as his due from all the 'Utub, In 1809, on
the eve of the first British expedition against Bas-al-Khaimah, the
pirate-politician Rahmah-bin- Jabir of Khor Hassan in Qatar, who exten
ded to the ^Utub of Kuwait his desperate hatred for those of Bahrain,
captured 20 Kuwait Batlls which were making a voyage to Masqat,
Abdullah-bxn-Subah, Shaikh of Kuwait, one of whose sons was in charge
of the convoy and lost his life in the affair, then vowed to punish
Rahmah by means of a naval expedition against Khor Hassan; but it
does not appear that he ever carried his threat into execution. In 1817
vessels from Kuwait frequented the ports of Bahrain and were the chief
means by which plunder brought to Bahrain by Qasimi pirates was
conveyed across the Gulf for disposal in Persia.
In consequence of the descents by the Saiyid of 'Oman upon the Eelations
Bahrain Islands in 1800 and 1802, a temporary rapprochement seems to
have taken place between the 'Utub of Kuwait, as well as those of Wahhabis.
Bahrain, and the Wahhabis; and in 1803, at the bidding of the Wahhabi
Amir and not without reluctance on their own part, the people of Kuwait
abandoned the pearl fishery for the year and proceeded to cruise, along
with their kinsmen of Bahrain and the Qawasim of Trucial 'Oman,
against the flag of Masqat; but in this enforced and distasteful employ
ment they seem to have met only with reverses.
In 1805, alarmed by the evident intention of the British authorities
in India to take action against the piratical Qawasim, the 'Atbi Shaikhs
of Kuwait and Zubarah, after describing themselves as subject to the
Wahhabi Amir, represented the probability of their being compelled bv
him to engage in depredations on British trade, and suggested that the
British Government should guarantee to them, in case of their severing
their connection with the Wahhabis, a safe retreat in Bahrain; but
their proposals were not entertained.
At some time before this, apparently about 1801, some impetus was
given to the development of Kuwait by troubles between the Wahhabis
and their subjects in the region of Hasa ; by these disturbances the
ordinary route of Indian merchandise to Central Arabia was closed for a
time, and the place of Qatif and ■'Oqair as ports of entry for the interior
was taken by Kuwait and Basrah. In 1809 the Wahhabi ruler, ou
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