مجموعة ٣٠ /١١٠(٤) "امتياز النفط على الساحل المتصالح: امتياز نفط مسقط. التنقيب والمسح في المنطقة الداخلية." [و‎‎٢‎٧‎٠] (٦٧٥/٥٤١)

V
D.O. NO.C/767
Politica jr'ii^en'c yy
Bahrain, the^ 14th-.I ay
1944*.
i.ly dear oir Geoffrey,
Please refer to the
prlntfced letter No. 41-3 dated January
2. ^ It will interest you,.I kno r , to learn that
on ray arrival at oharjah on I.Ionday the 3th hay I found some
attractive personalities had arrived just before me.
In the evening, Jhaikh Kohammed bin 3aqr
al Jav/assim who is acting for his brother the Shaikh of
Sharjah while the latter is in India called to see me at
the Residency Agent’s house. He was accompanied by Shaikh
Saqr bin Sultan the paramount Shaikh of the Naim from
Dhank, Shaikh Rashid bin Hamad the principal shaikh of the
Al Bu Shamis from Baraimi, and last but no r-eans least
Shaikh Mohammad bin Ali bin Huweidin the paramount shaikh •
of the powerful Beni : itab tribe. We had an interesting
a nd extremely amusing discussion on local politics and
supplies. The four Shaikhs were in good spirits and the
conversation which lasted for the best part" of an hour
was most amicable.
3. ^ To have induced Mohammed bin Ali bin Mawazdjim
Huwaidin to visit Sharjah after an absence of ten years is
rather an achievement and due credit mud: be given to Khan
Bahadur Abdur Razzak for the skill with which he has handled
a situation which had previously proved too much for the
Shaikh of Sharjah even though that gentleman backed his
invitation with the offer of gift of Rs. 80,000. At the
same time it must be remembered that it is unlikely that the
Residency Agent would have '^een successful so quickly if we
had not held the lives of all the inhabitants o*f Trucial Oman
in our hands. He are the main source of supply of their
vital necessities.. Now that the ice has been broken I am
hopeful of much closer relations with a body of men who are
afraid of no combinations of Trucial Shaikhs and of whom the
Shaikh of Dubai speaks with respect and confesses to being
most reldctant to antagonize.
4. The Beni Qitab are in de facto control of the
interior of Trucial Oman to the west of the central range
and their area spreads from Dhaid in the north to well'"
below the southern lir its of Jebel F a iyah. In my opinion
their closest contacts have always been with the Shaikhs of
Sharjah and there is little doubt that at one time the Shaikhs
of Sharjah exercised jurisdiction over the greater part of
the area which the tribe today occupies. There is even less
doubt though^ that the present Shaikh of Sharjah would not
have the slightest hope of exercising his authority in any
part of the Beni Qitab tribal area unless it was with the
consent of Shaikh Mohammed bin Ali bin Huweidin. The tribal
area of the Beni Qitab is of particular interest in that it
forms part of the area which Messrs. Petroleum Concessions
Limited could with some justification maintain was within
the limits of their agreement with the Shaikh of Sharjah.
5. The fewer the Shaikhs that we have to .deal
with when oil company operations recommence after the war the
The Hon’ble Sir Geoffrey Prior, K.C.I.B.
Political Resident in the Persian Gulf.
Bushire.