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Abstract
Pursuing political objectives, Western imperial powers were selective in the inclusion of non-European polities into the realm of sovereign states. In the case of the Trucial States –– the contemporary United Arab Emirates –– Britain as the imperial power granted recognition to a regularly changing number of local shaykhdoms through the negotiation and repeated exchange of treaties, with important repercussions for the later political and urban development of the country. This article examines Britain’s decision-making regarding these recognitions from 1820–1952. Building on British archival records, it argues that the final result of seven recognized sovereign emirates was only to a very limited degree a representation of the situation as it existed on the ground. Instead it was largely the outcome of a British policy of selective recognition, driven by the strategic rationale of obtaining accountable and coercible treaty partners, and by tactical considerations such as the exclusion of imperial competitors, the erection of bases, and the obtainment of oil concessions.
Notes
1 Political Officer, Sharjah to Shaykh of Fujairah, 19 Mar. 1952, FO 371/98356, The National Archives (hereafter: TNA), London.
2 The Trucial System is generally linked to a strengthening of the Trucial rulers’ positions: Peterson, “Tribes and Politics in Eastern Arabia”, Middle East Journal 31.3 (1977), p. 5; Zahlan, The Origins of the United Arab Emirates: A Political and Social History of the Trucial States (1978), p. xi; Heard-Bey, From Tribe to State: The Transformation of Political Structure in Five States of the GCC (2008), pp. 57–9; Onley, “The Politics of Protection in the Gulf: The Arab Rulers and the British Resident in the Nineteenth Century”, New Arabian Studies 6 (2004), p. 66.
3 Lorimer, Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman, and Central Arabia 1: Historical, ed. Bridwood (1915; repr. 1970), p. 670. Kelly, Britain and the Persian Gulf 1795–1880 (1968), p. 154. More recently, Davidson described “a recognition of the region’s current rulers” [Davidson, The United Arab Emirates: A Study in Survival (2005), p. 31]. A different view, pointing out British interests in connection with Ajman’s and Umm al-Quwain’s recognitions, is voiced by Butti and Kazim: Butti, Imperialism, Tribal Structure, and the Development of Ruling Elites: A Socioeconomic History of the Trucial States Between 1892 and 1939, PhD diss. (1992), pp. 81–2; Kazim, The United Arab Emirates A.D. 600 to the Present: A Socio-Discursive Transformation in the Arabian Gulf (2000), pp. 150–1.
4 They are discussed at some length by Abdullah, The United Arab Emirates: A Modern History (1978), pp. 307–15; Zahlan, The Origins of the United Arab Emirates, pp. 49–51, 102–3; Walker (ed.), The UAE, Internal Boundaries and the Boundary with Oman 1: The Establishment of the Trucial States, 1820–1961 (1994), pp. v–viii.
5 Zahlan, The Origins of the United Arab Emirates, p. 50.
6 Abdullah, The United Arab Emirates, p. 312.
7 Heard-Bey, From Trucial States to United Arab Emirates: A Society in Transition (1996), pp. 296–7.
8 Kazim, The United Arab Emirates, pp. 150–1.
9 Wilkinson, “The Oman Question: The Background to the Political Geography of South-East Arabia”, The Geographical Journal 137.3 (1971), p. 367.
10 Aitchison, A Collection of Treaties, Engagements and Sanads relating to India and Neighbouring Countries 11: Treaties and Engagements Relating to Arabian and the Persian Gulf (1933; repr. 1987).
11 Kelly, Britain and the Persian Gulf, pp. 354–409.
12 The term came into official use in the late nineteenth century, ibid., p.363.
13 Zahlan, The Origins of the United Arab Emirates, p. xi.
14 See footnote 2.
15 Krasner, “Problematic Sovereignty”, Problematic Sovereignty: Contested Rules and Poltical Possibilities, ed. Krasner (2001), p. 2.
16 Political Resident to Sec. to Political Dept, Govt of Bombay 31 July 1871, IOR/P/763, British Library, London.
17 Lorimer, Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, p. 762.
18 Shaykh of Dibba to Residency Agent, Sharjah, 10 Sept. 1936, IOR/R/15/1/284, British Library, London.
19 Political Agent, Bahrain, to Political Resident, 23 May 1936, IOR/R/15/2/266, British Library, London.
20 Residency Agent, Sharjah, to Political Agent, Bahrain, 10 Apr. 1941, IOR/R/15/2/623, British Library, London.
21 Recorded are the cases of the Shaykhs of Jabal al-Akhḍar, of the Al Bū Shāmis, of the Shiḥūḥ of the Musandam Peninsula and of several other shaykhs from the interior of Oman: Political Resident to Foreign Sec., 25 Apr. 1950, FO 371/82011, TNA, London; Annex to Trucial States Diary for 29 Sept.–31 Oct. 1959, 1959, FO 371/140068, TNA, London; Annual Review of Northern Trucial States Affairs 1964, 15 Jan. 1965, FO 371/179901, TNA, London; Trucial States Annual Report for the Year 1959, 23 Jan. 1960, FO 371/148896, TNA, London.
22 British Residency, Bahrain, to Eastern Dept, Foreign Office, 23 Sept. 1952, FO 1016/194, TNA, London.
23 Onley, “Britain and the Gulf Shaikhdoms, 1820–1971: The Politics of Protection”, CIRS Occasional Paper 4 (2009), p. 12.
24 Anghie, “Western Discourses of Sovereignty”, Sovereignty: Frontiers of Possibility, ed. Evans et al. (2013), pp. 22–3.
25 Onley and Khalaf, “Shaikhly Authority in the Pre-Oil Gulf: An Historical-Anthropological Study”, History and Anthropology 17.3 (2006), p. 191.
26 Ibid.
27 Heard-Bey, From Trucial States to United Arab Emirates, p. 55.
28 Walker, “Practical Problems of Boundary Delimitation in Arabia: The Case of the United Arab Emirates”, Territorial Foudations of the Gulf states, ed. Schofield (1994), p. 110.
29 Admiralty to the Under-Sec. of State, India Office, 11 Feb. 1905, IOR/L/P&S/10/23, British Library, London.
30 Minute by Viceroy of India, 6 Oct. 1902, IOR/L/P&S/10/23, British Library, London.
31 Admiralty to the Under-Sec. of State, India Office, 11 Feb. 1905, IOR/L/P&S/10/23, British Library, London.
32 Foreign Office to Political Resident, 29 Aug. 1912, IOR/L/P&S/11/30, British Library, London.
33 Quoted in Al Abed, “The Historical Background and Constitutional Basis to the Federation”, United Arab Emirates, A New Perspective, ed. Al Abed and Hellyer (2001), p. 124.
34 Balfour-Paul, The End of Empire in the Middle East: Britain’s Relinquishment of Power in her Last Three Arab Dependencies (1991), p. 102.
35 Moyse-Bartlett, The Pirates of Trucial Oman (1966), pp. 108–13.
36 From 1822 onwards, Britain’s Resident in the Persian Gulf (later Political Resident), was the head of Britain’s administration in the region, exercised through a network of British Political Agents and locally-recruited Residency Agents (usually Arabs or Persians). The Residency Agent in Sharjah (c.1823–1949) was responsible for the Trucial States. He was joined by a British Political Officer for the Trucial States (POTS) during the winters months of 1939–47. In 1947, POTS became a year-round post. In 1949, the post of Residency Agent was abolished. Between 1934 and 1953, the Sharjah Agent(s) reported to the Poltical Agent in Bahrain, from whom they took orders. In 1953, the status of POTS was raised, becoming the Political Agent for the Trucial States (PATS), reporting directly to the Resident. A year later, his headquarters was relocated to Dubai.
37 Saldanha, Précis of Correspondence Regarding the Affairs of the Persian Gulf, 1801–1853, IOR/L/P&S/20/C248C, British Library, London.
38 The British Government of India was responsible for the British administration of the Gulf until Indian independence in 1947.
39 India Office to King-Emperor, 3 Nov. 1936, IOR/L/P&S/12/1963, British Library, London.
40 Political Resident to Political Agent, Bahrain, 20 June 1944, IOR/R/15/1/700, British Library, London.
41 Wilkinson, Arabia’s Frontiers. The Story of Britain’s Boundary Drawing in the Desert (1991), p. 262. An example of this is the perceived “insubordination” by a “feudatory” of the Ruler of Sharjah, namely the Shaykh of Fujairah [Political Resident to Foreign Sec. to the Govt of India, 2 May 1925, IOR/R /15/1/278, British Library, London].
42 Onley and Khalaf, “Shaikhly Authority”, p. 202.
43 Lorimer, Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, p. 204.
44 Hightower, “Pearling and Political Power in the Trucial States, 1850–1930: Debts, Taxes, and Politics”, Journal of Arabian Studies 3.2 (2013), pp. 227–8.
45 Minutes of Meeting of Middle East Sub-Committee, Committee of Imperial Defence, 24 Sept. 1935, AIR 2/1612, TNA, London.
46 See Lorimer regarding British action against Bakha in 1860: “In each case the Shaikh, though he was not a signatory of any truce or peace and would at the present day be regarded as a dependant of the Sultān of Masqat, was called upon to pay a fine of $100” [Lorimer, Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, p. 722].
47 Ibid., p. 690.
48 Political Resident to Sec. to the Govt of Bombay, 23 Apr. 1866, IOR/P/437/67, British Library, London.
49 Political Resident to Residency Agent, Sharjah, 27 Aug. 1900, IOR/R/15/1/244, British Library, London.
50 Political Resident to Sec. to the Govt of Bombay, 17 June 1837, IOR/R/15/1/72, British Library, London.
51 Shaykh of Abu Dhabi to Political Resident, 13 Dec. 1870, Mss Eur F/126/46, British Library, London.
52 Political Resident to Sec. to the Political Dept, Govt of Bombay, 31 July 1871, IOR/P/763, British Library, London.
53 “Memorandum on the Causes of Hostility between Shaikh Za’eed-bin-Khalifah, Chief of Abu Dhabi, and Shaikh Jasim-bin-Mohammed Thani”, IOR/L/P&S/20/C243, British Library, London.
54 Enclosure No.8, Foreign Dept, Secret, Govt of India to Sec. of State for India, 22 May 1879, IOR/L/P&S/7/22, British Library, London.
55 A 1953 report writes that “Dibah and Kalba were for long virtually independent of Sharjah but were not recognized as such because there was no necessity for doing so.” Historical Summary of Events in the Persian Gulf Shaikhdoms and the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, 1928–1953, IOR/R /15/1/731(1), British Library, London.
56 Note, 13 Aug. 1937, IOR/R/15/1/294, British Library, London.
57 Aitchison, A Collection of Treaties, p. 201.
58 Senior Naval Officer Persian Gulf to Political Resident, 20 Apr. 1925, IOR/R/15/1/278, British Library, London.
59 Residency Agent, Sharjah, to Political Agent, Bahrain, 10 Apr. 1941, IOR/R/15/2/623, IOR, British Library, London.
60 Foreign Office to Political Resident, 20 June 1950, FO 371/82032, TNA, London.
61 Severe difficulties in subsuming Fujairah under any Trucial ruler were already appreciated in 1948, Residency Agent, Sharjah to Political Agent, Bahrain, 8 June 1948, IOR/R/15/2/623, British Library, London.
62 The (in many respects) unique exception being Khatt and Falayah, the temporary abodes of the deposed Ruler of Ras al-Khaimah after Britain occupied his town in 1819.
63 Zahlan, The Origins of the United Arab Emirates, p. 176.
64 Heard, From Pearls to Oil: How the Oil Industry came to the United Arab Emirates (2011), p. 355.
65 Thesiger, Arabian Sands (1959), p. 254.
66 Britain had given PCL to understand that concessions with the existing Trucial rulers would cover the entire area, Note by Political Resident, 13 Aug. 1937, IOR/R/15/1/294, British Library, London.
67 See Heard, From Pearls to Oil, p. 288.
68 India Office Minute, 11 Oct. 1937, IOR/L/P&S/12/3837, British Library, London.
69 Political Resident to Foreign Sec., 20 Apr. 1948, IOR/R/15/2/2015, British Library, London.
70 Political Resident to Foreign Sec., 25 Apr. 1950, FO 371/82011, TNA, London.
71 Foreign Office to Political Resident, 9 Aug. 1950, FO 371/82032, TNA, London
72 Shaykh of Ajman to Political Resident, 5 Oct. 1900, IOR/R/15/1/245, British Library, London.
73 Under-Sec. to the Govt of India to Political Resident, 26 Dec. 1900, IOR/R/15/1/245, British Library, London.
74 Govt of India to Political Resident, 10 June 1901, IOR/R/15/1/252, British Library, London.
75 One copy also went to the officially un-recognized walī of Ras al-Khaimah. Two were earmarked for “Shargah with Hamriyeh”, in an apparent recognition of the latter’s special status [Political Resident to Sec. to the Govt of India, Foreign Dept, 18 Mar. 1906, IOR/L/P&S/7/195, British Library, London].
76 The resending of treaties initially often had practical reasons due to the low standards of document preservation. The treaties sent to Abu Dhabi proved to have disappeared at both the 1912 and 1922 successions and had to be resent, IOR/R/15/1/265, British Library, London.
77 Maybe the most prominent example was Dubai in 1929, when Britain refused to acknowledge the deposition of Saʿīd bin Maktūm. Zahlan, The Origins of the United Arab Emirates, p. 151. The potential nonetheless acquired significant weight in the eyes of the rulers. See Lienhardt, Shaikhdoms of Eastern Arabia, ed. Al-Shahi (2001), p. x.
78 Senior Naval Officer, Persian Gulf to Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station, 29 Nov. 1951, ADM 1/24431, TNA, London.
79 Political Resident to Foreign Sec., 12 Mar. 1952, ADM 1/24431, TNA, London.
80 Ibid.
81 Political Resident to Foreign Sec. to the Govt of India, 26 June 1926, IOR/L/P&S/11/195, British Library, London.
82 Taryam, The Establishment of the United Arab Emirates 1950–85 (1987), pp. 9–11, p. 33; Butti, Imperialism, Tribal Structure, and the Development of Ruling Elites, pp. 81–2; Kazim, The United Arab Emirates, p. 151.
83 Kelly, Britain and the Persian Gulf, p. 166.
84 Saldanha, Précis of Correspondence Regarding the Affairs of the Persian Gulf, 1801–1853, IOR/L/P&S/20/C248C, British Library, London.
85 Davies, The Blood-Red Arab Flag: An Investigation into Qasimi Piracy, 1797–1820 (1997), pp. 214–15.
86 Kelly, Britain and the Persian Gulf, p. 166.
87 Ibid., p. 359.
88 Sandanha, Précis of Correspondence Regarding the Affairs of the Persian Gulf, 1801–1853, IOR/L/P&S/20/C248C, British Library, London.
89 Precis of Correspondence regarding Trucial Chiefs. 1854–1905, IOR/L/P&S/20/C248D, British Library, London.
90 Ibid.
91 Political Agent, Muscat to Political Resident, 23 Apr. 1910, IOR/R/15/6/222, British Library, London.
92 Ibid.
93 Minute by Viceroy of India, 6 Oct. 1902, IOR/L/P&S/10/23, British Library, London.
94 Political Resident to Sec. to the Govt of India, 4 Aug. 1912, IOR/R/15/1/244, British Library, London.
95 Residency Agent, Sharjah to Political Resident, 6 Oct. 1910, IOR/R/15/1/244, British Library, London.
96 Mattair, The Three Occupied UAE Islands: The Tunbs and Abu Musa (2005), pp. 71–4, p. 459 footnote 27.
97 Political Resident to Sec. to the Govt of India, 4 Aug. 1912, IOR/R/15/1/244, British Library, London.
98 Political Resident to Foreign Sec. to the Govt of India, 22 Dec. 1920, IOR/R/15/1/244, British Library, London.
99 “Historical Summary of Events in the Persian Gulf Shaikhdoms and the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, 1928–1953”, IOR/R/15/1/731(1), British Library, London.
100 Political Resident to Shaykh of Kalba, 5 Mar. 1933, IOR/L/P&S/12/1963, British Library, London.
101 Officiating Political Agent, Bahrain to Political Resident, 23 May 1936, IOR/R/15/2/266, British Library, London.
102 Political Resident to Sec. of State for India, 6 June 1936, IOR/R/15/2/266, British Library, London.
103 Officiating Political Agent, Bahrain to Shaykh of Kalba, 28 Aug. 1936, IOR/L/P&S/12/1963, British Library, London.
104 Minute by Political Officer, Sharjah, 8 July 1950, FO 371/82032, TNA, London.
105 Govt of India, “Administration Report of the Persian Gulf Political Residency for the Year 1912”, IOR/R/15/1/711/2, British Library, London; Political Resident to Sec. to the Govt of India, 3 Aug. 1912, IOR/L/P&S/11/30, British Library, London.
106 Translation of declaration by Shaykh of Sharjah, 9 Aug. 1923, IOR/R/15/1/293, British Library, London. A similar agreement was made in 1922 between a soon-to-be-Shaykh of Sharjah and the Shaykh of Hira, another often autonomous dependency of Sharjah that however never seems to have been considered for British recognition, Agreement between Sultan bin Saqr and Shaykh of Hira [Arabic], 11 May 1922, IOR/R/15/4/3, British Library, London. Translation in Walker (ed.), The UAE. Internal Boundaries and the Boundary with Oman 2: The Division of the Qawasim Territories, 1866–1963, p. 231.
107 Note, 13 August 1937, IOR/R/15/1/294, British Library, London.
108 Govt of India, “Administration Report of the Persian Gulf Political Residency for the Year 1929”, IOR/R/15/1/714/5, British Library, London.
109 Political Resident to Foreign Sec. to the Govt of India, 29 May 1931, IOR/R/15/1/293, British Library, London.
110 Political Agent, Bahrain to Political Resident, 5 July 1937, IOR/R/15/1/294, British Library, London.
111 Note, 13 Aug. 1937, IOR/R/15/1/294, British Library, London.
112 Translation of Agreement between Shaykhs of Sharjah and Hamriya, 8 June 1948, IOR/R/15/1/294, British Library, London.
113 Political Resident to Foreign Sec., 20 Apr. 1948, IOR/R/15/2/2015, British Library, London.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Niklas A. Haller
Niklas A. Haller is a Doctoral Candidate in Middle East Politics at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4ND, United Kingdom.