The Sea vs. the Desert: Rahmah ibn Jabir and the Dialectic of Piracy and Maritime Influence

المؤلفون

  • المؤلف

  • Faozi Al-Goidi

الكلمات المفتاحية:

Rahmah ibn Jabir، Maritime Sheikhdom، Arabian Gulf، Maritime Influence، Piracy

الملخص

This study examines the figure of Sheikh Rahmah ibn Jabir, whose influence emerged in the late 18th century, and whose network’s activity operated across three key centres along the Gulf shores, without a defined political domain on land. The Gulf waters delineated the boundaries of ibn Jabir’s power between 1782 and 1826, with his ship al-Ghatrusha serving as his mobile capital city. Unlike land-based tribal leaders, ibn Jabir’s power was inseparable from the sea, which he used as a sphere for competition, negotiation, and defence. This study compares the land-centric approach to Gulf political history by highlighting the often overlooked centrality of the sea, in shaping regional power dynamics around the turn of the 19th century. It proposes the term “maritime sheikhdom” as an alternative to “piracy” to better capture what delineates it from land sheikhdoms.

المراجع

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  14. Prior to British intervention, a traditional commercial and maritime system with its own rules and mores was in effect in the region. During that era, local conflicts and rivalries were part and parcel of the region’s social and economic fabric. See Khaldun al-Naqib, al-Mujtamaʿ wa-l-Dawla fī al-Khalīj wa-l-Jazīra al-ʿArabiyya (Min Manẓūr Mukhtalif) (Beirut: Center for Arab Unity Studies, 1989).
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  16. al-Naqib, p. 86.
  17. Mikhin Leonovich, Ḥilf al-Qawāsim wa-Siyāsāt Birīṭānyā fī al-Khalīj al-ʿArabī fī al-Qarn al-Thāmin ʿAshar wa-l-Niṣf al-Awwal min al-Qarn al-Tāsiʿ ʿAshar , Samir Najmuddin Sattas (trans.) (Dubai: Markaz Jumʿa al-Majid li-l-Thaqafa wa-l-Turath, 2009), pp. 172-173; Natalia Nikolaevna Tomanovich, al-Duwal al-Awrubbiyya fī al-Khalīj al-ʿArabī min al-Qarn al-Sādis ʿAshara ilā al-Qarn al-Tāsiʿ ʿAshar , Samir Najmuddin Sattas (trans.) (Dubai: Markaz Jumʿa al-Majid li-l-Thaqafa wa-l-Turath, 2006), pp. 15-17.
  18. See: Hasan bin Muhammad al-Thani, “Istrātījiyyat Mawqiʿ Qaṭar wa-Dawruhu fī Ṣirāʿ al-Qiwā al-Khalījiyya fī ʿIshrīniyyāt al-Qarn al-Tāsiʿ ʿAshar,” Riwaq al-Tarikh wa-l-Turath , no. 10 (June 2020); Jamal Zakariya Qasim, “Raḥma bin Jābir al-Jalāhima,” Hawliyyat Kulliyyat al-Adab , Ain Shams University, vol. 9 (1964); Hayat al-Bassam, Aʿmāl Raḥma bin Jābir al-Baḥriyya fī al-Khalīj al-ʿArabī Bayn al-Qarṣana wa-l-Intiqām (Riyadh: Dar al-Shibl, 1993); Abdullah al-Khalifa, “Tārīkh Raḥma bin Jābir al-Jalāhima,” Majallat al-Wathiqa , vol. 30, no. 60 (July 2011); Yusuf al-Abdullah, “Raḥma bin Jābir al-Jalāhima wa ʿIlāqātuh bi-l-Qiwā al-Siyāsiyya fī al-Khalīj al-ʿArabī,” Majallat Waqaʾiʿ Tarikhiyya , Faculty of Arts, University of Cairo, vol. 52, no. 9 (January 2008); Faʾiq Tahbub, Tārīkh al-Baḥrayn al-Siyāsī (Kuwait: Manshurat Dhat al-Salasil, 1983); Ahmad Mustafa Abu Hakima, Tārīkh Sharqay al-Jazīra al-ʿArabiyya , Muhammad Amin (trans.) (Beirut: Dar Maktabat al-Hayat, n.d.).
  19. Abdul Aziz Al Mahmoud, al-Qurṣān (Doha: Bloomsbury, 2011).
  20. In a clear indication of its popularity, the novel has gone through six printings. See: “Riwāyat ‘al-Qurṣān’ Tusajjil Aʿlā Mabīʿāt fī Sūq al-Kutub al-Qaṭariyya,” al-Sharq al-Awsat , 21/10/2012, accessed on 15/4/2022, at https://acr.ps/1L9zOki
  21. John Lorimer, Dalīl al-Khalīj (Doha: Library of His Highness the Emir of the State of Qatar, n.d.).
  22. Lord George Nathaniel Curzon (1859-1925) was a prominent British politician and imperialist who served as Viceroy of India from 1899 to 1905. He also played a pivotal role in shaping British policy in the Arab Gulf. Viewing the Gulf as the “gateway to India”, Curzon sought to enhance British influence there. He commissioned John Gordon Lorimer to compile the Gulf Gazetteer as part of his efforts to document and better understand the region in the service of British interests. Curzon was a firm believer in British imperialism and its “civilizing” role in the colonies, a belief that was reflected in his policies and decisions. For more, see: David Gilmour, Curzon: Imperial Statesman (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003); Onley.
  23. William Hornby served as governor and chair of the Bombay Council between 1771 and 1784. See: Pamela Nightingale, Trade and Empire in Western India: 1784-1806 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970), p. 23.
  24. Established in 1600 as a business venture, the British East India Company was gradually transformed into a colonial power in the Indian subcontinent and surrounding regions. The company played a pivotal role in expanding British influence in India and the Arab Gulf during the 18th and 19th centuries and was responsible for managing British interests in the region until 1858, when power was transferred directly to the British Crown. See: John Keay, The Honourable Company: A History of the English East India Company (London: HarperCollins, 1991).
  25. Saqr bin Rashid al-Qasimi governed Ras Al Khaimah from about 1777 to 1803. One of the most prominent chieftains of the Qawasim in the late 18th century, he helped expand their maritime influence in the Arab Gulf. bin Rashid was famed for having faced off with European powers, particularly the British, and for his role in bolstering the Qawasim’s naval power. See: al-Qasimi.
  26. The Imam of Muscat was Ahmad bin Saʿid Al Busaidi (who ruled from 1749-1783). Founder of the ruling Al Busaidi family in Oman, he played a key role in expanding Oman’s influence in the region, including through conflicts with other local powers such as the Qawasim.
  27. R/15/1/32, 27/4/1824, pp. 97-100.
  28. i.e. Southeast Asia; that is, present-day Indonesia, Malaysia, and their environs.
  29. Nicholas Tarling, Piracy and Politics in the Malay World (Melbourne: F.W. Cheshire, 1963), p. 20, quoted in May Muhammad al-Khalifa, Muḥammad bin Khalīfa 1813-1890 CE: al-Usṭūra wa-l-Tārīkh al-Muwāzī (Beirut: Dar al-Jadid, 1996), p. 77.
  30. This term has been used elsewhere to refer to a merchant who owns ships for hire. See: “Bayt Abū Dāwūd … min Mashyakhat al-Baḥr ilā Shāhbandar al-Tujjār,” al-Madina , 4/6/2010, accessed on 9/9/2024, at: https://2u.pw/HQ2b7mbE. In this context, however, I am using the term in a different sense that refers to a ruler who possesses maritime political power and economic resources, and to whom others are subordinate, a description which fits ibn Jabir.
  31. These entities emerged in the context of the political disintegration of Italy, where cities such as Venice and Genoa were able to consolidate highly influential economic power. Based primarily on maritime trade, these republics developed advanced naval capabilities, constructing powerful fleets and recruiting mercenary forces. Their economic and military success enabled them to expand their influence beyond their original borders, establishing a network of ports and colonies in various regions of the Mediterranean and beyond. Genoa, for example, founded the colony of Galata in Turkish territory, while Venice’s influence extended to include islands in the Adriatic and Aegean Seas, reaching locations as far as Cyprus and parts of Greece. For more, see: Ermanno Orlando, Le repubbliche marinare (Bologna: Il Mulino, 2021).
  32. The Huwala are Arab tribes who migrated from the Arab shores of the Gulf to the Persian side during the 17th and 18th centuries, many of whom have since returned to the Arabian Peninsula. Over time, they came to be known as al-Huwala (from “ alladhīna taḥawwalū ”, those who shifted or moved) due to these movements away from, and back to, the Arabian Peninsula. See: Muhammad Hatim, Tārīkh ʿArab al-Huwala (Kuwait: al-Amin li-l-Nashr wa-l-Tawziʿ, n.d.).
  33. The Qawasim are an Arab tribe that formed emirates along the Omani coast in modern times. See: al-Qasimi.
  34. al-Khalifa, “Tārīkh Raḥma bin Jābir al-Jalāhima,” p. 260.
  35. Anders Winroth, The Age of the Vikings (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014), pp. 72-77.
  36. James Francis Warren, The Sulu Zone, 1768-1898: The Dynamics of External Trade, Slavery, and Ethnicity in the Transformation of a Southeast Asian Maritime State (Singapore: NUS Press, 2007).
  37. As a result of ibn Jabir’s continuous peregrination and the multiple points of influence he had established, he was able to build up a broad network of relationships throughout the Gulf. The growth of the pearl trade and his increased revenues enabled him to buy slaves, protect tribes, harbour rebels, and take in those in search of economic opportunity. See: R. Hughes Thomas, Mukhtārāt min Wathāʾiq Būmbāy: Silsila Jadīda Raqam (24) ʿĀm 1856 , Abdul Aziz Abdul Ghani (trans.) (Doha: Markaz Hasan bin Muhammad li-l-Dirasat al-Tarikhiyya, 2017), p. 436; al-Khalifa, “Tārīkh Raḥma bin Jābir al-Jalāhima,” p. 260.
  38. R/15/1/25, 8/4/1822, pp. 37-39.
  39. al-Naqib, p. 38.
  40. R/15/1/22, 9/4/1820, pp. 72-73.
  41. R/15/1/40, 14/12/1826, pp.129-131.
  42. al-Bassam, p. 66.
  43. Ibid.; Qasim; al-Khalifa, “Tārīkh Raḥma bin Jābir al-Jalāhima.”
  44. Abd al-Aziz al-Rashid, Tārīkh al-Kuwayt (Beirut: Manshurat Dar Maktabat al-Hayat, 1978), p. 106; Abu Hakima, p. 74; Yusuf al-Qinaʿi, Ṣafaḥāt min Tārīkh al-Kuwayt (Cairo: Dar Saʿd Misr, 1946), p. 9.
  45. al-Qinaʿi, p. 8; Abu Hakima, p. 96.
  46. al-Rashid, p. 108.
  47. Abu Hakima, p. 93.
  48. Lorimer, Part VI, p. 1199.
  49. Nicholas Hankey Smith served as British Resident at Bushehr from 1798 to 1809. He was one of the first official representatives of the British East India Company in the Arab Gulf, and played an important role in establishing and consolidating British relations in the region during a critical period of history.
  50. R/15/1/10, 22/4/1808, pp. 212-213.
  51. Lorimer, Part VI, p. 1198.
  52. See: Qasim, p. 186; al-Bassam, p. 29.
  53. al-Bassam, p. 30.
  54. Captain John Wainwright, a prominent officer in the British Royal Navy in the early 19th century, played a pivotal role in British naval operations in the Arab Gulf, particularly in combating what the British viewed as “piracy”. He led a major naval campaign against Ras Al Khaimah in 1809 as part of British efforts to secure trade routes in the Gulf. His reports and memoirs contributed to shaping British policy toward the region. For more, see: Charles E. Davies, The Blood-Red Arab Flag: An Investigation into Qasimi Piracy, 1797-1820 (Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 1997), pp. 152-155.
  55. al-Qasimi, p. 103.
  56. Lorimer, p. 1200.
  57. al-Bassam, p. 31.
  58. R/15/1/10, 22/4/1813, pp. 212-213.
  59. Lorimer, p. 1201.
  60. al-Bassam, p. 47.
  61. Said bin Sultan Al Busaidi ruled Oman from 1804 until his death in 1856, during which time Oman’s influence expanded to encompass the territory from Bandar Abbas as far as Zanzibar on the east coast of Africa.
  62. al-Abdullah, p. 202.
  63. Lorimer, p. 1204.
  64. Uthman bin Abdullah bin Bishr, ʿUnwān al-Majd fī Tārīkh Najd (Riyadh: Dar al-Malik Abd al-Aziz, 1982), p. 320.
  65. Najdi sources consist of a collection of books and historical documents written by historians and authors from the Najd region in central Arabia. These sources are of great importance for the study of the history of the region, particularly as it pertains to the first and second Saudi states and the Wahhabi movement. The most important Najdi sources include: ʿUnwān al-Majd fī Tārīkh Najd by Uthman bin Abdullah bin Bishr (d. 1873), Tārīkh Najd by Husayn bin Ghannam (d. 1810), Lamʿ al-Shihāb fī Sīrat Muḥammad bin ʿAbd al-Wahhāb by Ibrahim bin Isa, and Tārīkh ibn Laʿbūn by Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Laʿbun (d. 1976).
  66. bin Bishr, p. 52.
  67. Lorimer, p. 1200.
  68. See: Hamad Khalifa Abu Shihab, Turāthunā min al-Shiʿr al-Shaʿbī (Riyadh: Muʾassasat al-Ittihad li-l-Sahafa wa-l-Nashr, 1980).
  69. al-Abdullah, p. 202.
  70. Khalid al-Faraj. al-Khabar wa-l-ʿAyān fī Tārīkh Najd , Abdullah al-Shuqair (ed.) (Riyadh: Maktabat al-ʿUbaykan, 2000), p. 243.
  71. This account may be accurate; however, I think it is improbable. Rather, I believe it is more likely that the political and economic motives to control Bahrain at that time were the main driver behind this alliance.
  72. Abd al-Aziz Abd al-Ghani, Biriṭānyā wa Imārāt al-Sāḥil: Dirāsa fī al-ʿIlāqāt al-Taʿāhudiyya (Beirut: ʿAdnan li-l-Tibaʿa wa-l-Nashr, 2017), p. 160.
  73. R/15/1/16, 9/6/1815, pp. 92-96.
  74. R/15/1/21, 1816, pp. 43-45.
  75. Jon Mandaville, “Rahmah of the Gulf,” Saudi Aramco World , vol. 26, no. 3 (May-June 1975), accessed on 21/1/2025, at: https://tinyurl.com/ynzzfuj9
  76. al-Bassam, pp. 58-65.
  77. Lorimer, p. 862.
  78. R/15/1/12, 15/1/1811, pp. 19-20.
  79. Abu Hakima, p. 151.
  80. Hasan bin Muhammad al-Thani, Lamaḥāt min Tārīkh Qaṭar (n.c.: n.p., 2006), p. 135.
  81. Muhammad al-Nabahani, al-Tuḥfa al-Nabahāniyya fī Tārīkh al-Jazīra al-ʿArabiyya (Beirut: Dar Ihyaʾ al-ʿUlum, 1999), p. 100.
  82. R/15/1/10, 22/4/1808, pp. 212-213.
  83. James Silk Buckingham (1786-1855), a British travel writer, undertook extensive journeys through the Middle East and the Arab Gulf region in the early 19th century. He became known for his detailed writings on the region, particularly his voluminous: James Silk Buckingham, Travels among the Arab Tribes Inhabiting the Countries East of Syria and Palestine (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, 1825). In his observations, he would offer perspectives that contrasted with those presented by official British reports, which makes them a valuable source of information on social and political life in the Gulf, including figures such as Rahmah ibn Jabir.
  84. al-Khalifa, “Tārīkh Raḥma bin Jābir al-Jalāhima,” p. 260.
  85. al-Bassam, p. 63.
  86. Abu Hakima, p. 57.
  87. Ann B. Campbell, Tārīkh al-Qaṭīf al-Siyāsī fī Mudhakkirāt al-Muqīm al-Siyāsī al-Birīṭānī fī al-Khalīj al-ʿArabī , Jalal al-Ansari (ed.) (Beirut: al-Dar al-ʿArabiyya li-l-Mawsuʿat, 2020), p. 31.
  88. Majid Shibr, al-Qabāʾil wa-l-Ṣirāʿāt al-Siyāsiyya wa-l-Qabaliyya: al-Imārāt, Qaṭar, al-Baḥrayn, al-Manṭiqa al-Sharqiyya fī Taqārīr al-Ḍubbāṭ wa-l-Muʿtamadīn al-Biriṭāniyyīn (Beirut: Isdarat Bayt al-Warraq, 2010), p. 467.
  89. Lorimer, p. 1203.
  90. Campbell, p. 31.
  91. Al Urayir were a ruling family belonging to Bani Khalid who governed Al-Ahsa (eastern Arabia) on and off during the 18th and 19th centuries. They were an important regional power prior to the expansion of the First Saudi State, and regained power for a short period after the withdrawal of Egyptian forces in the early 19th century. They entered into conflicts with the Saudi state and sometimes cooperated with Ottoman and British forces. They also played a pivotal role in regional politics during a period of major transformations in the region. For more, see: Madawi Al-Rasheed, A History of Saudi Arabia (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010).
  92. R/15/1/25, 8/4/1822, pp. 37-39.
  93. The maritime heritage of al-Jalahima to which Ibn Jabir belonged was based on a two-century-long history of ship and boat manufacture, naval power, sea transport, and pearl diving, all of which undergirded ibn Jabir’s naval dominance.
  94. R/15/1/28, 19/10/1822, pp. 227-240.
  95. The Second Saudi State was established in 1824 under the command of Turki bin Abdullah Al Saud, who regained control over Riyadh, and ended in 1891 when it fell to Al Rashid.
  96. R/15/1, 14/8/1814, pp. 177-179.
  97. John Kelly, Birīṭānyā wa-l-Khalīj 1795-1870 , Muhammad Abdullah (trans.) (Oman: Wizarat al-Turath al-Qawmi wa-l-Thaqafa, n.d.), p. 52.
  98. Lorimer, p. 164.
  99. William Palgrave, Wasaṭ al-Jazīra al-ʿArabiyya wa Sharqihā , Sabri Hasan (trans.) (Cairo: al-Majlis al-Aʿla li-l-Thaqafa, 2001), p. 248.
  100. Leonovich, p. 106.
  101. al-Abdullah, p. 212.
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