Blood-Red Arab Flag
An Investigation Into Qasimi Piracy 1797-1820
Distributed for University of Exeter Press
“Despite the lurid title, this is a serious historical work-sometimes indeed a little too serious to make for easy reading-but it does lead us to a fascinating but almost forgotten area of Middle Eastern history. . . a fascinating and scholarly book . . .” –Times Literary Supplement, September 4 1998
“This is more than just an analysis of piratical acts; it is a successful attempt to understand what ingredients made the players act the way they did. It also provides the reader with a vivid and credible account of what life was like, both at sea and on land, for Persian Gulf dwellers, and in particular for the Qawasim pirates." –International History Review, June 1999
Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Preface
A Brief Chronology of Events
Dramatis Personae
Part One: Introductory
Prologue
1. Outline
2. The Setting
3. The Players
Part Two: Of the Evidence
4. The Question of Piracy
A. Tableaux
5. Incidents at Sea, in the Years 1797-1819, Which are Attested by Virtue of Admissions or Possession
6. The Most Important Cases of Alleged Piracy by the Qawasim Against British Vessels
B. Perspectives
7. Local Opinion
8. Cruiser Commanders’ Blunders
9. Off the Indian Coast
Part Three: Interpretation
10. Preliminary Sketch
11. Political History
12. The Port of Ras al-Khaima, Her Society and Economy
13. Some More Piquant Ingredients in Qasimi Maritime Plunder
Conclusion
Afterword: The Motivation behind Britain’s Two Expeditions Against Ras al-Khaima in 1809/10 and 1819/20
Appendix A: The Qawasim’s Seizures off the Coast of India
Appendix B: Qasimi Voyages to South Arabia
Appendix C: Ras al-Khaima’s War with Muscat, and the Political Fortunes of the Za’ab and the Tanaij, 1808-1809
Appendix D: Hostilities Between Muscat and the Wahhabis in the Aftermath of the First Ras al-Khaima Expedition of 1809/10
Notes
Bibliography
Index
History: European History
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