IOR/R/15/2/623

The file correspondence begins with a note dated 1938 from the Residency Agent, Sharjah to the Political Agent, Bahrain announcing the succession of Shaikh Muhammad bin Hamad ash-Sharqi to the Trucial Coast Shaikhdom of Fujairah, on the death of his brother, Shaikh Saif bin Hamad ash-Sharqi, 24 December 1938. This is followed by a memorandum dated 1939 from the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf to the Political Agent, Muscat about the intention of the Shaikh of Fujairah and his son to travel on their existing Muscati passports and in this connection, the Resident also encloses an earlier Government of India memorandum from 1903, pointing to the existence of a consistent British policy of non-recognition and non-interference in the Sultan of Muscat’s long standing and disputed claim to suzerainty over Fujairah.

Next in the file is an Arabic transcript and English translation of a letter from Shaikh Muhammad bin Hamad ash-Sharqi of Fujairah to the Residency Agent at Sharjah in April 1941, formally requesting treaty relations with Great Britain. The rest of the file comprises numerous letters and several memoranda, 1941-1950, mainly between the Political Agent, Bahrain; the Political Officer, Trucial Coast, Sharjah; and the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf. They discuss mostly the diplomatic handling of repeated requests by the Shaikh of Fujairah for recognition as an independent Trucial Coast Ruler under British protection and for British assistance in promoting oil company exploration in his territory, at a time when British Government policy was averse to increasing the number of independent minor Trucial Coast shaikhdoms. The file ends with an exchange of letters in 1950 between the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf and Foreign Office officials in London, discussing the advantages of concluding a treaty with the Shaikh of Fujairah and the dangers of pursuing this course, should the Sultan of Muscat or the Shaikh of Sharjah take offence or actively renew their own historic claims to sovereignty over Fujairah.

Included in the file is information about the extent of the territory of Fujairah, a list of its main towns and its political status (folios 32, 34-35). This information was compiled by the Political Officer, Trucial Coast, Sharjah in 1948 at the request of the Political Agent, Bahrain for submission to oil company officials at Petroleum Concessions Limited, Bahrain and Petroleum Development (Trucial Coast) Limited, Bahrain and Dubai.