Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
British 'Protection' (1650-1914)
'One great distinguishing feature of Muscat,' wrote the English diplomat James Silk Buck-
ingham in 1816, 'is the respect and civility shown by all classes of its inhabitants to
Europeans'. It is an interesting comment because it appears to show that the intimate Brit-
ish involvement with Oman and the 'Trucial States', (the countries along the southern rim
of the Gulf) over the next two centuries was founded on mutual benefit rather than solely
on colonisation and exploitation. On the one hand, the various treaties and 'exclusive
agreements' that Britain signed with the sultan and emirs of the region kept the French at
bay and thereby safeguarded British trading routes with India. On the other hand, the Brit-
ish helped maintain the claims to sovereignty of the emerging Gulf emirates against ma-
rauding Turkish and Persian interests and from the powerful ambitions of the eventual
founder of Saudi Arabia, Ibn Saud.
During WWI, British interests in the Gulf were threatened by the Ottomans. The sultan,
siding with the Germans, declared jihad (holy war), calling on Muslims everywhere to rise
up against the Allied powers of Britain, France and Russia. In response, the British per-
suaded Hussein bin Ali, the Grand Sherif of Mecca, to lead an Arab revolt against the Otto-
mans in exchange for a promise to make him 'King of the Arabs' once the conflict was
over. To the famous disgust of British army officer TE Lawrence, the British negotiated
with the French on the carving up of the Ottoman Empire and assisted the Zionist move-
ment instead.
The American journalist Lydell Hart made 'El-Lawrence' into a media superhero. The
Sunday Times
of June
1968 hailed Lawrence as a 'Prince of Mecca, riding across Arabia'. Hollywood did the rest.
Despite this monumental sell-out, visit any corner of the Arabian Peninsula today and
you are bound to meet a pink-faced Brit, basking in the desert sun. Equally, talk to leaders
across the region and chances are they were educated in part in the UK. The special rela-
tionship between the British and the Arabs of the Peninsula has endured the trials and tribu-
lations of history, and is one of the positive legacies of 19th-century colonialism.
LAWRENCE OF ARABIA
If there is one name in Arab history that most Western people will recognise, it's surely that of TE Lawrence, better
known as Lawrence of Arabia - the same Lawrence, in fact, who wrote to his sceptical biographer that 'history
isn't made up of the truth anyhow, so why worry'. This is an interesting question when it comes to the history of
