| Al Qasimi | |
|---|---|
| Royal house | |
 | |
| Parent family | al-Naqwi ofal-Musawi of theSharifBanu Husayn of theBanu Hashim |
| Country | United Arab Emirates |
| Founded | 1722; 303 years ago (1722) |
| Founder | Sheikh Rahma bin Matar Al-Qasimi |
| Current head |
|
| Titles | Emir Sheikh |
| Style(s) | His/Her Highness |
TheAl Qasimi (Arabic:القاسمي, spelled sometimes asAl Qassimi orAl Qassemi; plural:Al QawasemArabic:القواسم and, archaically, Joasmee) is anArab dynasty and tribe that rulesSharjah andRas Al Khaimah, today forming two of the seven emirates of theUnited Arab Emirates. They are one of the longest reigning royal families in theArabian peninsula. Historically, they also ruled over the town ofLengeh as sheikhs for a century until its annexation byIran in 1887.[1]
The Qawasem were a confederation ofSunnitribes in south eastern Gulf region surrounding the cities of Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah; and faced strong rivalry with theOmani empire for naval domination along the Persian Gulf. Due to their allegiance to theEmirate of Dir'iyah, theBritish Empire branded them as "pirates" and fought two major military campaigns against them in 1809 and 1819.[2]
The Qawasim tribe from which dynasty originates areHuwala, their ancestors migrating and keeping connections between the Arabian Peninsula and Persia, in particular maintaining their rulership over the town ofLengeh on the coast ofHormozgan province.[3] The Qawasim tribe itself is of Hashemite origin, descending fromHusayn ibn Ali, through their eponymous ancestor Al Qasim bin Idris binJa’far al-Zaki.[4][5]
During the 18th century, theArabian Peninsula witnessed a revolutionary socio-political and religious transformation under the reformers of theMuwahhidun (Unitarian) movement led byMuhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab, often referred asWahhabis. Embracing his ideals, the Qawasim robustly championed the doctrines of theMuwahhidun in the Gulf region and became a close ally of theEmirate of Diriyah.[6][7]
By the early 19th century, the Qawasim emerged as a maritime power based both in Ras Al Khaimah on the Southern shore of thePersian Gulf andQishm,Bandar Abbas andLingeh on the Persian shore in the 19th century.[8]
The Qawasim was a powerful naval force and sought to end the rising European colonial infiltration on their trade and commercial routes.[9]
The British-alliedOmani Empire had been the traditional enemy of the Qawasim over issues related to border disputes, religious differences and naval dominance in the Gulf. Qawasim control of trade in the Persian Gulf area led to wars with Oman and eventually with Oman's ally, Britain, and to the Qawasim (Joasmees to the British) being labelled by the British as pirates. This led to the identification of the southern shore of the Persian Gulf as the 'Pirate Coast', although following theGeneral Maritime Treaty of 1820 and the 1853 Perpetual Maritime Peace, the various coastal emirates in the area became known as theTrucial States.[10]
Beginning from 1804, there was a spike in Qawasim naval attacks on local trading ships.[11] Following decades of incidents where native shipping had fallen foul of the aggressive Al Qasimi, a first British expeditionary force embarked for Ras Al Khaimah in 1809, thePersian Gulf campaign of 1809. This campaign led to the signing of a peace treaty between the British and Hussan Bin Rahmah, the Al Qasimi leader.[12] This treaty broke down in 1815 and, in 1819, the British mounted a second, altogether moresuccessful, punitive campaign against the Qawasim inRas Al Khaimah[13] underWilliam Keir Grant.
The case against the Qawasim has been contested by the historian, author and current Ruler of Sharjah,Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi in his bookThe Myth of Arab Piracy in the Gulf, in which he argues that the charges amount to a 'casus belli' by theEast India Company, which sought to limit or eliminate the 'informal' Arab trade with India, and presents a number of internal communications between the Bombay Government and its officials, which shed doubt on many of the key charges made by British historianJ.G. Lorimer in his seminal history of the affair.[14]
At the time, the Chief Secretary of the Government of Bombay, F. Warden, presented a minute which laid blame for the piracy on theWahhabi influence on the Al Qasimi and the interference of theEast India Company in native affairs. Warden also successfully argued against a proposal to install the Sultan of Muscat as Ruler of the whole peninsula. Warden's arguments and proposals likely influenced the shape of the eventual treaty concluded with the Sheikhs of the Gulf coast.[15]
That 1820 treaty asserted, 'There shall be a cessation of plunder and piracy by land and sea on the part of the Arabs, who are parties to this contract, for ever.' It then goes on to define piracy as being any attack that is not an action of 'acknowledged war'. The 'pacificated Arabs' agreed, on land and sea, to carry a flag being a red rectangle contained within a white border of equal width to the contained rectangle, 'with or without letters on it, at their option'. This flag was to be a symbol of peace with the British government and each other.
The treaty having been signed by Keir Grant and all of the Trucial Rulers, the Government in Bombay made clear that while it was happy with Grant's management of the military expedition, it was most dissatisfied with his leniency over the coastal tribes and desired, 'if it were not too late, to introduce some conditions of greater stringency'. Grant's response was spirited, pointing out that to have enforced extreme measures would have meant pursuing the chiefs into the interior rather than accepting their voluntary submission. This would have contravened Grant's instructions. In the end, Bombay allowed the treaty to stand.[16]
Alongside their stronghold in the Persian Gulf & Gulf of Oman the Qawasem were active both militarily and economically in theGulf of Aden and as far west as theMocha on theRed Sea.[17] They had numerous commercial ties with theSomalis, leading vessels from Ras Al Khaimah and thePersian Gulf to regularly attend trade fairs in the large ports ofBerbera andZeila.[18] In the 1830s theIsaaq Sultan Farah Guled and Haji Ali penned a letter toSultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi ofRas Al Khaimah requesting military assistance and joint religious war against the British.[19]
| Rahma bin Matar Al Qasimi | Rashid bin Matar Al Qasimi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hassan bin Rahma Al Qasimi | Saqr bin Rashid Al Qasimi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ahmad bin Sultan Al Qasimi | Ibrahim bin Sultan Al Qasimi | Abdullah bin Sultan Al Qasimi | Khalid bin Sultan Al Qasimi | Salim bin Sultan Al Qasimi | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Khalid bin Ahmad Al Qasimi | Humaid bin Abdullah Al Qasimi | Saqr bin Khalid Al Qasimi | Muhammad bin Salim Al Qasimi | Sultan bin Salim Al Qasimi | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi II | Muhammad bin Saqr Al Qasimi | Saqr bin Muhammad Al Qasimi | Faisal bin Sultan Al Qasimi | Faham bin Sultan Al Qasimi | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Saqr bin Sultan Al Qasimi | Khalid bin Muhammad Al Qasimi | Abdulaziz bin Muhammad Al Qasimi | Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi | Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi | Sheikh Mohammed bin Faisal bin Sultan Al Qasimi[21] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rulers ofRas Al Khaimah | ||
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These prefixes ignored in the alphabetical ordering: Al, Al-Bu, Albu, Banu, Bani | |
| Tribal coalition | |
Part ofArab tribes | |
