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Ctesiphon Books
THIS
STRANGE EVENTFUL
HISTORY
Memories of Earlier Days
in the
United Arab Emirates & Oman
By:
EDWARD
HENDERSON
LONDON: 1990
Publisher/Year: LONDON, Quartet Books, Reprint 1990, [First Published 1988]. Binding: Original Cloth Hardcover, in DUST WRAPPER, 24x15cm. Pages: 184 Illustrations: 24 photo illustrations, End-paper maps.
жжж Please see book CONDITION at end жжж
Edward Firth Henderson (1917-1995)
Political Agent, Qatar 1969-71; Ambassador to Qatar 1971-74
Henderson was 22 years old at the outbreak of the Second World War; after coming down from Brasenose College, Oxford, with a degree in modern history, he immediately entered the Army. Posted to Syria in 1942, he served with the explorer Wilfred Thesiger, who, under the command of Col Gerald de Gaury, was raising a Druze squadron with which to fight the Vichy French and resist an expected German invasion of the region via the Caucasus. After the war he spent two years in the Arah Legion in Jordan and Palestine. He then joined an oil company and spent several years as their representative in the Trucial States (now UAE) and Oman.
In 1956 he was seconded to the Foreign Office. He subsequently sat an examination for late entrants and became established. His postings were mainly in Arah countries ending with his appointment as Britain's first Ambassador in Qatar.
On retirement from the Foreign Office in 1974 he returned to Abu Dhabi to work in the Documentation Centre for historical research. In 1981 he spent a year in London as Director of the Council for the Advancement of Arab British Understanding, followed by a gear and a half in Washington with the American Educational Trust mainly lecturing on Arab affairs at universities throughout the USA. He then returned to Ahu Dhabi where he continues with his work at the Documentation Centre.
Edward Henderson married Jocelyn Nenk in 1960; with two daughters.
≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈
ORIGINAL 1990 EDITION
in ORIGINAL DUST WRAPPER
Story of Buraimi Dispute
with Very Rare Fascinating
Photograph Illustrations
from
ABU
DHABI, DUBAI, OMAN
more than
70
Years Ago
From Jacket ...
UNTIL the 1950s there were no docks, roads, bridges, electricity, piped water or medical services in the area which is now the United Arab Emirates and the neighbouring state of Muscat and Oman. The discovery of oil was to have a dramatic effect on these lands and the people.
Edward Henderson first went to the Trucial Coast and Oman in 1948 as the representative of the Iraq Petroleum Company, the company which had the concession to explore for oil. He tells here the story of how he joined the oil company, what its aims were on what was then called the Trucial Coast, and of all the difficulties they encountered when trying to enter the hinterland of Oman. He describes his part in the expedition to recapture Buraimi, the name loosely applied to an important oasis in the North of Oman - an expedition which he accompanied as Political Officer charged to prevent bloodshed. Through his extensive knowledge of the Omani tribes and their customs, he helped persuade the Duru to acknowledge the Sultan of Muscat who was then able to establish a United State of Muscat and Oman.
Throughout his intensely modest narrative, Edward Henderson, while being informative, skilfully conveys the excitement he felt during the search for and upon the discovery of oil, and at the impact the discovery was to have on the economic development of the area.
From Preface ...
EDWARD HENDERSON'S fascinating book tells two important political stories; and a lot more besides. First, there is the story of how the Sultan of Muscat was enabled to establish a united state of Muscat and Oman with oil reserves to propel its primitive economy into take-off and to play a vital role in the security of the Arabian Peninsula. For centuries the authority of the Sultan of Muscat over the interior of his country had been precarious, since it was disputed by the Ibadhi Imams. The whole history of Oman is characterized by a series of Imamates in Ibadhi tradition with a number of intervening years without an Imam when the state was still regarded as viable.
The second story, also set in the 1950s, is the capture and the pacification of Buraimi, the name loosely applied to a large oasis in the north of Oman which is an equivalent of Crewe Junction to the communications of the desert and lies amid rich oilfields. An armed Saudi band, with the support of an American oil company eager for new concessions, had taken control of Buraimi in breach of a Standstill Agreement between the British Government, acting on behalf of the Sultan of Muscat, and the Ruler of Abu Dhabi. A British expedition of Trucial Oman Levies captured Buraimi and removed the Saudis and their supporters. Henderson accompanied the expedition as Political Officer charged to prevent bloodshed. This succeeded and a further step was taken towards the security of this strategic area. The author is very modest indeed about his own doings, but I know from British and Arab participants that he played a conspicuous part in these important events.
When I was Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi from 1977-81 I always told any visiting British official or businessman that if he wished to apply himself seriously to Abu Dhabi he must first carry in his head the family tree of the al-Nahayyan family; otherwise he would simply not understand the personalities or their motives for action. Edward has captured not only the detail of this world but the authentic flavour of the Arabs of the area. I would urge any young diplomat or businessman who aspired to work effectively in the area to read this book slowly and at leisure; and to dip back into it from time to time.
I first knew Edward when I was Political Agent in the Trucial States, based in Dubai from 1966-8; and he used to visit us from Bahrain, where he was on the Political Resident's staff. It was quickly clear to me that I could learn from an hour's talk with him what it would take me weeks and some luck to find out for myself. He could walk in unannounced, just as the Bedu do in their curiously democratic way, into the majlis of any Ruler the length of the Gulf, a privilege enjoyed by few Britons indeed. My great friend and mentor, the late Geoffrey Arthur, held the same view of Edward as I did.
I heartily commend this book by a valued friend and colleague of many years' standing. We can all learn from a man who quietly belongs to the long tradition of British explorers of the Arabian Peninsula, and who can truthfully say, `I have done the State some service; and they know it.'
Contents ...
Chapters
Preface
Foreword
Introduction
The Trucial States Before Oil
The Shaikhs and the People on the Coast and in the Desert
The Tribal Structure
The Background to the Search for Oil and My Involvement
The Search Begins
The Search Continues
A Pause between Expeditions
The Second Expedition
The Landing and a Setback
Trying Again
The End of the Beginning
Excitement in Buraimi
Epilogue
Illustrations ...
His Highness Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan
Pearl Merchants and their Wares
A Pearling Boat sets out for the Season
Camels crossing the Ford to Abu Dhabi before the Causeway had been built c.1949
A Desert Expedition. The Author is standing in the Truck
Sabir bin Muhammad
We had Four-Wheel drive in 1949
Water Taxi, Dubai 1949
When one breaks down we all stop
Spudding in at Ras Sadr, February 1950. In the centre is Shaikh Shakhbut, on his left, Patrick Stobart, British Political Officer, and the Author; Ronald Codrai is on other side
His Highness Shaikh Shakhbut, Ruler of Abu Dhabi
Building of the Causeway to Abu Dhabi, 1950
Company Vehicles on the Borders of Oman
His Highness Shaikh Rashid bin Humaid at the Company House in Dubai in 1949. Among those with him, left to right, are Shaikh Ali bin Rashid, Ron Codrai, the Shaikh's Secretary, the Author and Muhammad Abdul Rahman who was on the staff of the Company
Husain Khan Sahib
Sharjah Airstrip, 1948. This point is now near the Middle of Downtown Sharjah
Drilling at Jabal Ali, Dubai. Shaikh Said bin Maktum with the Author
Jabal Fahud from the Air, 1950
Murani Fort, Muscat
Shaikh Sultan bin Saif al-Hawsini in 1988
His Highness Shaikh Shakhbut welcomes His Highness the Sultan of Muscat to al-Ain in December 1955
Colonel Eric Johnson meets People in Buraimi after the fighting has stopped
Silaif, Oman
Abu Dhabi Fort with the British Agency in the Foreground, 1956
Maps ...
Map of Muscat and Oman, shown Track of PDO Expedition October 1954
Map of Buraimi Falajes
Condition ...
Dust wrapper slightly worn , otherwise book in very good condition.
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