Ayoon wa Azan (The 14th Province, or Calls for Its Return).

Byline: Jihad el-Khazen

For every official Iranian denial of any aspirations in Bahrain, two news items appear from Tehran about the "14th province" or calls for its return.

In a previous column, I referred to the likelihood of a response by demanding Arabistan, Al Ahwaz, or Khuzestan. The rights of Arabs there are much clearer than any Iranian right to Bahrain. Since I mentioned Arabistan only briefly, and with the continuing debate, officials and people have advised me to return to the topic.

There must be historians who know more about the topic than I do; I leave the floor to them as I select a confirmed piece of information because it preceded all of the later controversy and has no connection to any of the current sides.

The British archaeologist Gertrude Bell, who died in 1926, was a historian, linguist, photographer, spy and traveler who visited Persia and Iraq and what has become the eastern province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. She wrote in very detailed fashion about what she saw and encountered. There are many books available about her for those who are interested.

I will suffice by mentioning this review of the book "The Arab War: Confidential Information for General Headquarters from Gertrude Bell, Reprinted from the Secret 'Arab Bulletin'."

In the Introduction, Sir Kinahan Cornwallis says that the Arab Bulletin was a summary of intelligence information of the Arab Bureau, which he headed in 1916-1920. In the 1940 Introduction, he writes about the period that ended in 1920, and says that since these dispatches, Sultan Abdul Hamid has gone, so has Sheikh Khazal, the emir of the Muhammerah, who was the opposite of the dictatorial shah. Sir Kinahan adds that Ibn Saud alone among those mentioned in these pages found his glory increased; thus, stories of the first days are important. He has added to his possessions in Najd the Hijaz, Asir and Ha'il since the writing of these dispatches.

There is a chapter entitled "NOTE ON THE TRIBAL AUTHORITY OF THE SHEIKHS OF MUHAMMERAH AND KUWEIT IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES," for which I found a translation in an Arabic book entitled Forgotten Pages of the History of the Arabian Peninsula. I could not find the entire book but only a few excerpts, such as Gertrude Bell talking in her letters about the tribal composition of lands bordering the Gulf, especially Basra, Muhammerah, the Fao and Kuwait in 1916, when the conflict among the Turks, the British and the Persians was at its height.

Here are some quotes from her wartime correspondence:

"The political frontier of the Ottoman Vilayet of Basrah does not correspond with the tribal boundaries of the two great independent Arab chiefs upon its border, the Sheikhs of Kuweit and Muhammerah. The Sheikh of Kuweit is more completely under British protection than the Sheikh of Muhammerah, who remains nominally a Persian subject, and the influence of the former in Basrah territory is less extensive than that of the latter. His tribesmen are settled in the Fao district only, whereas sections of tile two confederations of the Muhaisin and the Cha'ab (both of whom own the Sheikh of Muhammerah as overlord, while the Muhaisin are his own particular tribe, and stand in the closest relations to him), are found on either bank of the Shatt-el-Arab from above Basra to Fao. There are, moreover, a considerable number of persons who are commonly regarded as Raji' to the Sheikh of Muhammerah, that is, resorting to him."

Before I continue, I would like to draw the reader's attention to Bell's comment that the sheikh of Kuwait's influence extended to Basra; there are many other indications of this, such as "The fellahin of the Sheikh of Kuweit's date gardens in the Fao district stood in much the same relationship with him as their practical overlord, and in almost equal detachment from the Ottoman Government."

This shows that southern Iraq was a Kuwaiti "province," and not, as Saddam Hussein claimed, that Kuwait was Iraq's 18th province.

But let us remain in Arabistan, with the story of Sheikh Khazal; the dispatches say:

"The two tribes have in the past recognized no jurisdiction but that of Sheikh Khazal, and they are accustomed to go to him for the settlement of all disputes, both civil and criminal; even murder casesC* Thus, under Ottoman rule, the administration of a large part of the banks of the Shatt-el Arab was left to the Sheikh, while the Turkish officials were content with the position of tax-gatherers. When the fellahin were absent on military service, even the collection of the revenue would be found difficult, if not impossibleC*Under the regime of the Turks, the only sign of Ottoman sovereignty was the collection of revenues," which came from two sources: the sheikh of Kuwait and the sheikh of al-Muhammerah.

There is a lot of information and it proves the right of the Al Khazal, and particularly the sons of Sheikh Khazal, who are present and well-known, to rule Arabistan; it far exceeds Iran's right to demand Bahrain.

Sheikh Zayed, God rest his soul, granted UAE citizenship to the Al Khazal and it would be just to see Emirati rule over Arabistan, as a response to the Iranian occupation of three UAE islands. Or, in other words, people who live in glass houses should not throw stones at Bahrain.

2009 Media Communications Group

Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company