The Hyacinth incident

In 1903, Butti had travelled with Sheikh Maktoum to Sharjah at the invitation of British Viceroy and Governor-General of India, George Curzon, to a Durbar, held on 21 November, at which Curzon delivered a speech reminding the assembled Sheikhs of the benefits of the Pax Britannica.^[2] The memory would have struck Butti as ironic when, seven years later, British troops were involved in a vicious confrontation in Dubai, killing 37 of his people.

A lively trade in arms had grown in the Trucial States and, at the turn of the century, Sharjah and Dubai became centres for the flourishing trade. By late 1902, Lorimer records that up to 200 guns a month were being traded, despite an agreement with the British that banned the import and re-export of arms. In an attempt to curb the trade, the British ship HMS Hyacinth patrolled the coast. In December 1910, its crew suspected a group of smugglers had docked at Al Shindaghah under cover of darkness and, early the next morning, a 100-strong landing party was sent ashore. The presence of a large armed group in the town triggered an angry reaction from locals and a fight followed in the narrow alleys of the souq. The British party retreated after four of their men were killed and nine wounded; however, they in turn had killed 37 local men.^[6]

Adding insult to injury, the British attempted to impose a number of reparations following the incident, including a fine of 50,000 Rupees, the surrender of 400 rifles and demands to establish a telegraph station and post office onshore. Both of the latter demands ran contrary to the nature of the relationship the British government had established with the Trucial Sheikhs and Butti had already, in 1906, made his opposition to the establishment of a British Indian post office in Dubai clear to the British.^[7] The additional demands were withdrawn following a petition to the British by an enraged Butti.^[6]