Bithnah Fort | |
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Near Bithnah in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates | |
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Coordinates | 25°11′20″N56°13′58″E / 25.18889°N 56.23278°E Coordinates: 25°11′20″N56°13′58″E / 25.18889°N 56.23278°E |
Site information | |
Condition | Restored 2008 |
Site history | |
Built | 1745-1800 |
Materials | Rock, adobe, mud brick |
Battles/wars | Battle of Bithnah, 1845 Taken by Sharqiyin 1884 |
Bithnah Fort is a traditional double story rock, coral and mudbrick fortification located in the Wadi Ham, near the village of Bithnah in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. The fort has played a significant role in the history of the Emirates, particularly in the emergence of Fujairah as an independent emirate in the early 20th century. With a controlling position overlooking the Wadi Ham, the fort replaced an Iron Age fortification.
Prior to the construction of the metalled road between Fujairah City and Masafi in the 1970s, traffic to the interior from the coast passed through the bed of the wadi, controlled by Bitnah Fort, which has through the ages been a keenly contested strategic holding and was to form a key mainstay in the fortunes of the Sharqiyin through the 18th and early 19th centuries. [1]
Bithnah Fort is a rectangular construction with two round corner towers. A rectangular guard's room gives the outward appearance of forming a third tower. It is principally constructed of stone walls, topped with mudbricks bound and covered in mud-based mortar. Wood joists and ceiling beams are made principally from date palm planks, although sparing use of hardwood was also made. The entrance, to the eastern wall of the fort, leads to a 3.3 metre corridor covered with hardwood slabs. This narrow entrance leads, in turn, to a subterranean room and then, via a ladder, to the courtyard. Restoration work in 2008 revealed traces of this room being used as a madbasa, a date storage room with channelled floors to collect the date juice, or dhibs. [2]
Although the fort is known to have been in existence by 1808 (it was possessed at that time by Saudi Wahhabi forces), it is thought the fort could have been constructed at any time following 1745. Traditional repairs to the fort have been made using mud-based renders. [3]
Bithnah Fort was to preside over a century of conflict between the tribes of the west coast and interior against Muscat, with the outside forces of Wahhabi Saudi Arabia and Persia often becoming involved as alliances shifted and military forces found success or failure. Its eventual fall to the insurgent Sharqiyin of Fujairah was to cement the independence of Fujairah from rule both by Muscat and the Qawasim.
Bithnah occupies a strategic location in the Wadi Ham, which links the East Coast port of Fujairah to the inland town of Masafi and stands as one of the three great trade routes (the others are the Wadi Jizzi and the Wadi Hatta) through to the interior and western ports of the Southern Arabian Peninsula. As such, it has long been a flashpoint in the region's conflicts, not least of which was that between the Qawasim of Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah and the Na'im of Buraimi ranged against the Saidi Sultan of Muscat. In 1745, the Qawasim together with the Na’im attempted to fight their way through the Wadi Ham to take the east coast and its great prize, the port of Sohar. They met the Saidi forces at Bithnah and the Battle of Bithnah ensued, a conflict that was to mark a new era in the history of the area: the drawn-out battle between the Saidi Omani leader Ahmed bin Said Al Busaidi against the Qawasim of Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah, and other tribes of the West coast and interior. The Battle of Bithnah was won by the Qawasim when the troops of Ahmed bin Said deserted him. [1]
The conflict rumbled on until, in 1762, a newly resurgent Ahmed bin Said (he had by now unified the querulous Omani tribes) blockaded Julfar, while the Qawasim moved against Rustaq. These raids across the mountains continued until 1792, when a great raid took place by the Na’im of Buraimi against Sohar, resulting in the fall of the city to the raiders. Reinforced by the Bani Yas of Dubai (under their Ruler, Hazza) and the Bani Qitab, the Na’im were however defeated, retreating down the Wadi Jizzi to Buraimi. Ahmed bin Said's forces, triumphant, also sacked the important port town of Dibba by sea, killing many members of the Naqbiyin and Sharqiyin tribes. [4]
The Qawasim found a new ally against their traditional enemy in Oman when the Saudis established a presence in Buraimi, zealous with the new message of their Wahhabi faith. Although there had been a brief alliance between the two enemies, the fragmentation once more of Omani authority resulted in the Qawasim taking sides and backing the Omani Said, Badr bin Saif Al Busaidi. As a result, the important eastern port of Khor Fakkan fell to the Qawasim, backed by Saudi forces. However, when the Qawasim Sheikh, Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi, resisted Saudi dominance and pressure to harry shipping in the Gulf, he was removed from power and control over the forts of Fujairah, Bithnah and Khor Fakkan was placed in the hands of Saudi-backed forces. By 1809, the Saudis had appointed walis, or officers, over the whole Qawasim territory. [5]
Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi escaped Saudi captivity in Diriyah and fled to Mocha and then on to Muscat, where he was received by his former foe, the Said bin Sultan Al Busaidi. His arrival coincided with growing exasperation on the part of Oman's ally, the British, with the Qawasim of Ras Al Khaimah and their constant raids on Omani and other locally flagged shipping. Giving the British further casus belli, Sultan's presence at Muscat helped to inspire the 1809 Persian Gulf Campaign against the Qawasim at Ras Al Khaimah. The action, although punitive, was to be indecisive.
In 1813, an expedition by the Sultan of Muscat to Ras Al Khaimah with the objective of restoring Sultan bin Saqr failed. However, a further sally the next year saw Sultan once again installed as Ruler not of Ras Al Khaimah, but of Sharjah and Lingeh, the latter being his principle residence. Ras Al Khaimah remained under the effective rule of the Saudi dependent, Hassan bin Rahmah. However, the 1819 Persian Gulf Campaign proved altogether more decisive and restored Sultan bin Saqr to rule of the Qawasim.
Sultan bin Saqr signed the General Maritime Treaty of 1820 on the 4 February 1820 at Falayah Fort inland of Ras Al Khaimah as 'Sheikh of Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah'. Hassan bin Rahmah had earlier signed a preliminary agreement giving up control of Ras Al Khaimah to the British and subsequently signed the 1820 treaty as 'Sheikh of Khatt and Falaiha, formerly of Ras Al Khaimah'.
Focused on consolidating his rule over the west coast and rebuilding the shattered town of Ras Al Khaimah, in 1850 Sultan Bin Saqr Al Qasimi ended the long-running conflict with Muscat when he agreed a compromise with the Sultan of Muscat in which Al Qasimi rule was accepted over the area north of the line between Sharjah and Khor Kalba on the East coast, but excluding the rough, high land North of the line between Sha'am on the West and Dibba on the East coast. [6] This effectively saw Muscat cede the Shamaliyah to Sharjah, recognising Sultan bin Saq's de facto rule over the area.
After over a century of contested ownership of the east coast, or Shamaliyah, it was nominally under Qawasim control as Sultan bin Saqr consolidated his rule. [7] However, the influence of the Qawasim was weakened following Sultan bin Saqr's death in 1866, his successor killed in single combat by Zayed the Great of Abu Dhabi. [8] By the 1880s, a number of Qawasim dependencies threatened independence from Saqr bin Khalid Al Qasimi and the head man of Fujairah town, Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al Sharqi, took the opportunity to lead an insurrection in Spring 1879 against Sheikh Salim bin Sultan Al Qasimi of Sharjah, who had placed a slave named Sarur in charge of Fujairah. [9] After his delegation to Salim bin Sultan was rebuffed, Hamad bin Abdullah led a successful sally against Fujairah Fort, leading to a rout. [9]
In 1884, Hamad bin Abdullah took Bithnah Fort, taking control of the sole route from the interior to the Shamaliyah.
Saqr bin Khalid chose not to act against the rebels, as indeed the Sultan Turki bin Said of Muscat elected not to offer them protection after they appealed to him to assume suzerainty over them. British advice to the Sultan was not to get embroiled in what would ultimately lead to an inevitable clash with Sharjah. Muscat stayed away and Saqr bin Khalid lost effective control over the whole of the east coast Al Qasimi possessions, from Dibba down to Kalba. Control over the coastal town and trading post of Khor Fakkan, which could only be approached by land via Fujairah or Dibba at the time, was lost by default. [10]
Holding the strategic asset of Al Bitnah Fort enabled Hamad bin Abdullah to refuse the Ruler of Sharjah at the time, Sheikh Saqr Bin Khalid Al Qasimi, access to send aid to the beleaguered headman of Kalba. [11] This event sealed the de facto independence of Fujairah which was not, however, recognised by the British until 1952. [4]
The dispute at Kalba flared up and each side gathered its backers. In April 1902, Saqr bin Khalid gathered a force of 250 mounted Bedouin to attack Fujairah, while Hamad bin Abdullah petitioned Dubai and Ajman as well as the Sultan of Muscat for their help. The British caught wind of the impending conflict and intervened, warning Muscat and Dubai to stand down. [1] Attempting to mediate the dispute in Sharjah, the British Residency Agent found both Saqr bin Khalid protesting that he could not control his Bedouin and Hamad bin Abdullah refusing to recognise a safe pass to Sharjah as legitimate.
In November, repenting of his conciliatory attitude, Saqr bin Khalid had two Fujairah men killed on their way to Ajman, escalating the conflict with Hamad bin Abdullah. The next month, the British Political Resident, Gaskin, travelled to Sharjah and then on to Fujairah in the RIMS Lawrence. Following two days of negotiations between the warring parties, the British gave up their attempt at intervention and left, cautioning both parties not to break the Maritime Peace. [12]
Declaring his independence in 1901, Sheikh Hamad enjoyed the recognition of this status by all concerned, with the sole exception of the British. [13]
In 1903, the British once again decided not to recognise Fujairah but to consider it a dependency of Sharjah. Despite a sally by Saqr bin Khalid Al Qasimi against Bithnah Fort early in the year, an attempt to regain control of the strategic Wadi Ham, and an exhortation to peace by Curzon during his 1903 vice regal Durbar, Fujairah remained a nominal dependency at best and in 1906 was claimed as a dependency of Abu Dhabi, with no opposition from Sharjah. [14]
In 1939, Mohammed bin Hamad Al Sharqi succeeded as Sheikh of Fujairah. He consolidated the Sharqiyin holdings of Fujairah and its surroundings and by 1950, he had won over Dibba to the North, as well as the coastal settlements of Bidayah and Sakamkam and the inland village of Bithnah and the strategically located Bithnah Fort. [15]
This considerably strengthened his hand when, in 1952, the British (who had staunchly refused recognition of Fujairah's independence over the past 50 years) opened negotiations with Mohammed bin Hamad for oil exploration concessions for British company PCL, Petroleum Concessions Limited. The British government granted Mohammed bin Hamad recognition as a Trucial Ruler and he acceded in 1952 as the Ruler of the seventh emirate to be so recognised (Kalba, previously recognised as a Trucial State in 1939, was subsumed back into Sharjah in 1951).
The Bithnah Fort was allowed to collapse into a ruined state over the course of Mohammed bin Hamad's rule, with both towers falling in. Restored in 1974, it was allowed once again to lapse into a state of decay and, by 2006, was in a parlous state. [16] It was restored fully in 2008–2012. [17]
Prior to 2009, the fort was inhabited by a local man from Bitnah, Saed Ali Saed Al Yamahi. [16]
The United Arab Emirates is a country in the eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula located on the southeastern coast of the Persian Gulf and the northwestern coast of the Gulf of Oman. The UAE consists of seven emirates and was founded on 2 December 1971 as a federation. Six of the seven emirates combined on that date. The seventh, Ras al Khaimah, joined the federation on 10 February 1972. The seven sheikdoms were formerly known as the Trucial States, in reference to the treaty relations established with the British in the 19th century.
The Emirate of Fujairah is one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates. The only of the seven with a coastline solely on the Gulf of Oman and none on the Persian Gulf, its capital is Fujairah.
Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) is one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The city of Ras Al Khaimah, abbreviated to RAK or RAK City, is the capital of the emirate and home to most of the emirate's residents. It is linked to the Islamic trading port of Julfar. Its name in English means "headland of the tent". The emirate borders Oman's exclave of Musandam, and occupies part of the same peninsula. It covers an area of 2,486 km2 (960 sq mi) and has 64 km (40 mi) of beach coastline. As of 2015, the emirate had a population of about 345,000.
Sheikh Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi (1781–1866) was the Sheikh of the Qawasim and ruler variously of the towns of Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah, Jazirah Al Hamra and Rams, all Trucial States in their time and now part of the United Arab Emirates. Briefly a dependent of the first Saudi Kingdom, his rule over Ras Al Khaimah ran from 1803–1809, when he was deposed by order of the Saudi Amir and restored in 1820, going on to rule until his death in 1866 at the age of 85. He was Ruler of Sharjah from 1814–1866, with a brief disruption to that rule in 1840 by his elder son Saqr. He was a signatory to various treaties with the British, starting with the General Maritime Treaty of 1820 and culminating in the Perpetual Maritime Truce of 1853.
Kalba is a city in the Emirate of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is an exclave of Sharjah lying on the Gulf of Oman coast north of Oman. Khor Kalba, an important nature reserve and mangrove swamp, is located south of the town by the Omani border.
The Shihuh is an Arab tribe living in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman. In the singular, the name is Al Shehhi, a common family name in the UAE and Oman today. Inhabiting the northern part of the Hajar Mountain range, specifically in the Ruus Al Jibal, the tribe has long been influential in the affairs of both the east and west coast settlements of the northern UAE and Oman and has fiercely maintained both its identity and independence.
Dibba Al-Hisn is a pene-exclave of the emirate of Al-Sharjah, one of the seven United Arab Emirates. It is bordered by the Gulf of Oman from the East, Dibba Al-Baya from the North, and Dibba Al-Fujairah from the South. It is also geographically part of the Dibba region. It is the smallest in size among the Dibbas. It is mostly known for its fish market and the ancient fortress from which it got its name. Also, it is known for its high density of population relative to the other Dibbas.
The Al Qasimi is an Arab dynasty in the Persian Gulf that rules Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah, today forming two of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates. They are one of the longest reigning royal families in the Arabian peninsula.
The Trucial States, also known as the Trucial Coast, the Trucial Sheikhdoms, Trucial Arabia or Trucial Oman, was the name the British government gave to a group of tribal confederations in southeastern Arabia whose leaders had signed protective treaties, or truces, with the United Kingdom between 1820 and 1892.
Bithnah is a village in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates (UAE), long occupying a strategic location in the Wadi Ham, which is the only natural link to the interior of the UAE and the Persian Gulf from the East Coast city, and Emirate of Fujairah.
Sheikh Salim bin Sultan Al Qasimi was Ruler of Sharjah, a Trucial State and now one of the United Arab Emirates, from 1868–1883. His rule was unusually tumultuous and marked by intrigue, the secession of Sharjah's dependencies and constant conflict. He was also briefly the Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah from 1868–1869 and its wali, or governor, from 1908–1919.
Sheikh Saqr bin Khalid Al Qasimi (1883–1914) was the Ruler of Sharjah, a Trucial State and now one of the United Arab Emirates, from 1883–1914. He took control over Sharjah in a coup during the absence of his uncle, Salim bin Sultan Al Qasimi, and ruled both Sharjah and, from 1900 until his death in 1914, Ras Al Khaimah.
Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmad Al Qasimi was the Ruler of Sharjah, a Trucial State and now one of the United Arab Emirates, from 1914–1924 and Ras Al Khaimah from 1914–1921. He acceded on the death of Saqr bin Khalid Al Qasimi. His rule was tumultuous and unpopular, marked by internecine conflicts and public discontent and saw the final disintegration of the Al Qasimi's joint rule over Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah. Deposed as Ruler of Sharjah in 1924, he went on to become ruler of Dhaid and Kalba and a highly influential figure in the Shamaliyah.
Sheikh Sultan II bin Saqr Al Qasimi was the Ruler of Sharjah, a Trucial State and now one of the United Arab Emirates, from 1924–1951. His father having ceded the rule of Sharjah to Khalid bin Ahmad Al Qasimi, Sultan found himself dispossessed and married the daughter of Abdulrahman bin Shamsi, a secessionist troublemaker from Al Heera. Buoyed by Khalid's unpopularity and Abdulrahman's force of personality and arms, Sultan deposed Khalid and became Ruler of Sharjah. However, he found the interior of the country dominated by Bedouin tribes and the East coast was increasingly dominated by the former Ruler, Khalid bin Ahmad, leaving Sultan the effective ruler of a cluster of coastal settlements, many of which constantly tried to secede from his rule. He is cited as having presided over a low ebb in the power of the Al Qasimi, formerly a powerful maritime federation.
Sheikh Sultan bin Salim Al Qasimi was Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah from 1921–1948. His long and turbulent rule was characterised by internecine family and tribal disputes and he was finally removed as Ruler in a 1948 coup.
Sheikh Hamad bin Ibrahim Al Mualla was Ruler of Umm Al Quwain from 1923–1929, one of the Trucial States which today forms part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al Sharqi was the first recognised leader of the Al Sharqi Ruling family of Fujairah, one of the Trucial States and today one of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He led Fujairah in a number of insurrections against Al Qasimi rule, presiding over a turbulent time when the emirate was practically independent but denied recognition of status as a Trucial State in its own right by the British.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al Sharqi was the Ruler of Fujairah, one of the emirates which today form the United Arab Emirates (UAE), from 1938–1974. In 1952 he was to see his father's long-held dream of independence for Fujairah recognised by the British, the last Trucial State to be so recognised, as well as shortly afterwards to help take the UAE to independence as a nation, in 1971. Due to his skills in diplomacy and politics he was called the wolf of the Gulf.
The Sharqiyin is a tribe of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Dhaid Fort, is a restored C18th fortification in the city of Dhaid, Sharjah, in the United Arab Emirates. It has long been an important stronghold for the Ruling families of Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah and a key strategic asset in maintaining a historical Qawasim dominance of the inland areas of the Northern Emirates.