Ruler of Sharjah: The Historical Complex collects English, Dutch, French, Ottoman and Portuguese documents documenting the history of the region between 1622 AD and 1810 AD.
Sharjah, 5 November / WAM / His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, said that the publication of the Council of Histories of the Arabian Peninsula and Persia is a continuation of the publication of The Portuguese in the Sea of Oman, and begins by presenting the entire history of the region in the form of incidents in annals, and comes in 33 volumes in Arabic and the same in English, and contains 1,473 documents, and has also been placed on a memory stick.
This came during a speech by His Highness, in a television interview with Muhammad Hassan Khalaf, Director General of the Sharjah Broadcasting and Television Authority, which was broadcast by Sharjah Channel, about his latest book, which is “The Collection of Histories of the Arabian Peninsula and Knight of Events in the Annals from 1622 AD to 1810 AD.”
His Highness added that the publication was called the Collection of Histories because it includes all the documents documenting that period, including English, Dutch, French and Ottoman documents, in addition to referring to the Portuguese documents that His Highness included in his publication The Portuguese in the Sea of Oman, where His Highness placed in the introductions to volumes 1 to 12 a notice in which he wrote: “For more information about the events that occurred in the period from 1622 AD to 1645 AD, the reader can see the book: The Portuguese in the Sea of Oman, Events In Annals from 1497 AD to 1757 AD, Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi, from volume seventeen to volume twentieth, issued in 2025 AD, by Al-Qasimi Publications, United Arab Emirates.
His Highness explained that after the Portuguese arrived in the region and controlled the entrance to the Gulf and the entrance to the Red Sea until the fall of Hormuz in the year 1622 AD, the Portuguese moved to control some cities on the coast of Oman, followed by several countries that wanted to benefit from the region for trade. The first time the Portuguese were expelled by the English, and the second time by the Dutch, whom the English sought for help. His Highness explained that the English and the Dutch took an exemption from Shah Abbas to obtain silk, and establish… They had centers in Gombroun, which later became Bandar Abbas, in exchange for expelling the Portuguese. The choice of Gombroun and not Hormuz came because of the separation of Hormuz from Persia, and the lack of supplies and water and its salinity in it, which affected trade.
His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah asked about the trade that countries in the region flocked to. His Highness explained that Europe needed silk and cotton for clothing products as it only had wool, and they could not wear it in the summer, and it needed spices that came from India to remove the musty smell from the meat, because at that time there were no refrigerators to preserve meat, and they used to make from pastrami meat, and another type called lingon, which is the one from which the water is emptied by pounding, but the musty odor remains in it, which the spices remove.
His Highness explained that the region was not the exporter of spices and silk, but rather represented the roads that led to the places that produced and exported them, as the Silk Road crosses from western China to the Afghan regions, and enters Persia in Kerman, and attacks may occur in it, which is why merchants used to take the source of the Indus River, and cross it on special river ships and come to the Arabian Sea, and then move again to Hormuz on the coast, which is in the Baloch region, and from there they move to the Kerman region and continue to Europe, pointing out. His Highness said that the region had its share of this road because of the problems that might occur in the regions, which made Sohar a disembarkation area, and then with the occupation of Oman they were heading to Dibba.
Regarding the transfer of the silk trade from China, which was tightening controls along the trade route, His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah mentioned the story of the smart Kerman merchants who were able to remove the cocoon that produces silk from China, by placing it in their wives’ hair and then curling and knotting it so that the cocoon would not be seen, after which silk production moved to Kerman.
His Highness pointed out that the Dutch were transporting silk to Europe at the highest prices, which caused a group of London merchants to protest, so they decided to form a London Merchants Company, and found a place for them on the coast of India.
His Highness reviewed the documents he possesses, most of which are in the Historical Complex, and are also available to researchers at the house of Dr. Sultan Al Qasimi, and included Dutch, English, French and Ottoman documents, including the archive documents of the diary of the English office in Basra, which takes its contents from Basra and its environs, the Arabian Peninsula and its environs, and what is in Iraq, and the archive of the diary of the English company office in Gombroun, where His Highness collected the documents of the two offices during the initial collection phase of the English documents, indicating that there is no There are conflicts or differences between them, as each office has its responsibility for registering either the entrance to the Gulf or the exit of the Gulf.
His Highness explained that the Basra office was having many problems that caused it to close, which made them think about moving to Kuwait and Qatar. Among the problems that occurred were the occupation of Basra by Karim Khan Zand, and problems with the existing tribes. As for the Gombroun office, it did not have many problems and oppositions because it was during the rule of Shah Abbas.
His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah explained the difference between English and Dutch documentation, as the Dutch are more organized and concise with a few lines and are keen on amending and deleting false information such as rumours, while the English documentation is long and includes trade matters and other matters, which may waste information, and leaves out the wrong information and does not correct it.
His Highness referred to the Ottoman archive, which deals with the Arabian Peninsula, and in Iraq, Basra and its environs, and the central island between the Euphrates and the Tigris, excluding the mountainous regions and the Kurds. His Highness pointed out that the Ottoman documents are difficult to obtain, and they are in the Turkish language and are called “Siqa”, as His Highness learned them to read the documents and then they are translated into Arabic, indicating that the source of the documents is the Prime Minister’s office and the files are according to the ministry, in addition to another source, which is Topkapi Palace, which is the king’s palace from which the decrees come. And orders and correspondence between the king and the pashas appointed in the regions.
His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah touched on the French files, which came from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and they were few due to the clash between the English and the French when they came to the region, and then they left and returned and entered the Gulf after a late period, but only as political and commercial relations. His Highness referred to the files of the city of Cannes, which are the files of Deccan, the French commander on the French islands in the Indian Ocean, such as Mauritius, and he was arrested after Britain occupied the islands, so Deccan took the files and placed them in the municipality of Cannes.
His Highness told the story of his obtaining the Dutch documents, when his friend, the researcher Dr. Ben Sloat, writer of the book Arabs of the Gulf, complained to him about the management of the center where he works negligently handling the documents, as the administration wanted to end them in order to save operational costs and lack of a sense of their importance, so His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah would then pay the cost of Dr. Ben Sloat’s retirement, and then he would work with His Highness in photocopying and translating all the documents over a period of 4 years, which after analyzing them resulted in 1,000 files excluding documents that were of no use to His Highness, such as matters Related to accounts and trade.
His Highness pointed out that the German documents arrived in the region late, during the days of the entry of the Ottomans, when the Germans had a consul who recorded incidents, and these documents are located in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His Highness pointed out that he asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to view the Ministry’s archives, which he was received there upon his visit by the German Consul in Dubai, who had previously been sitting with His Highness and was a friend of his. The trouble was made easy for His Highness because he and his team worked on searching the archives, translating them, and sending the documents to His Highness, but they were from a late period in 1910 AD.
His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah stated that, based on his knowledge, knowledge, experience and research extending over many years, His Highness placed in the margins of the pages a correction and clarification of some terms found in the documents that may be interpreted incorrectly, such as terms such as a name or Qasim, which may be understood to be Al Qasimi, explaining that what is between the two crescent moons is not part of the text, such as putting (Ras Al Khaimah) in parentheses when mentioning Julphar for clarification, indicating the other method by placing a reference in the paragraph and clarifying in the margin, in addition to To Arabize the foreign word only at the beginning of its mention, and then the Arabic word is used in the rest of the places in the book.
His Highness stressed that the Collection of Histories is a service for researchers, as it is not easy for researchers to move between distant countries and translate all these documents, with the possibility of wasting the researcher’s effort by not obtaining his request for movement and research. His Highness pointed out that in order to make it easier for the researcher and so that he does not feel afraid of the amount of volumes and documents in it, which has reached 1473 documents, he has attached to the volumes a researcher’s guide in which the numbers of documents available in the volumes and their subject matter are found, so that the researcher’s time is not wasted, but rather he searches in the guide. On the subject of his study, such as researching the fall of Hormuz, and when it is present in the guide, he will be able to know the numbers and pages of documents related to the subject.
His Highness stressed to researchers the need to mention the reference of the original document in their research and not the Complex of Histories, as His Highness, by issuing the Complex of Histories, places the original documents at the service of researchers and to be their primary reference. As a matter of scientific honesty, researchers can only indicate in the introduction to their research that most of the documents were from His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, and without repeating the name with each document.
His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah explained that there are many researchers researching the publication of The Portuguese in the Sea of Oman, and they are from various countries from China, South America, North America, and the Portuguese themselves. His Highness hopes that the results of the research in the Compilation of Histories of the Arabian Peninsula, Persia, and The Portuguese in the Sea of Oman will be valuable and add to the history and contribute to its clarification. His Highness cited his interpretation when asked about the presence of cannons at sea on Masirah Island in Oman as a battle occurred between Turkish ships. And Portuguese, noting that there are details of the story in the edition of The Portuguese in the Sea of Oman, which researchers can refer to to write further.
His Highness touched on the history of Oman, which is rich in sites and the strategic situation, pointing out that everyone who came to power was keen on the state and belonging to the group, which is a phenomenon that does not exist. That is why His Highness called the history of Oman, which he dealt with from human settlement to the state of Al Bou Said, the Sultan of Histories, meaning argument and proof. His Highness indicated that he was in contact with the history of Oman, and placed all the tribes that ruled in the Sultan of Histories and did not exclude anyone, and with these publications the Omani is He is proud of himself and his belonging to Oman and its honorable history, and researchers can study the history of Oman as well.
His Highness refuted the statements of many historians about the lack of sources about the history of the Nabhanis, saying that with his extensive research and obtaining many sources and documents, he created the al-Nabhanis family tree, and they had a special book on the authority of histories.
His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah pointed out that he is keen to have his publications coincide with the launch of the Sharjah International Book Fair, because of the importance and reputation of the fair and its contribution to publishing and advertising books. He pointed out that the fair is where people meet in order to nourish the mind and soul, and spend money on it for the sake of culture and knowledge. His Highness recalled the beginnings of the fair’s launch 44 years ago, during which His Highness bought all the books during its first session to support publishers and writers, and to strengthen libraries in Sharjah. His Highness continues to support annually the need for libraries, the development of science, and the increase of literature, noting that the decline in exhibitions in other cities is a decline in culture.
His Highness concluded the meeting by wishing that every country would have scientific and cultural radiance. With the presence of universities in the Arab and Gulf countries, their sons and daughters can now benefit from this research, documents and learning sources to study and document the history of the region through the efforts of its people, gain cognitive mastery in various fields, and preserve and disseminate the authentic Arab identity.
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