The East India Company Islands

At various points in history, the extent of British India stretched from as far as Aden and Persian Gulf in the west to Singapore and Penang in the east. It also included Ceylon (Sri Lanka) for a brief amount of time in the 18th century. This post discusses the Persian wing of British India, known as Persian Gulf Residency that existed between 1763 to 1947 (and as British protectorate till 1971). It included today's UAE, Bahrain, Qatar and parts of Oman and Iran. The first connection of East India Company with the Persian Gulf was made in 1616 - two years prior to when they got permission to trade with the Mughals on the Indian subcontinent. By 1620s, Persia had EIC trade factories at Shiraz, Isfahan and Bandar Abbas (all in Iran). This was the time when the East India Company was solely a trading company and had no intention of colonization anywhere. In fact, this was the era when the Arab waters were dominant by Portuguese and Dutch trade and the English were quite new to Asia. 

After the Battle of Plassey in Bengal in 1757, the atmosphere for the English changed and their intention flipped from trade to politics. As they started to muddle with Mughal affairs, effect could be seen in the Middle East as well. Between 1763 to 1947 - the year India got independent [and partitioned] - the British had their trading posts converted Residencies at Bushire, Muscat, Basra, Baghdad, Kuwait and Sharjah. Till 1858 these were controlled directly by the East India Company but after its disbandment in the same year, the headquarters shifted to India Office under Bombay Presidency. 

On old maps one could find Persian Gulf Residency quietly written under 'East India Company islands' off the coast of Trucial Coast (today's UAE). These include the following:

1. Seir Beni Yass island (Sir Baniyas island)
2. Psyche's islands (Higher Yasat and Lower Yasat islands)
3. Goodwin islands (Al Qaffay and Muhaimat islands)
4. Dalmi island (Dalma or Delma island)
5. El Feyea (Al Fiyay island & Marawah island)
6. Biliyard island (Abu Al Abyad island)
7. Zirkooa island (Zirku island)
8. Jirmain island (Qarnain island)
9. Dausi island (Das island)
10. Arzenieh island (Arzanah island)
11. Daene island (Diynah island)

Another interesting feature of the Gulf Residency was the usage of Gulf Rupee - a temporary currency issued by the Government of India between 1959 to 1966. Interestingly, even before India's independence and much before the dissolution of the EIC, the monetary unit of these territories were the same that was used on the subcontinent - British Indian Rupee. The usage of Gulf Rupee in the 1960s was due to an alarming increase rate of gold smuggling because of huge price differences between Rupee and Pound Sterling (which was the currency of Trucial States since it was still functioning under the Bank of England). These special notes were legally not valid in India and were solely for the Gulf territories that continued till 1961 (in Kuwait), 1965 (in Bahrain), 1966 (in UAE and Qatar) and 1970 (in Oman). The Gulf Rupee was then replaced with Dinars and Rials. 

Much before the conceptualization of the United Arab Emirates, there existed this entity of Trucial Coast whose story originated from piracy in the Gulf. It was 1819 when the East India Company launched a massive naval campaign against the sea-pirates of the Gulf wherein the expedition was sailed from Bombay (Mumbai). The so-called 'pirate coast' was stretched from the Qatar peninsula to Oman, what is today's coastal UAE, headquartered at Ras al Khaymah. The pirates suffered heavy losses and the 'Pirate Coast' became Trucial Coast after entering into a series of treaties and truces between the pirates and East India Company. 

But this 'Trucial Coast' was named by the British and wasn't really what the Arabs would have called in their language. On older maps, the names Jewasimi, Ras Jebel and Ras Mussendum are mentioned to denote this coast. On even older maps dating late 1780s, the entire coast between Kuwait to the starting of UAE is denoted as 'Bahrein' and UAE's coast is mentioned as Roi de Perse or 'King of Persia'. On other maps it is mentioned as part of 'El Hassa' or 'El Hejer' - one of the predecessors to today's Saudi Arabia. Entering into the 20th century maps, the coast is now shown as part of Oman and the name 'Djewasimi' or 'Jewasimi' is now often mentioned. In 1920s, the region is now known as Trucial Oman even though the treaty was signed way back in 1819, almost a century ago. This was simply because although a truce was declared between the Sheikhs and EIC in 1819, it took almost a century for individual Sheikhdoms to sign an official treaty. These Sheikhdoms - Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai (spelled as Debai or Dubayy), Fujairah, Kalba, Ras al Khaimah, Sharjah (spelled as Sharja) and Umm al Quwain - now form the United Arab Emirates.  

Below is the map of the Persian Gulf Residency dating 1891 with East India Company Islands boxed in red. The red color on the map denotes the British domination.