Chapter 1447 Arab Tribes Linked
Al-Ahsa Oasis.
The land transaction between East Africa and the Ottoman Empire not only aroused dissatisfaction among some forces within the Ottoman Empire, but also aroused dissatisfaction among the people on the traded land.
Because the land on the east coast of the Persian Gulf was also a region reconquered by the Ottoman Empire in the last century. Even earlier, in the 17th century, the Ottoman Empire ruled here once, but later due to the decline of the empire, it had to withdraw from here. It was not until the 1970s that the Ottoman Empire expanded its influence here again.
In other words, before East Africa, the Ottoman Empire had ruled the coastal areas on the eastern coast of the Persian Gulf twice.
The Ottomans were originally a minority in the local area, and now that the Ottoman troops have withdrawn with the signing of the agreement, the local tribal forces that had originally submitted to the Ottoman Empire cannot choose to leave.
This is the land where they have lived for generations, so faced with the ultimatum from the East African government, they chose to fight to the death.
Of course, the local tribes obviously also knew the gap between them and East Africa, so in order to defend their homes, local tribal leaders came to the city of Hasa to discuss countermeasures.
The city of Al-Ahsa is located in the Al-Ahsa Oasis, which is the largest oasis on the Arabian Peninsula and is supplied with water by numerous artesian wells and springs.
Inside the Ibrahim Palace in Al-Hasa.
"Chief Imam Faisal, now the Ottomans have completely abandoned us, and the East Africans are coming in full force. Only you can lead us to defend our homeland!" The chief of the Hararin tribe said to the old man in front of him with an anxious look on his face.
Chief Imam Faisal is the leader of the Khalid tribe, the largest tribe on the eastern coast of the Persian Gulf, and the patriarch of the Khalid family.
He sat on the woolen carpet and said helplessly: "Chief Bani, don't be anxious. After all, we don't want to see the pagans in East Africa take our land. But now that we have lost the protection of the Ottoman Empire, even our Khalid tribe feels overwhelmed."
"Even a powerful empire like the Ottoman Empire had to be so humble in front of East Africa, let alone us, a small tribe that was almost negligible in the empire!"
Although the Ottoman Empire has been declining in the international arena in recent years, it is still the undisputed number one power in the Middle East, and its influence on the entire Arabian Peninsula is profound.
Before, for these small tribes in the eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula, the Ottoman Empire was an absolutely untouchable existence except for other imperialist countries.
Barney cursed with a sad face: "When I think of those damn Turks, I get angry. These bastards don't take us seriously at all."
"Otherwise, they would not have sold our land to the devil of East Africa without our consent."
"Back then, we should have chosen not to surrender and insisted on driving the Turks away. Otherwise, we would not have ended up like this today."
In Barney's eyes, the Ottoman Empire was a traitor. Of course, the Ottoman Empire also regarded them as troublemakers. Otherwise, the Ottoman Empire would not have agreed to East Africa's transaction conditions so easily.
In the early 20th century, before the local oil resources were developed, this land was a definite negative asset for the Ottoman Empire and could only be used to grow some dates.
Although the existence of the Hasa Oasis prevented the area from being completely barren, the Ottoman Empire did not care about this so-called oasis at all, even though it was the largest single independent oasis in the world, covering an area of nearly 100 square kilometers.
Although the Al-Hasa Oasis is not large in area, there are many conflicts there. After all, water is an important strategic material on the Arabian Peninsula, so conflicts among tribes over local water resources are very frequent.
As mentioned before, the water source of Hasa Oasis depends entirely on groundwater, that is, artesian wells and springs. There is no doubt that the competition for these artesian wells and springs is very fierce.
Any tribe or family that wants to expand can only seize these effective water sources.
This also led to frequent conflicts in the area, which caused a lot of trouble for the Ottoman Empire. It was also easy to attract the covetousness of external forces, such as the Saudi family, Britain and other colonial powers.
In modern times, the area has been ruled by the Saudi family, Portugal and other countries. The last time it changed hands before East Africa was when the Ottoman Empire took advantage of the unrest over succession issues among the largest tribe in the area, the Khalid tribe where Imam Faisal was located, to reoccupy the area.
Imam Faisal, the chief of the Khalid tribe who was once supported by the Ottoman Empire, is now facing a difficult decision.
In fact, he was also very dissatisfied with the Ottoman Empire. After all, in his opinion, he should be considered "one of the Ottoman Empire's own", even though he had secretly done some small tricks in the hope of forcing the Ottoman Empire away and allowing the Khalid tribe to regain its independence.
However, now faced with even more brutal pagans, namely the great enemy of East Africa, it is obvious that the Ottoman Empire, which is also an Arab Empire, is not unacceptable.
However, the Ottoman Empire has decided to withdraw from this place, and now there is no chance for them to serve the Turks as dogs again.
At the same time, the withdrawal of the Ottoman Empire also put Imam Faisal in a very embarrassing situation. After all, he had inherited the chieftainship and received support from the Ottoman Empire. He was considered the spokesperson for the Ottoman Empire's local rule.
Now the Ottoman Empire turned around and sold them to East Africa, which made him, as its spokesperson, feel caught between a rock and a hard place. So now Imam Faisal hates the Ottoman Empire very much.
Imam Faisal gnashed his teeth and said, "Okay, Chief Bani, it's useless to discuss the traitor of the Ottoman Empire now. If we want to fight against East Africa, we can only find more help."
"Looking at the current situation in the Persian Gulf region, we have three options. One is the Saudi family in Riyadh, and the other is the British in Bahrain."
"The Kingdom of Najd, founded by the Saudi family, has always had ambitions for us. It once ruled here, but was driven out by the Ottomans in the 1970s."
"And Britain is a world hegemon, no less powerful than the world powers in East Africa. How do you think we should ask them for help?"
Today, the only external forces these Arab tribes can rely on are the internally governed kingdom established by the Saudi family and the British.
In the desert area northeast of the Persian Gulf with Al-Hasa Oasis as its core, there are only four powers that can be contacted, namely the Ottoman Empire in the north, the Kingdom of Negev in the west, East Africa in the south, and Bahrain across the sea in the east, which is a British colony.
As for Bahrain, even if they are regarded as an independent force, it is obvious that Bahrain does not have the ability to help them resolve the crisis, so the only one they can turn to is Britain, which is behind Bahrain.
Abdullah, the chief of the Feijisen tribe, frowned and analyzed: "If it was before, the Saudi family might be interested in us. The Saudi family once ruled us twice."
"Even during the Ottoman Empire, the Saudi family had never lost contact with us, which shows that they must be interested in us."
"So being able to join the Kingdom of Internal Affairs is naturally the best choice for us, but the question now is, facing this powerful enemy in East Africa, do the Saudi family have the courage to stand against the East Africans?"
"I think they probably don't have the courage to do so. Even if we join forces with East African opponents, we can't challenge them at will. I'm afraid the Saudi family is avoiding us now, fearing that they will be dragged into the water."
"So, I think our work should focus on the British. Although the influence of the British in the Persian Gulf has weakened in recent years, it is not much different from that in East Africa. In addition, the relationship between the two countries has always been bad. Can we use this to get the British to support us?"
Chief Bani of the Hararin tribe shook his head and denied it: "Chief Abdullah, you are a little too optimistic. If you carefully understand the world situation in recent years, you will know that Britain is now in a stage of decline."
"With the rise of more and more countries in the world, especially emerging countries such as the United States, East Africa, and Germany, they have had a great impact on the original world order, and traditional powers such as Britain and France have also declined."
"Take the Persian Gulf region for example. In the past, Britain was an all-powerful force. Even powerful nations like the Ottoman Empire and Persia succumbed to the British power."
"Britain's colonies and influence radiate throughout the Arab world, so before World War I, Britain could undoubtedly serve as an arbitrator for the entire region."
"But now the situation has changed. East Africa is rising. We all know that East Africa's influence and military strength in the Persian Gulf region are growing stronger and stronger."
"But we should also note that East Africa's expansion in the Persian Gulf region was essentially caused by Britain's weakness."
"The British once regarded the Persian Gulf region as their sphere of influence and continued to infiltrate the region. The expansion of East Africa in the Persian Gulf region was undoubtedly equivalent to intruding into the British backyard. If it were in the 19th century, I'm afraid the British would have taken various measures to squeeze East Africa out."
"However, what we have seen in recent years is that in the face of East African expansion, Britain has mostly chosen to turn a deaf ear and dumb, and even gave up its own colonies!"
"Everyone knows that the former Pirate Coast and Qatar were actually British colonies, although only in name. East Africa's occupation of these areas is tantamount to a provocation to Britain."
"But when Qatar and the Pirate Coast were annexed by East Africa, the British didn't say a word. So, even if we turn to Britain now, will they really choose to be our enemy and East Africa?"
Faced with Chief Bani's questioning, the tribal leaders present looked at each other, and the whole room was silent for a while.
Just as he said, the British were willing to give up even their nominal colonies. Their relationship with Britain was basically zero. How could the British possibly wade into this mess for them? This is such a simple truth, but it is a fact that no one is willing to admit but must accept.
Abdullah frowned and asked, "Then Chief Bani, what do you think we should do? Now we can only count on Saudi Arabia and the British. If even they can't help us, should we just surrender to East Africa?"
Surrender would mean leaving the land where they had lived for generations and migrating to other areas as required by the East Africans.
But this is not something that everyone can accept. After all, migration is not an easy thing. For people like them, the only places they can go are the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Negev.
But running to someone else's territory also means being at the mercy of others and giving up your current status and wealth.
Barney said: "That depends on everyone's determination and attitude! Now we only have two options: one is to defend our homeland to the death, and the other is to go into exile in a foreign country."
"Regarding the former, we are probably no match for the East Africans. Of course, if we operate properly, we may be able to make the East Africans retreat."
"We are not completely without advantages. For example, we are more familiar with this land than the East Africans, and there are many mountains and deserts here, so we can deal with the East Africans. The difficulty lies in that our water source is fixed. If we leave the springs and wells, the situation will be extremely difficult."
"As for the second point, exile to a foreign country is also a solution. Save your life first, then talk about other things. This is also common sense. Of course, our Haralin tribe obviously does not want to give up our homeland to others."
Regarding the second point, just like the capitalists during the Soviet reform period who would rather preserve their wealth and be hung on street lamps than accept the reform of the Soviet Labor Party, sometimes some people regard material things as more important than their lives.
Most tribal chiefs had similar ideas to Bani, but it was difficult for them to make up their minds, so they could only turn their attention to Chief Imam Faisal, the leader of the region.
"Sheikh Imam Faisal, you told us what to do, and now we will listen to you!"
Imam Faisal felt like he was being roasted on the fire, but he had to make a decision. After all, the Khalid tribe was the largest tribe in the area and also the one with the greatest interests. On the contrary, the pressure on other families and tribes was not as great as his.
Facing the heated gazes of the crowd, Chief Imam Faisal thought for a moment and then said: "Right now, we have very little choice."
"In that case, I suggest that we make multiple preparations. The first thing is that we cannot put all our eggs in one basket. Right now we are facing a crisis of life and death, so we should put some of our strength in a safe place."
“For example, we could send some of our descendants to the Ottoman Empire or the Negev, or even overseas. That way, even if we fail, we won’t all die here.”
Imam Faisal's proposal was a wise one and instantly convinced everyone. After all, they were reluctant to leave here, but they could send their families to safe places and leave a way out for the family.
Everyone expressed their support and praise for Imam Faisal, which made Imam Faisal feel a little relieved.
He went on to say: "Secondly, we should try to negotiate with the East African government. Although the East African government's past behavior is not glorious, we still have to try to see if we can reach some agreement with them, even if it means accepting some more stringent ruling conditions than the Ottoman Empire."
In fact, although the Ottoman Empire ruled here in the past, these families were almost the same as local emperors and lived a very comfortable life. So in the eyes of Imam Faisal, as long as East Africans did not kill them all, it was not impossible to negotiate by accepting some harsh conditions.
This point was also recognized by everyone. Although East Africa is notorious for its dangerous conditions, just in case... even if the chance is only one in a trillion, everyone still wants to give it a try.
Finally, Imam Faisal said: "Of course, we must also be prepared to fight to the end. Regarding this, whether it is the Kingdom of Najib or Britain, or even the Kingdom of Hejaz and Persia, we should immediately send people to contact them and win their support for us, and we should not limit ourselves to one family. Even if they give us one more gun, it will be much more useful than sitting on the throne."
(End of this chapter)
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