page_title: Piracy in the Persian Gulf
section_title: The Pirate Coast
hierarchical_section_title: Piracy in the Persian Gulf / 17th century / The Pirate Coast
caption_attribution_description: English: ‘Map of Arabia. Compiled from all the most recent authorities, by order of the Court of Directors of the East India Company by John Walker’ [‎1r] (1/2), British Library: Map Collections, IOR/X/3206, in Qatar Digital Library
context_page_description: Piracy in the Persian Gulf describes the naval warfare that was prevalent until the 19th century and occurred between seafaring Arabs in Eastern Arabia and the British Empire in the Persian Gulf. It was perceived as one of the primary threats to global maritime trade routes, particularly those with significance to British India and Iraq. Many of the most notable historical instances of piracy, referred to as resistance by modern Emirati historians, were perpetrated by the Al Qasimi tribe. This led to the British mounting the Persian Gulf campaign of 1809, a major maritime action launched by the British to bombard Ras Al Khaimah, Lingeh and other Al Qasimi ports. The current ruler of Sharjah, Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi argues in his book The Myth of Piracy in the Gulf that the allegations of piracy were simply excuses used by the British to impose imperialism.
  Piratical activities were common in the Persian Gulf from the late 18th century to the mid 19th century, particularly in the area known as the Pirate Coast which spanned from modern-day Qatar to Oman.
context_section_description: The designation Pirate Coast was first used by the British around the 17th century and acquired its name from the raiding activities that the local Arab inhabitants pursued. Edward Balfour proclaims that the Pirate Coast was comprehended to have encompassed the area between Khasab and Bahrain, an area circumscribing 350 miles. It is also claimed that the principal stronghold was in Ras Al Khaimah.
  Hermann Burchardt, a 19th-century German explorer and photographer, surmised that the Pirate Coast deserved its designation, and goes on to claim that piracy was the main occupation of the inhabitants who were infamous for their fanatacism and bloodthirstiness. A British customs official named John Malcolm who served in the Persian Gulf area from the 18th century to the 19th century wrote that when he questioned an Arab servant named Khudádád about the Jawasmi (the main pirate tribe in the Persian Gulf), Khudádád professed that "their occupation is piracy, and their delight murder; and to make it worse, they give you the most pious reasons for every villainy they commit".
caption: An 1849 map of Arabia denoting the Pirate Coast. Shortly after the map was created, The Pirate Coast was renamed The Trucial Coast.
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