Rahmah bin Jabir al-Jalahimah
Encyclopedia
Rahmah ibn Jabir al-Jalahimah was an Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

 ruler in the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...

 and was described by his contemporary, the English traveller and author, James Silk Buckingham
James Silk Buckingham
James Silk Buckingham was an English author, journalist and traveller.He was born at Flushing near Falmouth, the son of a farmer, and had a limited education. His youth was spent at sea, and in 1797 he was captured by the French and held as a prisoner of war at Corunna...

, as ‘the most successful and the most generally tolerated pirate
Piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...

, perhaps, that ever infest any sea.’

As a pirate his reputation was for being ruthless and fearless, and he wore an eye-patch
Eyepatch
An eyepatch or eye pad is a small patch that is worn in front of one eye. It may be a cloth patch attached around the head by an elastic band or by a string, or an adhesive bandage. It is often worn by people to cover a lost or injured eye, but it also has a therapeutic use in children for the...

 after he lost an eye in battle. He is described by the former British adviser and historian, Charles Belgrave
Charles Belgrave
Charles Dalrymple Belgrave was a British citizen and adviser to the rulers of Bahrain from 1926 until 1957. He first served under Shaikh Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa , and subsequently under Shaikh Salman ibn Hamad Al-Khalifa ....

, as 'one of the most vivid characters the Persian Gulf has produced, a daring freebooter without fear or mercy' (perhaps paradoxically his first name means 'mercy' in Arabic). He was born in Qurain (modern day Kuwait) and began life as a horse dealer; using the money he saved he bought his first ship and with ten companions began a career of buccaneering. So successful was he that he soon acquired a new craft: a 300 ton boat, manned by 350 men. He would later have as many as 2000 followers, many of them black slaves. At one point his flagship was the 'Al-Manowar' (derived from English).

His alliances with regional powers tended to be on the basis of shared opposition to the Al-Khalifa: he formed an alliance with the first Saudi dynasty when it conquered Bahrain
Bahrain
' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...

, and he founded the fort of Dammam
Dammam
Dammam is the capital of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, the most oil-rich region in the world. The judicial and administrative bodies of the province and several government departments are located in the city. Dammam is the largest city in the Eastern Province and third largest in Saudi...

 in 1809. But after the Saudis’ expulsion, in 1816 he allied himself with the rulers of Muscat
Muscat, Oman
Muscat is the capital of Oman. It is also the seat of government and largest city in the Governorate of Muscat. As of 2008, the population of the Muscat metropolitan area was 1,090,797. The metropolitan area spans approximately and includes six provinces called wilayats...

 in their failed invasion of Bahrain, and turned away from the Saudis, angering them. The Saudis then destroyed the fort of Dammam, causing him to move to Khor Hasan in Qatar
Qatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...

.

He died in his ship, Al-Ghatroushah, in a sea battle against the Al-Khalifa ships, lit the gunpowder kegs with his eight year old son by his side, killing everyone that was onboard including his men and the Al-Khalifa men that were raiding his ship, preferring to die by his own hand than to die by the hands of Al-Khalifa.

His legacy lasted long after his death; in the 1960s Charles Belgrave wrote of how old men in the coffee shops throughout the region would still talk of his exploits.

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