Corsair (English Edn)

by Al-Mahmoud, Abdulaziz; Al Mahmoud, Abdul Aziz; Noweira, Amira

• ISBN13: 9789992194720
• ISBN10: 9992194723
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2013-02-19
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA

Summary

It is the early 19th century, and power is shifting in the Indian Ocean. The revival of Egyptian influence, under Mohamed Ali, coincides with the emergence of the new force of Wahhabism in Arabia and the need of the British Empire to protect vital sea routes to its most important colony, India. In this swashbuckling novel that sweeps from Bahrain to Bombay, Muscat to Madina, naval powers engage in rituals of thrusts and parries in which loyalties are always pragmatic but vendettas never dim. The aging Arhama's reputation as an Arab pirate is still unequalled, and Britain needs him. With the objective of halting the spread of the Wahhabis in the Arabian peninsula, Arhama's neutrality is critical. The British plan is to persuade Ibrahim Pasha, whose Egyptian forces are in command of the western Peninsula, to form a triple alliance with them and with the Sultan in Muscat. Also involved in the tangled web of intrigue are Persian princes and a range of Arabian tribes. The key to the grand British strategy is a priceless Indian sword, which a young Captain Sadler is entrusted to deliver to Ibrahim as a gift from the British Governor in Bombay. When the British agreement with Arhama breaks down, Arhama captures the sword and buries it in the desert. His son Beshr, in love with a beauty from a tribe in the Qatar peninsula whom his father has sworn vengeance against, secretly unearths the sword. His father's anger at being disobeyed by his son is uncontrollable, and he orders Beshr to be thrown overboard, leaving him for dead. As the events in the novel head to their climax, Beshr is able to return the sword to Sadler and the two men set out across the peninsula to find Ibrahim Pasha: Sadler to carry out his orders, and Beshr in the hope of earning the money he needs to fulfil his own mission. Having arrived and witnessed the carnage and destruction wrought by Ibrahim Pasha in Eastern Arabia, Sadler finally delivers the priceless gift to the Egyptian. To no avail. The violence of the Egyptian general's campaign, while victorious, has placed him beyond any treaty. At the same time, the British navy has trapped Arhama at the port of Dammam. A ruthless siege is followed by a decisive sea battle, in which Arhama blows himself up along with a British ship. The British navy has now established naval supremacy over the Arabian Gulf. Beshr, following his father's death in the battle of Dammam, is able to marry his Qatari sweetheart, while Sadler returns to a peaceful life in England.

Author Biography

Abdulaziz Al-Mahmoud is a Qatari engineer and journalist. He has a BA in engineering from Clarkson University in New York and an aviation and engineering diploma from the UK. He worked as editor-in-chief of Alsharq and The Peninsula newspapers as well as www.aljazeera.net. This is his first novel.