British intelligence believed Mehmed Ali aimed to conquer the whole Arabian Peninsula
Evidence
Not only was Mehmed Ali menacing such important work on the Euphrates, he also had his forces, Palmerston must have thought, all over the Arabian peninsula, an area that was gaining more and more importance for British control of India. Significant improvement in steam ships and the rapid expansion of their use to carry mail and passengers to India led to heated discussion in London in the mid 1830s about who was to pay for the mail steamers: the government or the East India Company. After that issue had been resolved and more and more steamers were making their way regularly up and down the Red Sea, the pressing question was that of finding suitable coaling stations. In that respect Mehmed Ali “was quick to meet British requests for the establishment of coaling depots.” Yet Palmerston continued to view the Pasha’s military presence in Arabia with suspicion, especially his operations in Yemen. What made matters more alarming for the Foreign Secretary was a report he received from a British captain, Captain Mackenzie, on the condition of south-west Arabia. His main findings confirmed Palmerston’s worst fears: Mackenzie wrote that “Muhammad ‘Ali was intent on the conquest of the whole [Arabian] Peninsula, that he had designs on Aden, and once there, would push through the Hadhramawt to overturn the rule of the Imam of Musqat – the only Arab ruler on whom the British could rely.” — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1579
Categorization
Category: Factual Claims
- QUESTION: Were the steam mail coaling depots a concrete British development foothold in Arabia that later grew into formal control?
- XREF: Connects to British imperial rivalry and steam-power logistics themes in naval history sources.