# Battle of Damsah (June 1868)

URL: https://allhistories.com/bahrain/timeline/1868-battle-of-damsah
Location: Damsah, Qatar
Themes: main-event

In June 1868, a Qatari counterattack under Nasser bin Jabr was defeated at the Battle of Damsah, according to Wikipedia's article on the Qatari-Bahraini War. Contemporary sources reported about 1,000 killed and 60 ships destroyed, figures that cannot be independently verified here. The article gives no precise date within the month. The battle came eight months after the sack of Doha and Al Wakrah. It showed Bahrain's naval strength but also deepened British concern, because the fighting violated the maritime truce that the Government of India was trying to enforce in Gulf waters. The sources are British and Qatari narrative accounts, and casualty numbers should be read as approximate. Colonel Lewis Pelly came to Bahrain in the autumn of 1868 with warships to force a settlement, leading to the change of ruler on 6 September. The Qatari defeat did not prevent the eventual recognition of the Al Thani as rulers of Qatar. Qatari and Bahraini accounts of the war differ on who provoked it. At this point in the timeline (1868), Muhammad bin Khalifa Al Khalifa (1843 – 1868) ruled Bahrain as Hakim (ruler) of the Al Khalifa; Lewis Pelly (1862 – 1872) was British Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, representing Britain.

## Why it matters
The battle is the last major clash of the Qatari-Bahraini War and precipitated British intervention.

Ruler at the Time: [Muhammad bin Khalifa Al Khalifa (second reign)](https://allhistories.com/bahrain/rulers/muhammad-bin-khalifa-al-khalifa-second-reign)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Qatari–Bahraini War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatari%E2%80%93Bahraini_War)
- [Wikipedia — Lewis Pelly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Pelly)