The Turks had defeated the first Wahhabi empire of the Al Saud around 1820, but the family rises again in mid-century; it threatens not only the Qawasim, who by this time have largely abandoned Wahhabi Islam, but also the Al Khalifa in Bahrain and the Ibadi sultan in Oman.

Territorial conflicts develop between Abu Dhabi, Muscat and Oman, and the expanding power of the Wahhabi of Najd, ancestors of the present ruling dynasty of Saudi Arabia.

These conflicts lead to border disputes.

In 1853, the British compel the principal sheikhs along the gulf coast, including the leaders from the Banu Yas and Qawasim tribes, to sign a “perpetual maritime truce”, from which point the sheikhdoms become known collectively as the Trucial States.