تقارير إدارية من الخليج العربي ١٨٨٣/١٨٨٤ – ١٩٠٤/١٩٠٥ [و‎‎١‎٤] (٦٠٢/٣٢)

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EESIDENCT AND MUSCAT POLITICAL AGENCY FOB 1883-84.
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appointed to succeed him and started for 'Oman, but was murdered by the way. Mutlak was
then again despatched in command with orders to renew hostilities and chastise the Omanis.
In the month of November 1813 Mutlak embarked on his last campaign; he marched through
tke Dhahireh to Sharkiyeh, intending to direct his operations against the tribes of this
province. He reached, almost unopposed, the country of the Hejrieen, but here he met with
a resistance he had hardly looked for. In the first encounter Mutlak was shot in the breast
by a musket ball and fell dead. The Wahabees immediately fell into disorder, became
dispersed, and retreated hastily to Bereymee. Mutlak's arms and coat ►of-mail were carried
to Muscat, and the dark cloud of Wahabee domination over 'Oman was scattered. The hopes
of the Wahabee Amir attaining the conquest of 'Oman were lost in Mutlak. To his able
and dashing generalship the success of the Wahabee invasions has been chiefly due, and the
Amir had no one of similar capacity to replace him. Sa'eed's fortunes were now in the
ascendant; he had passed through the period of adversity, and his career henceforward, though
not marked by uninterrupted success, was brilliant and prosperous.
Early in 1814! the death of Azzan-bin-Kais at Mokha, while returning from pilgrimage,
gave Sa'eed the possession of Sohar, and three months later the death of the Amir Saood from
fever at Dereyeh was a still more decided turn of fortune's wheel in his favour. Relieved from
foreign pressure Sa'eed's restless spirit now sent him on another expedition against Ras-el-
Khaimah, the chief stronghold of the Kowasim. He succeeded in establishing Shaikh Sultan-
bin-Sakar at Shargah, but the lukewarmness of his Arab allies caused the failure of the chief
object of the enterprise, and, after arranging a truce for the sake of appearances, he returned
to Muscat. The Ameer Abdulla, who had succeeded his father Saood, now appointed a hew agent
at Muscat, the reverses sustained in his wars with the Egyptians having led him to adopt
a more pacific policy. Hopes of a permanent peace were entertained and negociations were
opened, but they fell through owing to disputes about Ras-el-Khaimah, and hostilities with
'Oman recommenced. The Kowasim also began to display renewed activity at sea and sent
a fleet to pirate the Indian trading craft in the Gulf of 'Oman. This fleet, among other
exploits, encountered the frigate Caroline of 40 guns, commanded by Sa'eed himself, off Ra-
Kuryah, and nearly succeeded in carrying her by boarding ; Sa'eed was wounded by a musket
ball, and escaped with difficulty to Muscat, the victorious Kowasim sailing away to the
Mekran coast to continue their depredations.
For some time after this Sa'eed's attention was engaged by internal disorders in the
Nakhl district, where Himyar-bin-Suliman El Yaaraby, the representative of the last dynasty,
had in alliance with Mohammed Nasir-el-Jabri seized the fort. Sa'eed attempted to dispossess
Himyar, but was defeated in the field, and it was only by treachery that he was able ultimately
to entice Himyar within his reach and put him to death. In the beginning of 1816 Sa'eed
undertook a third expedition against Ras-el-Khaimah, which he blockaded for four months, but
being unable to gain any success over his enemies, the Kowasim retired discomfited to
Muscat.
Undiscouraged by this failure, Sa'eed now determined on undertaking the conquest of the
rich island of Bahrein, an object on which he had long set his heart, and on which he had for
months past been engaged in making preparations. The British Resident at Bushire did his
utmost to dissuade Sa'eed from this enterprise, but in vain. Sa'eed, however, was destined
never to possess that island, although he continued to cherish the hope of its acquisition to
the day of his death. In June the expedition sailed from Muscat and was joined by three
Persian vessels from Bushire. The Omanis were landed on the island, but were attacked and
defeated with great loss by the Attoobees, Sa'eed's younger brother Hamad being slain in the
fight. Chagrined at his ill-success, which was due in great measure to the treachery of his allies,
Sa'eed sailed away to Congoon, to embark a Persian force that had been promised him, but he
fortunately discovered in time that he was being led into snare by the Persians, who intended
to carry him a prisoner to Shiraz, and, abandoning his project against Bahrein, returned to
'Oman.
It was at this time that Ibrahim Pasha, at the head of the Egyptian army, was marching
across Arabia, intent on accomplishing the final destruction of the Wahabee Empire. The
Ameer Abdulla had need of every available man to aid in the defence of his country, and not
only was every Nejdian soldier withdrawn from 'Oman, but the Arab spirit of clannishness, or
perhaps the ingrained hatred of Arab against Turk, induced a large contingent from the
Ghafliree, or Maaddie, tribes of El Dhahireh to flock to the standard of the Ameer at Dereyeh.
In September 1817 communications were received from the French Governor of Bourbon,
proposing a renewal of commercial relations between that island and Muscat, and a favourable