"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎٤‎٣‎٧] (١٧٨٢/٥٨٠)

i *16
atfc
wife
(S, MJlu wm 1
Mtion ii :
)loTCi®
VZ f
437
SAIYID BADAH -BIN-SAIF, 1804-07 *
Disorders following the death of Saiyid Sultan; 1804-05.
With the death of Saiyid Sultan stable government ceased for a
time to exist in 'Oman. The two elder sons of the deceased, Salim
and Sa'id, were minors under the guardianship of Muhammad-bin-Nasir,
Jabiri, a relative of Saiyid Sultan on his mother's side; and their
succession to the Sultanate was immediately disputed by Qais, the
ruler of Sohar, the most active and capable of the surviving sons
of the Imam Ahmad. Qais, whose claims were favoured by Sa'id-bin-
Ahmad of Rustaq, the nominal Imam, and Muhammad-bin-Ahrnad of
Suwaiq, his brothers, at once advanced through the Batinah district, taking
possession on the way of Khaburah and Sib, and laid siege to the capital.
The position of the young Saiyids was already precarious, when the ^
sudden reappearance on the scene of their cousiut Badar-bin-Saif gave Badai -bin*
a new aspect to their affairs, for the personal qualities and Wahhabi
connection of the returned exile, who had been summoned to their aid iutervention.
from Zubarah in Qatar by Saiyidah Mozah, a daughter of the Imam
Ahmad and a lady of unusual force of character, immediately caused
the balance to incline against Qais. The Wahhabis having threatened
Sohar, and a large contingent of Ghafiris under Hamaid-bin-Nasir of
'Ainain having arrived from Dhahirah in the neighbourhood of Masqat,
Qais was obliged to relinquish Matrah, which he had seized, and at first
agreed to accept some small scattered additions in Batinah to his pi in
cipality of Sohar ; but a few weeks later he repented of the arrangement
and re-occupied Matrah, once more obliging Badar to requisition Wahhabi
aid. A large Wahhabi force now proceeded towards Masqat by land;
and fifteen of their vessels, manned by ""Utub and otliei maritime tribes
subject to Wahhabi influence, anchored in Masqat harboui and cause
much alarm in the town by displaying trophies of the sack of Karbala,
and by other unusual proceedings. The policy of the Wahha ic>, o vvever,
Was to keep the contending factions of 'Oman in a state of equipoise , an
their interference resulted, on this occasion, in the ictention of Ma la y
dais and in the grant to him by Badar of a salary of ^1,00 J a moa
* This abort period bas generally been treated as a part of the roign of R j
Sultan; but, as mil appear, the supreme power was entirely in ie tlU
till his death in 1B07.
t Fide page 424 ante*