"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎٤‎٨‎٥] (١٧٨٢/٦٢٨)

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1870.
485
from the Ja'alan district, 'Azzan advanced on Baraimi with a total force
of about 1,500 men; took the place, after slight resistance, on or about
the 18th of June 1869 ; and, after installing a garrison under one of his
own relations, returned to Masqat. Before leaving Baraimi 'Azzan
entered into an alliance with the Shaikh of Abu Dhabi and undertook to
pay him a subsidy on condition of his protecting the Baraimi frontier of
; 0man. A counter-alliance was formed by the remaining Shaikhs of
Trucial ^Oman among themselves ; but the Shaikh of Sharjah quickly
forsook it and attached himself to the interests of ^Azzan.
The British Resident in the Persian Gulf, on hearing of the capture Inability of ^
of Baraimi, hastened to remind the Wahhabi Amir of the obligation ru | er to
under which he had placed himself in 1866 to abstain from molesting retahate,
Arab States in alliance with the British Government; but his letter was
apparently ignored, and ^Azzan presently received a laconic warning from
; Abdullah-bin-Faisal to prepare for an invasion of ""Oman by the Amir in
person at the head of 20,000 men. At the beginning of 1870 it seemed
probable that the threat would be carried into effect; for the Wahhabi
chief was then at ^Oqair on the coast of Hasa and had ordered a large
fleet of boats to be made ready, which he probably intended to use as
transports for a part of his force. Meanwhile, at the end of February,
^Azzan, accompanied by his own brother Ibrahim and by Sa^ud, a rebel
lious brother of the Wahhabi Amir, proceeded to Baraimi and conferred
there with his ally the Shaikh of Abu Dhabi. Various obstacles now
interposed, which obliged the Wahhabi to defer his operations against
; Oman: among them were the unseasonable scarcity of water and forage
in the country between Hasa and Baraimi, the combination between the
Abu Dhabi Shaikh and the ruler of "'Oman, the prospect of being himself
called to account by the British power in connection with the recent inva
sion of Bahrain from Hasa, and the fear of intrigue at Riyadh during his
absence. Before long 'Abdullah was involved in civil war at home, and
he found no further opportunity of prosecuting his designs on ■'Oman.
Successful campaign of Turki against ■'Azzan and death of ^Azzan
1870-71.
The enmity of the Wahhabi power had thus no direct consequences ;
but, by encouraging his rivals to renewed activity, it affected very detri
mentally the position of "'Azzan.