"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎٥‎١‎٨] (١٧٨٢/٦٦١)

518
and condoned his conduct; and the temporary loss of Suwaiq in the follow-
ing- month, already mentioned, was an indirect consequence of the
injury to his prestige resulting- from the Birkat-al-Moz incident.
pecTen ed 8 * Turki's mind, in his last days, was somewhat unhinged by his suffer-
by Turki to- ing-^ and about a month before his death he even dismissed his Wazir
of his reign. Sa'id-bin-M uhammad on suspicion of practising sorcery against his
life ; but otherwise; during the concluding years of his reign, Turki
enjoyed a reputation for sound judgment in tribal affairs and for skill
in the management of his Arab subjects. He conciliated the people and
kept before his eyes the Arab ideal of a sovereign,—that of a Shaikh
of Shaikhs, primus inter pares : in short he was a weak, but not an
evil, ruler.
Special Relations of Turki with the British (government,
1883-88.
Undertaking
by the Gov
ernment of
India to up.
hold Saiyid
Turki in re
pelling un
provoked
aggression, and
conferment ( j {\
him of the
Q.C.S.I,
1886.
The financial support of the British Government was continued by
means of the a Zanzibar " subsidy, a check being however imposed on
the granting of advances of the same by the Political Agent on hie
own responsibility ; and a marked extension was given to the policy of
armed assistance to the Sultan in his difficulties.
In 1885, when rumours of disaffection in the Sharqiyah district
once more became rife, it was suggested by Colonel Ross, the British
Political Resident in the Gulf, that an explicit announcement should
be made to all concerned that the British Government would not allow
attacks upon the towns of Masqat and Matrah, where British subjects
possessed valuable interests, to be permanently successful, but would,
if necessary, expel the rebels who occupied them and replace Saiyid Turki
in possession. Colonel Ross argued that use and wont had made it
impossible to decline future requests from Turki for armed assistance,
d that, such being the case, it would be well to declare clearly the
policy of Government, inasmuch as the mere declaration would probably
ce to pie\ent attacks on the capital ; the guarantee, however, should
e personal to Turki and should not extend to his successors. The Gov-
t of India, leposing confidence in Colonel Ross's knowledge of the
t on and in the soundness of his judgment, authorised an announce-
men o ie Sultan, and to his rivals and enemies, that the British Gov-
ernmen a for especial reasons resolved to uphold Saiyid Turki in