'History of the imâms and seyyids of 'Omân by Salîl-ibn-Razîk, from A.D. 661-1856; translated from the original Arabic, and edited with notes, appendices, and an introduction, continuing the history down to 1870, by George Percy Badger, F.R.G.S., late chaplain in the Presidency of Bombay.' [‎111] (272/612)

THE IM.^MS OF 'OMAN.
Ill
bin-Matar, Bl-IIavvaly; also a contingent from the Benu-
Kulaib and the Benu-Kaab, 1 numbering 6,500, in addition to
his own army. Most of Edhmah-bin-Matar's followers did
not know good Arabic, and they could not distinguish
Muhammad^s friends from his enemies. 2
At this time Khalf-bin-Mubarak, el-Hinay—known as el-
Kusdyyar, [the Short,] whose place was at el-Ghasb, of er-
Rastak—was at Maskat, but on hearing of Muhammad-bin-
Nasir's proceedings he went to Barkah, fearing that it
might be invaded; but Muhammad not knowing of his
being there, and thinking that it had been left in charge of
his followers, sent 'Aly-bin-Muhammad, el-Harasy, nick
named Abu-Jama, to demand the surrender of the fort.
When he arrived Khalf ordered him to be killed, whereupon
1 The Benu-Ka'ab, sometimes pronounced Cha'ab, are a branch of
the Benu-Na'im, and occupy the district near 'Obra, in ezh-Zh&hirah.
They are estimated at 600 men. The Benu-Kulaib—a diminutive form
of Kelb—also reside in ezh-Zhahirah.
2 Palgrave notices this peculiarity in the language of the people of
the lliius-el-Jebel, the rocky district terminating in Cape Musdndim,
which is still subject to the successors of the Rdhmah-bin-Matar men
tioned above :—"Their language is indeed a dialect of Arabic, but isola
tion has rendered it so barbarous, that a stranger from 'Oman itself,
not to mention Nejed or Ilasa, can hardly get on without an interpreter
in llo'os-el-Djebal. ' Lisan-ot-teyyoor,' ' bird's speech,' Yoosef called
it, and declared that he hardly understood one word in ten." Cent, and
East. Arabia, vol. ii. p. 315. Colonel Taylor, formerly Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency.
at Baghdad, writing of the same people, says : " Their language is dif
ferent from that of the other tribes, and as there are many individuals
among them remarkable for the redness of their hair, it may fairly be
concluded, as the Arabs declare, that their language is formed from cor
ruptions of the dialects of their Portuguese and Danish ancestors, en
grafted on an impure stock of the Arabic." Bombay Government Selec
tions, No. xxiv. p. 12. Julfar, in the neighbourhood of the district
referred to, was occupied by the Portuguese for nearly a century and a
half (see note 1, p. 8). The Danes, or Dutch, after their expulsion
from el-Basrah, had a flourishing factory An East India Company trading post. on the island of el-Kharij
(Karrack) in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , from 17-18 to 1765, when they were dis
possessed by the Arabs; but I am not aware of their having had any
settlements in 'Oman.