'Gazetteer of Arabia Vol. II' [‎1424] (485/688)

1424
'OMlN SULTANATE
In the detached district of Ruus-al-Jibal, where his authority ia recognised rather
than felt, the Sultan has a Wali at Khasab ; and in the still more remote district of
Dhufar, where Masqat rule is tolerated by the inhabitants rather than actively enforced
by the Sultan, His Highness is represented at the present time by a substitute W ali
with his headquarters at Hisn, by a garrison at Murbat and by small detachments in
other places.
In Sharqiyah and Ja'alan the Sultan has no official agents of any sort, and, though the
Shaikhs profess allegiance to the Sultan of 'Oman, their attitude towards the present
ruler makes it impossible to regard them otherwise than as semi-independent. The
south-eastern coast of 'Oman between Ja'alan and Dhufar is valueless and its existence
is ignored in the Sultan's administrative arrangements.
Gwadar is a Waliship, and in the town and its environs the authority of the Wali ia
complete.
Further particulars about the Sultan's posts are given in the paragraph on military
forces below.
Criminal and Civil Justice. —Criminal justice is dispensed in the name of the Sultan
only in places which fall within the jurisdiction of his Wfilis., The most heinous cases,
as of murder or extreme personal violence, are, if the culprit can be arrested, sent to the
Sultan for disposal along with the witnesses of the crime ; and a person convicted by the
Sultan of murder is frequently put to death by the same means as he employed to destroy
his victim. Minor offences are tried by the Walis who are supposed to report their
decisions to the SultSn : in these reparation to the person injured is usually exacted or,
failing reparation, a term of imprisonment is awarded. The procedure is on the whole
In accordance with Muhammadan law, but the requirements of the Quran are not always
strictly complied with. Outside the jurisdictions of the Walis there is no justice apart
from the settlements which local Shaikhs are able and inclined to arrange on the basis
of Arab customs of compensation and retaliation. Tribesmen are never surrendered
to the Sultan by the tribal authorities as criminals for punishment.
Questions of civil right are adjudicated on by Qadhis in the same manner as in other
Muhammadan countries.
Finances —The sea customs, here called 'Ushur, are the principal source of revenue
in the Sultanate of 'OmSn; import duty is levied on all goods at the rate of 5 per cent.
ttd valorem, the maximum permitted by treaty. At all principal ports the customs
are now under direct management instead of being farmed, as formerly ; payment of duty
is accepted either in cash or in kind, and in the latter case the goods taken are generally
sold by auction.
Subsidiary sources of income are the Zakat and Bait-al-Mal; but these terms, unless
in the interior, are not employed in the strict Quranic sense. At places on the coast
Zakat, instead of signifying the impost authorised by Muhammadan law on agricultural
produce and moveable property, denotes a virtual export duty which, though not fixed
by treaty^ is permitted by the British Government to be taken at the rate of 5 per cent.
ad valorem in lieu of Zakat proper; this concession has been made on account of the
inability of the Sultan to collect the Zakat in the up-country localities where it becomes
due. On the seaboard Bait-al-Mal means not the public revenue from all sources,
but the rent of shops and other property owned by the State.
It will be seen from the table given in the next paragraph, which is based upon in
quiries made in 1906-07, that import duties and real and so-called Zakat produce to
gether a gross revenue of $429,000, but that of this amount only $290,700 or about
Rs. 4,00,000 actually reaches the central treasury at Masqat; the remainder is absorbed
in administrative expenditure at the places where the collections are made.
The Bait-al-Mal brings in about $500 a year at Masqat Town and $750 at Matrah
and the total proceeds of this tax are thus about Rs. 1,750. '
revenues of 'Oman the Sultan receives from the British Government
a subsidy of which the origin is explained in the history of 'Oman; its amount is at present
Rs. 7,200 per mensem.