'Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf. Vol I. Historical. Part II. J G Lorimer. 1915' [‎2566] (1083/1262)

2566
French and
Russian arms
dealers at
Masqat.
Growth of
the trade.
Loss of
British
Government
ammunition.
Impossibility
of interna
tional action.
To the leading Indian traders^
his operations would be exempt
will be seen from Annexure No. 1 at the end of the present Appendix,
soon recovered from the depression into which it had been thrown
by the seizures of 1897-1898. In March 1899 M. Goguyer, a
French merchant of whom mention will be found in the recent history of
the "'Oman Sultanate, established himself at Masqat with a European
assistant, and began to deal in arms,
whom he interviewed, he explained that
from British interference^ as he would export arms purchased from him in
native vessels flying the French flag. In May 1899 M. Goguyer proceeded
on a voyage to Bahrain, which, although the trade had been interdicted
there, was doubtless connected with the extension of his business. In
1901^ the trade of M. Goguyer, at the outset retarded by his want of
capital, began to increase rapidly ; and in 1903 the Odessa firm of
Messrs. Keverkoff & Co., and in 1905 the Jibuti house of Messrs.
Baijeot & Co., were added to the list of arms-dealers at Masqat.
When the trade began at Masqat the arms and ammunition imported,
though a proportion were of Belgian manufacture, were exclusively of
British provenance ; but in 1899-1900 about one-seventh of the imports
were from France^ and by 1905 the proportion of French arms had risen to
four-tenths.
During the five months ending on the 31st ol October 1899 no less
than 3,79 ^2 rifles were sold at Masqat by British subjects alone. An
inquiry held in the same year showed that, of the arms and ammunition
brought into Masqat, only about 5 per cent, now remained in the Sulta
nate of 'Oman, while 40 per cent, were forwarded to Trucial ^Oman and
Kuwait, and 55 per cent, to the ports of Persia, especially Ma^shur,
Hindiyan, Lingeh and Bandar 'Abbas, in the proportion of 20 per cent,
to Bandar 'Abbas and 35 per cent, to the other ports named. During the
first six months of 1902 the total number of rifles that paid import duty
at Masqat was 8,732 and of cartridges 726,110 ; and there is reason to
believe that in the year 1904-1905 the number of rifles imported was not
less than 20,000.
It may be mentioned in passing that in 1898 a leakage of ammuni
tion from Her Majesty's ships was detected at Masqat, where 3,800
rounds of Martini-Henry and 100 rounds of Lee-Metford ammunition
were recovered, chiefly from the bazaar. The offence was traced to a
native interpreter, who was dismissed the service.
A proposal was pressed by the Government of India in 1902-1903
that France, the United States, and Holland should be approached with a
view to the modification of the commercial treaties by which the Sultan
of 'Oman was restrained from prohibiting the traffic, and they under
took to pay reasonable compensation to that ruler for any diminution
which might ensue in his customs revenue ; but^ in view r of the un-
propitious relations of France and Britain in regard to the 'Oman
Sultanate, where the French flag question was still a cause of friction,
no such action was considered possible by His Majesty's Government.
Measures at Masqat were accordingly restricted to impeding by all
possible means the export of arms to countries where their introduction was
unlawful,— a category in which were included, by the end of 1902, not
only India, Persia and the Turkish dominions in the Gulf, but also the
states of Tmcial 'Oman, the principalities of Bahrain and Kuwait, and
ai
fyallde