'Précis of correspondence regarding the affairs of the Persian Gulf, 1801-1853' [‎23r] (45/344)

Part II—Chap. IX,
25
CHAPTER IX.
ST VTE OF MASk VT AFFAIRS AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF
THE 19TH CENTURY.*
58 At the oommenoement o£ the 19th century Seyyid Sultan was the Uept N()
ruler of Maskat. Ee with his brother Sey£ were bora of t^^me mother who 12^1802.
was heiress of a family formerly rulen of the country as far as Katif. ih i ( , spt(jn Setoil - s
father Ahmed was of an alien family, for many years settled as a merchant at Report, d«t»d 9th
Sohar of which he was made Vali. Seyf ben Sultan the last Imam of the J.i, 1801.
tnmilv of Yarabi bein" put to death by the Arabs for his dissolute conduct,
■Vlimed carried it all over his competitors and was elected Imam at Rostak in
174.'i and settled Sheikh IChulfun his relation as Vakil Elected representative or attorney, acting in legal matters such as contracting marriage, inheritance, or business; a high-ranking legal official; could also refer to a custodian or administrator. at Maskat. Of bis six
son" he very much neglected Seyf and Sultan, the third and fourth During
"his life he placed Ahmed the eldest at Maskat and Ghias the second at sohar
Seyf and Sultan dispossessed Ahmed of Maskat and were again driven out hy
their father- whilst they were shut up m the fort, a French sloop of war ot 20
tuns and 100 men anchored in the Cove. One of these vessels had short y be
fore taken an Arab ship, and Syed Sultan coming down from the tort with
thirty or forty followers, went in the Cabrass brig and wounding forty men
brou -bt on shore the others. They were kept as prisoners and employed at the
ffuns'a<'ainst his father. The French from Mauritius sent a vessel in return
for the H Arab one they had taken and indemniaed them for their loss. I his was
Sukan's first connection with the French. On being driven from Maskat,
Sultan and Seyf 'ook shelter with Navab An honorific title; an official acting as a provincial deputy ruler in South Asia; or a significant Muslim landowner in nineteenth century India. Nassie
fTTh^ Mnoe and support. From Gwadur Seyf went to the coast of
Africa and died there: he was some time at Mosambique with the
Portuguese. a i t i j
59 On the death ot his father Sultan returned to Oman,_ and established
himself through bis mother's relations to the exclusion of us brothers. His
dominions consisted at this time of ttie Oman from Ras-ul-hud to Ivabora, a
hundred miles to the westward of Maskat. Witbm this on the hills are two
strong forts Uostak and Nukhel, he was never able to take. The first was
in possession of bis brother Ahmed and the other of Malik bin Seyf, the head
ot the familv of Yarabi of which tribe only about sixty men now remained
He had nothing to fear from his brothers on the Coast o, Africa: be bad
ZanzTbar port of Mombassaand Melinda and other places acknowledged him as
they h^'done the Portuguese. On the Coast of Persia he bad Gwadnr, Minab
and'Bunder Abbas with the Islands of Ormus, Kisbm, and Angara, and the fort
of Rupeb, opposite Angam on the Arab Coast, and he was endeayounng to taive
Bahr 6 e o n 'His revenues from Maskat were Rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. 3,00,000, from Sowaik Dollars
40 000 from Bander Abbas salt, depending on the English when they permi ted
the importation, it would be one Lac One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees . The Land Revenues of Oman were applied
to the support o his relations and friends to his household, and to pay a kind
of MliUwlio receiving a small pay, must turn out oneveryenaergjeyrhe had
lan-a Estates of date plantations which he aecummulates lor his ciuldre .
D 61 Every Arab is a soldier and when called on must turn out wit h us arm.
With the assistance ot his brothers, the Imam could raise 20,000 men, but bis
o^n force consisted of 300 slaves, and 1.700 Sindis Baluchis, and Arab
relitioas and the inhabitants of Sar, and Jahelan about 4,000 men v
were all lie could depend on for foreign service. When he went to Bain
he had only 7,000 men, of whom 2,500 were Persians ,
go The imam had much ill-feeling against Basrah, as the Uttubi the most
enterprlJng Slants in the Gulph were much_fayoured there, and carried
Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. ani Maskat Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. for 1S87—lo«a. ^