'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.' [‎12] (25/612)

editor's preface.
narrative. The native records from which the earlier
portions are compiled, if they ever came within their
reach, have never, to my knowledge, been utilized by
foreign authors either in the East or West. More
over, the dearth of information from other sources
respecting Oman in bygone ages is extraordinary.
The most eminent Arabian historians, such as Abul-
feda, el-Beladzory, et-Tabary, el-Makin,Ibn-Khaldun,
and others, contribute little beyond incidental notices
of the country, either before or during its dependence
on the Eastern Khalifate. Of its subsequent progress
under an indigenous Imamate they afford us no
glimpses whatever.
It is not surprising, therefore, that European scho
lars have hitherto failed to supply the deficiency.
Although the Portuguese held Maskat and several
other towns on the coast for a century and a half,
yet their annalists, as usual, throw scarcely a ray of
light even upon the contemporary government of
Oman, and we are indebted to the famous Carsten
Niebuhr, who visited Maskat in 1765, for the first
retrospective insight into the political condition of
the 'Omanis. His resume of its antecedent history
from the commencement of the sixteenth century,
beyond which it does not extend, is substantially
authentic, and surpasses in general accuracy the in
dependent researches of subsequent writers. The
Bombay Government Selections, No. xxiv, for 18.%,
comprise several papers on 'Om4n, past and present:
one prepared by the late Colonel Robert Taylor in 1818,
entitled Kxtracts from BrieJ Notes containing his-