'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.' [‎98] (131/612)

XCVlll INTRODUCTION
his brother, the Imam, who still lived in comparative seclu
sion at the inland capital, er-Rastak, but by dint of indomit
able bravery and perseverance, often coupled with treachery,
whereby he secured the popular support. His successor,
the late Seyyid Said, established himself in the regency, in
conjunction with his elder brother Salim, much in the same
manner. Backed by a strong party in the State, having
previously got possession of Maskat and several other foi ti
lled towns, he unscrupulously availed himself of any means,
however questionable, to check the pretensions of his rivals,
and by defeating them made good his claim to the sole,
though not undisputed sovereignty over the country.
At the time of the Seyyid Said's decease, besides minor
delegated commands held by other members of his family,
three of his sons were acting as his Walis over the three
chief towns and districts of the principality, namely, Ihu-
wainy at M^skat, Majid at Zanzibar, and Turky at Sohar;
and, according to Mr. Palgrave, these departments were
severally secured to the said sons by a division of his ample
possessions made by the Seyyid on his deathbed. 1 Ihe
statement is decidedly misleading and erroneous; for, in the
first place, even if such a legacy of territorial jurisdiction
had been bequeathed by the testator, it would have been
absolutely null and void, since not a single instance is ad-
ducible, from the preceding annals of the principality, of an
Imam or Seyyid disposing of his territories by will or other
wise. Succession was theoretically regulated by election;
practically, at a later period, by success, obtained either by
i "To Thoweynee, the eldest, he allotted'Oman from Barka eastwards,
with Djebel-Akhdar and the adjoining provinces, besides the depen
dencies in the Gulf. Majid, the second in age, [read, the fourth, for
Muhammad was the second and Turky the third], obtained the African
possessions; while the younger, Amjed, [read, Turky : the Seyyid Sa'id
had no son called Amjed], had for his share the westerly mainland of
'Oman from Barka to Katar, with Sohar for capital." Central and Eastern
Arabia, vol. ii, p. 277.