'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.' [‎86] (247/612)

the imams of 'oman.
march against the garrison of the fort at el-Matrah, Ho
had hardly given the order when the Commandant came in
person to the Imam asking for quarter, and offering to sur
render the fort. The proposal was accepted by the Imam,
and he accordingly desisted from all hostilities against him
or his comrades. The Portuguese had now but two large
ships to oppose the Imam; one of these, which was anchored
a good way from the fort of el-Matrah, opened fire upon the
town, which was answered by the guns on the fort, but the
shot did no harm, owing to the intervening distance. The
other ship began to fire upon the inner portion of Maskat,
and the shot went beyond Sidab, doing much damage j 1 on
seeing which the Imam ordered the Mussulmans to attack it,
but they excused themselves, saying that such large ships
could only be successfully attacked by vessels of equal size.
Thereupon the Chief of the Auxiliaries 2 said to him: " 0
Imam, lives are valuable, and are only sold for a large price:
if you provide the requisite money I will find the men."
To this the Imam consented ; whereupon the Chief of the
1 I am at a loss clearly to understand this passage. It is tolerably-
certain that the vessel was not in the cove-harbour, for there it would
have been exposed to the cross-fire from the forts and batteries. Most
probably it was cruising not far from land, behind the Eastern fort,
where there is low ground, and from whence the distance to the town
would be between a mile and a mile and a half ; but then the direction
of the tire against the city walls would be west, whereas Sidab, as
already mentioned in a preceding note (p. 79), is about four miles to the
southward. The only solution of the difficulty which occurs to me is
that the vessel, in moving up and down the coast, occasionally discharged
shots at Sidab, which is situated near the shore. I have given the dis
tance between that village and Maskat on the authority of the Minister
to the late Seyyid Thuwainy. Niebuhr, who marks its position in his
Tab. xv, {Voyage en Arabie, vol. ii.) but incorrectly styles it 41 Soddof,"
makes it much less.
2 In the original, Sdhib-el-Maghytith. I have not met with the de
signation elsewhere, but, judging from the context, the business of the
officer so styled was to obtain mercenaries for the Imam's service. Pos
sibly, he also had the command of them.