'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.' [‎382] (543/612)

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appendix a.
into the special prerogatives and functions of the Imams of
'Oman, prefacing the inquiry with a few words touching the
mode of election.
Election, as we have seen, was a fundamental principle with
the Ibadhiyah, but it was not carried out by a jolehiscctum. 1 he
people undoubtedly had a voice in it, but it was through their
chiefs, who assembled in solemn conclave under the presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent.
of one of their number, whose personal character or abilities in
general estimation raised him to that preeminence, to discuss
the merits of competing candidates. The elections usually took
place at the capital for the time being, and the resident Ivadhi
and grandees exercised a predominant influence in the council.
What particular chiefs were privileged to join in the debates
and to vote does not appear, except that, as a rule, most or all ot
them belonged to 'Oman proper ; but the occasion usually drew
a large concourse of people to the metropolis, who awaited in the
vicinity of the chamber the result of its deliberations, ihe can
didate duly elected received first the recognition of the electors,
after which the president went forth and proclaimed him Imam
in the presence of the assembled crowds, who thereupon ten
dered him their allegiance, probably by acclamation, no specitic
form being mentioned in connection with the ceremony.
The foregoing account of an election to the Imamate is com
piled mainly from a detailed description of the election aiul in
stallation of Rashid-bin-el-Wahd to that oflice, (see p. 31,) about
a.d. 940. The details are omitted in the narrative of all the sub
sequent elections recorded, which in course of time appear to
have been conducted with much less ceremony, especially after the
range of eligibility to the Imamate had been contracted from that
of the nation at large to the members of one family, as in the case
of the el-Ya'arubah and the Al-Bu-Sa'id dynasties. The people
collectively, however, did not always approve of the Council's
nominee, and the dissentients, when powerful enough, refused
to recognize his authority, and not nnfrequently set up an Imam
of their own. Many of the intestine feuds of 'Oman arose out of
a conflict of opinion among the tribes regarding the legitimacy
of the elections.
<. The first duty of the newly-elected Imam was to lead in the