'Gazetteer of Arabia Vol. II' [‎1188] (237/688)

1188
MASQAT
80 Infantry. The ' Guard " consists of local boys enlisted forcibly by the Sultan, and the
present Commandant (1915) is an Arab of Baghdad who received his military training in
Constantinople. The force is provided with white and khaki uniform and brown leather
equipments, all from India. They are armed with'different types of rifles mainly mausers.
His Highness has also 3 Maxim guns, two French (Creusot) of modern pattern and one of
1 German pattern. These were purchased in 1914.
Attached to the Nizam is a brass Band, also recently enlisted, consisting of 1 Band-
I master, 1 Assistant Bandmaster, both Goanese, and 18 bandsmen all local Arabs, Sidia
or Baluchis. The cost of the new force is estimated at about Rs. 28,200 annually.
Town and suburbs. —Masqat consists of a town proper, surrounded by walls, and
of a large agglomeration of unwalled suburbs twice or thrice as extensive as the
town proper. It is necessary to deal with these separately^ The town proper is
about J a mile long from east to west and J of a mile deep from the sea inland.
On the north side it fronts the harbour and comes right down to the beach ; on the
east it is enclosed by precipitous hill which a gap called Mughab divides from the Jalali
hill; on the south and west sides the town is walled. The wall is in fairly good order
and has towers at intervals ; it is broken in the middle of the south side by the Bab-as-
Saghir or Little Gate on the road to Sidab, immediately outside which is a good bazar
of about 40 shops and stalls, chiefly for the sale of provisions. Here also is an imposing
Mosque built in 1912 by the notorious arms trader 'Ali Khan Musa, now deported to
India; at the south-western angle it is pierced by the Bab-al-Kabir or Main Gate
through which runs the route to the majority of the suburbs and to Matrah; both of
these Babs are fortified gateways at which guards are stationed day and night. There
is another gate of less importance at the north-western comer under Fort Mirani which is
called Bab-al-Matha'ib ; it consists of a row of four small iron-grated posterns through
which Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. -al-Kabir passes on its way to the beach. Many of the houses in the town
1 are somewhat handsome erections of two or more storeys, built of stone, concrete or mud,
, and plastered with gypsum-stucco. The old mosques are low and mean, without either
! domes or minaret, but 3 of more recent date are of greater elegance and pretention.
These are (1) the mosque of Saiyid Yusuf-az-Zawawi built in 1905 and situated in the
eastern quarter of the town, (2) the mosque of Khan Sahib Nasib bin Muhammad, Naval
Contractor, built in 1909 and situated near the Bab-al-Kabir, (3) the mosque of 'Ali
Khan Musa, built in 1912, referred to above, and situated outside the Bab-as-Saghir.
The bazaars inside the town, containing about 300 shops, are roofed and rather dark:
of the shops about 80 belong to money-lenders and bankers, 100 to sellers of piece-goods
and 100 to provision merchants. The quarters of the town in order from east to west
along the sea-face are :—
h Name of quarter.
Mughab
Muhallat Banyan Merchant of Indian extraction.
Muhallat Al Bu Sa'id .,
Limits and number of houses.
From Fort Jalali and the Mu
ghab gap to the Customs
House. 8 houses.
Immdiately surrounds the
Customs House and reaches
some distance inland. 30
houses.
From the Customs House to
Fort Mirani and inland to
the Bab-al-Kabir, 10 houses
Remakes.
It contains the British Con
sulate, furthest to the east,
with the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. Civil Sur
geon's house next to it;
also the quarters of the
Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. clerks and the
Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. Hospital.
Here are the Indian bazaar
and most of the residences
of Indians.
Consists of the Sultan's palace
and the residences of hia
relations.