'Report on Sur. By Major G. P. Murphy, I.A., Indian Political Department, Political Agent, Muscat' [‎89r] (11/20)

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down a date tree belonging to the gardener, because the latter refused to
supply him with some green grass, which he was keeping for his own camels.
56. r I he four sections of the Jenebeh then combined and wrote letters
to the Sultan asking him to stop the building of the fort and remove
Suleiman’s son from Sur. The Sultan did not reply to these letters. Five
ot the sheikhs then came to Muscat and placed their complaints before the
Sultan, but His Highness turned a deaf ear and they went away disappointed.
57. At length, after representations from several quarters, His Highness
sent his writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. Hamad to Sur to listen to the complaints of the Jeuebeh and
stop the building of the fort. No attention was paid by Suleiman’s son to
this order, and on Hamad’s return His Highness did not even take the trouble
to liear his report.
58. Sheikh Abdulla bin Salim of the Bani Bu Ali now intervened and
induced the Sultan to stop the building of the fort, but the Jenebeh
insisted on the recall of Suleiman s son and said they were quite prepared
to fight rather than submit to Suleiman’s rule.
59. The Jenebeh then cut off the supplies of the garrison. The Sultan
at once wrote to the Jenebeh warning them that their attitude, if persisted
in, would only result in speedy and condign punishment. The Sultan’s-
messenger was informed by the Sheikhs that unless he left Sur before
nightfall, his blood would be bn his own head.
60. It was difficult to understand why the Sultan persisted in trying ta
force Suleiman bin Suweylim’s unpopular and high handed rule on ^he
Jenebeh against their will. He had neither money nor troops with which ta
coerce the tribe. Any man he could raise would come out, not for the
purpose of fighting, but merely to live at His Highness’s expense ; whilst the
Jenebeh, though not a martial tribe, were well armed and had sufficient
money to induce other tribes to join them.
61. At length, towards the end of September, a force consisting of
600 Jenebeh, 200 Bani Bu Ali and 150 Bani Rasib beleaguered the fort occupied
by the Sultan’s representative. The rebels opened fire at long range and the
garrison replied. This lasted for three hours without resulting in any loss
for either side, when it suddenly seemed to strike one of the Sheikhs that
some members of his tribe were in the fort. The Sheikh thereupon
advanced up to the walls under a flag of truce and called upon the garrison
to surrender. A parley then ensued and an agreement was arrived at, the
rebels guaranteeing that the Wall’s son and the beleaguered garrison would
be escorted in safety to the coast and placed on board a vessel bound for
Muscat. The fort was accordingly evacuated and the party despatched to
Muscat.
62. Before returning to their homes the rebels destroyed the new and half
built fort referred to above. The Sheikhs wrote to the Sultan offerino- to
hand over the fort to anyone deputed by him except Suleiman bin Suweylim
or his son, and the Sultan despatched a fresh garrison under Hamad* bin
Saif. The Sultan wrote a conciliatory letter to the Sheikhs, informing them
that he pardoned them for their late act of rebellion, but the Sheikhs not
convinced of his bond fides, refused to allow Hamad to take over the fort* and
he returned to Muscat.
63. At the end of the year the Jenebeh were persuaded to accept a new
Wali, and Sheikh Muhammad bin Hamad (the present Wali of Matrah and
President of the Council) and a fresh garrison of 60 men took possession of
the fort. The fort was found to have been entirely dismantled ; all the
woodwork had been removed and nothing left but the bare walls.
64. During this period the authority of the Sultan was being further
undermined as a result of French intrigue. A plan of the harbour at Sur
published by the French Government in 1901, showed that their attention
had been directed to that place at some earlier date, and in 1893 M. Chapui,
a somewhat disreputable French subject, arrived at Sur in a steamer flying
the French flag and tried to obtain a site for a coal shed there.