'Report on Sur. By Major G. P. Murphy, I.A., Indian Political Department, Political Agent, Muscat' [‎90v] (14/20)

received warning and landed them at small places near by, whence the
slaves were marched in gangs to Sur. The demand in the interior behind
Sur is not great, for the system of irrigation in Jaalan and Sharkiyah does
not demand slave labour. The majority of the slaves are re-exported in
small vessels to the Batineh, where irrigation is mostly from wells, and
where some of them are retained. The balance is distributed from the
Batineh to the Trucial coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. by land. At this time the number imported
here annually was estimated at 300. 'The Jenebeh tribe proclaimed openly
that their only object in taking the French flag was to protect their slaving
operations.
79. Sur quickly attained a disreputable prominence in the traffic, and
it became increasingly clear that the only way to put an end to it was to
break up the Sur depot; but the chief obstacle to such a step was the
attitude of France in regard to her flag. Political difficulties arose owing to
the extent to which the protection of the French flag was being abused.
80. From 1892 onwards abundant evidence was forthcoming of the abuse
of the French flag by importers. In 1890 several vessels carrying slaves
were captured. In May the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. captured a vessel carrying
28 slaves. A few days later H.M.S. Lapwing captured a vessel carrying
14 slaves, whilst the Sultan’s officials rescued two recently imported slaves
at Bunder Gisseh. H.M.S. Sphinx captured two vessels flying the French
flag. The one had 30 slaves on board ; the other 140. A third vessel,
whose French papers appeared to be in order, was allowed to proceed. The
vessels, though stated in the papers to belong to Madagascar and Comoro,
were in reality from Sur.
81. Owing to political difficulties created by these seizures, slave cruising
was virtually discontinued and from this time onwards the traffic appears to
have been on the increase. The Sultan was assured by the Government of
India that his subjects could not be removed from his jurisdiction, but the
precariousness of his position at Sur and his fear of the French Government
deterred him from taking any action.
82. In 1900 Captain P. Z. Cox, then Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , Muscat, re-examined
the question of the importation of slaves. He found that about 1,000 slaves
had been imported that year into Sur, of which about half had been carried
in vessels under the French flag. In 1901 about 1,000 slaves were again
imported, whilst in 1902 the supply was stated to be abundant. In 1902,
114 Arabs were captured by the Portuguese in Mozambique whilst actually
engaged in slave trading. About a third of them died in confinement, while
of the remainder 54 were sentenced to transportation for 25 years. With
a few exceptions these men belonged to the Jenebeh and Bani bu Ali tribes
of Sur. The number of the captives who might have claimed French
protection was never ascertained, but it was admitted by one of them
before the Portuguese authorities that two of the vessels captured flew the
French flag.
83. In 1905 the award of the Hague tribunal in regard to the French
flag question compelled the French authorities to exercise a closer supervision
over native masters entitled to use the French colours.
84. Since the settlement of the French flag question and the stoppage
of the principal sources of supply at Zanzibar and on the African coast very
little attention appears to have been paid to the traffic of slaves at Sur, but
I am assured from several sources that the trade, both in slaves and in arms,
is very profitable and nearl}’ every Arab dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. arriving at Sur has a small
quantity of these commodities. The slaves are being imported from Socotra,
Mokalla and Dhofar, whilst the arms come from Jeddah and the Italian ports
in the Red Sea.
Y,—Summary of recent Events in Sur.
85. In 1927 the Arama and Makhaua sections of the Jenebeh each built
three new forts in their quarters against the orders of the Wali.
8 G. In August 1927 Mr. Thomas, Minister of Finance, went to Sur. He
attempted to induce the Jenebeh to pay 2J lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees of rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. which they owe