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'Handbook of Arabia. Vol. I. 1917' [246] (255/748)
The record is made up of 1 volume (371 folios). It was created in 1916. It was written in English and Arabic. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
246
THE SULTANATE OF OMAN
properly Seyyid, not Imam, the Ibadhi sectaries, who predominate
in the population of Oman, according the latter title to their rulers
not of right, but only if the latter are peculiarly qualified by religious
learning. At the present time the principal Ibadhi Sheikh has put
up an Imam in opposition to the Sultan. The rising proved serious,
and disaster was only averted in 1915 by the intervention of our
Indian troops (see p. 247). In fact, no Sultan for some generations
has been able to establish or maintain his authority without our help.
Apart from the annual subsidy from the Indian Government
(see below), the revenue of the Sultanate is derived mainly from the
sea-customs {'ushur), import duty being levied on all goods at the
rate of 5 per cent. ad valorem, the maximum permitted by treaty.
Subsidiary sources of income are the and The
former term, technically applied, meansthe tax authorized by Moham
medan law on agricultural and movable property; but here it
denotes an export duty, permitted by the British Government to be
taken at the rate of 5 per cent. a in lieu of the true
The concession was made on account of the Sultan's inability to
collect the Zakdt in the up-country districts. On the sea-board the
Beit el-Mdl implies the rent of shops and other property owned by
the State.
Even in normal times the Sultan's maintenance of law and order,
beyond the limits of the capital and Matrah, was merely nominal.
The administration of criminal and civil justice, such as could be
carried out locally by the Valis in his name, was on the whole in
accordance with Mohammedan law. Elsewhere the only effective
justice is such as may be enforced by local sheikhs in accordance
with Arab custom.
Recent History and Present Politics
Our treaty relations with Muscat began as early as 1798, and
foreign interests, whether political or commercial, are predominantly
British. Great Britain is the only power represented by a Consul or
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.
, though France and the United States are each repre
sented by a Vice-Consul. Since 1891 the Sultan has been under
a binding agreement with the Indian Government, and he receives
a large annual subsidy, as well as a guarantee of protection, on
condition of his observing it. The most important of its terms are
that he shall alienate no part of his territory except to the ® ri ^, s '
that he shall direct his policy in conformity with ours, and a
he shall accept no help, pecuniary or other, from any other toreig
power.
About this item
- Content
This volume is A Handbook of Arabia, Volume I, General (Admiralty War Staff, Intelligence Department: May, 1916) and contains geographical and political information of a general character concerning the Arabian Peninsula. The volume was prepared on behalf of the Admiralty and War Office, from sources, including native information obtained for the purpose of compiling the volume, since the outbreak of the First World War. Separate chapters are devoted to each of the districts or provinces of the Arabian Peninsula and include information on the physical character, as well as social and political surveys.
The volume includes a note on official use, title page, and a 'Note' on the compilation of the volume. There is a page of 'Contents' that includes the following sections:
- Chapter 1: Physical Survey;
- Chapter 2: Social Survey;
- Chapter 3: The Bedouin Tribes: A. Northern Tribes, B. Tribes of the Central West, C. Tribes of the Central South, D. Tribes of the Central East, Supplement: Non-Bedouin Nomads;
- Chapter 4: Hejaz;
- Chapter 5: Asir;
- Chapter 6: Yemen;
- Chapter 7: Aden and Hadhramaut: A. Aden and the Interior, B. Hadhramaut;
- Chapter 8: Oman: A. The sultanate of Oman, B. Independent Oman;
- Chapter 9: The Gulf Coast: A. The Sultanate of Koweit [Kuwait], B. Hasa, C. Bahrain, D. El-Qatar, E. Trucial Oman A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. ;
- Chapter 10: Nejd;
- Chapter 11: Jebel Shammar;
- Chapter 12: The Northern Nefūd and Dahanah Belts;
- Chapter 13: Settled Tribes of the North-West;
- Chapter 14: Settled Tribes of the West;
- Chapter 15: Settled Tribes of the South;
- Chapter 16: Settled Tribes of the Centre;
- Appendix: Note of Topographical and Common Terms;
- Index;
- Plates.
The front of the volume includes a 'List of Maps' and a 'Note on the Spelling of Proper Names'. Maps contained in this volume are:
- Map 1: Arabia: Districts and Towns;
- Map 2: Orographical Features of Arabia;
- Map 3: Land Surface Features of Arabia;
- Map 4: Tribal Map of Arabia.
The volume also contains fifteen plates of photographs and sketches by Captain William Henry Irvine Shakespear, Douglas Carruthers, Captain Gerard Leachman, Dr Julius Euting, George Wyman Bury, and Samuel Barrett Miles.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (371 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume is arranged in chapters. There is a contents page, list of maps, alphabetical index, and list of plates.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: There is a foliation sequence, which is circled in pencil, in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. of each folio. It begins on the front cover, on number 1, and ends on the last of various maps which are inserted at the back of the volume, on number 371.
- Written in
- English and Arabic in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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'Handbook of Arabia. Vol. I. 1917' [246] (255/748), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/E84/1, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100037114036.0x000038> [accessed 18 January 2025]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/20/E84/1
- Title
- 'Handbook of Arabia. Vol. I. 1917'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, i-r:i-v, 1:381, 384:726, ii-r:ii-v, ii-r:ii-v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence