'ARBITRATION CONCERNING BURAIMI AND THE COMMON FRONTIER BETWEEN ABU DHABI AND SA'ŪDI ARABIA' [With maps] [‎131r] (266/541)

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as in the other fort independent of them The Arabs who hold and inhabit
Breemee are the Suamis a branch of the Naimee tribe. They can in time of war
bring into the held 800 men[illeg] under Schaikh Mohamed bin Abdullah 500
men, under Ahmed bin Surroor 300 men.
In time of need the whole of the Naim tribes unite for the defence of Byreemee
when Ali bin Humood of Zunch, the Chief of Bokhrebanee tribe, is then considered
the first in rank. His own Taipha musters 600 fighting men, the other chiefs of
the Bokhrebanee tribes are Rashid bin Hamdam and Abdullah bin Rashid chiefs
of the same Taipha who together muster 300 men—Hamid bin Suef 250 men, and
Sultan bin Mohamad 200—all of the Bokhrebanee tribe, of which Ali bin Hamood
of Zunch is the chief schaikh—Zunch is under Jibel Hafut—about 6 or 7 hours
from Byreemee—and all the Bokhrebanee live about Jibel Hafeets. Besides the
Bokhrebanee, there is the Albusuamee tribe, of which Fadhil bin Mohamed is the
chief—this tribe had a right to feed their cattle in and about Hafeet and musters
500 men—all these tribes united for the defence of Byreemee, when it was supposed
that Said bin Mutluk intended to take it, on the part of Koosshed Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. . They
are all considered and called the Maime tribes of Byreemee and collectively muster
/ 2,650/ men. They are armed with swords, spears and match locks, the latter a
very good weapon of its kind, better than the generality of match locks usually seen
with such people; and they keep them in very good order and are very good
shots. They also wear the Jumbiah /a broad curved dagger/. They have no
horses but great numbers of camels.
Byreemee derives its importance from the great quantity of water which flows
into and through the plain in the midst of which it is situated and which renders
it of such value to the tribes who live in and about it from the ease with which
they are enabled to cultivate the date, which to an indolent people like the Arabs
forms the chief article of food. The Byreemee dates are and have long been
considered the finest in Oman: the trees are larger and more luxuriant than any
to be seen in Turkish Arabia A term used by the British officials to describe the territory roughly corresponding to, but not coextensive with, modern-day Iraq under the control of the Ottoman Empire. . The wheat produced in the valley of Byreemee,
although not cultivated to any great extent at present, is of a fine description. The
fruits, which grow in great perfection, are oranges, and lemons of several kinds,
grapes, figs, mangoes, olives and pomegranates, coffee was formerly cultivated on
the hill Hafeet, but in consequence of disputes /as the people say/ amongst the
tribes, but perhaps in truth from their own love of ease contenting themselves with
very little, it has of late years been discontinued.
The water which renders Byreemee so very productive comes from the
mountains which lie between it and the coast through Kenauts or aqueducts. There
is not even a tradition among the Arabs of the country regarding the time when
or by whom they were constructed. The chiefs said on my asking about them,
that no person knew for certain by whom they were made, but that they were
supposed to have been constructed by Sulimaun bin Dawd/Solomon the son of
David/. They are works of great labour. I found that they extended to the
distance of (14) fourteen hours from Byreemee.
The Naim tribes are now evidently much recluded [.v/'d in numbers and sunk
in consequence, amongst the tribes of Oman. The Suamis of Byreemee formerly
mustered / 4,000/ four thousand men, and they do not now amount to more than
eight hundred. The principal chiefs at present of the Naimes are Ali bin Hamood/
Bokhrebanee/ of Zunch Fadhilbin Mohamed/Albusuamis/Mohamed bin Abdullah
/ Suamis / Ahmed bin Surroor/Suamis/and Hamed bin Saif/Al Bokhrebanee/
amongst whom there is at present a good understanding, but I was given to
understand that little confidence was placed by any of the schaikhs upon Ahmed
bin Surroor /Suamse/ from his being under the control of his brother Hamed who
is his minister/ and who has the character of being a man of no truth and inclined
to break any compact he may make however solemn for a trifling temporary
advantage, and gave great offence to the whole of the tribes by evincing an
inclination last year to side with the Zauahir tribe, and enter into the view of
Kuliphar bin Shakhboot, the chief of Abothebee, when he wished to induce the
Naimes to give up the fort of Byreemee to Said bin Mutluck when he was at
Shargah last year. . ,
On the 28th January I started from Byreemee at noon in company with
Mohamed bin Abdullah—his brother Sulimaun and five men of the Suamis tribe
who insisted on going with me to Sahar, when we reached a place in the hills
called Ambach where there are wells and plenty of good water we met a party
of men who said they had been sent by Hamed bin Sunoor to request me wai
there until he came from Byreemee, as he intended to go with me to o ar,