"تقرير إداري عن المقيمية السياسية في الخليج العربي والوكالة السياسية في مسقط عن الفترة ١٨٨٤-١٨٨٥." [ظ‎‎١‎٤] (١٣٠/٢٤)

22 ADMINISTEATION EE PORT OF THE PERSIAN GULF POLITICAL
and stone 25 feet by 10; it is 18 feet long- by 4 broad, and lies north by south, with a bioken
headstone of black basalt. The inscription is imperfect and there is no date.
The recent history of Dhofar may be said to commence from the seizure of power by the
famous pirate Muhammad Akil, who established order and ruled with a s ^ r ^ n o ia
murder by the Garas in 1829. On hearing of his death, His Highness Seyy.d baeed, the Iraa
of Muscat, immediately sent a force and took possession of the place, a t oug u a
brother, Abdul Rahman, who was then a merchant in Bombay, desiied and intu^ue o
the government. Seyyid Saeed, however, was at that time engaged in his un uc ye p
against Siwi and Membasa in East Africa, and could ill spare the tioops requue oi ^ai
ing Dhofar. They were consequently withdrawn soon after, and the distiict c into .i a i (
anarchy, from which it did not emerge until the arrival of Seyyid Fadhl, the ^ " . 11
year 1870 the Wali at Baghdad, under orders from the Porte, which at that time had designs on
Southern Arabia, despatched a quasi-scientific expedition along this coast, and a libera 18 n
bution of presents and flags was made to the various chiefs. Dhofar was one of the chie
points visited by the steamer, and Turkish flags were landed here, but this tentative move was
not followed up by Turkey. Seyyid Fadhl endeavoured to emulate the career of Mahammad Akil,
but though he had the support of Mecca in his enterprise, he lacked the capacity for rule ; and his
followers, who seem to have been a band of ruffians, roused the people against them by their
villainy and oppression. The general confusion became so great at last that the Katheerees
and Garas were compelled to unite and expel him. His Highness Seyyid Toorkee was then
invited by the natives to occupy the country, and they have since remained contented and
fairly prosperous under his rule.
At the time of the Political Agents visits in Her Majesty's ship in Novem
ber 1883, the Gara Bedouins were not on good terms with the Governor owing to a dis
pute about taxes, and a collision had occurred shortly before between the garrison and Sheikh
Fankhor -el-Maashinee. At this visit the Political Agent found that the Garas had since
submitted, and that friendly relations had been re-established.
From Sallala the Political Agent visited El Dahareez and Thakah, and from the latter
place the Dragon steamed on to Merbat.
Merbat is a town of about 300 inhabitants, situated in a little bay which forms an
excellent and secure anchorage during the north-east monsoon, at the western extremity of a
narrow plain 25 miles long by 7 broad, extending under the Samhan range. There are two
f or ts one in ruins, constructed by Muhammad Akil in 1806 ; and a new one built by the order of
His Highness Seyyid Toorkee four years ago, which has a garrison of 20 men. About half a
mile from the town lies the tomb of Sheikh Mahammad Ali, who died in 556 A.H., now a
famous shrine. The principal export of vegetable origin from Southern Arabia is olibanum or
frankincense, the country producing which, the libanophorus region of the ancients, extends
from the Wady Meyfa and the Himyar range in longitude 47 o 30'E. to Hasek in longitude
55° 20' E., an area embracing the whole of Hadhramant and part of Oman. Westward of Has
Fartak the tree is found but sparingly, and the collection of the gum is neglected by the Arabs,
the work being left to a great extent in the hands of Somalis, who come across for the purpose
and pay for the privilege. The trees are most abundant on the limestone summits of Jebel
Samhan, where the gum is gathered in May and December by the Garas, who call it Shlhat.
The termination of the limit of the tree at Hasek and Wady Bakot is very abrupt, and it is
not found further to the east. The average annual export of the gum from Dhofar is about
30 tons, and the local value |60 per ton. Two young trees were brought to Muscat in Her
Majesty's ship Dragon and are now thriving.
From Merbat the Dragon proceeded to Hasek on the 23rd. The old town here, now
completely in ruins, is situated on the left bank of the Wady, where it was protected by two
circular towers. The more recent inhabitants appear to have been of the Ba Malah tribe, who
were attacked by the Kowasim or Beni Yas about three quarters of a century ago, and the
women and children carried off into slavery. There is now no trade whatever at Hasek, and
Arab craft seldom or never call here.
Hellaniyeh, the largest and only inhabited island of the Kuria Muria group, was nest
visited. The inhabitants of this island, 34 in number, subsist on fish and goats' milk, with a
little rice and dates which they procure from passing dows by selling dried fish. Their
habitations are of the most wretched and primitive description. Generally round or oval, 6
feet in diameter, and the height of a walking-stick, they are built of loose stones with a scanty
rcofing of mats laid over sticks and fish bones. Miserable as is their condition, their posseesions