'History of the imâms and seyyids of 'Omân by Salîl-ibn-Razîk, from A.D. 661-1856; translated from the original Arabic, and edited with notes, appendices, and an introduction, continuing the history down to 1870, by George Percy Badger, F.R.G.S., late chaplain in the Presidency of Bombay.' [‎50] (83/612)

1
introduction
as the saviour of their common country ; but the jealousy
of the el-Yaarubah whom he had supplanted, and the rest
less ambition of the el-Ghafiry, soon led them to aspire once
more for the supremacy. His ellbrts to coerce the latter,
who could now always rely on the support of their kinsmen,
the el-Kawasim and the petty tribes in alliance with them,
such as the Benu-Naim and Kutb and the esh-Shuwamis,
generally ended in a compromise decidedly in their favour.
In fact, the independent tribes on the southern shores of the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. acquired an ascendency during this reign which
made them a standing menace to the tranquillity of ; Oman.
Another fertile source of discord, and consequently of
national weakness, is attributable to the change in the mode
of succession, which appears to have been tacitly sanctioned
at this period. Originally, and for at least nine hundred
years, the Imam was elected for his personal merits, irre
spective of family descent; hence his sons, if he left any,
had no more claim to the Imamate than any other citizen.
After the supremacy had fallen into the hands of the el-
Yaarubah, and during the continuance of that dynasty, these
principles underwent a modification. The 'Omanis still
started from the same point: the Imam was elected, but a
strong preference was given to the ruling family over all
others, and to a son—not necessarily the eldest—of the last
Imam over the other members of his family. In the case
of Ahmed-bin-Said, el-Bu-Saidy, who succeeded the last of
the el-Yaarubah, there was a return to the old system ; but
it is evident that under him the popular feeling became
once more inclined to lineal succession, with a bias in favour
of the eldest male issue. Had the prior right of primo
geniture been affirmed and sanctioned by competent autho
rity, it is probable that 'Oman might have been spared many
of those intestine wars for the supremacy which arose even
during Ahmed^s lifetime, and which in a greater or less
degree have been the bane of the country ever since. The