'Selections from the Records of the Bombay Government' [‎464] (506/733)

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464
BENIYAS.
d . 1793.
a. d . 1795 to 1819.
On the occasion of one of these visits, in 1793, Shaikh Zheab
thought proper to give orders that the family of
Huza, together with all his dependents, should
leave Aboothabee, and settle in the interior. At this time Huza was
absent in Bahrein, but, receiving intelligence of the proposed removal,
he hastened back, and, in the course of an angry dispute with his
relative (Zheab), drew his sword, and struck him dead upon the spot.
This action again split the Beniyas into two divisions, one of which
supported Huza, while the other and larger portion adhered to Shakboot
(the son of the murdered chief), who prosecuted the feud with such
success as to put to death the ten individuals who were present at the
time of his father's murder. Dreading a similar fate, Huza at last left
Aboothabee with his dependents, and settled in Aboo Ali.
After his departure. Shaikh Shakboot assumed undisputed possession
of the chief authority in the tribe, and continued
at its head until 1816, in which year his eldest
son, Mahomed, succeeded in deposing him. Mahomed remained as
Shaikh for two years, when his younger brother, Tahnoon, having
received a Buggalow Large trading vessel. , together with a considerable sum of money, from
the Imaum, returned from Muskat to Aboothabee, and, with the assist
ance of his father, and good will of the majority of the tribe, succeeded
in expelling the usurper in 1818. For some time after this event both
father and son acted together as heads of the tribe, but gradually
the authority of Shaikh Tahnoon became superior. To this alteration
in their respective relations Shakboot appears to have submitted
quietly, as he continued to reside in Aboothabee and its neighbour
hood, and was at all times employed by Tahnoon in the arrangement
of any affairs of negotiation he might be engaged in. Mahomed bin
Shakboot with some difficulty saved his life by flight, and, taking
refuge in Biddah, claimed the protection of Abdoolla bin Ahmed, the
Chief of Bahrein. Until this period the Beniyas had always been the
close and intimate allies of the Joasmees, but the connection formed
by Shaikh Tahnoon with the Imaum of Muskat gradually weakened
the friendship existing between the two tribes, until at last a total
change ensued in their relations, and they became bitter enemies.
In 1820 the Beniyas Tribes were admitted members of the General
Treaty* concluded by the British Government
a. d. 18_0. with the Maritime Arabs of the Persian Gul,
for the effectual suppression of piracy in that sea.
About the year 1822, an individual of some rank, named Sooedan
bin Zaal, fled from Aboothabee, to avoid t e
a. n. 1822. payment of his debts, and at the same time
* Vide pages 76 to 80 of this Selection.