'Selections from the Records of the Bombay Government' [‎638] (682/733)

638
SLAVE TRADE.
the subjects of Shaikh Sultan bin Suggur upon the inhabitants of that
coast. Although it was not considered expedient to throw any obsta
cles in the way of the intercourse so long carried on by the Joasmees
with the Coast of Africa, yet it was intimated to His Highness, in reply,
that he was fully justified in taking such measures as he considered
best adapted to protect his subjects from aggressions of the nature
complained of.
A few days subsequent to the receipt of the above, a statement was
made to the Resident by an individual named Abdoolla bin Iwuz
(professing to be a person of some rank from the African Coast), regarding
the alleged outrageous proceedings of the crews of some Joasmee boats,
in having carried off two hundred and thirty-three young girls, under the
pretence of marriage, and subsequently disposed of them as slaves upon
their return to the Gulf. On the Joasmee Agent, who happened at the
time to be at Bushire, being summoned, and Article IX. of Sir W.
G. Keir's Treaty with the pacificated Arabs brought to his notice, he
denounced the complainant's statement as an unqualified falsehood.
He did not mean to deny the fact of slaves having been brought up
from the Coast of Berbera, but declared that they had been regularly
purchased from two tribes in that neighbourhood, at war with each
other, who were in the habit of selling all the prisoners that fell into
their hands. He further denounced Abdoolla bin Iwuz as an impostor,
without any letters or credentials, who would have returned to Muskat
without lodging any complaint had Shaikh Sultan bin Suggur been
willing to make him a small present. Although, notwithstanding the
inquiries which were immediately instituted, no proofs could be estab
lished to bring the charge home to the Joasmees, who were either
innocent of the offence, or had found means of concealing the truth
from the Government Agent, yet the case had its effect, inasmuch as it
opened a wide field for investigation into the nature and extent of the
traffic in slaves, and led to some discoveries which were duly taken
advantage of.
The result of this inquiry led to the belief that the Somalees, from
whom a great part of the supply appeared to be drawn, were a free peo
ple (according to Mahomedan law), and could not become slaves with
out violence. The conclusion to be drawn therefrom was, that those
conveyed to the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. must either be kidnapped or purchased
while prisoners of war,—a practice to which, even among the generality
of Mahomedans, a degree of turpitude attached, which, if argued and
insisted upon, would tend materially to diminish and circumscribe the
trade.
With a view to prevent the recurrence of such a case as that which
formed the subject of Abdoolla bin Iwuz's complaint, Shaikh Sultan bin