‘Administration report of the Persian Gulf Political Residency and Muscat Political Agency for 1887-88.’ [‎12v] (22/72)

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at Ziki, which he had fortified evidently with the eventual object o£ laying
the fort there, and retired to laaoof.
On the 25th of July Her Majesty's ship Banger arrived from Eas al Hadd with two
Un tne -som or j uy J r , , r , A TO i Qf i Ki^ib orio-mally a Fakheedeh of
Hindus from Sur, who. having' complained that the Awlad b.as j & . y . _ p ,, •
the Jenebeh but now unde. the paction of^the Ben^WAli, had
ktL-irudiug the immediate surrender e£ the Hindu and the pnuishment o£ the
offenders could reach Shaikh Abdullah bin Salim and Muhammad bin Majid of the Beu.-bu-
Ali, they had, on hearing of the outrage, out of friendly feelings or t ic ri is ovemmen
and for His Highness the Saltan, of their own accord imprisoned five of the Awlad assi j
and restored the kidnapped Hindu to his community at Sur.
The murder of Shaikh Muhammad bin Majid, the Tameemeh of the Beni-bu-Ali, in the
month of August, by a man of the Sinadeh section of the same tribe, followed immediately
after by the murder, in revenge, of Shaikh Yusuf bin Ali of the Sinadeh by Hamud bin Majid,
was an event disastrous both to the tribe and to the interests of the Sultan. They were
among his staunch and tried friends, and ever ready with their swords in his cause. Shaikh
Yusuf took a leading part at the siege of Muttrah in 1871 on behalf of Seyyid Tuiki, and
could always be depended upon in an emergency. Fortunately for the tiibe, Shaikh Abdullah
bin Salinas house being a fortified one, he was able to ward off an attack made by the Sinadeh
in revenge for the murder of their Shaikh, bat the tribe could ill afford to lose two such
powerful Shaikhs as Muhammad and Yusuf at any time, whilst just then the relations with
the Beni-bu-Hasan were so highly strained that His Highness, feeling greatly concerned at this
unsettled state of affairs in Jaalan, deputed Seyyid Nasir bin Muhammad and Hamid bin Jvarir,
who succeeded in pacifying the Beni bu Ali, and effecting a peace between them and the Ben-
bu-Hasan. Shaikh Abdullah bin Salim was elected by the former as their Tamimeh. The
peace, however, thus hurriedly concluded between these two most important tribes was not
destined to last long, for in the month of September the Beni-bu-Hasan, having killed one of
the Awlad Kasib in retaliation for the murder of one of their number, fresli hostilities com
menced between them and the peace of Jaalan was once more disturbed. They have now
agreed to a truce arranged between themselves, which it is to be hoped may have a more lasting
effect.
In the month of October fresh rumours of an intended Hinawee rising reached Musca^
but as they were principally due to Seyyid Abdul Aziz's sudden visit to Shaikh Saleh at
Bidiyyeh, which had evidently no political meaning, they soon subsided on his return to Samad.
H is Highness Seyyid Turki, who had lately suffered a good deal from one of his old
complaints, left on the 13th November for Gwadur, and returned on the 2nd of December,
having somewhat benefited by the change.
The distant possession of Dhofar, which has always been a source of trouble to the
Sultan, once more showed signs of disloyalty, and early in January a letter was received from
Suleiman bin Hamid, the akeed of the garrison in the fort there, who was left in charge of
the place by the Wali Seyyid Muhammad bin Suleiman on his departure for Muscat in
September, stating that on trying to seize a murderer for punishment the people had resisted
him, and that he had eventually to retire into the fort. The Sultan lost no time in preparing
an expedition, consisting of 200 men, which left on the 13th in his steamer Sultani with
his two sons Feysal and Fahad, Seyyids Nasir bin Muhammad and Bedr bin Seif, Shaikh
Shamis bin Hasan and Suleiman bin Suwelim, the newly appointed Wali; but by the time the
Suliani arrived at Dhofar affairs had resumed a peaceful aspect, and, instead of meeting with
any resistance, the Muscat party on landing found a very cordial reception, so that the only task
left for the expedition was to seize five of the Shaikhs, the ringleaders of the disaffected party
and to bring them as prisoners to Muscat. On her return voyage the Sultani had to take
shelter at Ras Madrikeh owing to her supply of coals being exhausted, and the delay thus
occasioned in her return caused His Highness the Sultan to be so extremely anxious about the
safety, of his sons, that the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. requested Captain Brackenbury of Her Majesty's
Ship Turquoise on the 22nd of February to proceed in search of her. The Turquoise, after
giving the necessary help to the Sultani to enable her to resume her voyage, returned to Muscat
on the 27th of February, and the Sultani, with the main body of the expeditionary force follow
ed on the following day. }