'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.' [‎99] (132/612)

and analysis.
xcix
force or intrigue, or both, over other competitors. But, in
fact, the late Seyyid Said made no such arrangement for the
administration of his dominions after his death: his will, dated
the 26th of Ramadhan, a.h . 1266=6th August, 1850, was
subsequently examined by the Maskat-Zanzibar Commis
sion, and was found to consist wholly of bequests of what he
considered his personal property, without any allusion what
ever to the succession, or to the future government of the
country.
Under these circumstances it was naturally to be antici
pated that the death of the Seyyid Said would be the signal
for a sharp contest for the vacant supremacy. Thuwainy,
being already in possession of Mdskat, claimed the succes
sion, with the concurrence of a majority of the ^Omany popu
lation ; Majid obtained the recognition of the Zanzibaris and
the chiefs of the East African possessions, but, at the outset,
entered into an amicable arrangement with his brother Thu
wainy, whereby he engaged to pay him 40,000 crowns annu
ally, whether as tribute, or as a subsidy implying no subjec
tion to Mdskat, was afterwards disputed ; while Turky, who
l
still retained Sohar, showed indications of assuming inde
pendence. Majid, having subsequently refused to pay the
stipulated annuity to Thuwainy, the latter prepared to assert
his claims by an appeal to arms, and equipped an imposing
force in the early part of 1860, a part of which had actually
sailed for Zanzibar, when the British Government deemed it
expedient to interfere. Eventually, both parties having
aarreed to submit their claims to the arbitration of the V ice-
O
roy and Governor-General of India, the late Lord Canning,
a Commission, presided over by Brigadier, now Sir William
Coghlan, K.C.B., was appointed to inquire into the merits oi
the case. " The result of these inquiries showed that, in the
Imam's family, succession depended on election ; that on the
death of the late Seyyid Said, his son Majid was elected by
the people of Zanzibar and its African dependencies to be