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'Gazetteer of Arabia Vol. II' [‎1428] (489/688)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (341 folios). It was created in 1917. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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1428
'OMAN SULTANATE
The Sultan, as already remarked above and further explained by this table, is obliged
to defray the expenses of government to some extent out of h s own pocket
Muhammad -bin-Turki, the uncle of the Sultan, owns a small date plantation at Raud-
hah in the Masqat District.
The Sultan possesses country-houses at Bait-al-Falaj and Wataiyah in the Masqat
District and at Falaij in Batinah.
Foreign interests. —-Foreign interests in the "Oman Sultanate, whether political or
commercial, are predominantly British, and Britain is the only power represented by a
Consul or 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. . In normal times France and the United States are each
represented by a Vice-Consul. The only European firm at Masqat is British, as are also
most of the European firms .which have agencies there.
There are at Masqat 12 European Briti -h subjects, also 32 British subjects or protecte-
ed persons belonging to various races ; and 2 of the last are found also at Matrah. Other
British subjects or protected persons are either Hindus or Muhammadans, in the second
ease generally Khdjahs, and are distributed as follows .—
Place Hindus. Muham- Place Hindus. Muham.
madans. madans.
Barkah ..
11
J
Saham
10
6
Khaburah
• #
107
Shin as
9
Masna' ah
10
18
Sohar
8
13
Masqat ..
253
122
Sur
28
31
Matrah ..
37
665
Suwaiq
7
34
Quryat ..
9
1
Totals
. 382
998
A branch of the Arabian Mission of the Reformed (Dutch) Church of America fs
established at Masqat.
R ecent H istory and P resent Por.mcs.
Our treaty relations with Masqat began as early as 1798, and foreign interests, whether
political or commercial, are predominantly British. Since 1891 the Sultan has been
under a binding agreement with the Indian Government, and he receives a large annual
subsidy, as well as a guarantee of protection, on condition of his observing it. The most
important of its terms are that he shall alienate no part of his territory except to the
British, that he shall direct his policy in conformity with ours, and that he shall accept
no help, pecuniary or other, from any other foreign power.
The reigning; Suitan of Oman, Saiyid Taimur ibn Faisal, the eldest son of his prede
cessor, succeeded on October 4th, 1913, at the age of 27, and was recognized by the
British and French Governments on November 1915 of that year. He found his realm
in a bad state. In 1895 his father, Saiyid Sir Faisal-bin-Turkey, G.C.I.E., had already
experienced a formidable rising of the Hinawi tribesmen, when the rebels actually
penetrated into Masqat, and drove him from his palace to take refuge in the eastern
fort. At the time of his death he was faced by another serious rebellion with which
his son has had to cope. His reign may be said to have marked the rise of the arms
traffic, which during the last few years overshadowed all other questions at Masqat,
and more than once imperilled the friendly relations between his State and the British
Government. For Masqat became, not only a local centre cf supply of arms and
ammunition for 'Oman, but large consignments were re-exported thence to the Persian
Coast and Afghanistan.
A blockade of the Makran Coast, which was instituted by the British Government
in 1909, paralysed for a time the export trade. Several large captures were made,
and the practice of carrying small consignments was stopped by the burning of dhows
which were proved to have carried them. More stringent measures became neces
sary in 1912, when, after a preliminary proclamaiion in June of that year, an Arms
Warehouse was established at Masqat, through which all traffic in arms and ammunition,
whether for import or export, must be cont nued under direct government control
From the date of the opening of the Warehouse on September 1st, the port of Masqat
rapidly ceased to be a distributing centre. To a certain extent its place was taken by
a number of smaller depots, scattered chiefly among the "Oman hills and along the

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Content

Volume II of III of the Gazetteer of Arabia. The Gazetteer is alphabetically-arranged and this volume contains entries K through to R.

The Gazetteer is an alphabetically-arranged compendium of the tribes, clans and geographical features (including towns, villages, lakes, mountains and wells) of Arabia that is contained within three seperate bound volumes. The entries range from short descriptions of one or two sentences to longer entries of several pages for places such as Iraq and Yemen.

A brief introduction states that the gazetteer was originally intended to deal with the whole of Arabia, "south of a line drawn from the head of the Gulf of 'Aqabah, through Ma'an, to Abu Kamal on the Euphrates, and to include Baghdad and Basrah Wilayats" and notes that before the gazetteer could be completed its publication was postponed and that therefore the three volumes that now form this file simply contain "as much of the MSS. [manuscript] as was ready at the time". It further notes that the contents have not been checked.

Extent and format
1 volume (341 folios)
Physical characteristics

Foliation: This volume's foliation system is circled in pencil, in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. of each folio.

Written in
English in Latin script
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'Gazetteer of Arabia Vol. II' [‎1428] (489/688), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/17/16/2/2, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023727634.0x000058> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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