'Negotiations with Ibn Saud regarding Boundaries of Saudi Arabia' [‎13r] (25/58)

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EL KJJmUL
Tho Kathir Is tlio prlno^ca tribe of Lbofajr QUtrlot, in
which the Sultan maintain his eumor retreat or capital at f ^ r }n' lnU u
They also live in tho Sanhan hills behind the Lliofar plain# Tlioy
number about five thousand, and possess about fifteen hundred
rifles* Tho Sultan has prohibited for many years now the importa-
tion of nor; rifles into this district, so that those that exist
oust bo getting very old indeed* These people also oorcy daggers
and possess swordS| and there may be quite tiro thousand of oaah*
A fovr of tho tribe are found in Muscat. Those in tho plains arc
cultivators and own excellent gardens of dates, grain and vegetables*
water is good and plentiful, whilst the country gets tho South West
Monsoon rains, and onttlo thrive in tho hills* in olden days a
flourishing industry was derived from the oollootion of fTonkinaonso
iron the cap of the shrub which abounds on the plateau above tho
hills* The mother of %bus, the Sultan's ton year old and only son*
comes from this tribe* ^ 9
ou .n v ^ divided into Baits (houses) each with its
tfvxiichs and details have boon supplied by one of the Shaikhs as
under:-
Plooo
Poaulation
Biflos
Bait
Salalah
2,500
500
JRdwwtjs
Char bin Mansur
and Lbdul Siz±z
bin -Ahmed*
(Tanimch of
the whole
tribe)
El Hofoh
500
80
Shrumfirah
■Ahmed bin Bakhit
Lhahardj
200
Iladhar
Saif bin Jahnoon
Solalah
500
50
El Marhun
Said bin Salim
Kaqd
1,500
500
Kathir
Salim Tamtoin*
They all belong to the PELnawi political faction but are
too distant to enter into Oman politics.
The Sultan seems to get on well with then, and their
attitude is friendly to the British, though shy and cautious on
first approach#
t
gaq Kmttjs .
. . Jb* Ben f M»rua ia a. poaoflfUl and oo:3pcixatiyi93jr aiviliaed
. th f. “onto# of Onan proper, settled nainly at Rostdc,
and .ntrabi, the oapltal. The tribe si^pplied tho present Xnan^s
?^fl d 5i 0 ^ S nT ,r/n ?u' 0n his Mstlfisi natlon in 1320, his tiro sons rrJwa
^“h “cod ton and eight, trare token oharge of and have
boon brought np by the prosont iaan ever sinoo. Yahya, nho is
“^*1“ boen appointed Fall of Bewail by tl» Ireyi ,
that ^in ^ ^ roported. ftroo nary quarters
tnat, in 19ii£ ;,ten he was undercoing a very sevefc ottaok of
iaaa suntronod a ncjlis of all tho Oraanl and
notnnated Yahya as his successor, and got then all to "i^n i
vould vote for hto on hlHeSe!
elioved in these quarters that the majority of tho tribes are
th ° nind * ^ that tl10 Sultan hr.s little hope of being
elected, iipart ftron anything else tho Omani tribes aroSooeding^
indapended