'Negotiations with Ibn Saud regarding Boundaries of Saudi Arabia' [‎19r] (37/58)

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sl mimu
The tribal capital is said to be Khasab # but the tribe
itself is wideity scattered over the whole Rl^us al Jibal district of
the Sultanate* They number about eight thousand and may possess
about fifteen hundred rifles* These settled on the coasts live by
fishing, pearling (in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ) and date cultivation where
possible* Those in the hills of the interior rear goats and poultry*
and grow grain* They have their own dialect or language called
Shihuhiyah, but also know Arabic* They are at feud with the
Dhahiriyin though this tribe is primitive and nearly extinct^ and
composed almost entirely of fishermen, emir who migrate wholesale froift
their villages to cooler places in the summer* Thoir Taraimah is
Tihssan bin Rahmah, aged about forty five, living at Bai*ah near
Dibah on the border north of Shanailiyah* He visited the Sultan in
1948 and received Rs* 500 /- % Another man of some importance is the
Shaikh of a Beni Hiddayah subjection of the tribe called Mohammad
bin Ahraed, living at Bakhah, south of Khasab. He also visited the
Sultan in 1948 and is understood to have received Rs* 500/*** He
is constantly at feud with the Truoial Coast Qowasim tribe* As a
vnole the Shihuhs are wild, surly and unattractive people, living
in most primitive conditions, and are shy and suspicious of strangertf
At Khasab the Sultan c^tfeercises some control through a ¥oli, but in
the mountain regions of the interior and the inaccessible coastal
villages, controller administration is non-existant* A peculiar,
wild, completely isolated and unfriendly section, known as the
Kuuzaris, lives at Kumzar near the most northemly point of the
promontory. They too have their ovm dialect* Their Shaikh is
Salih bin Mohammad*
As the bark of a dog is said to dry up all the springs, no
dog should ever accompany anyone on a visit to Shihuh territory*
Tlie Shihuhs are full of superstition and believe in spirits, fairies
and angels*
ffh kiHI BAH.
r—»- **»« -■ »** <v»^*
The V.ahibah ore an important tribe found mainly in the
Sliarqiyah and Jala*an districts* They probably number five thousand
and are well armed.with perhaps two thousand riiles. Their headr
qucjrters seem to be at oadoirah, and Muhaibi* The tribe is mostly
bedouin, though settlements exist at the two places named and at
Muscat, and in the Batinah* They are poor, brave and
.<< Tj-XiCGt, Their Tomimah is HUmud bin Sultan bin Mansur and another
leading Shaikh is named Hunud bin Saif* Tire former visited the
Sultan in 1948, and received Rs* 5Q0/~* Their attitude to the Sultan
and British is good but they support the Imam and are unlikely to
vote for the Sultvon as nuooessor* They ore at feud with the
Janabah and Duiu* The tribe‘s name should not be confused with the
ualiaoi religion* The people axe, in fact, Ibadhis, and belong to
tho Hina.vi -political fajj'Jrn*
STIR,
list of the Shaikhs and important persons of Sur, which
is the next totn; in in^oriance after Jkittrr 1 '' and Muscat, and often
visited by H.M’s ships and British officials is given below, with
the names of the tribal soot ions to which they belong, as supplied
by one ox the Sheikhs* Tnoy have for long boon at varianoe with the
Sultans and evaded taxation* They respoot the Brutish for the power
vuta which they ore able -to back the Sultan,* and inspite of this
running: contrary to thoir interests they are friendly and good hosts,
at least to official riaitors. They all belong to the Jarnbah
true and head the sectioMs named*
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Al Arnmah:-