Coll 20/39 'Muscat: Tours of Political Agent; General Situation in Oman; Including assistance to Sultan of Muscat - RAF support' [‎14r] (28/283)

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QftVRRf<lni^T OF INDIA.
5255 (j^artment.
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EXF^ESS^ETTER (AIR MAIL),
(Tk)
8 xC C R i£ T,
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Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. , Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ,
No* C/525 »
To
Repeated
Dated
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Camp, Bahrain,
.the 24th July 19 46,
* a / Reference 7 ?
W 8 th July 19*
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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. impress 1-etter Ho . iilxt•4513/46 dated^.^
Secretary of State for India, London
Government of India, New Belni.
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. , Muscat*
2. At first sight I must confess that I feel myself somewhat
doubtful about the success of the proposed scheme even if the
Sultan were to accept it. It must be remembered that tne
majority of the tribes of the interior owe no allegiance of any
kind to the Sultan and at present show little or no desire to
come under his sway. I feel that if the expedition were to set
out as proposed accompanied by an armed escort provided by the
Sultan some kind of clash would be inevitable unless the ground
had been long and carefully prepared before-hand, which is not
the case.
3. With regard to paragraph 4 of the ilxpress Letter under
reference so far as I know the ‘'want” is already there and some
if not all of the tribes are anxious for any oil deposits in
their country to be exploited. They want however to reap the
full benefits of such exploitation themselves and not to share
them with the Sultan* Lermitte reports that when he visited
Baraimi last year some tribesmen from Ibri definitely invited him
to explore their country. It would therefore I think be
comparatively easy to enter into direct relations with the tribes.
This however would have a disastrous effect on the Sultan and
would probably result either in his abdication or in his retirement
to Bhofar and neglect of the affairs of his State. His one
ambition is to obtain control of the interior but he can do very
little towards this until the Imam dies. Meanwhile he is
unwilling to negotiate with the tribes of the interior for the
ac^ces^ for oil or locust parties as this cannot be done without
recognising the authority of the Imam which he is endeavouring
to undermine. If we deal direct with the tribes now we shall
certainly prejudice the Sultan's cnances of obtaining control
over them after the Imam's death.
4 . The problem is a difficult one. We want the oil
urgently and the tribes are probably willing to let us have it
if we find it provided we deal with them direct. On the other
(Signature)
/ hand
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MGIPC—SI—2385(S&P)MFP-(M-1744)—3-12-40—20,000.
(Designation)