'File 11/1 VI Muscat Administration Reports and related correspondence' [‎7r] (13/56)

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15* In the towns of Misoat and *'atrah there has been a
©onsistent shortage of balsas. Oils is the nlakle ooln. fomerly
e ghty to the rupee 9 which fores the chief ourrenpy of th« lower
orders, and gerems the cost of day to day foodstuffs. The rate at
V*™*/* 1, *** half of the yeer was sixty four In fesoat
ajfld ort y •iiht in Matrah to a rupee, asking the oost of all fresh
l ocxt very high. The primary cause Is believed te be that Hie land
>istomr. dues on preduoe ftnoa the Interior ere mostly paid in
mi those hare eoemalated in the Treasury, and nothing is done te get
them back into circulation. It is even suspected that the Sultan* s
intention is to -like a substantial profit in due oourse.
Pakistan currency, which started the year at Ss 144/* to
Rs 100/- Indian, ended the year at about Ra 97/- te Ra 100/- Indian
in the open aarket, though the local branch of the British Bank of
Iran and the Middle Kaat deals only at the Official rate.
TRIBAL.
17* The Sultanate continued to enjoy what nuat be, in ita
turbulent hiatoiy, an almost unparallsd period of peace. The :
iivea* at the age, it la believed, of about seventy two. The
other two mentors of the Triunvirste, which virtually controls affairs
in the interior of the Sultanate, saleh bin laaalHarthi and
Sulainan bin Haeyar of the Jabal Ahkdar, Hlnawi and Ghsfiri faction
Icadara, reept^ctively, continue to oomduod' affairs peacefully. Tht
latter, however, has shown signs of late of an intention tostrike
out far hxinself, and he has made apj.roaches in several directions,
including Rls Majesty’s Government, for independent recognition, and
rc . diz tet negotiation for ell oonoesaions in his territory, so far
without success.
18* fhat will happen when the Imam dies continues to be a
subject for popular conjecture, end aa many can be found who fancy
the Sultan s ohanoee of gaining the support of the tribes who now
follow the Iami,*s these who insist that there will be an eleeted
«»oeseor. The absence of a preponderance for the latter is perhaps
due to there being no obvious candidate in view, and to rivalry
between the xnm/is end Ghafiris as to which faction should provide
iim. The only name actually mentioned so far has been Yahya, the
eldest sai of the previous Imam, whom, with his brother, the present
Imam hrr, brou ht up, and has employed as one of his Walls.
19* The only disturbances have been petty quarrels. In
February, what night have developed Into a serious feud between the
£ th * — oh*otod by the Sulten',
brotner, aiyid ajld, aa Wall of Masna’ah, intervening and effeotlxm
at nice for seven months pending the Sultan’s return from Salalah,
where he had gone for the ntoner. Though he had not returned by the
end of the year, the truce appeared to be still holding.
2 P'* _ „ I A bo f d ? r *l*l»*e ooourr^d In July between the petty Shthuh
haikh of Bekheh In the Ruae-al-Jibbal ravinoe of the iultanate —*
4 to. a KtolMh in Truoial a-n.Bvi.wna
rTi* 4 ,lsr J h * aotion ^ lolitiaal Officer on the
Trudal Coast and one of H.M'e ship, prooeeding to the aoene and
securing undertakinga fran the partiea. Keporta of the liklihaed of a
rt er c^itbreal: ,vert received later in the year, mad aa a general war
“>4 «—tal tribes^ waa feared, repreaentations
^e re wade te the Muacat G^raawnt to ««iat in tri iv i, c . rimJ.
T!*.;* 111 Und#r th * i^tigation tte Mwoat
ove rnnient at the oleee of the jeer.