'File 8/20: MUSCAT STATE AFFAIRS: RISE OF OMANIS' [125r] (249/634)
The record is made up of 1 file (316 folios). It was created in 9 May 1917-10 Oct 1920. 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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
P.2.
ruler of anything more than a tribe or a email confederation
of tribes is an anomaly unless his rule is based on moral
#
force, that is religion, or on material force brought from
outsit)e. In the latter case his rule can be but temporary,
is bound to be unpopular, and must fall vtfien
his source of power from outside fails. The power of the
Emirf of Najd is due only to the fanatism of the Wahabi
UuxdjL'V
sect of which he is the tempaMU^r The chief of the
Shammar is an actual potentate becausen of the size, power
and homogeneity of his tribe; which the king of the HeAJaz
%
is supported entirely by us, his administratemn run by
Baghdadis or Syrians, and his religeous influence nil*
In the case of Muscat and Oman unity was achieved by the
great Sultan Sayid Said through his sea power # before the
introduction of steamMuscat was a necessary port of call
for all ships trading with the Gulf, and its ruler in con
sequence controlled the Gulf trade. With the introduction of
steam the power of the SultanSof Muscatwaned and their
suzerainty over the interior merged from fact to tolerated
theory, till final lyxmkslmx misrule and a religious re
vival caused even the theory* to be thrown off altogether.
The Jfcond main cause is, that looking as we
did at Arabia through Indian spectacles , we did not rea-
llae this/ and even if we had realised it,it is difficult
to see what should have been our right course owing to the
many interests Involved. The final nail in the coffin of
the Sultans of Muscat was the international difficulties
at the beginning of this century which made any regulation
by us of Muscat affairs or any recognition by us of the
practical existance of another sovereinty in Oman a matter
*
of difficulty if not an impossibility*
About this item
- Content
This file relates to British policy in Muscat and Oman. It contains extensive correspondence and memoranda from the 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. and Consul at Muscat, mainly addressed to the Deputy 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. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and the Civil Commissioner in Baghdad, which discusses the rivalry between the Sultanate of Muscat and the Imamate of Oman, the history of British relations with the ruling sultans, and negotiations between the Sultan [Taymūr bin Fayṣal bin Turkī Āl Bū Sa‘īd] and the Omani tribes.
Related matters of discussion include the following: comparisons between the Sultan's rule and that of the Imam's; the question of whether British support for the current Sultan's Government should be continued, given the state of its finances and the Sultan's standing with the Omani tribes; possible reforms to the Sultan's Government, as proposed by the 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. ; the 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. 's meeting with Omani representative Shaikh Isa bin Salih [Shaikh ‘Īsá bin Ṣāliḥ al-Ḥārthī]; negotiations between the Sultan and the Omanis (in which the 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. acts as mediator), and the terms for a final settlement between the two parties; plans for the Sultan to impose a penal zakat on certain Omani tribes; the murder of the Imam on 21 July 1920.
Correspondents besides the 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. include the following: the Deputy 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. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad; officials of the Government of India's Foreign and Political Department.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (316 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 318; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Condition: folios 274-276 are damaged and have parts of their edges missing, resulting in the loss of text.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/6/204
- Title
- 'File 8/20: MUSCAT STATE AFFAIRS: RISE OF OMANIS'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:137v, 140r:164v, 166r:177v, 179r:196v, 198r:199v, 201r:202v, 208r:245v, 247r:280v, 282r:316v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence