'File 8/62 IV PRINCIPAL SHAIKHS & TRIBES OF OMAN.' [‎84r] (167/282)

8‘i
11 . In a note on the Sa’udi claim South and EaSt of turaimi
written on 15th February 195C 1 suggested that i- ibn oa vd
reiected Abu Dhabi’s claim to Buraimi (as he now does in the
I emorandum of 23rd September 195C) we might regard ourselves
as free to make such arrangements as appeareo desirable to us
with the "independent M shaikhs. In the light of the onbal
information since received I am not sure that such a sugges-
tion is of any immediate value - certainly not for purposes of
negotiation with ibn Sa’ud.
12. The fact is that we have never recognised the existence
of "independent shaikhdoms" other than those with which ,ve have
treaty relations, and, if such "independent sbai^hdoms exist
( wrr’ ch we are not prepared to admits it is cleai- that,
flniUon? Sey are'not subjects of ibn Sa'ud. Cn the other
hand, whatever their actual administrative position, the terri-
torv which they occupy has always been regarded as P® r h°£ the
domains of the 'iultan of i.uscat with wnom tney remain in frie
ly relations. It would, in fact, as all the evidence shows, be
a matter of extreme difficulty to define exactly the boundaries
nf the territory occupied by such snaikhdoms , .wing no J
°to tb^ actual° indefinite ness of such tribal boundaries as ^6
thought to exist but even more to the mixture of triual s
in the settled part of the country.
13. It is necessary now to see what are the trices which may
claim to be independent, the basis upon w-ich their c~a^ s
founded and, so far as it is possible, the district and extent
of their territory.
14 ; e should, I think, ignore any claims to independence by
Sulaiman Bin Hamyar (3. Riyam) and Salih bin Isa ei ®
al grounds of their close association with tne umam and tieir
recent visit to the Sultan, which, although they tnemselves
would not admit it, gives good grounds for r ^ ar ^ n f fl ^ e,ll m ^ ht
^-oritlv owing allegiance to him. (Their case, in xact, mignt
be regarded as supporting the theory that, although the Sultan
bv thf) m reatT of Sib gave internal autonomy to the Imam ne
retains"his rights o/suzerainty which are in practice acknowledge
by the Imam’s two principal lieutenants).
15. There remain the tribes of the Jasvdiatrlet and the hadu'
to the west. The former are the Na’im, the Al^u ihamis, the
Ean^L'aWnd i he Bani Qitab the last two of which nave already
nnt^d as being in friendly relations with the Sultan
although all four are virtually independent under their own
shaikhs•
16. The most recent account (EA 1019/10.) of the Na* im and
-,. e Albu Shamis (which is by origin a div ^ s ^ on bhe a im .
although now separated from it by internal feuds) shows that
both tribes are weakened by dissension and nave ® a
unitv They are Wahabi by religion (except one section of the
Alb/ Shamis ^and Sa’udi influence may have increased amongst
them recently, but both tribes are lacking in internal cohesion
and apoear to be territorially dispersed some section 8 living in
what is indisputably Sultanate territory. Thus the effect of
Sa'udi influence or attempts to treat them as constituting
"Shaikhdoms’’ do not seem likely to be very successful. .he
Sultan’s