'File 8/62 IV PRINCIPAL SHAIKHS & TRIBES OF OMAN.' [‎103r] (208/282)

They appear to know the Sultan well by sight and
address him simply and directly f f th ^ey seem
honorifico a practice which the Sultan likes, iney
friendly to Europeans, but have all th ® 4 uspioion and
shyness of a wild people, and require careful approacn.
RENT RIYAlvl.
The Beni Riyam is the largest tribe in Oman, the
population now exceeding perhaps fifteen ^“npR^and^ave
whole they are civilised and peaceabxy inclined, and have
few rifles, possibly less thaii a thousand. In comparison
with 1 others the?r intelligence is high They live mainly
in the mountain region of the Jeoal ^Jchdar, where they
have over fifty villages. With good water supplies and
pastur^lands, they are able to keep cattle, and consume a
wine made from grapes which they grow*
Though their Tamimah, Suleiman bin Hamyar. who is
also Tamimah of all the Ghafiris, is, like Salih >
the Hinawi leader, close to the Imam, the tribe itself
at feud with the Ruwahah (the Imams tru^ej. Shaikh
Suleiman and his eldest son and heir. s '4 ta ^’J£ s: 4pn4st
Sultan at Muscat in 1948. There he received the greatest
hospitality, during which his daily expenditure is under
stood to have cost the Sultan Rs. 200-™ for the fortyfive
days of his stay. On leaving the 'Sur .an is supposed to
have given him M.T. Dollars 50,000 (Rs. 1,25,€00), five
American Rifles, ammunition, ten bags °i r lc0 > J^ g "took
of sugar and a .hep. This last the Shaikh, who drives, took
to his homo Tanuf via the Batinah, Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Dhank, xanqul and
Ibric Ho built a road to Muti intending .o join UP with
the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Samail, making a short route to iusoau, but w
prevented by the Imam and people of that territory.
As the head of one of the larger Hinawi tribes
himself, the Sultan probably considers Salih bin Isa a
Harthi lass important to placate, as ? though he
for considerable favours too, they were not upon this scale,
and it is clear from his extra lavish treatment °f the
Ghafiri leader the importance which the Suloan attaches t
his position, and his anxiety to get his support in the
election for Imamshlp which will follow une decease o. t
present incumbent. Which way Shaikh Suleiman, who is
himself about forty, will go is any one's guess, at present
his outward attitude, whilst friendly to the Sultan, is
aliegience to the Imam.
The Beni Riyam are on gooa terns with the
Ghafiri tribes of Oman, and their attitude to ^ e „ B np"much
wevia probably be friendly, though they havenot c-me much
in contact with them. Shaikh Suleiman himseii gets about,
and is friendly frith the American missionaries#
BENI RU W AHAH .
"he tribe ■* s main! ,r lot n Ha jar - in the upper
- part of the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. called the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. b-ni . They
are however divided into two main factions which^aro
opposed to one another# These are described by -ocatxtn on
the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Beni Ruwahah, El Sharqi (Bast) ’under Shaikh Salih
, bin Harib numbering about twelve hundred? and E± Gnarj-
; (West) ur.der Shaikh. Saif bin Ahmed bin Hamid? numbering
about two thousand. The latter are against the Imam ol
Oman for reasons which are obscure? though he is the
; accepted Tanimab of the whole tribe,
Other
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