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File 4640/1928 Pt 2 ‘Muscat Situation at Sur.’ [189v] (389/800)
The record is made up of 1 volume (396 folios). It was created in 29 Apr 1926-19 Nov 1931. 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.
>TII
12
The scheme for advancing French interests by a wide distribution of the
French flag was boldly pursued. In November 18A1 it was stated that as
many as 50 Sur boats flying the French flag were bound for Bushire and
18 had put in to Lingah. (This question is further dealt with in the review
■of the slave trade.) By 1900 the people of Sur, especially those of the
Jenebeh tribe, had almost ceased, under French encouragement, to regard the
Sultan as their master.
05. In 1900 Hilal bin Amr arrived at Sur from East Africa, joined
hands with M. Ottavi, and began to inveigh against the Sultan and the
British; and the spirit of the Jenebeh was such that, when summoned by
the Sultan to meet him at Muscat, they refused to go and insolently
suggested that he should deal with them instead through the French
Vice-Consul. It was this state of affairs which obliged Saiyid Faisal in
June 1900 to make a visit to Sur, the first since his accession in 1888. His
reception was more favourable than he had expected, for all the elders of the
town immediately paid their respects to him, the Cheif Sheikh of the Bani
Bu Ali came down from the interior with a thousand men to do him honour,
and the Sultan was successful, before he left, in obtaining from the French
flag holders of the port, including the Jenebeh, a formal profession of
allegiance to himself and a renunciation of French protection.
() 6 . In 1901 the Sultan sent 80 Askaris to garrison his post at Sur, and
the French flag holders, few of whom had observed their promise given in
the previous year, understanding the act as a threat to themselves, asked
M. Ottavi whether he would protect them in case of an attack by the Sultan’s
troops; his reply was unfavourable, and the incident marked another stage
in the decline of French influence at Sur.
67. About 1913 a blood feud started between the Arama and Makhana
sections of the Jenebeh, which has continued ever since. In 1918 His
Highness the Sultan visited Sur and fined the Jenebeh Rs. 14,000 and
imprisoned 26 Sheikhs. This action kept the peace for about two years.
68 . In 1919 the Muscat customs were reorganised and the people of Sur,
seeing that in future the dues would be more strictly enforced, refused to
allow a customs house to be built. In 1920 Captain MacCollum, the then
Wazir
Minister.
, went to Sur in II. M S. Brito mart, and the Jenebeh agreed to accept
the new arrangements. Things went smoothly for a short while and then
smuggling began again and has continued ever since. The customs house
was not built, difficulties being invariably placed in the way, and the Wali
became as powerless and inept as ever.
69. Spasmodic murdering Avent on, and in 1923 the Council of Ministers
sent Sheikh Rashid, Minister for Religious Affairs, to attempt to put an end
to the feuds. He returned, having been openly flouted and having
accomplished nothing. In July Zubair, Minister of Justice, accompanied by
Captain Alban, l.A. (in command of the Muscat Levies) and 150 levies and
three machine guns, proceeded to Sur and occupied the fort. Zubair reported
that he had settled all feuds and caused blood money to be paid over
immediately in his presence and recovered $6,400 customs dues from the
merchants and fined the tribe $4,000. A site was selected for a custom house
and the party returned to Muscat in triumph. Unfortunately there was one
case in which blood money was not accepted. The Makhana agreed to pardon
the murderer, an Arama. He was imprisoned in Muscat and was released in
1924. Meeting an armed slave of the murdered Sheikh on the outskirts of Sur,
he decided the man had been detailed to kill him and fired and killed the
slave. This started indiscriminate firing between the sections, in which one
Arama boy was killed. The Fuwaris took a hand and seized a water donkey
belonging to the Arama, and a struggle ensued, in which an Arama girl was
killed. The Wali was able to use the Ramzan feast for arranging a 45 days’
armistice. ^
70. About this time (1924) Mahomed bin Naser, Amir of the Bani Bu Ali,
•started to take an interest in the affairs of the Jenebeh, having formed an
alliance with Mansur bin Naser, Jenebeh Sheikh of Masirah, and won over
the Makhana and A1 Ghialin sections in Sur—the weaker party in the feud
among the Jenebeh—to acknowledge his authority.
About this item
- Content
This volume contains papers concerning the situation at Sur in the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman. The papers mainly relate to ‘difficulties’ which had arisen between the tribes of Sur and the Government of Muscat, inter-tribal and inter-factional rivalries, the question of what action the British Government should take to support the authority of the Muscat Government at Sur, and the general question of future British policy in Muscat.
It includes papers relating to the following:
- The claim to independence of Ali bin Abdullah, Shaikh of the Bani Bu Ali (also spelled Beni Bu Ali) tribe and Amir of Jaalan [Emir of Ja‘alān, also spelled Jalan and Jallan]
- The bombardment of the fort of Said bin Abdullah (also spelled Saeed bin Abdullah) by the Muscat gunboat, and the shelling and destruction of the fort by HMS Cyclamen
- An incident in which a Hinawi caravan was stopped at Sur by the Amirs of Jaalan, who hoisted a flag in their fort at Aiqa (also spelled Aigah in the volume) which was reportedly the flag of King Ibn Saud, but which the Amirs of Jaalan subsequently stated was their own flag
- The Government of India’s recommendation that a regiment be sent to hold Sur
- Tribal conflict and rivalries, including the feud between the two main sections of the Jenebeh [al-Janabah] tribe, the Makhanah and the Aramah, which the British Government viewed as being encouraged by Ali bin Abdullah, and the feud between the Beni Bu Ali and the Beni Bu Hassan tribes
- Proposed air operations by aircraft supported by HM Ships against the Bani Bu Ali at Sur.
The papers mainly consist of correspondence, memoranda, reports, and 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. Political Department minute papers.
The main correspondents are as follows: the 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. ; 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 HBM Consul, Muscat; Mahomed bin Nasir Ali Hamud, Amir of Jalan; the 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 Government of India Foreign and Political Department; the Admiralty; the Foreign Office; the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies; and the Air Ministry.
The volume includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (396 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.
The subject 4640 (Muscat) consists of two volumes and one file, IOR/L/PS/10/1275-1277. The volumes and file are divided into two parts, with part 2 comprising one volume, and part 4 comprising the second volume and the file. There is no part 1 or part 3.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 392; 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.
The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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File 4640/1928 Pt 2 ‘Muscat Situation at Sur.’ [189v] (389/800), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/1275, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100080848157.0x0000be> [accessed 10 May 2024]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/1275
- Title
- File 4640/1928 Pt 2 ‘Muscat Situation at Sur.’
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, i-r:ii-v, 1r:167v, 170v:173v, 176r:181v, 183r:199v, 201v:211v, 212v, 213v:214v, 215v:223v, 225v:292v, 300r:349v, 350v:365v, 366v, 367v, 368v, 369v:375v, 380r:388v, 390v:392v, iii-r:iv-v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence