"تجارة الأسلحة في الخليج العربي" [ظ‎‎٣‎٣] (٦٢/٩)

i,. -r .-v. ....
Tr. r
Table
contained in Government of India s Idler, 2nd Septemhet 10 )J.
Year.
Number of
Rifles imported
into Muskat.
Number of rifles exported to
Mekran.*
Elsewhere.
1906
1907
1908
40,000
60,000
78,825
3,175
11,247
35,520
14,700
14,500
30,900
Number of
Rifles unaccounted
for.
22,125
34,253
12,405
•The Go —tot Ma
^ 50 cent - ot u ■ o ^ cxport3 to
Mekran coast."
As regards the origin of these arms, the Government of India calculated
in February 1907 that, whereas m 1899-1900 only about one seventh o
imports came from France, by 1905 the P/X 0r ,\ 1 7 0n , 0 OA7 ^QO^m'the
to tvvo-fifths.f As regards the years 1906-07, 1907-08 and JiK^ nJ, t ic
figures are given in the following table. It will be seen that about 5o 5 per
cent, of the arms imported in 1906-07, about 51^ per cent of those imported
in 1907-08, and about 501 per cent, m 1908-09, were of Belgian manufacture,
the percentage of English-made rifles for the corresponding years being
about 38, 34, and 30 : —
Rifles imported into MuskatJ :—
Of Belgian manufacture
„ French ,,
„ English
,, German ,,
,, Roumanian ,,
Total
1906-07.
1907-8.
1908-09.
24,196
45,370
43,280
3,725
6,280
4,230
17,000
30,800
25,600
—
5,230
6,550
—
—
6,160
44,927
87,680
85,820
It will be noted that Germany appeared as an importer of rifles into
Muskat for the first time in 1907-08. Koumania entered the field in 1908-09
as a competitor for the sale of condemned army rifles.
The following table shows the total value of the arms and ammunition
imported into Muskat for the six years from 1903-04 to 1908-09, and of the
duty payable to the Sultan at the rate of 6 per cent.§ for the same period :—
Value of Arms and
Ammunition im
ported into Muskat.
Duty payable to
Sultan at rate of
6 per cent.
1903-04 - - ' -
1904-05
1905-06 ....
1906-07
1907-08 - - . .
1908-09
£
76,612
107,631
71,625
112,338
279,050
237,644
£
4,596
6,458
4,417
6,740
16,740
14,256
n 1, 11 s ! 10uld ke noted that the arms classified as " French " previous to 1906-07 included
all those shipped from Marseilles to Muskat. A considerable proportion seem from the first
to have been of Belgian manufacture.
* Tll i"| fi ^'i re n three following tables are taken from the Trade Reports
prepared by the Poht.eal Agent, Muskat, and are based on lluskat Cnstoms returns r
§ bee paragraph 6.