"ملف XXXVIII/٥ تقرير عن صور بقلم الرائد ج. ب. ميرفي.، المساعد الهندي، الوكيل السياسي، مسقط. ١٠-١٠-١٩٢٨". [ظ‎‎٤] (٣٠٨/١٩)

8
aoree He went on to sav that the right of His Highness to collect customs;
at Snr and Aiqa had never been recognised by his forbears, himself or his tribe.
37 In 1925 Colonel Prideaux (then Political Resident in the Gulf)
remarked that the Amirs were not very loyal to the Sultan and that if
they had done their duty and given the Wali of Sur all the support he
was entitled to there would have been no question of paying a ransom for
PP0 release ot a Hindu who was kidnapped bj 7 a Pedouin.
38. In December 1925, in protesting against having to obtain a “No
Obiection” certificate from the Political Agent before being allowed to
import arms and ammunition from Bombay/Mahomed bin Naser wrote to
the Government of India : “ I submit that this request of the Political
Department of Bombay is not fair to me as a ruler of an independent State,
and it would be highly detrimental to my dignity to ask for consent or
certificate from the Political Agent, Muscat. I hold the Political Agent m
high regard, but I think you will appreciate that I prefer to preserve the
dignity of my State not to do an act detrimental to its independent possession.”
39. Mahomed bin Naser has as his lieutenants (1) Abdulla bin Saleh, a
Habshi, who was his agent in Bombay, speaks English and is reputed to
have drafted Mahomed bin Naser’s letter to the Government of India. He
is stated to be very unreliable ; (2) Mahomed bin Said, a Syrian whom he
engaged about December 1927 1o teach his children. Reputed to know a
little English and to be much travelled.
III.—Historical Summary of the Jenebeh.
40. Little is traceable concerning the early history of this tribe.
According to Colonel Miles, they are a branch of the Bani .Jabir and,
therefore, Wilad Dhubyan of Kahtanate origin, but now classed as Ghafiri.
They are considered the least religious tribe in Oman, and in this connection
it would be interesting to trace whether there is any connection between
them and Abu Said al Hassan, el Janaby, the Karmaty, who abolished prayer
and fasting and the pilgrimage and attacked the Hajj and invaded Oman
about the year A.D. 900.'• :7
41. A violent grudge of old standing between the Jenebeh and the
Harth* (the tribe of Sheikh Isa bin Saleh—the strong man of the Imam’s
Government), culminating in an affray near Khaburah in which the Jenebeh
were the victors, is mentioned as taking place in the early part of the reign
of Saiyid Said (1807-56), whilst they were assisting the latter in his opera
tions against the Wahabis. Later they appear to have assisted the Wahabis
in conjunction with Mahomed bin Nasir al Jabir against Saiyid Said.^ Later
still they appear once more to have assisted Saiyid Said against the \\ ahabis.
42. In 1865 the Jenebeh of Sur, discontented with the Sultan’s rule,
sought Wahabi assistance from Baraimi ; and the Wahabi agent, nothing
loth, sent a contingent, who plundered Suq Sur, assisted by the Jenebeh and
Bani Bu Ali. Nearly all the damage inflicted fell on Hindu traders and
shopkeepers ; the extent of their losses was estimated at $27,700 and one of
their number was killed and another wounded. Before being allowed to
leave for Muscat, they were stripped of almost all their clothing.|
43. Colonel Pelly considered that a prompt and severe example should
be made of the Jenebeh, who were implicated with the Wahabis in the
plunder and murder of our subjects at Sur. There were other reasons too
which called for the punishment of this tribe. They had long been
notorious among our naval officers as the most cruel and unscrupulous
slavers and pirates. They were among the Arab slave dealers who had
conspired in 1861 to assassinate the British x\gent at Zanzibar for his
anti-slavery proceedings. It was also believed that they were concerned in
the murder of three seamen of H.M.S. Wasp, who had disappeared from
* They were in league with the Bani Jabir for many years, following their fortunes
vis-a-vis the Wahabis.
t For fuller details vide “Muscat and its Relations with the Wahabi Power.”