Report from the Select Committee on Slave Trade (East Coast of Africa); together with the proceedings of the Committee, minutes of evidence, appendix and index

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Monograph

Identifikator:: 832922498

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-79587

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: Report from the Select Committee on Slave Trade (East Coast of Africa); together with the proceedings of the Committee, minutes of evidence, appendix and index

Place of publication:: [London]

Publisher:: [The House of Commons]

Year of publication:: 1871

Scope:: 1 Online-Ressource (XXIV, 242 S.)

Collection:: Economics Books

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135 ON SLAVE TRADE (EAST COAST OF AFRICA). possessions formed thereafter a dependency of the kingdom, and succeeding Imams ruled over them, either wholly or in part, according as they were successful against the different attempts made by the inhabitants under their native chiefs to shake off’ all subjection to the Arab Sovereigns of Oman. It was in this way that the late Syud Saeed obtained the sovereignty of Zanzibar and a few of the settlements on the coast. They became his in virtue of his succession to the Imamship. True, he extended the empire in that direc tion and consolidated it ; but it appears very questionable whether on such grounds alone he can be fairly held to have possessed the power of disposing of the same either by will or otherwise to his sons or to anyone else. As he himself became master of Zanzibar, and of other places which from time to time had been added to the dependency, when he was recognised as Sovereign of Oman, so, in like manner, it seems to follow as a matter of right that his successor in the sovereignty should succeed to the same privilege, unless on other more valid grounds he possessed the power of alienating the territories of the state, which, to say the least, is very doubtful. Judging, indeed, from the limited prero gative in such matters exercised by his predecessors, the inference would be decidedly against him. 21. I must now notice in the last place Syud Thoweynee’s plea, that under the cir cumstances of his position, and agreeably with the custom of his predecessors in similar cases, he was fully justified in attempting to coerce his brother Syud Majeed into an acknowledgement of his supremacy. 22. His Highness here assumes that his title to the supremacy is unquestionable, and if that point could be admitted, I presume that few would dispute the inference. His object in the foregoing allegation is designed to prove that, in imitation of the almost uniform example of his predecessors for ages past, he was free to establish his right by the additional argument of might ; and as the success of the latter has always prevailed to confirm the former, his claim would not have come short in that respect. 23. Apart from all considerations of the enlightened motives which led the Government to intervene, in order to prevent hostilities between Syud Thoweynee and his brother Syud Majeed, and regarding the matter simply in the light which custom immemorial leads the Arabs of Oman to regard it, the sanctions of so many precedents among their rulers whose titles to the sovereignty were established chiefly on the ground of their success against other competitors, give a plausibility to the argument of Syud Thoweynee which should not be overlooked. 24. It is perhaps difficult to say what the result would have been had the two parties come into collision on the occasion of Syud Thowey nee’s expedition to Zanzibar in the early part of last year. Colonel Rigby,* in his account of the preparations made by Syud Majeed to resist the expected invasion, represents the means at the disposal of the latter as ample to destroy any force brought against him, dwelling especially on the enthusiasm of the people in his cause. Subsequently, however, and long after the expedition of Syud Thoweynee had returned to Muscat, his report of the state of affairs at Zanzibar led the Government to conclude that “ the position of Syud Majeed “ at Zanzibar was not secure.”! And later still, on the occasion of the outbreak, when the El-Harth Arabs rose in support of Syud Bargluish, all the force which Syud Majeed could bring against them was ineffectual, and the rising was not suppressed until assistance from three British men-oi-war had been sent to co-operate with them,j: when, as it is averred, the Arabs yielded because they would not fio-ht against the English. 25. I have deemed it desirable, in giving Syud Thowey nee’s arguments in his own behalf, to explain and illustrate them with the foregoing remarks. As some of the latter, however, may be open to modification hereafter, I abstain at present from any final expression of opinion on the general subject. Nevertheless, as what has already been advanced may have an important bearing on that opinion, I submit the same without delay to the careful consideration of Government. Sohâr. 26. Before entering upon the merits of the question relative to the agreement alleged to have been made between Syud Thoweynee and Majeed for the payment of 40,000 dollars annually by the latter to the former, I consider this the most fit place in my Report to discuss the claim which has been set up in favour of the independence of Syud Toorkee, another of the sons of the late Imam, who is at present located at Sohar. 27. No documentary evidence whatever exists to support this claim. Colonel Hamerton, in a letter to the Earl of Clarendon,^ dated 10th November 1856, writes as “follows: “ I am fully aware what his Highness’s (Syud Saeed’s) intentions regarding “ the succession were ; that Syud Thoweynee at Muscat should succeed to the govern- “ ment of his Arabian possessions, provision being made for certain of his sons as “ governors of certain places in his Arabian possessions ; and that the Prince Majeed, “ whom his Highness considered in the place of his deceased son Ivhaled, should succeed “ to the government of his African possessions, provision being made for others of his “ sons as governors of various places in his African possessions.” It is obvious that by the term “ governor ” in the above quotation nothing more is meant than a deputy with 0116. R 4 delegated Appendix, No. 8, ♦Letter, No. 19 oí 1859. f Resolution of Honourable Board, 16th November 1859. t Letter, No. 98, -1st October 1859. § Quoted by Colonel Riaby, Letter No. 19 of 1859, dated 17th F ebruary 1859.

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