126 
APPENDIX TO REPORT FROM SELECT COMMITTEE 
Appendix, No. 8. Further:^ in a letter from the Secretary to the Government of India, dated 27th 
July 1859, it is ordered that Syud Thoweynee should be informed that it recognises no 
pretension on his part to be the superior or suzerain of Syud Majeed.” And again, in the 
same letter, referring to the payment of forty thousand (40,000) crowns annually as the 
possible basis of an amicable arrangement between the two brothers, it is added, “ But 
the arrangement should not bear the character of a subsidy from a subordinate Govern 
ment to a superior one.” 
6. Captain Cruttenden, who was commissioned to impart the foregoing decision to 
Syud Thoweynee, in his letter (No. 3 of 1859), thus describes the effect which it produced 
on that ruler, “ His being told by me, in the words of his Excellency the Governor 
General that he was in no way recognised as his brother’s superior or suzerain, appeared 
to cause him both pain and annoyance, as he feels that, on this point, the opinion of his- 
Excellency is already formed, and that he cannot hope to see it altered after the arbitra 
tion has been completed.” Again, “• Now that Syud Thoweynee knows the opinion of 
his Excellency the Governor General as to his having no authority over his brother, he 
fears that the result of any arbitration must be fatal to his ambitious views;” and again, 
his two principal claims against his brother, namely, his suzerainty over him, and his 
right to an annual payment, have already been decided by his Excellency.” The latter 
appears to be Captain Cruttenden’s own inference from the terms of the decision which 
he was ordered to communicate to the Ruler of Muscat. 
7. Further, in a Resolution of the Honourable Board, dated 19th November 1859, the 
following passage occurs : Syud Majeed will act wisely if he obtain a recognition of his 
own rights from Syud Thoweynee, by the payment of an annual subsidy, not a tribute, of 
forty thousand (40,000) crowns.” 
8. The tenor of the foregoing extracts, unmodified as it is by any subsequent decision 
of Government, will be sufficiently obvious to enable his Lordship in Council to appre 
ciate the difficulty which it has suggested to my mind, and which I venture to submit for 
solution in the form of an inquiry. In attempting to carry out the instructions of Govern 
ment in this matter, am I to consider the claims of Syud Thoweynee to the sovereignty of 
Zanzibar, and to the annual pay ment of tribute by his brother, as points definitively* 
disposed of by^ the foregoing Resolutions of Government ? The language of those Reso 
lutions is, in some cases, so plain and authoritative, that I should hardly hold myself 
excused for propounding such a question, were it not that the decisions conveymd thereby 
may be intended to apply no further than ■pending the arbitration, and until the final award 
o f the Governor General has been made. 
9. His Lordship in Council will readily perceive that definite instructions on this head 
are indispensably necessary for my guidance in executing the commission which has been 
entrusted to me. In the former case, namely, that of the two points above named being 
already decided on, the basis of an accommodation between the two brothers must be 
sought for on some other ground which, on inquiry, may be deemed best calculated to 
secure the jDermanent welfare of the separated States, and to prevent any future misun 
derstanding between their respective rulers. 
10. Government has repeatedly suggested that the payment of forty thousand (40,000) 
crowns as a subsidy from Syud Majeed to Syud Thoweynee might form the basis for such 
adjustment of existing difterences. Information obtained on the spot may enable me to 
report favourably or otherwise on this point. At the same time, I cannot withhold 
expressing my apprehensions, formed from a perusal of the past correspondence, coupled 
with the opinions of several intelligent Arabs well acquainted with the affairs of the 
ímámship, that unless Syud Thoweynee is guaranteed in the sovereignty of the late 
Imam’s Arabian possessions, the severance of Zanzibar from Muscat will raise up a host 
of competitors for the supremacy in that quarter, and be the signal for civil war in 
Oman. 
11. With such contingencies in prospect, it is important that I should be apprised 
whether the ultimate decision of Government is likely to be influenced by these or similar 
considerations ; and if not, to what extent it is prepared to afford its countenance to Syud 
Thoweynee in the exercise of his sovereignty over the Arabian possessions of the late 
Imam. And lastly, whether, in order to jwevent, as far as may be, the apprehended dis 
asters (should the severance of Zanzibar from Muscat be decided on), I may seek inter 
views with the most influential chiefs, and use my best efforts, in a friendly spirit, to 
ensure their future tranquillity. 
12. On the other hand, if it is the design of Government that the claims of Syud 
Thoweynee to the suzerainty of Zanzibar, and to the payment of tribute by his brother, the 
present ruler of that island and its African dependencies, should be regarded as open 
questions to be settled hereafter by the arbitrement of the Governor General, it will be 
my duty to institute inquiries, and to obtain reliable opinions with regard to the succession 
in the Imâmship, such as may enable his Lordship the Viceroy to decide between the 
contending opinions now prevailing on that subject, and to apportion to the rival claimants 
what is justly due to each. 
13. It may also be practicable, by discreet and amicable conferences with the different 
members of the late Imam’s family, and with the principal Arab chiefs at Muscat and 
Zanzibar,