142

APPENDIX  TO  EEPOET  EKOM  SELECT  COMMITTEE

Appendix,  No.  8.
Teanslation  of  a  Communication  from  his  Highness  the  Imam  of  Muscat,  to  the  RHht
Honourable  the  Earl  of  Aberdeen  ;  dated  Zanzibar,  ‘23rd  July  1844,  eth'Rujeeb  1260?
A.C.,
Be  it  known  to  your  Lordship  that  we  are  always  grateful  for,  and  sensible  of,  the  kindness ­
  of  the  British  Government.  We  are,  as  it  were,  overwhelmed  with  a  sense  of  received
favours.
2.  In  the  treaty  between  us  and  Her  Majesty  Queen  Victoria  of  England,  concluded  and
signed  at  Muscat,  on  the  22nd  July  1840,  it  is  mentioned  that  the  obligations  are  bindinoon
  us,  and  our  posterity,  and  for  which  we  all  feel  happy  ;  please  God,  during  our  lifetime“
all  will  be  duly  fulfilled  on  our  parts,  we  will  abide  by  it.  ’
3.  And  after  us  (on  our  death),  we  constitute  and  appoint  our  son  Syud  Khaled  to  be  the
ruler  of  all  our  African  possessions  ;  that  is  to  say,  all  places  on  the  continent  of  Africa,
between  Magadosha,  situated  in  about  2«  lO'  north  latitude,  and  Cape  Delgado,  situated  in
in  about  10=>  42'  south  latitude,  together  with  the  adjacent  islands,  now  subject  to  our  rule,
and  under  our  dominion.  And  in  like  manner  our  son,  Syud  Thoweynee,  to  be  ruler  over  all
our  possessions  in  Oman,  in  Arabia,  in  the  Persian  Gulf,  and  on  the  coast  of  Persia.  And
please  God  the  two  before  mentioned,  our  sons,  Syud  Khaled  and  Syud  Thoweynee,  will
strictly  conform  to  the  stipulations  of  the  treaty,  and,  furthermore,  do  all  things  in'conformity
  with  the  wishes  of  the  British  Government;  and  our  hope  and  desire  is,  that  the
British  Government  may  be  favourably  disposed  towards  these  our  sons,  Syud  Khaled  and
Syud  Thoweynee.  And  we  feel  certain  that  the  Government  will  not  withhold  its  friendship
from  them.  ‘
Whatever  you  require  of  us,  it  is  for  you  to  signify.
From  the  expectant  of  God’s  mercy.
(signed)  Saeed  bin  Hultan.
(True  Translation.)
British  Consulate,  Zanzibar,  (signed)  Atkins  Hamerton,
14  April  18Õ9.

Appendix  (B.)

The  quotations  in  the  following  paper  are  taken  from  a  recent  Arabic  work  on  the  Kings
and  Imams  of  Oman,  written  by  Sheikh  Hameed  bin  Mohammed  bin  Razeek  about  two
years  a^o.  It  is  extremely  valuable  in  this  inquiry  on  account  of  the  information  which  it
affords  on  the  question  of  the  succession.  Therefrom  it  will  be  perceived  that  primoo-eniture
has  hardly  ever  been  regarded  by  the  Arabs  of  Oman  as  conferring  a  claim  to  the°succession
  ;  and,  further,  that  election  or  recognition  by  the  tribes  has  heretofore  been  deemed
essential  to  confirai  a  successor  in  the  Sovereignty.  Moreover,  among  all  the  Sovereio-ns
given  in  the  following  list  not  one  occurs  who  is  recorded  to  have  assumed  or  exercised  the
right  of  nominating  a  successor,  or  of  disposing  of  his  territories  by  will  or  otherwise.  On
the  death  of  a  ruler,  the  member  of  his  family  who  happened  to  exercise  the  greatest  influence ­
  at  the  time,  either  put  himself  forward,  or  was  put  forward  by  the  people,  to  succeed
to  the  sovereignty.  The  claim  was  frequently  disputed  by  other  of  the  relatives  of  the
deceased,  and  intestine  family  wars  followed,  the  strongest  ultimately  gaining  the  ascendancy ­
  ;  but  even  in  such  cases  the  right  to  the  sovereignty  does  not  appear  to  have  been
regarded  as  valid  without  the  concurrence  of  the  principal  tribes.
I  have  deemed  it  unnecessary  to  retrace  the  succession  further  back  than  the  begiiinincr
of  the  seventeenth  century.  “At  that  period,”  writes  the  historian  under  notice,  “  there
“  had  been  great  dissensions  among  the  people  of  Rastak  [then  the  capital  of  the  kino-domj
“on  divers  matters,  their  king  at  the  time  being  Mâlik  bin  Ali  el  Arab.  So  the  learned
1  together,  men  upright  in  their  religion,  and  consulted  about  appointing  an
lma,m,  who,  in  ruling,  should  order  what  ivas  lawfid  and  forbid  what  was  unlawful.  Their
choice  fell  on  Masir  bin  JMoorshid,  and  they  proposed  the  thing  to  him.  There  were  seventy
“  present,  he  being  one  of  the  members,  and  after  considerable  hesitation  he  finally  agreed  to
“  accept  the  office,  and  they  appointed  him  Imâm.”*  ^
Nasir  bin  Moorshid  ruled  for  26  years,  and  on  his  death  “  the  learned  Mussulmans  met
together,  and  deemed  it  fit  to  confer  the.  Imamship  on  his  cousin  Sultan  bin  Seif,  with  the
“  concurrence  of  the  people  of  Oman.’'  ^
Belarab

wonsiaeraDie  misappreiiension  lias  arisen  about  tne  meaning  ot  tins  title.  As  applied  to  the  rulers  of
Omán,  the  word  must  not  be  understood  to  imply  any  special  authority  in  religious  matters  but  merely  a
moral  or  religions  fm*  f.hp  wliîpb  wac  ■i'PO*Ai*apíl  as  bpiîio*  nnilo  no  _  —-It  -

u  j  ‘  o  oujjiciiic  oumuiiLj  uvei  me  miuui  oiiciKus,  occ.  in  tne  History  oi  oneikh
Hameed,  it  is  applied  to  all  the  predecessors  of  the  late  Syud  Saeed  except  to  that  ruler,  and  at  the  present
day  no  one  of  his  sons  is  generally  styled  “  Imam  ”  by  the  Arabs.  They  are  usually  addressed  and  designated ­
  as  byuds  i.e.,  lords  or  chiefs,  according  to  the  literal  signification  of  the  word,  and  not  in  the
sense  m  which  the  same  terra  is  more  commonly  used  to  designate  one  descended  from  the  family  of
Mohammed,