ON SLAVE TRADE (EAST COAST OF AFRICA).
159
to the period referred to, they were doubtless regarded as a conquered race ; as subjects. Appendix, No. 8.
not citizens. They were ruled by local authorities generally sent from the seat of government
at Muscat, and, as a people, were not allowed any part in the public administration.
For obvious reasons, such must necessarily have been the state of those countries on the
accession of the late Syud Saeed. Their conquest by his predecessor was of recent date,
and their subjection to Oman was, in many instances, merely nominal. Moreover, their
importance, both in a political and commercial point of view, was then inconsiderable, the
Arabs valuing them more as a nursery from whence they could readily procure an
abundant supply of slaves than for any other cause. U nder such circumstances, it is not
surprising that the people of Zanzibar and its African dependencies should have had no
voice in the election of their sovereign.
28. But during the reigm of his late Highness Syud Saeed, extending over a period of
50 years, the general condition of those countries underwent a surprising change : his
sovereignty over them was firmly established: large numbers of Arabs from Oman
settled on the African mainland and the adjacent islands ; agriculture and commerce were
extensively promoted ; and Zanzibar, which in 1834 was described by the commander of
Her Majesty’s ship “Imogene” as having ‘Oittle or no trade,” possessed in 1859 an aggre- * Rkby’s
gate trade estimated at 1,664,577 /. sterling.* Moreover, the revenue derivable from letter, No. 39, of
those dependencies has increased in the same rates. Colonel Rigby writes : “ Twenty-five i860,
years aoo the late Imaum did not receive more than 50,000 crowns of annual revenue
from his African possessions. In 1847 it had increased to 145,000 crowns; and at present
the revenue amounts to 206,000 crowns.”! In 1840 Syud Saeed removed the seat ^ Appendix B, reply
of government from Muscat to Zanzibar, ruling Oman mostly through a deputy ; and it to Query 39.
was doubtless ov/ing to the presence and energy of the sovereign that the African possessions
of the kingdom made such remarkable and social commercial progress. Those possessions
are actually more extensive, and far more fertile and valuable in every way, than
the Arabian territories, and their annual revenue exceeds the revenue of the latter to the
amount of 77,000 crowns, or about 16,000/. sterling.
29. Such being the altered condition and circumstances of the African dependencies, it
seems consonant with reason and justice (considering the form of government which prevailed
in Oman) that the people of those countries should have a voice in the election of
the sovereio-n. They accordingly availed themselves of the prorogative on the death of
the late Syud Saeed, and chose his son Syud Majeed to be their ruler in preference to Syud
Thoweynee, who had succeeded to the sovereignty of the parent State. Regarded from one
point of view, the Act may be characterised as a national revolution, and as such, Syud
Thoweynee, the sovereign of Oman, was justified in counteracting it, and in attempting to
establish his own claims by an appeal to arms if success was unattainable in any other
way. Apart from all consideration of the alleged cause which eventually induced him to
project an invasion of the Zanzibar territories for that purpose, namely, the non-payment
by Syud Majeed of the stipulated sum of 40,000 crowns after the first year ; the custom in
similar cases which had invariably obtained, especially in the family of the reigning
dynasty on the demise of the sovereign, fully warranted Syud Thoweynee in regarding the
attitude assumed by Syud Majeed as an usurpation of the hereditary rights of the sovereigns
of Oman.
30. Svud Thoweynee prepared accordingly to contest the sovereignty of the African
dependencies with his brother Majeed. With that object in view, he probably resorted to
every available stratagem to secure ultimate success ; and there can be little doubt that,
Avhen his expedition sailed from Muscat, he had won over a party at Zanzibar, chiefly
among the El-Harlh tribe, who were ready co-operate with him. Syud Majeed, on the
other hand, made corresponding preparations to repel the invasion, and it may fairly be
presumed that he was equally active in the use of all the intrigues sanctioned by Arab
warfare to thwart the schemes of his antagonist. There is every reason, indeed, to believe
that to this end he took advantage of the misunderstanding which existed at the time
between Syud Thoweynee and Syud Toorkee of Sohar, and by dint of persuasions and
promises succeeded in enlisting the latter on his side.
31. Such was the attitude of the belligerent parties when the Government of Bombay
interposed to prevent a collision between them. At the solicitation of the late Lord
Elphinstone, Syud Thowevnee agreed to abandon the expedition to Zanzibar, and to refer
his claims to the arbitration of the Right Honourable the Governor General of India,
Syud Majeed at Zanzibar consenting, through Colonel Rigby, to abide in like manner by
his Lordship’s decision.
32. The intrigues and counter-intrigues which followed this arrangement, and which, in
October of last year, resulted in an Insurrection of the El-Harth tribe at Zanzibar, headed
by Syud Barghfish, call for notice, chiefly with a view to determine the culpability of the
respective parties in fomenting them. Under the plea of recalling a part of the expedition
which had preceded him to Zanzibar, Syud Thoweynee is severely censured! for having
attempted, through liis agent llamed bin Salem, to settle the differences subsisting between
himself and his brother Syud Majeed, after he had consented to submit his claims to the
arbitration of the Governor General of India. His .Highness’s explanation of that transaction
is to the following effect :—After receiving the communication from Government
through Colonel Russell, which induced me to abandon the expedition and to submit my
0.U6. u 4 case
f Letter from the
Government of
India, No. 4590, of
1859, Foreign
Department.
