Page 299 - UAE Truncal States

Chapter Eight

his son, who was only twelve years old, became Imam through a
pseudo-election which was organised to support the dynastic
principle of succession. The election of a minor as Imam antagonised
the religious leaders of all tribes as well as the leading members of
the other branches of the Ya'aribah clan, and sparked off a
competition for an alternative Imam. The most successful of the
contenders for the Imamate was the lamlmah of the Bani Ghafir,
Muhammad bin Nasir.
The Bani Ghafir were supported in this choice by most of the tribes
who were, like themselves, of Nizari (Adnani) descent: that is, they
had come to Oman in about the fourth and fifth centuries ad from
central and north-eastern Arabia. The election of Muhammad bin
Nasir in 1724 ad was opposed by Khalaf bin Mubarak of the Bani
Hina (hence the name Hinawi), who led a confederacy of most of the
Yamani (Qahlani) tribes, who were the descendants of the first Arab
tribal groups to conquer Oman from south-western Arabia, as early
as the 9th century bc.7 Neither Imam was generally recognised, and a
fierce competition commenced for the Imamate and the leadership,
which developed into a rebellion against the Ya'aribah dynasty and
ended as a full-scale civil war involving all the tribes in Oman,
splitting the country into two bitterly opposed camps, labelled
Ghafiri and Hinawi.8 When the Nizari tribes had arrived in the 4th
century ad they had found the mountain heartland of Oman already
occupied by Yamani tribes, and because of Yamani opposition they
were primarily confined to the fringes of Oman and to the north; this
Shamal (north) province of Oman later became the northern Trucial
States. Being of Nizari descent the majority of the tribes of al Shamal
supported the Ghafiri camp in this prolonged Civil War in Oman.
When the Hinawi candidate, Imam Saif II bin Sultan, had grown to
manhood, he resorted in 1737 to the desperate step of calling upon
Nadir Shah of Persia for help in the Civil War. The Persian army lost
no time, landed in Julfar and Khaur Fakkan and marched on the
Buraimi oasis. The current proponent of the Ghafiri camp, Bil'arab
bin Himyar, met the Persian army on his home ground in the
Dhahirah, but was heavily defeated. The Persians did not retire
completely after gaining victory for their protege, but retained Julfar,
thus being in an even better position to invade the area and prepare
for the total subservience of Oman to Nadir Shah when his
assistance was sought once again by Saif bin Sultan in 1741.
The Persian occupation was all but complete when the last pocket

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