Page 631 - PERSIAN GULF ADMINISTRATION REPORTS V1

115
1'OLITICAL AGENCY FOR 1878-79.
RESIDENCY AND MUSKAT
rr-idin" inside removed with their property on board vessc^ in tho
labour. This demoralisation was owing no doubt to the terror insj,.red
by the cruelties and excesses committed by the Bedouins composi 0
ferec under Seyyid Ibrahim and Saleh-bin-Ali after their repulse the
,l’".,XAuiic end of July after some desultory skirmishing between the
forces of Abdool Azecz and Fcysal-bin-Toorkcc at Scrnail the rebelliou
came to an cud. , •
Dissensions had arisen among the rebels, which had been much in­
creased by the payment of 1,000 dollars to Ilamood El Jahafce, one of the
leaders, by the inhabitants of Upper Semail, and Seyyid Abdool Azeez
retired to Kuriatcyn, from whence he ultimately removed to Semed.
5. In August a freebooter of El Dliahirch, known as AValad El
Metowwa, raided the Balineh, and after harassing the country and com-
milting several murders, retired with a large booty plundered from the
poorer inhabitants. On the 11th August the Sultan left Muskat for
Burka with the object of undertaking an expedition against El Hazam
and destroying the property of Ibrahim-bin-Rais in its vicinity, but finding,
on reaching Burka, that the enemy were more numerous and better
prepared than he expected, he gave up the enterprise and dismissed his
force.
0. In September Saleh-bin-Ali announced his intention of rising
against Muskat and endeavoured to close communication between this port
and El Sharkiyoh. Nothing however appeared to result from this declara­
tion of war, and Saleh-bin-Ali, if be ever really intended to do more than
create alarm by bis boast, must have bad reason to give up his con­
templated design. In November fresh disturbances occurred in the
Bat inch and several lives were lost in skirmishes between the belligerents.
Tranquillity was not restored until the following month. The tribes
that suffered most were the Yal Saad and the Al Boo Rasbeyd, and their
losses were estimated at 10,000 dollars.
7. In December discord appeared in the ranks of the Ifarth tribe to
which Shcykh Salch-bin-Ali belonged, and a clique was formed against him
l»y a large and powerful section which repudiated bis authority and set
it>clf to thwart his schemes. The effect of this could only be to diminish
his influence and-weight still further in the country.
In January 1870 two Sheykhs of the Beni Boo Ilassan tribe named
Amir and Rashid, who had been released from prison by the Sultan two
roars before and had since rebelled against him, arrived at Muskat and
made submission through the mediation and under the protection of some
Ohafnroe tribes. About the same time Sheykh Hamood-bin-Said El
Jahafec, having been discarded by his own tribe, the Al Wahecbch, be­
came a client of the Jencbeh and also offered his submission but was not
allowed to enter Muskat.
8. In March Seyyid Salim bin Hilal Al Boo Saidee wag murdered at
..emed by a party o£ the Beni Ruweyheh in revenge for the murder of
j-l'e) kb Hamad of that tribe last year. In this affair it is reported
w , °°1 Azeez lent his connivance and gave the murderer! the
*0T >ri C0VCr °* ki* bouse from whence they made their attack.
m yoor closes, as it began, in tranquillity and there is no im-
Miatc apprehension of disturbances occurring. But it may be added