Page 320 - PERSIAN 3 1883_1890

24 ADMINISTRATION REPORT OP THE PERSIAN GULP POLITICAL

Manh did not wear quite so fair a dress at tlio time of my viiit, but the district is
undoubtedly a well-watered and fertile ono. All the springs here, as they are at Adam and
Bahilah, and indeed at most places in Oman proper, are hot; the temperature varying from
102 to 112 degrees Fahrenheit. There is no Wali here on behalf of the Sultan; the leading
man and dispenser of justico is the Mctowwa Muhammad-bin-Mesud, who is reputed to bo
the most learned man in Oman.
18th<—I decided to move on to Bahilah to-day, because though it would have saved
us a day's journey to visit Nezwa first, as my Arab companions did not fail to represent to me,
I was desirous of exploring tho country between Manh and Bahiio. Wo left at 8 a.m. and*
at 9 reached Karsha, a small hamlet of seventy housos. At 9-30 we crossed the W.
Kalbuh, and at 10-45 halted for coffee at Timsa, a picturesque village under a hill with
a large date grove. An hour later we came toKhamaili, a mystic pool of water famed
throughout Oman as the source of ali magic and sorcery. Tho fable is that a man lies ira-
prisoned by enchantment deep down under the water, which has become red from his blood.
Any ono venturing to drink it becomes enchanted immediately and falls under the magi­
cian's spell. I drank some nevertheless and found it very sweet and good. After a long
ride over a stony plain covered with low black hills we came to Fufc, a small hamlet to
our left, and soon after the singularly situated town of Bahilah comes into sight.
The first view presents a long white wall with bastions at intervals enclosing a large
extent of cultivated ground with a huge white fort and lofty tower standing on an eminence
in the centre, picturesquely overlooking and commanding the town beneath. Its appearance
indeed is more striking than that of any other town I have seen in Oman. From the time
we had been sighted on the road, the garrison had continued to fire guns at intervals from
the walls as we approached, and as we drew nearer the Shaikh with a party of horsemen, and
followed by an immense concourse of people, issued from the gate and rode down the bed of the
Wady to meet us. We then halted while the Shaikh and his followers exhibited their skill
in horsemanship, galloping round in a circle and firing off their matchlocks at full speed,
running races with each other, &c. After this was over we formed procession and rode slowly
on through the gate into the town, where we were lodged in a pleasant house and garden.
After receiving a visit from Shaikh Nasir-bin-Hameyed I occupied the rest of the day in
examining the space within the walls and the town.
On the following morning I paid a visit to the Shaikh at his fort, where lie received me
very courteously. He is a heavy-featured, unprepossessing looking young man of 22, with
much decision of character and evidently complete master of the position. He has obtained some
notoriety lately by his murder of his two elder brothers, Bargliash and Rashid, the circumstances
of which have been reported. I learned here that Shaikh Bargbash had long suspected Nasir of
sinister designs against him and had prohibited his entering the fort. Nasir, however, mauuged
to persuade Rashid to join in a plot for killing Barghash, and having by the help of three slave*
concealed himself one night in Barghash's apartments, he shot the latter dead while asleep.
Nasir then proclaimed Rashid Shaikh of the tribe, in place of Barghash; but Rashid was
incompetent and soon allowed all matters to fall into the hands of Nasir, who, 6ome months later,
becoming tired of the situation, quietly shot his brother through the back one day while they
were riding out to Yabrin together. No disturbance ensued, and Shaikh Nasir has since re­
tained possession, but, though undisputed ruler of Bahilah and nominal Wali on behalf of the
Sultan, he has not yet been recognised as Temimeh of the Beni Gliafir in place of Barghash.
The fort is a very large building with two towers, one of which is named the" Burj-el-Rib,
is very lofty, and commands a'splendid view of the whole valley. Our guide, Shaikh Nasir-e •
Kelbani, who is the Wazir of Bahilah, told me tliat the fort was named Hisn Tamah from the
Nabhani who built it. I was allowed to photograph the fort from different positions. The
upper part, or Alaya, of Bahilah is chiefly occupied by the Beni Ghafir; the lower town,
or Sifala, being inhabited by the Beni Shekeyl, Ibriycen, Beni Ghafir, and others. T c w o a
town is divided into 20 separate enclosed haras or quarters, and contains a population o ,
souls. The outer wall embracing the town and cultivation is an irregular parallelogram oover-
ing an area of about two square miles. I observed no cultivation outside of this wa # w ic
is traditioned to have been built by a woman named Gheitha 600 years ago. nsi e wo
fields of wheat, jowari, barley, lucerne, sugar-cane and cotton, besides extensive date grove* "J
orchards of other fruit The manufactures here are brown cotton cloth, loongies, goa s r
cloaks, matting, and hulwa. Babilab is believed to be a very ancient town, and it was e ca
of Oman under tho Nobhani dynasty in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
“ Barler " of. Wellsted, who has somewhat misplaced it on his map. The peoplo here bav g