Page 436 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

XXIV.] TRAVELS IN OMAN. 397

ers, and taking Ahmed by the hand he pro­
claimed him Imam; which election was joy­
fully acceded to by the others, and ratified
by the general voice of the people. But

Ahmed was not destined to hold his office
without a struggle. Bel Arab el Kamyar, a
relation of Murshid, and Prince of Gabrin,

when the intelligence was conveyed to him,
immediately marched against the new Imam.
After much skirmishing, Bel Arab was slain

by a son of Ahmed. By marrying himself to
a daughter of Seif, Ahmed allied himself to
the former dynasty, and gave his offspring

additional claims to the sovereignty of the
country.
An account of the fortunes and fate of the

progeny of this prince may not at first sight
appear very inviting; but I have inserted it,
since it appears to me to furnish a more faith­

ful picture of the interminable dissensions
which the Mohammedan system entails on
Eastern governments, than could be conveyed
to the mind by the most elaborate disqui­

sition.
Ahmed dying, left five sons—viz., Seif,

Kis, Sooltan, Talib, and Mohammed. Kis