Page 435 - Travels in Arabis (Vol I)

396 TRAVELS IN OMAN. [CH.

whelmed with the misfortunes which he had
brought on himself and his country, in a

few months afterwards died of grief. Sooltan
ibn Murshid took refuge in Sohar, which had
not yet surrendered, but against which the
Persians now marched. The Imam was

killed in a sortie, but Ahmed ibn S’aid de­
fended himself nobly ; and after a protracted

siege of eight months, the Persians were con­
strained to permit him to retain his govern­
ment, upon condition of acknowledging alle­
giance to their king. The death of Nadir

Shah, which followed a few years after these
events, drew great numbers of the invaders

to their own country, and Ahmed found little
difficulty in ridding himself of the remainder.
This effected, he convened a meeting of the
chiefs and eiders of the tribes, and reminding

them that the government of the country be­
longed to the Arab family, invited them to

name an Imam from that stock, and professed
his willingness to obey whomsoever they might
nominate. Mohammed ibn Sooltan then
arose, and said that none could advance supe­

rior claims to those of the individual who had
rescued his country from the yoke of foreign­