Page 187 - Historical Summaries (Persian Gulf - Vol II) 1907-1953

174
IhJr povernment °f India appear to have been under the erroneous impression
that some form of election was necessary, but once this had been removed there
was no hesitation in accepting him. The Political Resident wrote to him on
January 9, 1932, informing him that His Majesty’s Government and the Govern­
ment of India recognised him officially as Sultan of Muscat and Oman, but owing
to the incidence of Ramadhan he did not publicly announce his accession until
February 10. At the beginning of March the Political Resident held a formal
Durbar at Muscat during which he delivered to the new Sultan a “ Kharita ” from
the Viceroy conveying congratulations and good wishes, to which the Sultan later
sent a suitable repy. During the ceremony three of His Majesty’s ships and two
Royal Air Force flying-boats were present in the harbour. The shore battery
fired a salute of thirty-one guns in honour of the Viceroy and the ships replied
with a salute of twenty-one guns for the Sultan. A naval guard of honour was
provided at the palace and the ships were dressed throughout the day. (,3)
10. The French had been given prior intimation of the intention to recognise
Sa’id, and subsequently at his request all the other Powers with whom he was
in treaty relations, viz., the United States of America, France and the Netherlands,
were officially informed of his accession by His Majesty’s Government acting on
his behalf.

11. Sa’id had apparently been required as a condition of his recognition to
give an undertaking similar to that given by his father,(“) though it is not clear
how this requirement was conveyed to him. He accordingly wrote to the Political
Resident on February 10, 1932, asking him to assure His Majesty’s Government
that he had accepted all the obligations to the High Government descending to
him from his father, that he was determined to follow his father’s policy in all his
relations with Government, and that he relied on the help of the Government and
declaring that in accordance with the wishes of his father he would be guided
by His Majesty’s Government's views in important matters (Appendix A). In
1938 and again in 1953 he stated with special reference to his father’s promise
not to grant permission for the exploitation of oil without consulting the British
authorities!13) that he did not consider himself bound by any undertakings given
by his predecessors in which it was not expressly stated that they were binding
upon successors.(“) From what he said on both occasions it appears that he based
his contention on a letter written by his father to the Political Agent, Muscat, in
1923 to the effect that if the arms subsidy was to be treated as personal to himself,
any engagements made by him in which no mention was made of his successors
were not binding on these successors.(lT) In 1953 the Foreign Office informed
the Political Resident that although they felt that they could not insist that the
Sultan was under a legal obligation to consult the British authorities before granting
an oil concession, they desired that when a suitable opportunity occurred his
attention should be drawn to the manner in which they believed the letter he
wrote upon his accession was intended to be interpreted and that he should be
reminded of his declaration that he would follow the policy of his father and
consult Her Majesty’s Government on all important matters, oil being such a
matter.!1*)
12. Sa’id’s first act after his accession was to abolish the Council of Ministers
which his father had been induced by His Majesty’s Government to create in return
for assistance in the reconstruction of his finances. Sa’id has ever since ruled
personally with the assistance of two or three Ministers to whom he delegates little
authority. In reporting the abolition of the Council of Ministers the Political
Resident called attention to the fact that Sa’id had a better education and wider
outlook than any of his predecessors and recommended that “ he should be given
every chance to administer his State on Arab lines, and every effort should be ma e
to free him from those relics of the past which are galling to him, while he
try, at the same time, to build up a facade of independence in thfeTeyes of tne
world.”(19) This policy which was accepted by the Government of India! J nas

(,3) I.O. to F.O. P.Z. 2454/32 of April 25. 1932 (E 2008/4/91 of 1932).
(u) Para. 19 at p. 47. P.G. 13.
(«•] P.rAo PCX ^ 15331 /26/53 of June 29, 1953 (EA 15311/13/26 of 1953).
(,T) I O to FO P.Z. 1923/39 of May 23. 1939 (E 3827/3827/91 of 1939).
« mn
S tisii p“