Page 295 - PERSIAN 4 1890_1899

ADMINISTRATION REPORT

ON THE
PERSIAN GULF POLITICAL RESIDENCY

AND
MASKAT POLITICAL AGENCY

FOE
1895-96.

Paet I.—general summary.

1.—OMAN MASKAT COAST.
At the opening of the year Oman had barely emerged from a serious
convulsion. A treacherous and very formidable insurrection against the
Sultan had reduced him to dire straits, when, shut up in the forts which
dominated a part of the town, His Highness had to submit to the presence
of the rebels in his palace and to their possession of the greater part of his
town for nearly a month.
The report for the past, year has been compiled by Major J. H. Sadler,
and follows as part II.
The repair of the damages caused by the hostile occupation, improvement
of the defences, and a strengthening of the armament of the forts was the
first matter demanding the attention of the ruler. On our part it was necessary
to examine into, and to determine as closely as might be possible, the losses
indicted on British subjects during the outbreak, and to consider the means
for indemnifying them. The loss and injury had been great, there had been
pillage which was not confined to the acts of the Sultan’s enemies, and wanton
destruction had been caused by incendiarism. The enquiry into these matters
was very laborious and resulted in an assessment of over seventy-seven thousand
dollars as the total amount of the losses sustained by British subjects, and to
meet these the Sultan was authorised by Government to impose on the produce
or the tribes, to whose excesses and violence it was due, a punitive tax to
provide compensation, the term for the complete liquidation of which was
fixed at three years.
The working of this tax was very far from satisfactory, the proceeds
came in slowly and fell far short of the estimate that had been framed,
every device was adopted to evade the tax, the despatch of the date produce
to the coast for export was delayed, part of it was shipped at Sur to escape
payment and much of it was doubtless, as loudly complained of by the Sultan,
passed through the customs at Maskat and Muttrah as the property of friendly
jibes. These causes no doubt accounted for a large part of the failure, hut the
c,eneral weakness of His Highness’ authority, his inefficient customs organisa-
n ana a want of firm and energetic effort were also responsible in a great
unsatisfactory result. The Sultan’s attitude throughout this
the ph f neot.^een commendable. His Highness appeared unable to realise
intpi-A * J1'.8 resPonsibility for the disastrous injury to the important British
liability resultinS *rom the defects of his rule, and seemed to regard his
10 *be results of his attempts however feeble to recover
ty from the actually offending tribes.
A