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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.
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