Page 247 - PERSIAN 8 1912_1920_Neat

!

FOR THB TEAR 1913. 105
His Highness proceeded to Sib on tho 15tli July and after some fcoblo
attempts at reasserting liis authority but no serious fighting of any kind,
^turned to his capital on tho 24th July.
In tho beginning of August tho forts of Bidbid and Samail passed into
tjjC bands of tho rebels, and constant rumours of their plana to attack Maskat
aBd Mat rah were received.
On tho 3rd September, the garrison at Bait al Falaj was doubled by the
addition of a wing of the 102nd King Edward’s Own Grenadiers. From this
date until the death of Saiyid Faisal bin Turki no events of any importance
(ook place. The usual rumours of impending attacks were constantly received
tut even the town population had ceased to take them seriously any longer,
flic first serious attempt at negotiations took place after tho arrival at Maskat !
of Shaikh Hamdan bin Zaid al Khalifah of Abu Dhabi on the 3rd November.
It bad been noticed for some time that His Highness Saiyid Taimur bad been
making overtures to the Hinawiyah chiefs, particularly the Bani Bu Hassan and
pa was in ah. He relied too a good deal on a friendly feeling which appears to
hare existed, even in his father’s time, between himself and Shaikh Isa bin
Salih al Harithi. Accordingly, on the 18th November, Shaikh Hamdan bin
Zaid, accompanied by certain chiefs of the Hawasinan and Bani Bu Hassan,
left for Sib where they eventually met Shaikh Isa bin Salih al Harithi. The
remaining rebel leaders refused to join the conference, as did aLo tho Bani
Bu Ali, who had been summoned to swell tho following of tho Abu Thabi
Chief, in order to make it clear to the rebels that the Sultan’s forces represen­
ted both Hinawiyah and Ghafiriyab. Tho only outcome so far of these
negotiations has been that, on the 9th December. Shaikh Tsa bin Salih and his
brother Ali, paid a visit to His Highness at Maskat and were treated with
much honour and respect. This will, no doubt, serve to detach the Hinawiyah
rebels from' tho Imam but whether, as seems to bo hoped, His Highness will
scon be able to raise a force that will win him back the Samail valley, not to
mention Izki, seems more than doubtful. For the present, a hollow truce to
enable both sides to think over matters has been arranged and it has been
agreed that neither party shall break the peace for a period of two months.
Tho situation had, however, by the end of the year become so far relieved
that the presence of the wing of the 2nd llajput Light Infantry was no longer
considered necessary at Bait al Falaj and they were despatched to Bombay by
the slow mail steamer which left Maskat on the 29th December.
Shaikh Hamdan bin Zaid al Khalifah of Abu Dhabi remained in Maskat
till the end of the year.
The Amir of Jalan, Abdulla bin Salim al Alawi, the influential Shaikh of
the Bani Bu Ali tribe, died in the beginning of the year. The Political Agent
received a letter from the deceased’s son, Ali bin Abdulla, announcing, the
death and seeking the continuance of the friendly relations which existed
between his father and this Agency.
On the 6th of April, Ali bin Abdulla, with his cousins, Mahammad Bin
Nash and Hamdan, visited Maskat and, on the 10th, they called on the Political
Agent.
The usual returns accompany this report and a very material reduction in
. T the imports of arms and ammunition is
ms & shown to have resulted from the establish­
ment of the Maskat Arms Warehouse in October 1912.
The figures of tho German steamship returns are proportionally much
larger than°those of British shipping, but are none the less roughly l/6th of
last year’s imports. British shipping returns have fallen so low as to be
almost negligible, a beggarly RIO,000 against the 3*12,91,435 of the year 1912.
The total value of the imports of arms during tho vear amounts to
**3,84,902 against last year’s figures of R33,64,4 85, roughly l/9th. Even
the arms imported, a very large proportion are still held up in the Arms
Warehouse os a result of tho rules of this institution , and, in all cases of arms
imported, the Warohouse enables us to ascortain with perfect accuracy the
primary destination, after Maskat, of tho imported weapons. Of this year’s
1