Page 142 - A Hand book of Arabia Vol 1 (iii) Ch 6 -10

UUAI

r
24S THE SULTANATE OF OMAk.

‘Imam of the Muslimin The rebellion spread rapidly, Nizwa
failing about the middle of June, followed by Izki and ‘Awabi in the
° of the month. In July a body of Indian troops was landed,
course
and they occupied Beit el-Fclej, a hamlet near Matrah (seep. 258),
with a picket posted on Ruwi village (see p. 258). At the begin­
ning of August the forts of Bidbicl and Sema’il passed into the
hands of the rebels ; and, as a projected attack on Muscat was !
rumoured, the garrison at Beit el-Fclej was doubled in Septem­
ber. But nothing came of the attack at that time, and the new
Sultan, after his accession, entered into negotiations with the Hinawi
tribes and arranged a temporary truce.
Throughout the year 1914 the Imam continued to give trouble in
the interior, and made preparations for a renewed attack. A bom­
bardment of the ports of Barkah and Quryat in April of that year
had a tranquillizing effect upon the coast ; but, as a means of
precaution, Indian reinforcements were sent to Muscat in November.

By the end of the year the tribes had gathered, and in January 1915
the threatened attack took place, when a force of Arabs, estimated
at 3,000, attacked the British outpost line but met with a crushing • *
defeat. This success relieved the situation, though the rebel party
still dominates the interior. Meanwhile, the Warehouse has worked
well, and the importation of arms and ammunition has ceased.

DISTRICTS

I. Ras el-Jebel, or Ru’us el-Jibal
A mountainous district forming the northern part of the great
Oman Promontory. Its coast-line runs from Ras Sha'am in the
Persian Gulf, round Ras Musandam to Dibah Bay in the Gulf of
Oman. Its southern boundary may be regarded as marked
approximately by the route which runs from Dibah by Khatt to the
town of Ras el-Kheimah on the Persian Gulf. Geographically the
coastal tract of Shameillyah forms part of Ru’us el-Jibal, but
politically it belongs to the Sharjah Principality (see p. 340 f.).
The whole area is a maze of barren mountains, which on the
I
eastern side rise abruptly from the sea and form precipitous cliffs, /
only broken here and there by small sandy bays where valleys
reach the coast. The promontor}r is indented by numerous deep­

water inlets, some of considerable extent. In them the winds are *
very batfling, and entering or leaving is difficult for a sailing vessel
though any of them can be entered by a vessel under steam. Two
of them, viz. Ghubbah Ghazlrah, or Malcolm Inlet, and Khor esh-

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