Page 176 - A Hand book of Arabia Vol 1 (iii) Ch 6 -10

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DISTRICTS 265

population, 2,500. There are about 300 houses in the town itself,
mostly of mud and stone, but with some huts among them, and
another 150 stand on lower ground ; the town possesses a bazaar
of more than 50 shops. There arc some date-groves and con­
siderable cultivation. The place is defended by a fort called Beit
cl-‘Awabi, which occupies a strong positioncommanding the approach
from Nakhl. ‘Awabi is a town of some importance, dominating
as it does the Wadi Beni Kharus, up which lies the best route to Jebel
Akhdhar from the N. The Beni Riyam have perpetually disputed
its possession with the ‘Abriyln, but the influence of the latter, who
possess 120 houses in the town, has generally been predominant.
In 1900 the ‘Abriyln transferred possession of the fort to the
Sultan of Oman, who has since usually held it with a gax'rison of
30 men.
5. Rostaq, a town of about 400 houses, with mosque and castle,
in the Wadi Fara‘, of which it forms the capital ; elevation, S00 ft.
The inhabitants belong to the Miyayihah tribe, of the Ghafiri
political faction. The bazaar is a substantial building and contains
some 80 shops, where every description of merchandise is sold.
The castle, a large and imposing structure, but rather dilapidated,
is known as the QaVah Kesra, or QaVah Kesra Bin-Sliarwan, and is
said to date from pre-Islamic times. It consists of a citadel with
four turrets, standing in a courtyard the walls of which are
strengthened with bastions at the angles. The climate of Rostaq,
like that of Nakhl, is cool and temperate, and the village is sur­
rounded with plantations of date-palms, mangoes, and plaintains,
and orchards of fruit-trees ; there is also considerable cultivation
of wheat, barley, millet, beans, and lucerne. On the outskirts of the
village to the NE., close together, are two thermal springs, among
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the hottest in Oman, enclosed in large circular tanks or reservoirs ;
they contain a considerable quantity of calcareous matter, and are
used medicinally both for drinking and for ablution. Cold springs,
of the temperature of the ground, are also abundant and help to
supply the village and the irrigation-conduits.
In a wider sense the term Rostaq is used for the whole of the
Wadi Fara‘ which falls within the district of Western Hajar,
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including all its villages from Hazam upwards. Employed in this
wider sense, the population of the district has been estimated at
14,000. The Sultan of Oman normally maintains a post of 15 men
nt Mizahlt, a village of 200 houses on the 1. bank of the Wadi
Fara‘ above Hazam and Jammah, and lying within the district
of Rostaq.
6. Hazam, a walled village with an important fort, in a plain to

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