Page 70 - Su'udi Relations with Eastern Arabi & Uman (1800-1870)

On account of the expedition, Masqat now became the object of both Su'udi
and Qasiml rage, and Sa‘Id began to plan a defence against their inevitable
attack. To do so, however, Sa‘Id desperately needed to regain control of his lost
ports, an impossibility without the naval and military aid of India. Sa‘id
therefore approached the government of Bombay, insisting that nothing but a
united effort could save Masqat from falling under the direct rule of al-
Dir‘Iyah.404 His views were supported by the British authorities in the Gulf
area, who leaned, in turn, on their superiors in Bombay to grant Sard’s
request.485 Preparations for such a united effort thus began to be made in both
Masqat and Bombay through the summer months of 1809.
Upon the arrival of the British fleet at Masqat, Sa'Id b. Sultan felt secure
enough to disregard the previous arrangement with al-Dir‘iyah and to throw
off his dissimulated allegiance to the Su‘udi state. Maurizi, an eyewitness and
advisor of Sa‘Id, describes the latter’s action as follows:
The city was filled with joy, and Seyd Said, trusting in his powerful allies,
immediately declared himself an enemy of the Vaabi and ordered the
envoy of Saout to leave his dominions. At the same time he levied an
additional force, so as to increase his troops to 6,000 men, and equipped
his flotilla with the utmost possible speed.486
Exasperated by Sard’s collaboration with the English in invading the
Qawasim and indignant about the expulsion of his resident from Masqat, Amir
Su‘ud ordered the troops of ‘Uman to mobilize and carry out punitive
operations against the Masqat government. He further held Sa‘Id b. Sultan
responsible for the whole affair, and considered his action not only a challenge
to the Su‘udls’ predominance but also as a revolt which should be duly
subdued. Mutlaq al-Mutayrl therefore hastened to Ra’s al-Khaymah to help
the Qawasim repulse the combined English-Masqatl invasion. Arriving too
late, Mutlaq moved across to Shlnas, a Qasiml-Su'udI settlement which had
likewise just fallen; he descended upon the Masqat! forces in the
neighbourhood of that settlement and dispersed them with considerable
slaughter.487 Salim b. Sultan, Sa‘Id’s brother, and ‘Azzan b. Qays, who were
with the forces there, narrowly escaped with their lives. Following his success
at Shlnas, Mutlaq proceeded towards Masqat along the Batinah coast. He set
up his camp at Sa‘ra, a small settlement on the road to the capital. There Sa‘!d
b. Sultan agreed to Mutlaq’s proposal for a meeting to negotiate their
differences and work towards settlement.488 After several sessions of
negotiation, however, the talks ended in failure. Maurizi, who was present at
the negotiation, attributes the failure to disagreement over the amount of
money to be remitted to al-Dir4!yah, but provides little additional information
on the subject.489 One tends to believe that the ruler of Masqat was asked to
renew the alliance with the Su*udi state and prove his alliance and good faith by
continuing payment of the annual zakah. It is also probable that Sa‘Id did not
refuse the payment as such, but rather objected to the amount demanded,
which he considered enormous.
After the rupture of the negotiations, which coincided with the arrival of
strong reinforcements from both Najd and upper ‘Uman, Mutlaq swept
through the remaining dominions of Sa‘Id b. Sultan and proceeded to threaten
Masqat. At that time, Dallons, a French merchant who had been sent on a
mission to Masqat by DeCaen, governor of the Isle of France, strongly advised
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