Page 287 - 7 Persian Trade rep Muscat 1_Neat

REPORT

OX TIIK

TRADE OF MUSCAT

fortto year 1916-17-
Introduction. I Muscat and Mutfra were occupied by the

Arab,a. Us most norther:,ly po.nt u Ras cihtccn,£ c?c(urv but th% onIv rel0f their
Musandam st the bottle mouth entrance to the oecnpation are the'picture^ue forts ubich guard
.Persian u . _ the harbours and which still bristle with cannon
It extends but 30 rai!os on it=? northern coast of ancient date.
in the Persiin Culf as far as Kbasab, its main ± i • » . e - ,
: ,. , ... „ n 1 Muscat, which pcssesses a horsesnee shaped
oStltfra; £7*tkf It *■*""' “J * S«»> ’ ",

mi es# • # . defensibility that it r*as chosen by the Portuguese
TIic country consists of a long narrow strip ns their capital and continued by the Omancse
along the c:a«f, its greatest depth, which is during their period o*. existence as an important
opposite Mnsn*, being about 100 miles, the whole sea power,
of its bcundsrv to the north-west consisting of rruA ♦ „ _ „ . ..
the Arabian d;4ert. The interior is for the most f-ort connectmg wi h the interior is
part mountainous, the high country extending £"“3 tT t T ' 3 P-V “ P"*™*
down to the sen-coast in. series 'of a rid rock? ? i'D£ ^ 8 pi;°,tecfi
heights though vegetation exists on the ncuntuins T.f Jr“ ' the wc.l-^now" north-west
in the interior. * Gu,IEf *-'<?• fho”eb lt,,s °»
. the other hand exposed to tse southern storms
North of Muscat there is a stretch of sca-shorc from which Muscat is protected,
known as tie ‘'Batineh” which is the most
populated an«l prosperous part of the country. Currency.
Between Sur and Ras Saiar the country is practi­
cally uncivilised and rarely visited by Europeans, Like the inhabitants of the rest of Arabia the
in parts there being little if any Government. Arab of Oman uses the Maria Theresa dollar.
It is the official currency in Muscat and the coin
Gwadar, a small strip of country on the Met ran in which the customs dues of His Highness the
Coast, is all that remains to the Sultanate of its Sultan are levied. The Inlian rupee is also
former possessions on the coast of Persia. current in Muscat and Muttra, but not in the
The town cf Muscat, the seat of the Sultan interior or in the smaller ports o£ Oman, though
and the capital and chief port of the Sultanate, it is now beginning to make its way. A debased
i3 situated Lat. 2837-N. Long. 5835-E. It copper coinage was minted In 1895 under the
is visited by a regular line of the weekly mail orders of Saiyyed Faisal, the tb-n reigning Sultan
steamers of the British India Steam Navigation of the place.
Company and by other lines visiting the Persian The Maria Theresa dollar is a silver coin con­
Gnlf j it is consequently the distributing point of
commerce for the smaller ports along the coast taining but little allov and it is therefore subject
and also for some of the Pereian ports on the to the fluctuation of tLc silver market while it is
also locally affected by the law of supply and
. north of the Gulf of Oman, notably Charbar and demand. In consequence it varies considerably
its environs.#
in value a condition which is most detrimental to
eisy.tp.o.