Page 37 - The Pirate Coast (By Sir Charles Belgrave)

Abbas, who had been asked to mediate. The negotiations failed.
In 1742, the Imam, who was in control of Muscat, again asked
the Persians for help against his opponents. Nadir sent his
brother-in-law, Kalb Ali, to Oman whither Taqi Khan had re­
turned after taking partin an expedition against India. According
to Niebuhr, Taqi Khan, on arrival at Muscat, gave a banquet for
the Imam and his officers. He plied the Imam with Shiraz wine
and made him so drunk that he had no difficulty in obtaining the
keys of the forts and the Imam’s seal, whereby the Persians once
again established themselves in Muscat. It is said that the Imam
died soon afterwards, overcome with shame and remorse. In
1743, Taqi Khan rebelled against the Shah and murdered Kalb Ali,
but the rebellion failed. Owing to the rebellion, and because
Persia was engaged in a war with Turkey, the Persian grip on
Oman was relaxed. This provided an opportunity for Ahmed
bin Said, the Governor of Sohar, to rally the Omanis against the
Persian invaders, and finally to expel them. Ahmed was elected
Imam, and became the founder of the dynasty which rules Muscat
today.
Ahmed died in 1783 and was succeeded by his son, Said. He
soon found himself involved in quarrels with relations, who con­
tested his claim to be the Imam; of these, the most forcible was
his brother Sultan bin Ahmed who made himself master of
Muscat and soon became the de facto ruler. During these years,
Oman was constantly harassed by the Wahabis, who swooped
down from the desert, while the Joasmi pirates ravaged the coast.
For some time, Saiyed Sultan, as he came to be called, showed
a preference for the French who were at war with England. He
encouraged trade with Mauritius, and allowed the French to use
Muscat as a base. In 1798, Britain made her first treaty with
Muscat, under which the Sultan agreed to deny facilities to the
French and the Dutch, to dismiss the French commander of one
of his ships, and to allow the English to open a factory at Bundar
Abbas, which was leased from Persia by the Sultan. Two years
later, a further treaty was negotiated by Captain Malcolm, after­
wards Sir John Malcolm, with the Sultan, who agreed that ‘an
English gentleman of respectability’ should reside at Muscat as
agent of the East India Company, in order that ‘the friendship of
the two states may remain unshook till the end of time, till the
sun and moon have finished their revolving career’. The first
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