Page 78 - A Hand book of Arabia Vol 1 (iii) Ch 1,2

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v SOCIAL SURVEY
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In name, however, the Sultan claims and, if strong enough with
British support, exercises territorial authority over a very- ong
coast and hinterland, beginning on the south of the peninsula west
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! • of Rakhvut (on about long. o3° E.), and running round to lvhor
Kalba, just south of Fujeirah (on about lat. 25° N.), a stretch
not far short of 1,000 miles. The western half of this, to awout
50 miles from lias el-Hadd, is the narrowest of strips, backed by
uninhabited desert, and itself at intervals desert down to the wave-
line. The rest, Oman Proper, broadens out between sea and desert
i to a maximum of about SO miles, and tapers again as it run£ up into
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i the Ras cl-Jebel promontory. Except in the latter region, half
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’ of which is recognized territory of the Jasimi Chief of Sharjah)
and the other Trf.cial Chiefs, the Sultan ov Oman ejaims all the
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habitable hinterland up to the central desert. The former African
possessions of the house have been detached under an allied
dynasty since the recognition of Majid, the great-uncle of the present
i! Sultan, in 1S60, as independent ruler of Zanzibar.
i • The direct relations of the Oman (Sultanate with the British
i Government in India began in 1798. A treaty was then framed do
exclude the influence of France, with which Great Britain was at war.
Since that date a state of semi-dependence has gradually been forced
on the dynasty by circumstances, no Sultan having been able to con­
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solidate and maintain his position without British help and support.
In return for a considerable subsidy, a British Resident’s advice is
to be treated as paramount ; and in 1891 the predecessor of the
actual Sultan entered into a binding agreement which subjected
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the external relations of the dynasty to exclusive British control.
French and German efforts to obtain a footing, and restrictions
which we have been compelled to impose on the transit of arms
and munitions through Oman ports to both the interior and the
opposite shore of the Gulf, have raised constant difficulties; but
our position has been maintained.

The Sultan keeps a force of regulars, sufficient to hold and preserve
order on.the coast, but rarely adequate when operations on anv
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scale are necessary inland. On such occasions the help of the
Indian Government is usually required. But in all other attribute'
of sovereignty the Sultan acts for and by himself. There is nc
British occupying force, and there are no British officials-in the
administration.
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4. Sultanate of Koweit (British Sphere).—The Sheikhs of the
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Pirate Coast, of El-Qatnr, and of Bahrein are all mediatized inde
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. pendent rulers ; but their respective ranges are so restricted that
they can be treated adequately in the subsidiary sections
of the

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