Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/639

 OMAN 625 cotton cloths, carpets and coverlets, silk stuffs for women, and sugar. Oman proper is di- vided by the range of mountains into several districts. Sur comprises the coast between Kas el-Hadd and Muscat, extending to the mountains, which approach the sea gradually, and at their southern extremity rise steep and rugged from the shore. Jailan lies S. W. of Sur, on the other side of the mountains; it stretches indefinitely down the W. coast, is sandy and uncultivated, and is inhabited prin- cipally by the great tribe of Hinawy or Hi- navy Bedouins. Jebel Akhdar, N. W. of Jai- lan, the most mountainous and richest of the districts, is occupied by the Yaaribah tribe; its principal cities are Rastag, the former cap- ital, Bahila, Nezwa, and Haja. N. W. of Je- bel Akhdar is Dahira, which is traversed by the secondary chain of mountains leading to the Persian gulf ; it is inhabited chiefly by the Ghafary Bedouins. Bereima, its principal city, which commands the defiles of the grand chain, is occupied by a garrison of Wahabee troops, charged with assuring the payment of the an- nual tribute to Nedjed. On the other side of the mountains, E. of Jebel Akhdar and Dahira, is Batina, which consists of a vast plain rising gradually from the sea into hills covered with vegetation. Between Batina and Sur, on the coast, is the district of Muscat, which compri- ses little more than the cities of Muscat and Muttra and their environs. (See MUSCAT.) Sharja, on the coast of the Persian gulf, is virtually independent; it is inhabited by the Jowasim or Kawasim Arabs. The Benu Yass occupy the coast beyond Sharja. The depen- dencies of Oman on the coast of Persia are rented from the shah. They include the port of Bunder Abbas, formerly called Gombrun, and its dependencies, the islands of Kishm and Ormuz, and the smaller islands along the coast. The sovereigns of Oman had held these for more than a century, on the annual payment of 6,000 tomans ; but in 1854 the shah seized the fortified places and expelled their officials. In 1856 a treaty was concluded by which the ruler of Oman was permitted to retain them for 20 years, at the expiration of which they were to revert to Persia ; and the rental was raised to 16,000 tomans. Besides Muscat and its sub- urb Muttra, the chief seaports and centres of trade are Khur-Fahkan, Shinaz, Sohar, So- weik, and Barka. The entire coast from Ras el-Hadd northward is lined with towns and. villages, many of which are mere collections of huts, but have large fisheries and trade. The principal port on the Persian gulf is Shar- ja. The S. coast has many small villages, peo- pled chiefly by negroes. Muscat is generally regarded as the capital of Oman, but Palgrave says that Sohar, Nezwa, and Bahila hold a sim- ilar rank, and are in turn the sovereign's place of residence. The inhabitants of the interior are engaged mostly in pastoral and agricultural pur- suits ; those on the coast are traders, fishermen, and mariners. The townspeople are mixed largely with Persian, Indian, and negro blood. Most of the commerce is in the hands of Ban- ians from Kutch and Guzerat in India. The Bedouins are a strong, athletic, and handsome race, much superior physically to those further north. The natives of Oman call themselves Abadites, and profess a Mohammedanism large- ly mixed up with elements of more ancient and foreign creeds; but toleration exists for all religions, races, and customs, and the peo- ple are said to be the most hospitable of the Arabs. Oman is ruled by a sovereign whose proper title is seyid. By Europeans he is called sometimes imam of Muscat and some- times sultan of Oman ; but the latter title has never been borne by any of the rulers, and the former has not been used during the present century. The government is less a royalty than a union of independent municipalities, each city and village having its own corpora- tion and customs. The prerogatives of the sovereign consist in the right to name and to depose governors, although he is restricted in his choice to the family who hold the office hereditarily ; in the power to fix customs and duties ; in the exclusive possession of a navy and of his little army of 500 or 600 men, com- posed of Arabs, Persians, and Belooches ; and in the management of all foreign alliances and treaties, and the making of peace and war. The administration of justice is reserved to the cadis and sheiks of each locality. Taxes are fixed and immutable, and the seyid cannot modify them. All his power depends on the good will of the people, and on the amount of money he may have wherewith to buy support. The revenues derived from import duties on merchandise and slaves, and taxes on interior commerce and local industry, have been farmed of late years to an English house in Bombay, for the annual sum of $115,000. The tribute from Zanzibar, the income from commerce carried on in the seyid's own name, and the revenue from the Persian coast and the islands, which are not included in the contract with the English house, raise the total revenue to some- thing less than $200,000. The ruling dynasty of Oman was founded about 1750 by Ahmed ibn Said. Previously the sovereign was elected on account of personal merits, irrespective of descent, but since Ahmed's accession the elec- tion has been restricted to his family. He died about 1775, after bringing the country to a high state of prosperity. In 1784 Zanzibar was cap- tured, and a few years later the authority of Oman was extended to the mainland of Africa. About 1800 the Wahabees invaded Oman, and by repeated invasions in after years reduced it nearly to the verge of ruin, withdrawing finally only on condition of the payment of an annual tribute. After the recovery of Nedjed from the Egyptian conquest, Turky, the Wahabee ruler, attempted to reassert his claims in Oman, but in 1833 agreed to accept an annual tribute of 5,000 German crowns. In 1845 Faisul, son of Turky, who had returned to Nedjed after