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GAZETTEER OF THE
PERSIAN GULF, 'OMAN, AND
CENTRAL ARABIA
liB
GEOGRAPHICAL
AND
STATISTICAL
1424 'OMAN SULTANATE
t . 'f. of :1 complete O'cncalogical table heing drawn up ; hut obseU1'e,- 0 1'01 ml " '0' _ . t l bc third volume of this Gazetteer will . tl ace given to man 111 1 . ' 1ll 10 sp h1' 1 d' 0' all or most of those who l'c1tUn any lm-POl't.."tllce be fOllnd a, to. ?I me U Inc·
at the present time. . T k' G C I E t S It ·- Saivid Sir Fnlsal-bm· \11' ' I , f. • . " IS
'1.'ho 11l'cscn u ,tn, • J • in his OWll
I)l'ivatc individual, of the followmg estates
pl'opl'ietol', as a territory!
Whore situated.
, Auhi in t.he subWilii:ya.t of Sohar
Bidbi(l in Wadi Samail
H:\il in Wa.di-al-Hilti
Khasah
Manah
N akh1
N izwa
Quryat
Ruwi
Samail
Sid.b
Wataiyah
~ Ilt UfC 0 1 property.
Do.te.groves and cultivated lantl .
Dnte-groves.
Date-groves and cultivated hmd.
Do.
Gra.zing l!\nd.
Date.gravE's and cul tivated land.
Dale-g roves.
Do.
A few sma.1l date-groves.
Date-grove" land.
A few small
and
date-
AnnUAl value.
$300
~2.500
$300
51.000
Nil.
$1,000
$2,000
~350
52,000
n ow proceeds ~rc disposed of.
Assignod \ 0 Su\aiman. bin.Suwailim, lately dcrCRflPd, who was WiiH of Dhuffir and in recent yeRrs of Sohar 0.180 . . Do.
Do.
As<:.igned to the Wiili of Khasab.
Assigned to thE:l officer of Manah.
Assigned to tht'< WaH of Nakh1.
A::.signcd to tho Witi of Nizwa..
Asslrrncd to the Wali of Qt'iryat.
Hetaincd by the Sultan.
Assigned to ~ ~le 'ViIi of Hisn Samail.
Retained by the SulUtn.
groves. ~2 000 ASIIiA'ncil by the S?lt~n to Date-groves and .. • his eldest SOli TalTuur.
\ oult.ivated Ia.nd . •
S It- aheady rcmarked above and furthcr explained by t hIS
The n au, as t t . -tent out . bl' d to defray the expenses of governmcu 0 some ex
table, IS 0 1ge
f h' oeket d t o IS own P db'. Tt'rki the brother of the Sultan, owns a small a e-
Muhamma • m-, . . lantation at Raudhab in the Masqat D,stn ct.. 1 . and Wataiyah
P Thc Sultan possesses conlltry-ho~s:s at_ B.alt-al-Fa aJ . M t District and at Fal.1J m Batmah. tn the .a.s~a . ~ . 'rrl interests in the 'Oman Sulta.nate, whether
Fore f 91t 1nteresf,~.-} Otelt:P~..1 . tly British and Britain is the only . ' 1 mmerCla) al'e pl'euOmlnan, d t l
pohtlCa. or co ., C 1 P l' t ical' Agent France an 10 ted by a onEin or 0 I •
power reprcsen 1 V' C . 1 The only European United States arc each repl'cscntC( by a lCC- ons\~. fi. which
t' B 't'sh as arc also most or the European Ims firm at Ma~qatlls . . r~ \ ~me of the more recently establisbed businesses ha.ve agenCieS lere, U . '
1· belong to French or RUSSian subjects. in the a.rms lOO
'OMAN (TRUCIAL) 1425
There are at Masqat 12 European British subjects, also 32 British
suLjccts or protected persons belonging to. :,a,rious l~aces ; and ~ or t,he last arc found also at Matrah. Other Bntlsh subJects or plOteeted persons arc either Hindus or M uhammaJans, in the second case generally
Khojahs, and are distributed as follow s :--
Plare.
Barkah Khabfirah MaeDa'ah Masqat Matrah Quryat
MuhamlIindus. U1allana.
11 1 107
10 18 253 122
37 665
9 1
A brn.nch of i be Arabian Thtfission of of America is established at Masqat.
Plnce.
Sa.ham Shinas Sohar Sur Suwaiq
'fobls
thc Reformed
Hindus. MuhlmmadanL
10 6
9 8 13
28 31 7 3'
382 998
(Dutch) Church
Uniformity of physical, social and political conditions throughout
that part of 'Oman which extends from the frontier of the ' Oman • 1'hc matter of tllis alticle a.nd of the "lI1inor articles dependent upon it ha1l been
f(lr the mnst part spec ially collected during tho Jcars 190! to 1907. An abstract of the then exi8ting informaLion co ncerning Truciul 'Oman W,IS 'completed h the writer in November 190·1, from all a.\·ailnble books and reports; it amounted to 17 printed foolscap pnges and IVa!! only intended to !'lervc as a basis for further investigation . Earl.v in 1905 Iho wrilf'r visitod Sharjah ']'OWI1. where with t.he assistance nf Mr. J C. Gaskin. Uncovenanted Politicnl Assistallt in the Persinn Oulf. and of 'Abdu l Latif, I{csidency Agent at Sharjah, he W:IS able t.o oollect a quantit.yof freeh in· rormation. A serics of articles preparf'd from the mat.,·rif11 thus obtained was ready in Janunry 1906 and f:lIed 65 oct.avo pages of print : this draft was oiroulated to lhe local officers Wh086 atlent.ion it engaged during the whole of 1906. The greater ralt of the work of revision and ampli6cation fell on Major P. Z. Cox, Rf'eident in the Prreian Gulf, who in July tOOG pa.id a special viuit. to Fujairaht
and on K. B. 'Abdul Latif-bin·' Abdul' Rahman, n.f:sidcnoy A:.;ent at Sharjab, who undertook slich of the inquiri('s as Majol' Cox was unable to carry out persona.H)' . In tho next flet of drafts, which appeared early ill 1907 and extendcd to over 120 oelayo pages of print, W{'TO incorf,orllt('d the re8ul ts or an important jonrney me.do by Mu.jor Cox in December 1905 from Rii.s-;ai·Khaimah Town to the Baraimi Oasis; also those of oareful inquiries by the same officer reg:t rdillg the Dhafrah tract.; new data relating 10 communicatic..ns oblaincd by Liclltrnnnt C. H. Gabriel at the end of HJ05 j the facls cnntained in a I<e .. ics of usefnl reports by Captain F. B. Prideaux, Political Agent in Bahrain, on the whoht (GllEtal region bllt.lVeen Qatar and Abu Dhabi Town j t.ho oblcrva.lionil or Commander W. S. Bowman of H. M. S.·' Sphinx" on t.he islands of Bli. Musa and Tunb, recorded after a villit. to tho same; ana some I'omflrks by Captain A. P. 'frevor, Assi stant Re8iden~, on tho islands of Tunb and Nibi,u Tunb, aillo founded 011 a personal inspection.
4v
'OMAN * (TRUCIAL)
,}o&
Sult~n~te on the east to Qatar and tbe Jafiirah desert on the west requires that the region should be treated as a geographical unit.
For discnssion!! of tbe ancient geography Sprenger's Alte Geo9"apltic A.1·alJiens, 1975, and Miles Note OIL Pliny's Gcogt'apl,y of tile East Coast of Arabia, 1876, may be COll8ulted.
The prinoipal authorit.y ill I'ilgard to the geography of 'l'L'llciai 'Oman hBs hitherto beeD the Per8ian Gulf Pilot, 1898, in which t.he Coa~t alld all maritime features fire fully describei. bllt littl.., is said of the intprior j simiJRrly restri,-ted in its scope, for the most part, is tho older information cl'lntained in B ombay Selections X Xl fT, 1866. Vll.lllsbJe IhollAh early authorities (In the coentry are Wllite \ .. ck 's A ccount of the ..dmbs, etc., and his Llcsc'I'i1Jtiull of tlUJ ~f'abialt Ooast, 1836-38, the former of whicb is occupied largely with tho subjecl of population . Trllde, as it, WI\8 in 1863, and qaestion8 of iocail'csources, taxa tion, etc., are fully d£'alt with by Pelly in hill Report on the Tribes, etc" at'ou1ld tlw Shares of tile Persian Gulf, ] 863, in which some older statistics for 1826 Ilnd 1831 lire also quotod. Recent topographical and olhol' information regarding the interior is due almost clitirely to Major P. Z, Cox, among whose communications the following are important: his Notes to a('company Sketch Map of R oute ... from Abu Th abi to Maskat ill tho Proceedings of the Government of India in the Foreign Depllrtment for December 1903 (rela.ting to the route between Abu Dhabi Town and tbe Baraimi Oasis); his letter No. 290 of tho 2nd July 1902 in Foreign Department Pl'cccedings for NMewber J902, (relating to the Shamailiyah district.); aud tbe el.closure to his letter No. laOO of the 5th AIlgU8t 1906, a" Resident
in the Persian Gulf to the Secretarr in the Forei~n Department to the Government of India (des~ribing tho route from Ras-al-Khaim&h 'I'own to the Baraimi Oasis).
The onJ ,V other modern account of aUJ part of tile oOllntry at a distance from the coast will be found in the Rev_ S, M. Zwemer's 7'k,'cc J OU1'IlCYS in iVortliet'll Omall, 1902; bot a recent descripfion of plaoes on the CI)f!st, accompanied by photogI'II phs, if! given by Burchardt in his Ost-.Ambien von Basf'a bis Ma ,,:Cat, 19C6,
The Annual Administration and Commercil'l l\epol'ts of the Prrsian Gulf Rasidency are the principal pource of information in reg-arli to trarle,
The map whioh acoompanies this Gllutteer is the most uscfnl, for ceneml purposetl, of Trncial'Omsn; its pr .. dece88or in this re8pec~ wa.s that knowil as Pa9'ts Of ..d.9·abia
and Persia, 1883, on tho SSIDe scale. Smaller portion ... of the region aro ~IIOWIl on a largel' scale in the R Qutc of LicutclIant·Coloncl Ht.'·l'bC'1·t Dish9'OW6 ... and Captui'lf. Walter Powell ... ii'om Dibba ht tkc I mliall Ocean to Ra,~-el· Kkyman in tllc Pet'sian Gulf. 1865, R.nd in thl' R oute taken hy ldajot· p, Z. 00.7' mid LieutcnUll.t
O . ..d. Scott, R,I.}'}., f'l'om Ras-al-Khaima to Suhm' yia. Remimi, 1905; the former of t.hese i8 map No, 1366 in tho Library of the I!'oleign Departmelot, Simla, and the laUer Wtloll reprodnced by the Survey of India. in 1907. .A 11Iap of DnafNth, Liwah. ctc., 1906, compiled by l\1ajor Cox from nativ~ information, giv ps the topilgraphy of
tllat tract so far as it could be ascertained and is filed as map No. 1367 in the LibrliTY of the Foreign Department, Simla; and 0110 by Capt.ain F. n, Pridea1lx, Political Agent in Bahrain, from a similar sourcc,- Map of Jiifumh, 'Agal, Mfjun and Sabalcnat Matti, 1906, Foreign Department Lib1'ar~; No, 1E65 -is the be!'t for the tracts mentiolle i in its title, but is not of equal authority with Major Cox's Dbarrilh map for those further to eastward.
The whole coa..t ofT1'ncial 'Oman :.ppt'ar s ill C1,arts NOQ, 2373-2837A and 2374.-2837B of tho Persian Gf4lji A.nd Chart No. 2376·763, Entmllcc Of the Persia1& Gtl.lf, containll parte of the same on a largor 8cale, vi~" the stretch from Dibah
I
The name '1 fucial 'Oman.-The region in question consists of the
~ctual possessions of tbe Shaikhs of 'Ajman, Abu Dhabi, Dihai, U mm-al-Qaiwain and Sharjah and of the territories of the tribes who, in fact or in theory, are directly subjec t to their influence; but in Arabic it has no general name. A mOl1g the subjects of the 'Oman Sultanate the
whole is kl own as Shamal Jt..,.;., either on account of its position with
l'efel'enre to t heir own country oj' because or its exposure to the north-west
wind; and in Eastern Arabia, further to the 1l( lrthward, the part adjoining A JU Dhabi Town seems to be spoken of as "Oman-ash-Shamali
be('au~e it is the northernmost part of 'Oman j but neither of these
terms is in t.'ommon use among the inhabitants of the regions \\ hich
they used to describe, The nenl'est approach to a recognised gen~ral designation is apparent ly Sahil 'Oman '-:Jt..>,~ JAot .... 01' Coast of 'OllIan ;
but this expl'ession, though not unknown to the pCOI)le of the country,
is wanting in precision and distinctiveness and is far from being
universally understood. In English official literature :t part of the shore
line has long been familiar under the name of {( The Pirate Coast H j but
the term is not sufficiently comprehensive, and, at the presont day, is obsolete and even misleading, inasmuch as the ~tate of affa.irs which it
once accumtely connoted has long since passed away. Regard being had
to a perpetual maritime truce which regulates the relations of the rulers
to one another alld to the British Government the pentarchy in question
may he stylc~, not inappropriately, Tl'llci.1 'Omiin*; but it must be l'elllemhercd that Lhe trncial obligations of the Shaikhs do not exteDd
to the interior of their dominions. The component principalities or Trucial 'Oman arc fully described
elsewhere under their own names; and the function of t}l c. present
:11,ticle is accordingly to correla.te them! to describe the cc.untry and its
inhabitants as a whole, and to dispose of eertain matters (such as com
munications) which could not be dealt with piecemeal under the names of the separate principalities,
to Khor Fakkan (n the f'll.stern, a.nd tllnt from Sha'am to Dibai en the ,;estern side of the 'Oman Promontory. Of the Cl'Iflst between Abu Dhabi To'vo 3:ld tbe island of YnB the best delineation will t:c found in a. 1.'riqonometrical Surve.1/ of tIl e .d:,·abian or southe-rn side of tlte PC9·si(.J,1~ Gulf from .iJ.botlJuLLee to Z,aboot Island, 182·.1. j tid .. was apparently Ollee 1\ chart IllImbered 19B, but it seems to have been wit.h(\I'IIWD. A small sketch of P ad (if Klw1'-al·Batin was prepared by
Commander G. Sinclair, R,l.M., in 1906 ror the iuformatioll of the writpr. and is now
wap No, 1364 in the Library of th e Foreign Del'artment, Sitnla. ., This name was enggested by C"plain F. B. Prideaux, and ;in the absenoe of any
other, either Arabic or English, it appears to bc the wos~ convenient, the most. des.
r.riptive, and goneTall.Y tho most suitable for adoption.
1428 'OMAN (TRUCIAL)
Lim'£ta.- Upon the coast, Trnci::t.1 'Oman extends In the Gulf or
'Oman froIU Kho,' Kalba to Dibah, and in the Per;iau G"U from
Sha'am to Khol'.a,l-'Odaid, the places named being all included in it i in other words its bound:.!.\'y between these two sets of points is the son .
lllland, its frontiers arc morC difIicult to define; but it covel'S a cOllsi·
del'able portion of the interior of the 'Oman Promontory. au one side
there it is bounded by a line of' nncertaln course which runs from a spot
between the contiguous villages of Dibah and Bai'ah on the east coabt
~o Has Sha'am on the west coast, and so divides it from the
Ruiis-al-JibaJ di strict of the 'Oman Sultanate to the north; ou another
by a line, even morc indeterminate, which leaves t he Gulf between Khor
Kalba and Muralr and, after partially crossing' the promontory in such
it way as to exclude the Mahadhah ~nd Jau districts to the south, is
eventually lost in Khatam. Westwards of Khatam t he inland limit of
Trucial 'Oman is at the commencement of the Ruba'~al·Khali and
Jafiirah deserts.
Physical divisilJ1ts.-I.Jeaving out. of consideration £01' the present
the al-tificial political divisions of Tl'ucial 'Oman, we find tha.t it consists
of a maritime belt (or 'raff ";10 ) and islands j of inland plains j and of a mountain system: these we now pt'Oceed to describe.
Mar/time features and £slaJl(ls oj 'Prnct'al 'Omiill.-The eastern
coast-that washed by the Gulf of 'Oman-is bold, somewhat re
sembling the ooast of R niis-al-Jib'il, all I the hills in places eome down
to the wa.ter's edge. ~lhe w03t)rn coast -- that within the Persian
Gulf-is low and monotonous . In the nortl. the latter is diversified by
occasional date groves, especially by those of th~ Sir tract between Rams
and Ras-al-Khaimah 'fown) but as the coast trend; away to south and
west trees languish, and at ALl! Dhabi they cea:;;c altogetber. The
hills, too) whicb near Ras~al~Khaimah Town form a pleasing back
ground, rapidly recode inlan'l and are E=-oon lost to view fl'om seaward
as the coast is rollowod to the souih ·wcs~. S ,It-w.1tcr creeks abound
on this coast, and the lag.:>on s at Ras-:d-Khaimah rrOWll :I nd near the
~OWi1 of Abu Dhabi have a considerable superficil3s; yet there are no
inlets of real imporhncc. The creeks sometimes unite inland to form
l·ackwaters and m;1,ugl'Ove swamps, which are separatell by a short
diFtance only frJll1 the coastj and qUlsi-ishtnds, sometimes inhabited and
sometim~s not, are created in this manner. The best known instances
of such islauds are Qnl'lnah bejwee~ Rams and Ras-al-Khaimah;
'OMAN (TRUCIAL) 1429
.Tazirat-al-Hamra; the Siniyah isbnd, formed by Khor-al-Haidhah
near Umrn~al·Qaiwain j Zora; the not altogether insulated site common
to the village of Khan aml to tho Laiyah suburb of Sharjah Town;
and, last hut not least, the tract of country In which stands Lho town
of Abu Dhabi. B oyond Abu Dhabi, as far as Khor-al·'Odaid, the
coast is almost ullknownj it is barren and generally low, Lut has some
bluff henella nds. The only eminence and O()11SpiCllOUS bn(lmark all the ccast of Trueial
'Oman Dhafrah beine>' cxclll(lod, is Jabal-oVA.li in Dibai territory. , 0
Tn thc Gulf of 'Oman the sea is deep a,t no great distance from shore.
In the Persian Gulf, from Sha'am to Abu Dhabi it i, open and free from
dangers but rather shallow ; hero the coast lies opcn t o the full fury of
the Shamal, there :tre no ha.t'bours or sheltered anchorages cxcept for
boats, and bndiTlg' i, of ton diffioult. From Abu Dhabi to Khor-al-'Odaid
the coast is adjoined by a In.bYl'inth of islauds, shoals and reefs,
imperfectly surveyed and so intricate that even AraL vessels, if larger
than pcn.rl boaLS, a.yoid these waterl:i. In this directioll 1l103t of t he space
bctweeu tile coast an:l the 20 I'athorn linc,-which runs approximately
from opposite Shal'jah Town to tbe tip of t he ~atar peniusuia,-is
occupied by pear! banks. Full details oE these banks are given in the
Appendix 0 11 the Pearl ll'isherics. A number of is l and~ al'e associated with the coast oE 'L\ucial 'Omfm,
tho most important being llll Miisa, Tunb, SII' Bli Na'air .. Yas and
Dalmah j the last of these is 3djoinocl by a numuer or others which are
enumerated in the artiele on tho Ab" Dhabi Principality, and by
Shura'awah.
Inlanrl plain of 'P'fltcial 'Omun,_rrlw interior of a conntry.so ex
tensive naturally varies in character from one part to another, but, atten·
tion being for the moment confined. to thc non-mountainous portions,
the variations arc found to be less considerable than might have been
expected. Almost the whole ~ons i t;ts of sandy desert j ull cultivable but
not altogether destitute of natural vegetation 01' even of wood j the
principal exceptions to t he genera l lnEertility are the Jiri plaiu, the
plain of Dhaid and the Liwah eli vision of the Dhafrah tract, in all of
which somc culti vation, at least of dates, is carried all. . These relatively
small districts nrc fully described in the articles under the names
indicated, and it is lInnoce~sal'y to enter here llPon the exceptional
features which Lhey present. Another tract of a different nature, which
has no general name and which it is consequently impossible to make
1430 'OMAN (TRUCIAL)
the subject of an article, is described below in the paragraph on the topography of Tl'ucial 'Oman. The only remaining portion of the country is that which lies between the sea and an imaginary line joining
Ras·al·Khaimah '1'own to the Baraimi Oasis: it ends southward s in tho district of Khatam which is elsewhere described under its own n.me.
80 far as can be asccrtained this portion, from Ras·"I·Khaimah as far south as Dibai 'rown, is not entirely composed of saud duuc!l, but conta.ins also level shingly plains with sparse aca.cIa. vegetation j
southwards from Dibai the whole surface appears to be sandy and
undulating, but deser~ vegetation a.nd wells and water holes aft! still sufficiently plentiful t o snpport a scanty Bcdouin populat ion. In the
whole of this region no running watcl' is fOllnd except in one subterranean
aqueduct which irrigates the settlement of Falai; but there arC numerous
wells, sunk generally on the banks or in the beas of dry wa.tercourses,
and sometimes in spots whieh from their elevated position might have
been supposed unsuitable for tbe purpose. On the Ras·al·Khaimah·
Baraimi routc tbese wells nre genel'ally from 40 to 60 feet deep and arc lined for 8 01' 10 feet near the sm'face with timber or rough~hewn
stones brougbt from the hills.
Acacf's, which are the commonest kind of tree, are of t he Ghaf and Samr varieties; the Ashkar shrub, the ~1arkh bush, and grass of the
kind called Arta are frequently met with; and the dwarf tamarisk, the wild castor oil plant, and a bulbous grass calicO. Qufa are also found.
Othel' sorts of vegetation which afford grazing are Rimth, a species of
Salsola which, when green, is eaten by camels j Halam, a small sand
plant j 'l'hamam, a coarse g rass which cventually dries up into twigs and becomes inedible; and Qasad, a small vivid g l'ecn shrub of the caper
tribe: the I.st th"eo are eaten by livestock of all kinds. There is also a
bright green edible weed, somewhat resembling migno~ette, which is called Hamm.
Hill, of 1rt/cial 'Om<in .-The only mountainous part of the country
is in the east, where a section of the spinal range of Lhe 'Omin Pl'OmOD ~
tory is inolnded: this section is the part between a line joining Dibah
to Sha/am· ou the north, and another, on the south, which runs jnland from Khor Kalba, first westwards then southwa.rds, so as to curve
ronnd the northern and westem side, of the Mah~dhah tract .. nd the hills connccted with it. Th. hill traot of Trucial 'Oman is thus abont 50 miles in extent from north to south, and its average breadth seems to
be about 20 mile.. It is still almost entirely unexplored, the only part
'OMAN (TRTlClAL) 1431
of it as yet traversed by Europeans bciul.! that which lies ou the direct
route, through Wadi·al·Qaliddi, bct.veeu Dibah and R,,,-,,I·Khaimah;
aud e\'eU of this pa.rt no accoHnt appca.rs to be extant. As seen from the west, from thc Ras·al-Khaimah·Baraimi roule, thc mOl:ntains
appear to be Jisposed iu three more or Jt!SS parallel ridges rUIlning from
uorlh to snuth : of these th~ westernmost terminates at a. hill ca.lled
Qumr J.J imlTIetl iately behind the village of Adhau j amI the second
ridge, after cUl'v i ug' slightly wcstwardF, scemS to continue the interrupted line of the first. The third or easternmost ridge contaiu s the big'hest
peaks allll probably o"erlooks the Gulf of 'Oman: one of these high
pea.ks, situated apparently 12 t o 15 mi les east of Adbau, is :-aicl t o be named Jaua\ Sa'ta lb~. It is possible, however, tha.t these three
ridges are apparent ouly, twd t hat the hill systcrn is more complex tha.n
from the west it scorns ill be. As Adhau iu the Jiri plain is considered
to be a vilbgc of Wadi Ham, il may be inferred that this v"lley pierces
the whole mfl ss of mountain s from side to side and even conveys part of
tbe drainage of th'c soulh end of the Jiri plain to the Gulf or 'Om,tu at
Fujairah; out it has not beel! fonnd po:: sible to locate with certainty the true head ot 'V~ldi Ham: in auy cast', howe\'er, its average direction
appear~ ill be fr ,HTI north-wc::it to sQuth-east, and not from west to
cast as has hitherto been gcnerally supposed. ",V'-tdi-al-Qor, further
south than " 'adi Ham, is th. only other considerable valley that comes down to t he sea. [rom the bills of 'Prucial 'Oman on their eastern
side. 'l'he dl'aillagc from the western slope of the hills never,
apparently, reaches the Persian Gulf, but is swallowed up by the intervening sands.
Climolc. -The olimate of Tl'ucial 'Oman in winter is pleasantly cool oy day and cold at night, but frost is unknown: 011 the coast, in the
same seasou, the weather is often boisterous. Between l\fay and October the climate is excc@sively hot aud trying' ; and during the worst of the
heat, that is from .\lay to September, travellers j ourney by night as
much as pObsible. The rainfall is scanty and is believed to average
about 5 inches a year. .M.o:::;~ of the rain is received in midwinter, but there arc also occasional showers in sprin g',
PtJ1J1tlo/ioil allt! /l' ibe.}' .- 1I he people of 'rl'lIcial 'Om~LU belong to
llun1.CI'OliS di::itind tribes; indeed, the countl'y is tribally one of the mORL
composite and perph·xing ill the P~reiau Gulf. The comprehensi\'e H Joasmee J) tribe, assumed by some wl'itel'~, has no real existence. Only
1432 'oMAN (TRUCIAL)
the members of the family of the Shaikh of Sharjah, numbering at the
present day about 20 adult males, arc Qawasim (Jawiisim) by blood; and tbe use of thc namc to denote all suhjccts of the Sharjah Sbaikb,
though partially sanctioned by local practice, is really incorrect.
The following I S a synop~is of the principal tribes of rrl'ucial 'Oman:-
Tribe. Singular. Scttl('d In
Trucinl 'Oman
(souls),
Bedouins lu '1'rucial
'Omlin (soulel·
Locatioll. REloIJ.lIIJI.
----1---- --- - - -'Abadilah
..r.)~
'Ali (AI) .;: JT
'Arolm(AI Eu) r~ r. Jj
'Awamir J"!1'
'AwQnat .::"GI.).&
llah!irinah ,u)k!
Dahaila,t ~~::...~
Oabilminah ~lA.,)
'A bdiili. ~J)~~
'Allyi. w
u~ 'Amlmi..
,Amiri. <.fft~
BahrRlli.
";I;=! Ad~haili.
~ol
Dahmiini. ,.;t..o
1,160
6,750
120
50
600
200
150
Ur.ccl'tain and Huetu· ating.
Abu '1'own.
Dhabi
See article' Aba:dilah.
See article Al 'Ali.
Originally. it is said, Bani Tamim; but now practically merged in lhe Hani Yae ,
None in patti· See artide 'Awa;mir. cular. SOIl1(, of the tribe
come ItS hr w~st 88
Sharjah 'rowr. in spring for the sake of the grazil1g.
Kh:,tt in tI,e Jiri plain Dibah l~lld J azlml·al · Hamra.
This tribe is n c, w prac. tically extinct; and, acoording to somp-, those who remain are not genuine 'Awanat. Some say that th e 'Awanat wpre s\:wcs of the Qawasim j others t.hat they were con· necLed with the Maqabil.
Abu Dhabi lind See article Bahari. Dibai Towns' j nah.
At,u Dhabi By some l't'gal'de.9 as a Town. section of tho Al Eli
Mahair.
Raha, Faihrah Sunnis and belong to alld NuslRh in tho G1lafiri faction . WaJi·al·Qor; also l\Ianai'i in the neighbolll'· hood of tbe sarno valley.
Tribe.
Dllababihah ~l~;,)
Ghafa1ah oliU:
Halalamah ...)u~
Ham'id(13ani)
~c/! Hfiwalah .
"!y.
Jalajilah o.l7'- 1l;>.
Kal"i (AIllu) .,,~ y! Ji
Khaimah (Ahl Rus-al-)
crl) J.>I 6. .. ~JJ
Khamarah
Sing'llar.
Adhbaihi. ~~')J
Ghafaili. 1.titC
"-:!" Hallami.
I./""l.l..
J II laijali.
."l~
Kalhani. ,,-!il~lS
Kunfid Kindi.
'''.,,.is ~.j.iJ
Mahair 1\-1 a.ba iri. (AIBU) ~rf'" j~~ )~ Jj
'OMAN (TRUCIAL)
Settled in 'fnlt'ial
'Omir." (;.oOlls) •
200
75
A few.
1,500
50
70
2,000
375
150
Bedouing in Tmcial 'Om~n (sJuls).
500
5,500 \ 100
Location.
Wadi Sfuni and its bl'Rl\ch Wadi Nllidain .
Abll Dhabi TO\,\,D .
l-hir in Sllnmai· Hyab.
Sharjah rrOWIl
Furfar and Hail in Shamai· liyah j al~o Ind lik in Wadi Nu~lah, a side valley <If Wadi· al·Qor .
Riis·al·Khai· mah Town.
Abu Dhabi Town.
1433
LhtH AlIi:9.
The dest'fllt of tllis tribe is unknown: they Ilre said to be aboriginaL
See art icle Ghafalah.
formerly a section of the Bani. Qitab, but
I now attached to tho Bani Yas. In religion they 0.1'0 1\'1 aliki Sunnis.
Seo article Huwalah.
The tribe is divid .. d in al1 .. giallce between the ShHikh of Sharjah lind the nbcl ~bllikh of Fujairah . The name is gene· rall.v pronounced Yalayilah.
POl'haps a section of the Al B li 1\ baraiban section of the Na'im.
Originally from Khamir in Persia. They 1Il'f' M iilikie by religinn find c1~jm to be ennnected with tho ·Utub.
Set' article Kunud.
See article Al fil Mahair.
v.u ............. \ .... . '-',uv ... .a. ...... , · VM.dL' ~J.n.uvJ..o..u) i':lh.'"
"
I Settled In BedOUlns j I Tribe. Singular. ,'rueial " '''''',' I I.oCll tion , HI!NAltlfl. 'Omlin 'Omlln
(~oul,). (lfOull).
-
8ctlled lu ijedolllll~ ID
Sillgular. Trllcinl 'I'ruelsl Loclltlou. RSNAIIIs. Tribe. 'Omli ll 'Omlin (SOUI Sl . (SOllla).
-----Ma!lii.rah l\In.hfi. l,25~ ... Rii8·a!·Khaimah The origin of t.his &}~J<O I..S .;s:'" I 'I'own. tribe i8 ob~llure; th ey .. J
to hnve AppNU' some conuuoLion with the Za'ab, bnd Itcoflrding to " 100!\1 trad it ion they are of the same stock as Mir Mahnnna, the cele-brated pinl.to of Rig in the 18th century,
Mall1i.rizah l\lahlliri1.i. 1 250 -rtlnsiifi. and Tniri- Origillally tile Malla-'.ills>' <,fj.r:-r< L:l.h in Wiidi l'ir.ah may have been
rUtm. a 8('cl ion of tile ~barqiyin; but it
" "dmilled that
\
Qawii.id . .. 260 AL and '" the By ~Ollle thl' .Y .r. Qil.itli . neighb 0 11 1'- bt·liovOII t o u. on
oJlj l.J'..JlJ huod uf olTshoot of no ShiJk",h in Mazari' , but t hia Wiidi Ham. i, doulttful. 'rhey
'Own about 10 ou.mels aud 150 sheep aud goat!! j but tbey also cultivato a li ttle, and Bomo of their number .r. semi-sottled.
Qawasim Qasi mi GO ... Seo articlo Qa"Wilsim.
~_C; .. . ,_I);
in ilmt case they have 110W 8eceded and hecome • fepa-rate tribe.
Qitab (Bani) Qitbi. 200 2,100 ... See article Bani Qitab.
~.J! .r Manasir Mansilri. 100 1,300 ... Sec article Manasir. .J~~ti. ... '-;?y..,a.i...
Marar Mani. 1,350 350 ... Sec tllticle Marar . )JA
. '-:!f"
Shah ii.i rah Ashhari . 125 ... 'A ~im[\h in There is also a SlUg'U-
Wadi Ham. lar ~)lahJ'ii.ri . '1 he ,;~~. ~J";'J , Shflhiiilah are consid-
ered to be aborigi& nn\.
bl iiibll h ... 25 .. . 'Aj miin T\lwn. Thc$e are an off-shoot ~l-.... of t.he Na'im with
an admil.ture of negro blood.
Shamaili Shamaili . 1,000 . .. Shimil in Sir. Th. Hani Shflmaili (hni) J~ are said to hs\'o heen
.,.~ .)! ori~illl\lI.v J ews (~'i(' ). but now they
Mniil.rlah M!\lrfl~hi. 1,000 ... Shiirjah Town. 1'hi ~ tl'ibe "" fount! cf.! lhA ~"'::')Jh'" I\lso ill tho Bl1tinall ;)
distri.:t "f the 'Omiin Sultanate.
n1'O closely c(1nnpctod with lite Shihfih and maya.lmost bo rrl;ntdod 11.8 a sect ion of lhnt tribr,
Mnzari' !\1nz ti, 'j. 1,400 ... ... Seo attide Maziiri'. tl)y ..j'J))'" 'those "f tho t ri be
\\+0 arc clcady con-sideri'd to be 0 aeo-tion of tho Baui Y8S are excludt'd herc.
thou!!h not induded ill eithe r of its 2 main divisions. 'l'hfly .r. also called SbamaiiYlu
~-. A fe .. of them who are noma-
Na'im Na'aimi. 3,500 ... ... See arti.cle Na' im. W --:r~ r
die IHe f4l1lnd amon~ the Shiblib in the Ruus&al ..
Naqbiyin Naghi . 1,800 ... ... s., article Naqbiy· ~;i.i .;;;,; in.
Nasir (;\ Illi n) NitSiri. ]20 ... Ahu Dhabi Thefie nrc ~:\id to be of y"u ",,! Jf '-::fr",lj '1\''''11. 1 h" S'UIlf' ~Iock fI~ Lho
I i Bahnrinah, uut
I they are Sunni!! I by rt.:! igio ll.
I Jib;;'1 distliot. of t i, e 'Oman SuI·
I tanate.
Sbiqosb . Ajman 'I'ho :-lhaqosh a.re • ... ... !lecLinn of the URni v:,.:;t..:. 'I'awn. hb'iu of Qisbm.
1436 'oMAN ('fRUCIAL)
S.-ttled in r Drdo,JiIlS I
Tribe. ~illgular. rrudal \" 'J"rueial I,oration. U.liaUIlKH, 'Om~n 'Om >l n (~v'll~.) (soJi~.)
S har q iyin S\u\I'qi. 7,000 .. ~ee a l't i~ ie
I.;/~~'r .jr Sbarqiy i n .
Shihfih SLihhi. 2,500 ... . .. See article Shihfih.
Cr --,
'-?=-
Sh wllihiyi n ... 2.050 ... D ibai Rnd rrhh II ibe ore apparrntlJ'
d:'«.1~ Shiirjah identical with the Towns. !<ection simi lar! y
nnm .. d of tho Ba,; i Ka'ab, willi wh ich tribe they st ill inter-1Ilt'lITY. but ;n this Gazettee r they have noL been i~cll1dcd amnllg the latter . In r~ligion H an bali!'!.
th!')' a l"O
Sudan SUII':\iJi. 5,000 ... .. . Sec ar lic:le SUdan .
owI !J)' ... ~~:J"""
, T anaij Tanai ji. :&,500 1,500 ... 81'0 IHticlc T a naij .
t' j.I, ,.iJ,
~~ ..
Thamairat 'l'hiimil'i. 120 Abu D habi Tho Thl\mairiit ... wero o~~ .... J l:!J~t.:i" TIlwn. originnlly Marar.
but t h"y are now rcciloncd among tht Ban i Vas.
Yi'iB (llan;) Yiisi. 10,000 2,000 ,-",4 0 .,-4
... See 8r ~iele Bani Vas.
Z a1ab Za'abi. 3,500 See a r~icle Z a.'iib . ... .. . ~ltj .,r.lt;
7.n. hiim Zabllli . 100 Sij i near Wad i They ~aiu ... a r t! Lo
,"""; ..rj Ham. h!lvC bC'(>n former ly Sharqiy in of the H I!. rai Hit section, but at t lle present ti me they nre un· dOllbterl lya distinct hibe.
Besides the foregoing tbere arc about 1,-100 Baliichis at lJibai TowD, Ghallah and ltiis·al·Khaimah ; 101 Hindus at Abu Dhabi Dibal' , , Umm-al-Qaiwain and Sharjah Towns; 214 Khoj ahs or other Indian
'oMAN (TRUCIAL)
Muimmmallans at Dibai, ll'ls·al·Khaimah and Pcrr:: ian$\, ~OIl1C Ara,Lil'i~ct1 a.ml t-iomc not,
Dhabi all(l Dibai TO\\,Il', II: hoI' Fakkan
143 7
"nd Sha rj ah TowIIs; abo lit 2,.100 at Abu
and Ghiillah. Negro
S1a.VCR arc exceptiunally lll/mel'OIlS in the coa$\t tOWlll-l, but no separate
cstimato of tbem i~ pO:'l'iblc nnd tbcy may he takcn as inc:1uc1cd in our
tables among'tile Arabs to whom they belong'. rrhe Indians are not
domiciled nor accumpanied by their families. Hcrc it mn.y be useful
to m ention that the Ua.radir ]!.,')~ found III Sir, :It Dibah, and
elsewhel'O ".g., "L Khasab III Ruiis-al ·J ibal, me not a t ribe but :1 cl:MH":,-' the cln.!'!' Hamely of the agricultural la,ootlrer to whatever tribe he may belong. 'rhc !'ingnlar of the name is Baidul'
)!.>~ .
The toLal nllmhel' of Bedouins in 'l'ruciai ) Omii.n may be estimated
in accOl'cian('c with the tahle a.hoyc a.t al)out 8,UOO !'Oli1!'. ] n respect of
settled popula.tioll) howeyCl', the ta.ble is llOt exhausti,'c, :1nd rOcoul'se must be bad to tbe articles upon the principalities, from which it will appea.r
tbat tbe figurcs al'C ':-
}'rinripality,
'Ajmfin Dhabi (Abu)
Dibai . Qaiwain (U mm-al-) Sharjah
'I'otal £'JI' l'rl1cial 'Oman
Scttlru inl'lluitants,
750
J 1,000
10,250
6,000 ,15 ,000
72,000
By far the strongcst numcricallyof the settled tribes arC tbe Ban i Yas, whose Bedouins al!'o arc the mo::; t numerous of any cxecpt t be Bani Qitab. Next aftl'r thc llani Vas therc rank, in point of lltllnUcrs among the
settled tribe" fir,t the Sbarqiyin and Al 'Ali, and tben tbe Al Bu Mahair and tbe Siidan.
Puliticul and 1'e/i,qi IUtj d /stiJlclio1ls.-Like thc l)Coplc of the 'Oman Sultanate those of Trucia,l ' Oman arc divided betwecn the H inawi and
Ghftfll'i political factions, but G hanriyn.h gren.t1y prcJominate, t he Bn.ni Yas and the Shihiih alone being 11 inawi; and) whereas in the Sultn.nate thc Hinfnviyah arc mostly Ib5.dhi~ and the Ghafil'ipth mostly Sunnis by
religion, herc the Hinawiyah arc all Stlnnis of the l\ [fi,Jiki school w hile
tbe Gbiifiriyah arc yirtnal Wahhiibis. The Wabbiibi ism of Trucial 'Omtin is not now, howevcr, of the militant ordcr; it is generally
described as Sunniism of the orthodox school of Ibn lIanbul, and it even
connives at tbe private consumption of tobacco, though not as yet at tbe
1438 'oMAN (TRUCIAL)
public sale of the same. Modol'll rifles are widoly clistributccl among the
people in bot.h town and country .
Character, '~le a.nrt languIIg". - rl~h{' people of the western COllst, at least those of tho 0101'0 llortllct'li parts, kwe shown themscl ves in tho past a
bold alld energetic r::tci..'. By thei r piratical ex.ploits at the beginning of
the 19th cOllill!'Y iboy gained, \llIdel' t he mif'lcadillg' name of {( Joasmees,"
a pe rmanent pla.ce ill history; a.nd t hoy played a. largo part in tho politics
of the Persian Coast, cSjlecially ot Qishm i, lalld, and in those of
Bahrain and the 'Oman Sultanate. At the present day they lead a
quiet a.nd nnobtrllsive existence, but doubtless the old qualities am latent
in them stil l.
frhe weJ.l-ta-do classes on the coast of 'l'rllcial 'Omfltl have throo meals . a. Jay j lhe fin.t, ('a.lIcd Fakk.:n·.R.i(l , .y}I~; or (( LooRf'n illg of the
Spittle," i ~:~ killd 01: IJre:1kra~t and cOlu..:isb f.;ometimcs of pancakes
m:u\c or eggs, ril'(' nOll!' :1llll Rugal' j the otlll'r two meals, :1L noo n and
evening, {,Illllpris(' I'i('c wilh H:-:h 01' nwat , a.('compallipd hy datos and
thin cakes of white 1,read, Coffel' is drunk s('v('ml timCR a day.
Virtually tLe whole f],(1e popula.tion is Arab, a.nd Arabic is almost the
only language spoken. Swahili, how'evcr, fmrvives among' neg'l'o slaves
of the full blood.
OCCMjHtty'01lS anrl fcso/trcc8.-Pcarl di\·ing' is, Rince the snppression of piracy, the principal and almost the sole occupation of the maritime
population. In 81111111101' most of t ill' ahle·hodied men, to the number of
more than 22,0110, are aiJscnt. at the pearl hank!; j anll the coast towns
am} villages arc 10ft to a gn':LiJ cxtl'nt u1lprotected and ucsorted . '11110
I1l1mb('1' of pearllJoats in Tnu'ial 'Qmflll is approxim::dJ{'ly ],2 15, carrying
On the :L\'Cr:lg'C NeWS of about 18 1I1CH cadI: they :,I1'e distributed
us toll ows :-Principalit.y,
, AjmaD
Dhabi (Abu)
Number of LOlLh,
40
410 Dibai 335 Qaiwain (Umm·f41.) 7C1
Sharjah 360
In winter somc of the pearl diving class take purt in the ordinary
sca fisheries, but the majol'ity or thcm ~ pcnd t he Rcason at home in idleness , supported hy boat owncrs and contractors who thercby a.cquire, nndcl' the
stringcnt r\lles of the industry, :1.n indcfeasible licn all theil' services for
the ncxt pearling season. A few of the scafaring class arc employed on
the cargo vessels mentioned in the pa.ragra.ph on shipping below. Fish
\
'oMAN (TRUClAL) 1439
a.re everywhere plentifnl and excellent, and turtle are caught upon ~h c
181andH.* fJ1he f'(.f,tll'1i pOl'u lal iUlI who dn I1 cd lin' by t.he H'a axe herdsmen and
agl'i(,llltul'il'tK: to t hi!' ('!n$!'< helong' 1l1()l'it of UH' Hon-Homa.dl' of the inte l'ior
and of til(' ca.!'tl'rn f'ide of the ' Oman Promo1ltory, rl'lI(' a.gri cultul'i.\l
capab iliticR o f the ('01lnt,I'Y :tn', llOwt,\,C'I', very limited j alill cel'eal8, 8\1ch as
wheat alill jowa,1'i, :1,r/..' p;rowlI only in a. few favourcd local itic!\ such as Sir allll the Shamailiyah diHtl'i ct. Dates flouris h in most places; but on
thc west coast sonth of Ras-al-Khaimah ffown they ncver fully ripen, £01'
want of watur, and nre caten £I·esh. Vegetables arc raised at most places by m('allS of well irl'ig·ation. Li \'cstock are chie fly camels,
uOllh'YK, c;LUll', l'll('('p :LlId g'oats, ;LIlU there is plc1lty of poulLry; but
hor:-:es :1.1'(' few ill ('01lSt'qW'IH'P of thl' tliflkul ty of fl'eding them j the last
arc k<'pL Oil hal'll'y aml tit':-:(,1'L g'l'aSS, wit.h o('(';lsi()tla,lly a litLle luccrne, wllicit
in plac('\-i i ~ g'rowli :UIIOIlg- the date gT()\'l'!-\.
The Bl'llnllillH dc'pl'nd {·hidly (!II LlIl'ir li\'esLiJck f(JI' Hu hsil'tcll('e, hut
801l1C of thl'lIl take parL ill till' Jll'ad fi :dl(,l'ies. 1n winter, wlleH the
wcather is cool and grazill g' abundant, Lhcy are fica t1ereu fa.r and widc in
small partie:.'; hllf, as water and pasture bl~COHlC scarcc with the approach
of summer, they cong' rcg:ltc ill larger bodies around the marc c01)ions
wells in t.hc less inhospitable parts of the country. li'avouritc Bedouin
sum111cr rc~ol'ts of thifi kind. arc the Jiri plain in the north and Bainunah
in the \\·e., t. 'rhc.y own ma.lIY camels awl a 1111mbc r of donkey!' j bnt the
latter a.rc I!~ed only \'01' work in the lleig-hLolll'hood of Lhe campt;, and 1I0t
[or long car:L\':lIl jOlll'lll'YS,
1Ioi't' i!J it !tll(if. - ComllH'rcial st.atistit"s a rc available only for thc Ia.rger
lowns 011 the western side of the 'Oman Promo ntory, and so much o[ ihe foreigll trade 01' the cOHntry a.!-i is carried on from tile Shamailiyah coast
('6C3.1)C5 obtlervatioll: the :.LIllOltllt of this trade is I'rohahly incollf; idcrable,
but the fact. o[ it:; nO Ll · inclusion should be hornc in mind. Scrutiny or
the trade stat.il'ties shows how artifiClal is t hc existence of the largcr coast
settlcmcnts or Trucial 'OwfUl and Low enti rely uependent they arc on the
proceeds of the pearl fh;bery for the mc...'\\lS of purchasing the ordinary
necess-aries of li[e, which thcy do noL t.hemselves produce.
Pea.rls a.re the on ly export of :1l1 y ma.g-nitudc, and the aH!1'ag-c a11nllal
value of tit()SC scnt abroa.d (:t1most cntirely til India) during- the last seveu
ycars ha~ beoll 67 la.kln; or I'upees: the !'I.'collll eX:l'()rt ill valnt' is tllat of
mother·of- pcarl shell, worth only t,- 01' a lakh of I'llpeer: Pt'l' a,n1lum.
Dibai is now the chief pcarl mart of the Persian Gulf after Bahrain a.nd
1440 'oMAN (TRUCIAL)
occupieR in this rCSl)Cct the place formerly held by Lingeh; it has also tmpplanted Lingeh as tho distributing centre for impol'teu goods on the
Arabian coast between Ruiis-al-Jibal and Qatar. rrhe following arc the ch ief imports with the ~L\'crag'c annual ya,lue of
each during the past scptellil ium (ill Jakbs of rupees): -grain and pulse,
chicO), from Persia. <:tHO India, 12k; cotion picce-goods, from I ndia, 4;
dates and date juice, mostly from rrlll'kish )Iraq, :3; coffee, from India,
2~; miscellaneous provision", il'om Persia, 2. j and sugar, from 01' through India, 11. Considerable amonnts or specie rtlso pass in both directions.
In face of the facts it docs not seem nnl'easonable to hold that all sources of profit ho1'o are subsidiar}' to pearl divillg, alld that if the pearl
banks WOI'C to rail this coast would EilOrLly be depopnlated,
Shipping.-Dibai is the only ~icam port of rrt'llcia,l 'Oman, 'rcn years
ago Dibai was almost nnvif'ited hy Europcan "essel1', unt in 1905·00 the numbcr of stcamers calling bad rison to 34, all British, with a tonnagc of
70,132; thc progress of thc place is 3i COil sequence of the decline of
Lingeh . 'rLe number of nati,'c sailing Ycssclf.:, - other than 11earl boats, coasters and flshing boat!', - owned ill the ports of r!'rucial 'Oman IS
about 90, distributeu as follows :-Bidyah ' ]0 Khaimah (Hii.s·a.l-) '1'o wn 15
Dhabi (Ahu) Town 10 Qaiwain (Umlll'al-) Tow n 1
Dibai Town 20 Rams. Fakkan (Khor) 5 and
GhaHah 10 Sharjah'ruwl1 18
The majority appeal' to be SamLfi1{fo" but a proportion of them arc
Baghlahs, and there are some jollrboat~ and lladans: these vossels are chiefly employed in runnins to India and port~ of the Pcr~iall Gulf for snpplie!'. rfhe statif'tics of pearl boa.t~ are given in the Appendix on the
pead fisilOl'ics. Fishing boats nota-1 m used as pcarlel's appear to be roughly eqw11 in number to pearl boats, hnt they are often extremely small.
Jazimt-al-Hamra and Sha'am, though they hftve no large vessels, possess some coa.sters of a. useful f:izc.
Internal trade a lid manlifacturc8.-Inluml traliic if' pett,}, a.nd it; ch ieAy
with thc Bcdoui" tribes; but Sharjah, Dibai amI All" Dhabi divide with Sohar Town in the 'Oman Sultanate tho trade, such as it is, of the Baraimi Oasis.
Local manufactures are few and none of them are exported. Fine sheep wool 'Abas are made at Sharjah rrown, and daggors at Has-al
Khaimah. A certain number of sailing ,"oswls are built, chiefly at
'OMAN (TRUOIAL) l-M.l
Umm-al-Qaiwain; the average number!=; launcbed annuaJly are a.bout
20 at that place, ]0 at Dibai and 5 at Sharjah Town.
Topog,-aphy. -The topography of ncarly the whole of Trncial 'OI1'.'n
is explained in the articles on the five principalities of which it consists, and ill the various subsidiary articles to which clum; are given in
the articles on the principalities. Some additional facts may he
learned from the paragraph on communications which follows b310w. It only remains to deal in this place with the topography or a small land
locked tract which does not apparently belong to anyone of the !ll'inci. palities in particular, and which bas no general name; the centre of this
tract is approxi mately the l\fad~'tm plain which lies about ·:W miles inland,
south-eastwards, from Sharjah Town. The principal points of the tract
in question are as follow * '-N;lme,
'A;~'oh
a)'~
'Aui\ij (Ramlal) . ;u,. ~~
Badu'
Dhlikhal'
}o-'o
Fii."Ah (Jabal)
~t;~
Position. Clmracter. R8)LUU:S.
In tilt' c"ntre of lh<.l A lIingle well, lined at The s:te i.~ 811rt'ounded l\flidiim p·ain. the top w:th limber . by Ilclic i BS.
20 miles south of A narrow stl ip of This tract lies east Aiyoh. rolling l'A.nd hills. god weg- IlC!~IIP the
r. U' e froll1 Riis-R i. Khaimah T O il n to Ibe Bar a imi Oa,is.
11 miles ~ol1th bv A group west of ·Aiyoh. · holes.
of water 'rhe sito is II blind reenTrant alllong- f:'.IIU · hills, Iorilling a b,·sn.·b of Wiidi Samaini.
B tWpen Raml>lt A well . . Anaij fLnd Bs,~ hah S-I,lItliLil 011
t i, e rig t hallk of the latter .
1 to 2 milrs we~t of th .. oldillar,V mlJTe hetwl·;·n Rlls aiKhaima.h '1\ wn Illid the Baraimi 0\, iI" _ fr"m Qallah Mat.iitldh un Ihe Iionh to the M,u1ii.,m plain on the south,
A range of hill .. , rpliclli,,~ 1\ rei~ht (If R.bout 1,0. ° feet; it runs nOl'lh and /-"lIlh wit!. fL lcnlZth of Sbllut 12 mill'S, ann is ronglily pitrall,} to th .. rnai'l mllgon£ lh,,'Oman Plumol!tory at'out
It i~ flit1lRt.ed flo litt1(' to :he west of (IrdiIlK,"Y rOllt!' bf,tw ·t'n HaS-'ll· Khaimah T;)wo fL- d the Bar aimi OaS!8.
At the n{lrthern ex~ hemitl" (If Jabal Fii \ ah Arc tw(! (:.n · ta,,:ic TOI'ka forming j"nnmlu ks, T ill y li re known HI' Zibb-al·
'Az:lh ,,:"",~I ":j I a.nd lOtll.rikii :-al·Jiili \" a h
4.~) l ~JI 01;' .>~, n~mea
:l<A,rfhority.-Majol' P. Z. C.·x f(olll pelsolla} observHtionand inquir.l'. Most. of the plaoe!! m<tntioned in this taLla are :..hown in th~ HH>l) RG'l'[(' ta~'I'n by Maj(J.' P. Z. Ooz, 6tc., 1905.
1442
Namc.
Fiiiy.ih (Yahfli.l'a!-)
6-.P tiJ ! ..lis!.
Gherif
JV Hamdah
......
TIaxl':-g,dh-llha.bi
0 bJi tY
bhhA6dh Jabj
h;k" J-;
'OMAN (TRUCIAL)
Pflsilin .
8 mill'fI north by ('u~l of 'Aiyoh .
10 to 11 miles south of Dhaid vi!lage .
17 mil('s south of 'Aiyoh. (The ex :It't p~lsition is 2,rJ
42' I ti" lIorll! l,y 50c 4!)' 21;" east.)
Tu centre i~ nbnnt 40 Inil('s Muth elst of Sharjah 'l'uwn,
8 toO 11 milo~ !:olltb (.f Dhaid villngc.
Character.
20 miks 10 the ('alit· ward of it
REVil1l1:B.
of \l"\lieh the mCfLllin~s are appareutly nbsc('uc.
/I well similar to that This well is on the of lIamdah. ordil18n route viii
Warii 'Hatta from Dibai to Shinas '1'own. .
I See Ilrticlf' Gharif.
A I'inj!ie well about 1 It ill on the north 40 fe"t. deep nnd blink of a hollow timber.lined :\1 the which fm-ma the iou southern border of . I QaU"h Mahii.6.dh.
A well wooded @.trip · The nan'e means" The of ph\in, H Or 2 lia'lellj"s BOlllld", miles III 1!I'efl.ti1h'l The lolace is also bt'lwfH'lI .Jabal SIl- called KhMaib. maini I\od tl;e rig-I t bllnk (If \\ Rdi Ra-ma.ini.
A \\'ooeled pJt\in several miles ill dialll('tf'r :Inti containing \,al,i-ons Wl'lls arnong th~m I hose of 'Ail Olt, ~lt1sdfi and Yiuaiyak
A ClOlly plnt(,8 n wilhonL watel' or gnw.ing. abollt 20 feet I,i~h f' '' than the co Inlr)' imnH'dilllelv to tlH~ north of it ami 550 to 610 feet above 8~a le\"el. Jt run~ "t'"t, Rnd Cllst 111111 is S niiles bl"oal~ from north to south.
The plain il' enclosed h,' the FO'lth elld of ,J;b,,1 Faiyah on the nort h, by Jabal J!&dhah on the nort heHSt. and bv the llortJw1"n par't of .r allal Samflini 011 the ens! : on 1 he we!:t it i,~ divided by Wi'idi Yidaiyah froln a traci of sanuhil1ll, l\hdiim is a. camping ground of noml1dic Na'im connl'cted widl the Baraimi Oasis.
This pblin ",lopes: down ~l'ntly from the bafe of J a bal Faiyah on the we:<t to the foot of th~l main range of the 'Oman Frumon. t (lry on the c .... st. and it ltho oecli"e8 A"rariually from north to south, 'fhe soil is s(lund alld hard, con · sisling of black Bind I ",,<I ,hi,,"I.; nCR< to
_______ . ________ . _ _________ ,_J_._'I~~_~~_y_al_,_th~
c ., E
0
0; ·u
:::I ... .... :::: G
:E ~ ., ..c 0: Q • < -N ;;: .,
:I: -., ~ ... ;:;
Name.
MUf'laifi (Yllhfar)
~4A.~!.
P.odl",h (J .bal)
"-") <-4e-
San;l\ ini (J a.bitl)
~~+ .... J~?-
811maini ( Wiidi)
v~+ ... lS.)j
S:anail!ll (Rat-hah )
J~ ... 6.s.b~
Y~ai)'ah ( Wadi)
~~ l?J!,
'OMAN (TRUCUL) 1443
I'ositiou. CharaeUr .
land is coarse nnd bo ulder" taka the place of shillglo.
I On th e northern . A wrIt. ed~e of L~e )ladil1l!
There is oilly a lIin~ Ja bori ng. At the top it if! lined with timber.
pltllll , 2 milc!! west of J abal IIOdhah.
Alon t .~ milE'S A de l8cl ed hill about It fo rms a fine blnff 10Ith'E'3st of t ho 1,500 feet high. peak . midd le or the 1\ladillll plain .
On the west. s iJe of t h" tra~t under ('on,.i<1('r a I ion, frl'lu Lh ... l1adilm plain in the H<, rth to tho) sout.hern t'xt ltl lH it.r .
A hog backed rauge running' nnrth an d £ollth for a distnnce of nbuut 20 mil es, nnd attaining in one place nn all itudo of I\bont 2,01.10 fee t.
This range is parall el to, bilL fL pp('ar~ to he sepllrated by fin in. {(, l"vA.l from, tl lc mai It rIln gc of tbe 'Oman Promontory, wl lich i. to ~be east of it.
In the 1I0nthern 11 bl'ond drainage It emerges from a V-p!'rlof t.he tract hollow, enclosing the I'h'l ped gap nellr the HOW in qucstion. p lai n of ITlI zn"arlh- south end of Jabal
Dhabi bi-twecn ihelf Sn.m:lini and run.
P orms th e southern 11ll1llldary o( t he trncL lIlHh' I' consi demtiolt.
Along th e wcstel'll borde r of the "Madiim plain.
and Jabal ::=amnini, firl-t ,J, wi lcs wt'st-and co ntai ni ng wards, then 7 mil es further dnw n t he northWArds, and thon water hol es of Bndu', westwards ngain to I the desert.
All ord lllary drainage It ("Olll !!!; from the holl ow or water lIeighbourhood of scanI'. .'!.bal Khadhm
fwllich is con nected wit h Mnbadbah) on tho cast and goe.
A fin e Bat-hah or Wadi which descends. in this part of it s cour~c, from south to :J.ort h.
west wor ds t.o the dC801 t. T he well of D hikhar is on it. righ~ bank.
On its right bank is the well of YidaiJah, lmed with W(I(Y.l. like that of 3IasBlil.
CO!fl1Jl1micationa,-Th e principal routes of Tracia.l 'Oman may be
diyided into three groups, viz .) (1) those which lead 2C1'OSS the 'Oman Pl'Omon(ory from Uw P er. ian Gulf to the Gulf of 'Oman, (2) those whicL
4 z 2
'oMAN (TRUCIAL)
oonnect the western coast of the 'Oman Promontory with the Baraimi
Oasis, aud (3) those which run westwards through Dhafrah, providing
access from tile castern parts of Trucial 'Oman and from the Baraimi Oasis to Qatar and the Hasa Sanjiiq. We proceed to deal with them
in the above order ..
I (a) . ROlttefrom. Ra,,·al·Khni1llak Town to Dibali.*-The places first
passed arc Falaiyah, Hail and Khatt jn Sir, which arc reached at 6, 7
and 14 miles, respecti\'ely, from Ra-al-Khaimah Town. A bout I ! miles
beyond Khatt the hills of tbe 'Oman Promontory are entered; and
from this point the w"y lies up Wildi·al·Qaliddi to a pass neal' Muhln,rqah
vilbgc j the chief poinif; passed hctw('cn KhaLt and l\fullt:U(Plll arc g·iven
as Labiinnh 6.jt~ , S:Jnllll ('J~' and rpllwij':lin \.: .. rl.~,b) whiGh are water ing
placcf'J aBd tile vill:lg'c of Ya,'akal. li'rom tile pass ncar ~fllhtarqah,
which is "bout h"lf way from Khatt 10 Ilibah al1(\ has good waleI', the
route descends towards Dibah j and at five miles Ahort of that place it
emerges from the hill s, continuing for the rest of the way ovcr a. plain
grown with brushwood. The journey was pcrformed (in the reverse
direction to that described) by Colonel "isbrowe and Captain Powell in
1 ~65, apparently in E'i,!!ht st.:'l.ges, cut most of these were extrcmely short.
The direct distance between the termini ECCIDS to be less than 25 miles,
but the actual distance is probably about '1·0: the general direction is,
roughly, from west-north-west to cast-Rout.h-cast.
] (6). Rout" (r" 'm ''Umm-nj-Q ,liwo£n 'PI"f01t to Fu,1nirolt.t-This l'Outr
rUlls across the desert by t he wcllt-: of ~1m\'aih ~b"" ,Ghal'a ~i, and Umm-an
Naghul J)'iiJI ~I to the ill!:1lltl villagc of Valaj AI 'Ali (01' lralai), whicll
is a dependency (·f Umm-al-Qaiwain :lnd ] 6 miles distant, south-east.. wards, {!'OID. t he same, From Falaj AI 'Ali it continues 8 miles further,
south·eastwards, to the Muraqqibat wells in the yicinity of Dhaid. It tben enters the hills, passes by Slji, and drops into Wadi Ham which it
follows down to Fujairah. This ronte is f:aid to pl'eEcnt no difficulties
to camel transpoJ't: its length, wcre it straight, would be undel' 60 miles,
but in consequence of windings it is probahly a good deal more than tbis.
1'be average direction if: nearly south-cast .
• ,dllth',rjtie.r.-Pl\rlly ~I&ior P. Z. Cox from n Jitive informAtion. C-,I" II .. 1 H_ Disbrowe, T'olitira} Agent, lind C .. ptl\in W. l ' iI W .. II, LN., travcl1ed this W ily in 1865 i a sketch of the route h.y the hlt .er is cxt.8n~ . but the n'p"rt, if any existed. is I IO W luAt.
t From native information obLlliued by Mu.jor P_ Z. t:ox: and Lieutena.n t C. H.
O.briol·
'OMAN (TRUCIAL)
l(r). R n"te fro", Sha,;nh Town to nr".air.*-'l'he first part of t.hi. route lies ovel' open desert by the wells of Zibair J~j and Tahil ~u to Dhaid village, a distance o[ about 3U miles. From Dhaid it runs to the wells of "'-usilali, and thereafter it. enters Wadi-al-Qor, which it descends to l\1"urair. I t is asscrted by native informants tha.t Wadi-al-Qor has easy gradients and could probably be made practicable for wh~eled trallie witllOllt great difficulty, uut. the, statement must be treated With l'ese~ve. 1'he distance dil'el't born Sharjah Towll to Murair is under 70 miles, but by roa.d it must be considerably lUorc. 'l'he general dil'eetion is
about south-east by east. The part of this route beyoud Dhaid may be used also 'by travellers
from Hamriyah and Umm-al·Qaiwain, those from Hamriyah making
direct for Dhaid (25 mil,>s) hy the wells of SilTah ;- and Ban'ah "!;) j
and tho," from U lllm·,I-Qaiwain following route No. 1 (h) above as far as 11'a,laj AI' Ali and then diverging to Dhaid (0 mil es from Fala.j AI 'Ali).
l(d). R01fte from /)i/'ai 'l'0101t 10 Shi'R.as J'ouJ1t .1' - This route crOsses the de.ert behind Dibai Town by thc well. of Matluah ...,h~, Kha-. walliJ' .01,':'" ]\fuhdathah ",j,,>.r'"', and Gh!lttah or Qatta Ibj; passing ovet t ·· , (or thr~ug'b) Jabal Paiyah it arrive' at the well of Yahfar-al-Faiyah, 37 miles iu a direct line f,om D.bai. It then £aI ,s into \\ adi Hatt.a whieh it follows down to Shinas. 'rhe actual distance in travelling must exe' eel by a good deal the di!:'t,lllce in a straight line-which is a.
little over 811 miles-between t he ext t'clIll! point!) , The averag\! dilection
is south-east by east. T,aveller; from Sharjah Town Lo Shin as may al,o (LV.il them'elve,
o[ this rout.e, joining it at Ghalta.h 0 1' at ): a.hfar-a.I-!":liyah.
2(a). Rottte Irom RaB-at- A'haimah 't oW/t to th e Barainu: Oasif.tThis rout.e can be most conveniently described in tabular form, a'j follows :-
Stllrt\lIg poi ll t. Halling place. c,jurnctr r "f halliug
\llaee.
-
Ra..'- ~'I·'Khai- Had ,ithllh Soc article Jiri. mah'l'owu ~ . ..).~
• Autho,.itic.\" .--l'l>e ~nml' 811 for l'onle No.1 (6). t Alltlt fJ ritie4.-TIi0 80.1110 as for I'l'lu'e No.1 (b).
n elcription of t h .. Interml'<iI:Ho Sh gtl .
- --- - ---
'I be loln l dillill1lce by ro\d " 18 mil,·s and Iho L.','n"ril.l dirl'cLiOIl 8ou: b by W ('lIt. The
I .d'utltnt'it.V.-~'alor P. Z. Cox, Po\iLi,'a\ Resi-tcnt in the Per"i&1I ';ul£. from person ... l (IbsrTVutiun in a r t'purt submitted \\jtb his letter No. IBOOof 5th August 1906 to the Govl'rn,,,,,,,,t nf India .
e~!lrtinll' peint.
Hadaith!lh
F",raikb
'OMAN (TRUCIAL)
llaltiJ.lg place,
Faraikh
QaIJ,h M.h.fidh . bj~" ili
Character of halting Illacc.
Sec article Dhaid.
Sec paragraph un top 0 g r ap h y above.
Description of the i:ltcrmcliiate IItflf;i!.
- - _._-------route rllns 2 mill's I!ou t h · wCl'tw:;l.Hls al'l11g the ~pit of sand npon which ~hc Lown is 8itllat~d ; then tUI'll3 t ho bead of the barbour and gops easlwards ov\!r sand .. hills for l! mile;;, after wh ich it dl'OP3 .illto tile Sir plain. The \' illo.~e8 of Falo.iynh, !hil and lI'ahlai u, on tho oast, arc passed at 6 7 and 8 miles .1 list
b~youd Fahlnin tho Jiri ph-in j", t'lllered a:ld the route follows its weitern edge, tho .. and duneS of the desert hein:; 1;10 ,6 11 pOll th~ right, by the ", .. Us of Bu Ya'iliin at 14, and those of Haml'a.ni yah at 16 miles .
Tile oistrlllC(, HI 18 mi les by road, n.nd tLc d irection is on the aVt.:mgo ~OUtll by west . The route continues 10 fuJlow the western margin 01' the Jiri plain and pa:-~ .. S the w<3l:s of 8fi.'nd i at 5 miles . At 1l~ miles Il high undlliatiuJ,: tract of ea:td IS
entered, which contil1ues for 4 luiles and ill which a winding course must be pl1l'sl1~d. Tho r emailldel' of the wn.y lic~ down tho sandy vaHcy \If J!'araik h.
The distance bv road IS 16 mile~ lIml I.he diredion ne;l rlv due sout.h. The I!'araiki valley is f"llow .. d fill' 2 milt's, after which Wadi ~Ja"g"ol (thtl lIort\lern b ,undal'Y of the Dbaid plain) is (·.rossed a lld the p'Ri" {It" D haid entcred. Dhaid villa.!"e is rcached ;It a li llIe "VCI" fl
mil .. s. FO I" ~ miles beyond t he viJlnglJ the routo lit's oVt'r tho opeu plain: it tht:n dr"ps into the- bed of \\ ad Kalhail"ah, whil·1! it f,.lI"wiol for 2 H1ile~ to ~ '1 0 \\'tlls (if 'Vu.sh R.l! ; it tl len ont~ ilcross :llloth~l" I:Itretcu of plain aud
'OMAN (TRUCIAL)
Starting point. Jjaltilli plate.
IH.7
Dcscrjpti~n of Ihe Intermediate ~tage. I
Cilaracter of halting pl:.ec.
-------1------- -1------------
Qallah M.h.fidh
Musai6
lIaza.'-adh·Dhabi
lI11:saifi
I...}~
Haza'·adh-Dhabi
",!1iJ1 U.
~ isAkin.
~rt-. ... (N. B.-This is not. the :\1 iso.kin well but a place neaf the r ight. bank of Wi\di M hakiu Lighor up.)
See paragnlpb on topography above.
Do.
See ar ticle MaMdhah.
at 13 wiles r eaohes the ascellt to Q'li lah ~l"h§.fidh . Just befofe this a"'ceut is leachen thet e is good gra7..i nl: iar CIUl els j on the plateau bi'J and nono is obruinable for ,",ome ,,,i lcs. Water f(lr thil:l huH is laken fr uUl Wu~ha.l l.
The distance to the t raveller is 18 Illile>l, and the direction neil-Ily d ue ~ou tho The Q olbh !Iahafidh pLttcau is traversed lor :-3 lll i '~s; the hollow containing the Hamdah well is then cfo_ sed; lind lit 12 miles the W4'!\ of Yah fll r·al-~ aiyah ill reached. Throughout this 103.lch, after Qallah Mahilfidh i.~ lelt behind, .jabal Fii",)ah ill upon Ihe right at aile Of twn mile!! distancf, lind tho I'ath whlds O\'fr a well wooJ('d mndy pla in . .An a ltl 'l"IlHtiv6 hltiti"g place to Mu saifi is Yiclaiwi, al:,o in
II t.he Madam plain but 6 wilcs furtucr to tbe SQut b·wcst.
The aotual distance is l 0 mile. and f.lle generRI direct :tlu is ufarly dHO south. The routo cr"ssCB betwet'D 10 and 12 ulIle:, a p1ojfcting' tongue of tbe western ~al1d de!lert. At 14 luilp,s it faHs into WId SRmnini in whioh it CQntiuuell almost 'lIltil the baltillg' place is reached.
Til e distallce by roe-d is 1 B miles Hn lt the a.verage d irec tioll of the 11' 11('1., which i crookcd, is a little to tho 'VI'st of sout.h . At 1 mile Wild i SHmlOilli is crossed, and olle d its tLibutaries is RS l:euded 1'1'0'11 thill !,oint for 2 miles. The rollin!! sInd hills of Rn.u ,lat 'Anaij ;11'e
\h('n cro;o~od. for 3 mile~. and at thei r oonclusion Bal -bah Sftnll.ibil is inters('cted. Sand dunes of miJdc" alld lefl baneu appeal"r.nce fol~(w, II D~
I at 1:1 wiles thl"! ?ecuba.r .0:1
--.~-~.- ..
l4048 'OMA.N (TRUOIAL)
Shortior point.
Misl.kill
I
Halting place,
Jimi Villll~e in the Baraimi Oasis.
Charao(cr of halting I plaee.
Drscription of tbe idormedi.te IItage.
1- ---- --- ---------
See article Baraimi Oasis.
of S"fwAn is rellched. At 11 mill's the trl'l.vl'llt'r C'fO"Sf'8
the dr)' I ~ at·bah N .. wa,i.j find A8Cend~ to the sandy S I,ibl'1i.t-al·Khidim tr.tct which continl1t's for 10 milt's: he then (>n~n liD c:1t(>n~ive dppr~88ion in the eaIH\hill~, the drainage of wh'ch is t'lll'ried by Wil.di Misskin.
The distance by route is 20 mill'S, and tile uenp!'al direction is l'oulh·Elouth·west. The route rUDS Ht fiu'it Ulore we<::t than south alollg' WJldi Mis.iikin, jUflt bl·fore leai'ing whi(,h the .lIisii.kin well on I he rigbt i! pSS8Pd: for the Ile:xt 4 Idles il lips /Over the g""tIl! Rr1Il.ly undIl1atil.D" of Ihtl Bdlio·al."hiiD and 'he riil"eetil)D is "olllh, rho Aft .. r this it, wand"r" fur 7 milee in the difficnlt Blind I" dretlrt of Hllmlat K .. b 11. Mas· 'Udi is th" flnst RPtilpment ,lIlBlled aftpr dropping from the I,i!!h s.'\nd·rlIlD" tract into the Baraimi Oasil!.
Th o total distance from Ras-al-Khaimah Town to Jimi by this route
is 12. miles, and the journey is generally performed by caravans in 6 to 8 ~ '1'1 -.ays. lere IS no weJl·worn track, and no two caravans foHow exactly the
• ame COurse. Camel transport i. the only kind used in tr3lvelIing by this
hne; for donkeys-the only other beast of burden available-cannot,
when laden, negotiate the sandy tracts that have to be cross cd on the way_
Tbe wells n long the route are generally from 40 to 60 fed deep and are lined fo th 8 r e uppermost 01' 10 feet with timbers or roul"h hewn ,tone o from the hills: the water i. invari.bly raised by me "US of a le"ther
, !'uc;'et which ishanled by a rope over a pulley, the pulley being SUSpellrled from a trestle over the well mouth.
'l'his route i .. the main artery of traffic in the 'Oman Promontory j
the place of leeders to it is taken by routes I (h), 1 «) and 1 (Ii) above,
~~ ieh.in tcrs,et it at 01' near -\Iul'aqqibiit, Dhaid village and Yahfar-alFal)'llil, respectively. There is reason to th:nk that, by fol1owing a. line
IOm.what further to eastwardB and more cloBelV adjoilling the foot of
'OMAN (TRUCIAL) 14i9
the main hills, a line might be found which could without mnch labour
be adapted for wheeled traffic, and that it might not be difficult to
connect such a road with the Bltinah ouast by me;;i.llS or another road
down Wadi-al-Qor.
2, (0 ) Rou,te from lJibai 1'oUJn to the Ba1'aimi Oasis *.-This route,
which appa.rently runs straight aerMS the intervening desert, is identical with route No, J (d) above as far :loS Khawanij. rrhe nu,mcs o£
points snbsequently passed are given as 'Awil' ./;:J"_JJ, Habab 1-:-'!~.6,
Badu'-~I-Hilli ].11 f"'! , Madhlill J}6A , Faqa' t iU and Kbasilb ",~I . rrhe distance in '~ direct line is between 70 and 7j miles.
2. (e) Route frnm Aim jJh ao; l'ollm to the Barai1Jti Oasis. t-The
distancc is about lOU miles by the route ordinal'ily followed which runs
a little south or east. (rhe stages are nlaqta', whele the creek behind
Abu Dhabi Town is cro3sed, 10 miles; from ~1a'lta' to Suq
Iblis, a rocky landmark, 141 miles j ~liq Iblis to Nahshilah &1..:..;, water holes, 28 miles j Nah shilah to Bill Huwail, wells, 15 mi les; But
Huwail by Nasuriyah ~))_) to Juhar. water holes, 25 miles; Juhar to
the Baraimi Oasis, 12 miles. Stages named Habal J~~: I and Muwaih
Arnab ~)I o.~)" ,slightly more t o the south, may be substituted for
tbose of Silq ibHsa"d i'ahsbilah. The track from Maqt" , to Baraimi
lies over a. desert of sand dune~, and there is almost no grazing by the
way.
Routes connecting the Baraimi Oasis with Mah:idhah and
Mah:idhah with the route from the Baraimi Oasis to Sohar Towu are
shortly noticed in t he article upon Mah:idhah •
3. There is no fixed route between Baraimi or Trucial 'Oman and
the Rasa Sanjii~ , and different caravans fo llow different lines of wells
aero" Dhafrah and the tl'acts beyond it . A straighter and more inland
course is apparently preferred b:y travellers in winter; while Ih o~e who
make tbe juurney in summer generally take a route less direct but Hearer
to the coast. SiJa', Sakak and the foot of Dohat-"s Salwa s.em to be
among the usual halting places in either seaSon. 'rhc joul'ney as a whole
is not considered clangerous or even difficuit j for water, th )ugh brackish,
is f "und in many place~J and it is ~eluom necessary to carry a supply
• .duthor.ty.-From nathe infOl'mation .
t 4 .. thoritl.-Major P. Z. CO~ from personal observation and enquiry.
l450 'oMAN (TRUOIAL)
for morc than two days. A mcsscn gel' ca.n co\'er the distance from
Baraimi to Hofiif in ten da.ys; caravans bkc about a month.'"
Adm£uistration.-Eacb of the five principalities of Umm-al -Qaiwain, 'Ajman, Sharjah, Dibai and ALu Dhabi i. ru led by an independent
Shaikh, whose possessions on ILo sen, coast are generally uuder full
control; while all except the Shaikh of 'Ajman, and particularly the
Shaikh of Abu Dhabi, exercise SOme a.uthority or influence over Bedouin
tribes in the interior. 11'01' further details the separate article on each principality may be consnlted.
Political position, fo?Oeign relatt'0 1l8 and foreigll, intucsts.-The political position DE 'I'l'ucial 'Oman in regard to Groat Britain is difficult
to define with exactitude j it is regulated ill the main by two a.greements,
each of which has been signed by, allli. i!:> iutli\'idnally binding lipan, the
five Shaikh. of 'Ajman, Abu Dhabi, Dibai, Umm al-Q,aiwain and
Sharjah. 'rhe earlier in (bte of these agl'cl!mcnts is a perpetual il'Uce, concluded
in 1853, which IJrovided for the entire ccss~tion of hostilities at sea among
the signatorie,s, and impo~ed all the British Government the duty of
enforcing peace and obtaining rcparation for maritimc aggre:;;sions commit
ted in contravention of the arrangement. It is ill virtuc of this treaty
that the Shaikh, of thc principalities arc styled 'frucial Shaikhs and that
their country may appropriately be stylcd 'l'rucial 'Oman.
By the second trcaty, signed in 189:1" thc '1'rucial Sbaikbs bound
themselves not to enter into any agreemcnt or corrcspondence with a
power other than the British Govemment; not to pcrmit, without the
assent of the Briti::; h Government, the residence within their territories
of the agent of any other gO" crnmcnt; and not to cede, bcll, mortgage or
otherwise give for occupation any part ?f their territories save to the
British Government. The exact international effcct of lhesc two agreemcnts is a matter for
publicists to dcterminc, but taken togethcr they evidently creatc prcferen
tial and almost exclusive relations betwcen the 13riti~h Government and
thc Trucial Chicfs,-relations which might Le held to imply ihe depen
dence of the Shaikhs on the Dritish Govcrnment in foreign affairs and a
.moral obligation 011 the part of th£' :British Government to IJfotect the
Shaikhs in so far as they may he endangered, or di,abled from defending
"0111. Miles (vide J. A. S . .B. Volume XLVI, Part I, No~. I~IV. 1877, pages 69·60) giTeS more precise directions than t!u'sC', but the posit ions an (1 flven the Uloer
of hill Itll!toe do ,Dot always agree well with the results of the 1ll0S5 recent enquirie!!.
'OQAIR (BARR-AL-) 14051
themselves, in consequence of the trea.ties of 1853 and 1892. That the
cxistence of some such position has been in a sense rccogniscd by the
GO"ernment of the French Bepublic will be apparent Oll reference to thc
historical volumc of this Gazetteer. British subjects iu rrrucial rOman arc distriLuted as follows and
include at each place a proportion ot 'women and children :-
To\\'n. Hindus. Muhammadans.
Dhabi 65 Nil.
(Abu)
Dibai 67 23
Qaiwain II No"[.
(Um m·n l.)
Kllaimah Nil. 33
(Ha,-al-)
Sharjah 61 158
'l'OTALs 19·1 21,1
If some l:'cl'si.uns from the oppositc coast and thcir concerns are left
out of aCcollllt, G rcat Britain is stili the only foreign country which
possesses :wy moral 01' matcl'ial j!licre~t~ or subjects in rj1 rucial 'Oman:
for the l)l'uicctioll of thc~e a Natin: Agent of the 11ersian Gulf Residency
is maiutained a.t Sha,rjah 'rown. (rhe :;ubjects in question arc the
Indians, llilldu~ and Khojahs, who arc settled in the la.rger ports .
The name is vcry [rcq l1cntly pL'onounced JOjair. A coastal tract ill
the Sanjii'l of Hasa containing the port of 'Oqair; it falls naturally
within themaillbountiul.ic!; of Biyadh aDd should l>Cl'haps be regardcd
as forming' part of that diyibion.
Bonndaries ... Burr-al·'O(lail' cxtends upon thc sca from Tall-az·
Zabanai, on the sonth ,ide of tbe entrance of Dobat Ruhum, to Ras
as-Sufairah, a. promontory of tbe mainland opposite the south end of
Zakhniin iyah i. land; its length from north-north-wcst to south-south
east is thus roughly 3S miles. It, dcpth inland is undefined but small:
possibly howevcr the easternmost of tbe wells which arc enumerated in
the article on Biyadh (diyision VI) should be regarded as belonging to
"Barl'-al-'Oqair, ill p:ll'tieul:ll' those of Dannan) Hnghwtill, 1\1ijama'ah
and SU\Y~Ld.
'OQ,AIR (BARR-~L-)
;>.iWl .r.
