IOR/R/15/6/60-65

File XXXVIII Sur and Amirs of Ja'lan consists of two files (XXXVIII/1 and XXXVIII/2) and four volumes (XXXVIII/3, XXXVIII/4, XXXVIII/5 vol I, and XXXVIII/5). The correspondence in this sub-sub-series is mainly related to the Amirs of Ja'alan [Emirs of Ja'lan] Bani Bu Ali rebelling against the Sultan of Muscat and Oman and claiming the following rights: to rule over Sur; to pay no customs taxes; to be able to interfere with the affairs of the tribes of Sur by force; to establish their own customs at the village of Aiqa [Al ‘Ayjah]. Other correspondence discusses the following: the Amirs of Ja‘alan’s application to export arms and ammunition from India; petitions of the Sur Hindu traders; the internal affairs taking place at Sur and the involvement of various Omani tribes, mainly the Bani Bu Ali and the Janabah; the besieging of forts by those tribes; the raising of the flag of Ibn Saud; the bombardment of a fort at Sur; and the death of one of the two Amirs of Ja'alan, Shaikh Muhammad bin Nasir Al Hamudah, on 4 February 1929.

The correspondence in the sub-sub-series also includes a number of reports on the Sur affairs. The reports cover the following: an historical summary of Sur and its tribes; a map of Sur; a geographical description of Sur; the slave trade at Sur; and a review of the current situation.

Among the main correspondents in this sub-sub-series are: the Political Agency, Muscat; the Political Residency, Bushire; the Amirs of Ja‘alan, Shaikh Muhammad bin Nasir and Shaikh Ali bin Abdullah Al Hamudah; and the Council of Ministers to His Highness the Sultan of Muscat and Oman.