IOR/R/15/6/50

The file contains telegrams, and reports regarding the issue of the succession to the Sultan of Muscat, Turki bin Said al-Bu Sa‘idi and the discussion on whether to recognise his son Faysal as a ruler or not, and the fear of the rise of the Sharqiyya tribes led by Shaikh Salih bin Ali al-Harthi.

A large part of the correspondence is in the form of a report (ff 14-38) between the Political Residency in Bushire and the Political Agency in Muscat, which states the reasons why the British Government think that Faysal is unfit to govern. The report also discusses the desired terms of succession from the perspective of the British Government, the political climate in Muscat and its relations with the Omani tribes, and the claims to power being made by different candidates. The report also includes a summary of the relationship between the British Government and local leadership and a review of the current Commercial Treaty and subsidies between the British Government and Muscat.

The file also includes translated letters of Abdul Aziz bin Said al-Bu Sa‘idi (ff 40-44), in which he gives his own vision regarding Oman and its people and regarding the issue of the succession.