IOR/R/15/6/204

This file relates to British policy in Muscat and Oman. It contains extensive correspondence and memoranda from the Political Agent and Consul at Muscat, mainly addressed to the Deputy Political Resident in the Persian Gulf and the Civil Commissioner in Baghdad, which discusses the rivalry between the Sultanate of Muscat and the Imamate of Oman, the history of British relations with the ruling sultans, and negotiations between the Sultan [Taymūr bin Fayṣal bin Turkī Āl Bū Sa‘īd] and the Omani tribes.

Related matters of discussion include the following: comparisons between the Sultan's rule and that of the Imam's; the question of whether British support for the current Sultan's Government should be continued, given the state of its finances and the Sultan's standing with the Omani tribes; possible reforms to the Sultan's Government, as proposed by the Political Agent; the Political Agent's meeting with Omani representative Shaikh Isa bin Salih [Shaikh ‘Īsá bin Ṣāliḥ al-Ḥārthī]; negotiations between the Sultan and the Omanis (in which the Political Agent acts as mediator), and the terms for a final settlement between the two parties; plans for the Sultan to impose a penal zakat on certain Omani tribes; the murder of the Imam on 21 July 1920.

Correspondents besides the Political Agent include the following: the Deputy Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad; officials of the Government of India's Foreign and Political Department.