IOR/R/15/6/206

This file follows on from the previous file [IOR/R/15/6/205] in subject matter. It documents actions taken and considered by the Government of Muscat and Oman (with military assistance from the British Government) in order to assert its authority over the coastal town of Sur and the surrounding area, including Aiqa [Al ‘Ayjah], a village inhabited by members of the Bani Bu Ali [Banī Bū ‘Alī] tribe.

The file primarily concerns customs control, and the correspondence discusses at length a dispute between the Sultan of Muscat and Oman [Sa‘īd bin Taymūr Āl Bū Sa‘īd] and the Shaikh of Aiqa, Ali bin Abdullah Al Hamudah, regarding the Government's attempts to establish a customs post in the village. Notable correspondents include the following: the Political Agent and Consul, Muscat; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; the Commanding Officer at Air Headquarters, Iraq Command; the Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf; Captain Reginald George Evelyn William Alban, Financial Adviser to the Government of Muscat and Oman; the Sultan of Muscat and Oman; Shaikh Ali bin Abdullah Al Hamudah.

The correspondence covers the following: preparations for combined 'punitive operations' (i.e. the naval bombardment of Aiqa's fort and the aerial bombardment of Ja'alan by the Royal Navy and RAF respectively) in the event of Shaikh Ali's refusal to comply with the Sultan's demands; contributions made by the Government of Muscat and Oman towards expenses incurred by the RAF during its recent aerial reconnaissance of the area; a meeting between the Political Agent and Shaikh Ali at Sur on 17 February 1933; the terms offered by the Sultan to Shaikh Ali.

Also included in the file is a brief report entitled 'Instructions regarding the Control of Operations including the Employment of Air Forces on the North-West Frontier of India', dated 1 August 1931 and produced by the Government of India (ff 68-72).

The Arabic language material mainly consists of correspondence between the Political Agent, Shaikh Ali, and the Sultan of Muscat (English translations are present in almost all cases).