IOR/R/15/6/238

This file relates to the Yal Sa`ad [Yāl Sa‘d], a tribe based on the Batinah coast. The correspondence discusses the reported resistance of Yal Sa`ad tribesmen to the establishment of customs houses in the area. It also discusses reported smuggling and slave trafficking by the tribe, and the grounds for British intervention on behalf of the Muscat Government. Relates matters covered in the correspondence include the following: reported attacks on the coastal town of Masnaah [Mussannah] by Yal Sa`ad tribesmen, in opposition to the construction of customs buildings there; reports of the Yal Sa`ad having engaged in slave trading on the Batinah coast; the issuing of ultimatums by the Muscat Council of Ministers (with British support) to the Yal Sa`ad shaikhs at Wudam and Khadhra; the intensive bombardment of Khadra and other villages by Royal Navy ships, along with the capture and burning of several dhows, during October and November 1922, in an effort to force the submission of the Yal Sa`ad.

Notable correspondents include the following: the Political Agent and Consul, Muscat; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; the Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf; the Foreign Secretary to the Government of India; the Sultan of Muscat and Oman, Taimur bin Faisal [Taymūr bin Fayṣal bin Turkī Āl Bū Sa‘īd].

All of the material is dated between 1920 and 1923, with the exception of a letter at the end of the file from the Political Agent to the Political Resident, which is dated 8 September 1925 and reports on recent events at Swaiq [As Suwayq].

The Arabic language material consists of several items of correspondence (English translations are included).