IOR/L/PS/12/2957

The file contains letters, telegrams, minutes, notes, and draft correspondence relating to two incidents in Oman. The first, which the majority of the papers deal with, was the rebellious attitude of members of the Beni Bu Ali tribe, led by Shaikh Ali bin Abdullah al Hamudah. The papers, which concern efforts by the British to assist the Muscat authorities in bringing the tribe to order, cover the following matters:

• the proposal and consequences of a visit to Sur by the President of the Council of Ministers, Sayyid Said bin Taimur Al Bu Said [Sa‘īd ibn Taymūr Āl Bū Sa‘īd], and the Political Agent, Captain Reginald George Evelyn William Alban, to negotiate with Shaikh Ali in October 1931
• the effort to establish a customs post at Aiqa
• the question of the appropriate use of force
• arrangements for further visits in December 1931
• the seizure of dhows belonging to the Beni Bu Ali tribe
• the Government of India's disapproval of the Political Agent's conduct
• letters of congratulations and thanks following the peaceful resolution of the crisis
• the question of when to restore Shaikh Ali's privileges.

The second incident covered by the file is the murder of a British Indian man by a member of the Shihuh tribe in June 1936. The correspondence discusses the action that should be taken.

The principal correspondents are the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Political Agent at Muscat, Government of India (Foreign and Political Department), Foreign Office, Admiralty, Air Ministry, Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf, Commander-in-Chief in the East Indies, India Office, Sultan Said bin Taimur, and Shaikh Ali of the Beni Bu Ali.

The file contains several reports, as follows:

• Report on the visit to Sur of 26 October 1931, by Captain Alban, 31 October 1931 (folios 223-26)
• Report on the 'Situation at Sur and Aiqa', with notes on the Bani Bu Ali tribe, by the Senior Naval Officer, Persian Gulf Division, 20 December 1931 (folios 137-51)
• Report on the crisis as a whole by Lieutenant-Colonel Hugh Vincent Biscoe, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, 19 March 1932 (folios 97-108)
• Report on 'Operations at Sur, 4th-9th March 1932' by the Senior Naval Officer, Persian Gulf Division, 19 March 1932 (folios 85-87)
• Report on the situation at Sur a year after the crisis by Lieutenant-Colonel Trenchard Craven William Fowle, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, 4 March 1933 (folios 74-76).

A sketch map of the area around Sur can be found on folio 193.