288 



THE BU SAIDI ARABS. 



tribute to, and owning the rule of, Nadir Shah, 

 till the Chief of Sohar, Said bin Ahmad el Bu 

 Saidi, struck the blow for freedom. Pive years 

 afterwards (a.d. 1744) his son, Ahmad bin Said, 

 artfully recovering Maskat from Mirza Taky 

 Khan, the Governor of Pars, who had revolted 

 against Nadir Shah, expelled the Persians from 

 Oman. "When laying the foundation of the 

 present dynasty he assumed the title of c Sayyid ' 

 (temporal ruler) ; persuaded the Mufti to elect 

 him 'Imam' (prince-priest), and was confirmed 

 in his dignities by the Sherif of Meccah. Col- 

 onel Pelly (p. 184, Journal Boyal Geographical 

 Society, 1865) gives a somewhat different ac- 

 count — c It appears that the family of the 

 Imams of Muskat were originally Sayecls of a 

 village, named Bowtheh, in the Sedair imme- 

 diately below the Towaij hills. The founder of 

 the family was Saeed. His son's name was 

 Ahmed. They came to Oman, and took service 

 under the domkiant tribe called Yarebeh. Subse- 

 quently they obtained possession of the strong 

 hill-fort called Hazm, in the neighbourhood of 

 B,ostak. Eventually they became the rulers of 

 Oman, and changed their sect from that of Sun- 

 nee to Beyathee.' Ahmad allied himself with the 

 ex-royal Yu'rabis, by marrying a daughter of 



