1874.] 
111 
Annals of ‘ Oman , from early times to the year 1728 A. D. From an Arable 
MS. by Siieykh Sirha'n bin Sa‘i'd bin Sirha'n bin Muhammad, 
of the JBenu ‘Alt tribe of ‘Oman, translated and annotated, by E. C. 
Ross, Political Agent at Muscat . 
Introductory Remarks.* 
The Arabic work from which the following account of the History of 
‘Oman is translated, is entitled “ Keshf-ul-Gh ummeh,’ ’ or “ Dispeller of 
grief.” That work, which forms a good sized MS. volume, is not devoted 
exclusively to the subject of ‘Oman, but contains likewise accounts of other 
countries, and descriptions of various sects of Islam. 
Copies of the “ Keshf-ul-Ghummeh” are extremely rare in ‘Oman ; and 
out of that country I doubt if it is known, I have only heard of two copies 
existing. That from which I prepared this translation was lent to me by 
a gentleman residing at Maskat, a member of the A'l-bu-Sa‘id family. The 
name of the author was not inscribed on the pages, and no one at Maskat 
seemed able to supply the omission. At length, one of the Radius wrote 
to certain learned persons at Nezwa, who replied that the author was Sirlian- 
bin-Sa‘id, a native of Izlu or Zikld. 
It would appear that in ‘Oman it has been customary with the learned 
of the priests and Radius at times to write narratives of contemporaneous 
events in prose or verse, chiefly touching religious matters. Numerous re¬ 
cords of this class are probably in existence, and from such sources it may 
be that the author of the “ Keshf-ul-Ghummeh” lias composed his annals 
of ‘Oman. The first part, however, shows acquaintance with some of the 
standard Arabian works. 
The date of the composition of the work can be approximately stated. 
The narrative is brought down to the year 1728, A. D., and therefore could 
not have been concluded at an earlier period. The abrupt manner in which 
it terminates, tends to show that the work was not written much 
later than that date. The author of the Arabic work translated by the 
Rev. G. P. Badger for the Hakluyt Society in 1871, occasionally quotes- 
the “ Author of the Keshf-ul-Ghemmeh” as making such and such a state¬ 
ment. I have not seen the original Arabic of Mr. Badger’s author, but by 
a comparison of the English version with the “ Keshf-ul-Ghummeh,” I have 
* In the following, pronounce a as in bat ; e as in bed ; i as in bid ; o as in obey ; u 
as in bull ; d as in father ; % as ee in deed ; 6 as in note ; u as oo in boot; ei as i in bite; 
ey as in they ; ow as in cow ; th as in both (ff) > th as th in the (i); hh corresponds 
to £; gh to £ j dh to ^Jo and & ; h to ^ j g to ^ ; k to ^ is represented by 
an inverted comma Qf 
