Shortly after the death of the Seyyid Sa'îd-bin- Sultân, the sovereign of 'Oman and its East African dependencies, who died A.D. 1856, war became imminent between his two sons, the late Seyyid Thuwainy, who had succeeded to the Principality of 'Omân, and the late Seyyid Mâjid, who claimed Zanzibar, the neighbouring islands, and the Arab settlements on the adjacent mainland. Actual hostilities were prevented by the friendly intervention of the Government of Bombay, and the rival brothers eventually agreed to submit their differences to the arbitration of Lord Canning, then Viceroy of India, and to abide by his decision. As a preliminary measure, a Commission, composed of Brigadier, now Sir William Coghlan, K.C.B., and myself, was appointed to report on the matters in dispute, a duty which involved personal interviews with the Seyyids both at Máskat and Zanzibar. It was while so engaged at the former place, in 1860, that the Seyyid Thuwainy presented me with the original manuscript of this History.

The work embraces the annals of 'Omân from the rise of Islâm down to a very recent period, and is, I believe, unique in the continuity and fulness of its narrative. The native records from which the earlier portions are compiled, if they ever came within their reach, have never, to my knowledge, been utilized by foreign authors either in the East or West. Moreever, the dearth of information from other sources respecting 'Omân in bygone ages is extraordinary. The most eminent Arabian historians, such as Abulféda, el-Belâdzory, et-Tábary, el-Makîn, Ibn-Khaldûn, and others, contribute little beyond incidental notices of the country, either before or during its dependence on the Eastern Khalîfate. Of its subsequent progress under an indigenous Imâmate they afford us no glimpses whatever.