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Le nom de B(a)ʿ(a)zīz provient de Bā ʿAzīz, forme maghrébine de l’arabe littéraire Abū ʿAzīz. La forme maghrébine est en usage, encore aujourd’hui, dans l’Afrique du Nord. Ce nom est employé actuellement chez les ibādites de l’ile de Djerba (Marty 1936, p. 385).

p. 672-678, Ernest, Gustave et Louis Mercier

Dossier comprenant 16 pièces : - Une lettre du Résident Général au SG du Gouvernement tunisien du 27/09/1935 sur une demande d'étude faite par M. CUTTOLI sur la justice Abadhite dans l'île de Djerba - Une lettre du 31 octobre 1898 (au sujet des Ibadites) - Une lettre du 19/07/1937 au sujet du Voyage du ministre des Etats-Unis à Bagdad dans le Golfe persique

This volume relates to proposed and planned visits by the Sultan of Muscat and Oman [Sa‘īd bin Taymūr Āl Bū Sa‘īd] to Japan, the United States, Europe (i.e. England, France, Germany and Italy), and India. Related matters of discussion include the following: the Sultan's correspondence with foreign powers; arrangements for the Sultan's visit to England in March 1938; details of the Sultan's visit to Bombay in April 1940 for a consultation with an eye specialist; arrangements for the Sultan's trip to Karachi, where his father resides (January 1941). The volume features the following principal correspondents: the Political Agent and Consul, Muscat; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; the Secretary of State for India; the Sultan of Muscat and Oman; officials of the Foreign Office, the India Office and the Government of India's External Affairs Department. Included with the correspondence are the following items: a copy of a programme for the visit to Britain of the Sultan's father [Taymūr bin Fayṣal bin Turkī Āl Bū Sa‘īd] in September-October 1928 (ff 10-17); a copy of a memorandum on the history of the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, produced in preparation of the aforementioned visit (ff 48-52); an India Office account of the Sultan's official visit to England, which began on 28 March and ended on 11 April 1938 (ff 98-101); an original programme for the 1938 visit (ff 112-121). The Arabic language material consists of a single letter received by the Political Agent from the Sultan (an English translation is included). There is no material in the volume covering the year 1939.

The volume contains correspondence between the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Trenchard Craven Fowle), the Political Agent at Bahrain (Percy Gordon Loch), the Political Agent at Muscat (Ralph Ponsonby Watts), the India Office (Maurice Clauson), Petroleum Concessions Limited (Major Frank Holmes, John Skliros, Stephen Hemsley Longrigg) and the Standard Oil Company of California (Hamilton R Ballantyne) regarding Petroleum Concessions Limited’s interest in an oil concession in Muscat and their intention of opening negotiations with the Sultan of Muscat and Oman (Sayyid Sa‘īd bin Taymūr Āl Bū Sa‘īd) which were delayed owing to the Sultan extending his stay in the interior of his country near Dhofar [Zufār]. Included in the file are copies in Arabic and English of the proposed concession agreement for Muscat and Oman, including correspondence regarding possible amendments to the agreement and copies of the various drafts which can be found at folios 5-20, 28-40, 109-124, 136-139, 144-159 and 195-210.Also discussed is correspondence between the Sultan of Muscat and the Standard Oil Company of California, including samples of oil seepages found near Dhofar which were sent to the company for assessment but were not found to contain crude oil. Also discussed are the concerns of British authorities at Standard Oil’s attempts to acquire concessions in the Persian Gulf and conversations between the Company’s representative in London and the India Office at which the Company were made aware that Petroleum Concessions Limited had been given first right of negotiation in that area.Other matters of interest within the file include: concerns over possible reactions by the Bani Bu Ali [Banī Bū ‘Alī] tribe to any negotiations for, or grant of, an oil concession in Muscat, which would cover the Sur district where they held power; discussion regarding the difficulty of defining the boundaries for the Imamate of Oman; a visit paid by Major Holmes to Cairo and the British authorities in the Persian Gulf interest in knowing who he had met and what he had discussed whilst there; correspondence regarding Count Byron de Prorok and his wife Alice who had travelled from Aden to Muscat and Bahrain with the intention of searching for antiquities and archaeological sites in the region, and Tullio Pastori who was visiting Muscat and Bandar Abbas [Bandar-e ʻAbbās] to recruit labour for an Italian road construction project in Eritrea; and British officials suspicions that their visits to the area were on behalf of an Italian Oil concern, which were concluded to be unfounded. A series of file notes which were maintained as a record of the correspondence in the volume can be found at folios 227-236.

Correspondence concerning the abdication of Sultan Taimur bin Faisal [Taymūr bin Fayṣal]and the accession of his son, Said bin Taimur [Sa‘īd bin Taymūr]. The file includes a letter in Arabic (folio 97) from Sultan Taimur with a translation in English, giving reasons as to why he cannot return to Muscat and willingness to accept a reduced subsidy. Correspondence discusses the timing of the abdication and arrangements for Taimur bin Faisal to reside in Ceylon. Correspondents include Trenchard Craven Fowle, Political Agent, Muscat; Hugh Vincent Biscoe, Political Resident Persian Gulf; Taimur bin Faisal; Said bin Taimur.

Correspondence discusses relations between Muscat state and the interior of Oman. Since 1920 the Treaty of Sib had regulated the interactions between Muscat on the coast and the interior of Oman under the Imam. The treaty was mediated by Ronald Evelyn Wingate, Political Agent, Muscat. Correspondence in 1945 and 1946 discusses Sultan Sa'id bin Taimur's desire to obtain a guarantee of RAF support for any incursion into the interior when the ailing Imam died. Letters from British officials discuss what additional leverage they could gain as a condition of provision of arms and officers. Correspondents include Shaikh Isa bin Saleh (of Sur); Reginald George Alban, Political Agent Muscat; Major Claude Edward U Bremner, Political Agent Muscat.

The file is concerned with an agreement between His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom and Petroleum Development (Oman and Dhofar) Limited, which relates to the oil concession agreed between the company and the Sultan of Muscat and Oman, Sa‘īd ibn Taymūr Āl Bū Sa‘īd, in respect of the district of Dhofar. The agreement outlines the terms and conditions, laid down by the British Government, regulating the operation of the company in Dhofar. The agreement is signed by Leonard Day Wakely, Deputy Under-Secretary of State for India, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, in the presence of Sir Alexander Colin Burlington Symon, the Assistant Principal for the Political Department in the India Office. It is also sealed by the petroleum company.

The file consists of a memorandum in two parts. The first part provides information about the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman in eight sections, entitled, 'Territory', 'Historical', 'Physical Features', 'Climate', 'Population', 'Products and Trade', 'Religion' and 'Government'. The second part describes and gives a brief biography of His Highness Sultan Saiyid Said bin Taimur, and outlines the extent of British influence upon him.

This printed India Office report was written by John Gilbert Laithwaite and published in November 1934. It aims 'to examine, with particular reference to the proposal which has been put forward to establish a station at Khor Quwai [Khawr Quway] in the Musandim Peninsula, the history of the Declaration of 1862 by which France and Great Britain undertook to respect the independence of Muscat, and its effect, and that other existing treaty provisions, on the right of H.M. Government (subject to the consent of the Sultan of Muscat) to establish a naval station in Muscat territory.' The documents include a short note on the status of the Musandam Peninsula. It lists key treaty engagements between the Sultan of Muscat and His Majesty's Government with relevant extracts including: British Treaty of Commerce of 1839 with Muscat, Article 2; Treaty of Commerce between France and Muscat, 1844, Article 3; Anglo-French Declaration of 10th March 1862; British Treaty of Commerce of 1891 with Muscat, Article 4; Exclusive Agreement of the Sultan of Muscat with H.M. Government, 1891. Further sections are: Muscat and France, 1770-1934; British Connection with Muscat, 1770 to 1934; The Anglo-French Declaration of 1862: its importance in Muscat Policy, and the interpretations which have been placed on it.