ABSTRACT
THE QASIMI AND UTBI THREAT TO OMANI COMMERCE Following the elimination of a number of prominent Ya’ariba leaders in 1816 Said b Sultan succeeded in reasserting his authority in Oman. Although he had not yet won back the powerful al-Jabri over to his side, he turned his attention to avenging the humiliation he had suffered at the hands of the Qasimis a year before in 1815. His blockade of Ras-alKhayma for a period of four months in 1816 did not, however, enable him even to retake Khawr Fakkan from them. No sooner had he returned to Muscat than he prepared for yet another expedition under the guidance of Shaykh Muhammad b Khalaf al-Shî’î, this time against Bahrain where the Al-Khalîfa of the Utbis (‘Utûb) had ceased paying the transit tax and the annual tribute due to Muscat.1
